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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1985)
Tuesday, MarchJ9,1985/The Battalion/Page 11 NOW €OMS BASEBALL l/HE / In DEANSAITO Ags look to break slump in softball home-opener ' I dp 1985 Sambito hopes to make Astro-nomical impact >ec Associated Press I KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Houston As tros pitcher Joe Sambito is at least leased Manager Bob Lillis is consid- :ring pitching him somewhere this Last season, Sambito felt inacti' ity ipsets oi Mifloi ;ausec i hi m to gain one day and then m.i m w. ose lwo ( j a y S 0 f p r0 jj| ess , .m iSO-gamelm Sambito thought he was ready to i ve last season uur ' ' ‘ - - .... iat, my lriends,i ng streak in the no respect, y, they have ytt ked bv the NCAl lennessee-CI )nt is next. B« ping to get Ta play a dominant role of out the billi on last season after recovering fom elbow problems that led to two surgeries and caused him to miss Id accomplishst much of the 1982 season and all of the 1983 season. Lillis thought Sambito should go I op 20. In It ^ a slower pace in his comeback at- letiini last seas tempt last season. He allowed Sam- l "'‘ pito to pitch only sparingly and in no final result was on mid rendezvoi games when the the line. “The only thing that I didn’t agree with is the fact if I’d pitched a doorbell, built: little bit more last year I think I’d Mexico with tlitl have progressed a little quicker,” ■ad. Sambito said. “For every day you miss, you move back a day, so you actually miss two days. You miss that day and you move back a day in your progress. That’s what happened to me last sea son.” But this season is going to be dif ferent, Sambito says. “I’m definitely better now than I was during the season last year,” he said. “Last sea son I was experimenting on a whole lot of things, choice of pitches, when to throw them, how I was going to feel after the game and how I’d feel the next day. “Everything was ‘let’s do it and see what happens.’ Now I think I’ve been through that and I know what to expect.” Sambito expects more this year than appearing in 32 games for 47 2- 3 innings. “I’ve got good pop on the ball but it’s not enough to throw it by guys,” Sambito said. “I can throw by a guy if I fool him and he’s looking for ( something off-speed. “I feel I have command of all pitches. I can hit spots and I have a f reater variety of pitches now. What may loose in velocity, I’ll make up for with other things. Sambito, a 1979 National League All-Star, is second on the Astros’ all- time save list although he has not re corded a save since April 27, 1982 and hasn’t won a game since Sept. 28, 1981. Now he says he’s rested and ready to pitch. “When the season was over I went home and didn’t touch a baseball for two months,” Sambito said. “When I did start throwing again in Decem ber I felt a lot of difference in my arm, it was a lot stronger.” Sambito says he never doubted he’d get a chance to pitch again in the major leagues. “I never counted myself out,” he said. “I knew I was down but I wasn’t out. In my mind it was just a matter of being given enough time, that I would be able to compete on this level.” By CHAREAN WILLIAMS Assistant Sports Editor After 23 straight road games to open the spring softball season, the Texas A&M women will finally play in the comfort of their own back yard. The Aggies started the season with the Mardi Gras Tournament in Houma, La. A&M didn’t allow a sin gle run to win seven games and the tournament championship by a com bined score of 38-0. That was fol lowed with 10 days on the road over spring break. The team traveled all over Cali fornia, facing some of the best com petition in the nation last week. From there the Ags didn’t even re turn home but instead headed to Norman, Okla. for the Oklahoma Tournament. Unfortunately, the Aggies didn’t find as much success this road trip. The Aggies returned home at 1 a.m. Sunday morning with a 17-6 re cord, including losses to teams they were expected to defeat. “We nave played a lot of road games,” said A&M Head Coach Bob Brock. “Our lack of hitting at times cost us. Four of our six losses were one run games. I didn’t anticipate losing any one run games. But, even the one run games didn’t have any thing to do with our defense or our pitching.” A&M hitters had problems knock ing in base runners. The Aggies left 17 base runners stranded in a 1-0 loss to Missouri and 13 in a loss to Oklahoma. “We need to do something about that,” Brock said. “We’re not moving the runners around. It seems like we either all hit or nobody hits. That’s been our characteristic since I’ve been here. To their credit though, they haven’t had much opportunity to swing the bat except in games. “We will keep working on our hit ting. If you can’t get them on, you can’t hit them in.” Brock said the hard part of the Aggies’ schedule is over and the ben efits of such a strong schedule will soon began to show. “We played an outstanding sched ule,” Brock said. “It was a very strong schedule. The hard part home to play. A&M gets a rematch with Missouri in a doubleheader Tuesday at 4 and 6 p.m. “They have a pretty good ball club,” Brock said. “If we hit the ball well, we’ll be tough on them. If we don’t, we’ll allow them in our park. They have a good pitching staff and they’re winning games. They’ve also gotten a chance to look at our pitch ing staff. “We beat them 7-0 in the Mardi Cras Tournament and then they beat us 1-0 last week.” Brock said he was just happy to be home — and get to stay home for awhile. at S* .•»' .<•>’ ••»* x-yxv’ x* A&M Softball Coach Bob Brock (above) — “We’re not moving the runners around. It seems like we either all hit or nobody hits. That’s been the characteristic since I’ve been here. We will keep working on our hitting. If you can’t get them on, you can’t hit them in. ” came early. This is going to make us a tough team. It really only made us stronger. “We’re 17-6. I know a lot of clubs would like to trade with us.” Finally, the Aggies get to stay “We’re real excited to be playing home,” he said. “We are still tired though. We’re just trying to recover from the trip. “One thing that bothers me is that it’s been a long time since we had a long, hard working practice.” The Aggies will have a lot of time to try to free Brock from his worries. The rest of March finds the Aggies at home. On March 26, they play Sam Houston in a double header. Then on March 29-31, A&M hosts the Aggie Invitational at South wood Athletic Complex. Brock saia the toughest oppo nents left on the Aggies’ schedule are the teams entered in the Aggie Invitational. “Our tournament with Utah State, Lousiana Tech, New Mexico, Mis souri will be the toughest,” Brock said. “Florida State is a ranked team. And, I would have to include Baylor in that group. They’re having a good year.” Still, the Aggies biggest opponent this season is themselves. “We have to worry about oursel ves,” Brock said. “Sometimes, we let other teams in the park with us. “The team has a good attitude though. They believe they are the team to beat. They know everybody plays their best against the Aggies.” Today, the Aggies will just he tak ing care of their business — only they will be doing it at home. ACTIVITIES: Panel Discussions Art Shows Dealers’ Room Banquet Auction Masquerade Readings Open Gaming Sock Hop Parties Book Signing Parties Gr Fun! ★★★★★★★★ Get A Free Con Pass- Work 15 Hours At Con. For Info, Be At Mandatory Workers’ Meeting. Aggie Con 16 It's coming for you•• • March 21-24 . Buy your pass in box office $6.50 before March 8 $7.50 after March 8 with TAMU student ID FEATURING: John Varley Patricia McKillip Jim Christensen Ed Bryant ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Plus Buckaroo Banzai Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back A Clockwork Orange Terminator And Many More! NS* ;-y. •>X‘ Si & •X* NgF JW: Sponsored by: Workers’ Meeting March 19th, Tues. 7:30 p.m. in Rudder301 # MSC CEPHEID VARIABLE •:j:y M • v.v