Wednesday, April 20, 1988/The Battalion/Page 9
Sports
gs dispose of TSU; H
next
Perfect time is right now
for the Aggies to beat UT
Loyd
Brumfield
Sports viewpoint
lemberoi
llinois t
;n ads
was ok
I in the a;
petition!
ask the
that it
thampi*
p acctiffii
' Benoe:
Girls'i
it nott«|
xrkinj t
intedMJ
ill betoai
laid in«
i disapf
;ingtot*_
arncti ofll
Well, I’m convinced.
The Texas A&M baseball
team has won this basketball
I junkie over.
I’m still not much of a
professional baseball fan,
mind you, but there is noth
ing quite like watching the
Aggies in action.
And now the fun starts.
After quickly disposing of
Texas Southern in a single
game Tuesday, the Aggies
j will resume Southwest
j Conference play this
I sveekend in Austin in
ihe series of the year against
Texas.
I’ve got one of those feelings. This is our year.
Fifth-ranked A&M, 43-8 overall, is blistering
through the rest of the SWC with an 11-1 record and
has won 10 straight SWC contests since an opening
loss to Arkansas in Fayetteville.
The Horns are also 11-1 and tied for first with
A&M. This weekend’s three-game series should just
j about wrap things up as far as the conference race
|s oes -
They play “Gusball” in Austin, as in UT Head
Coach Cliff Gustafson, who notched his 1,000th win
this year.
As all of you know, the Horns are a permanent
fixture at the College World Series in Ohmaha. This
will probably be true again this year, but it’s time for
the boys in maroon to join them.
} Even if the Aggies blow’ one game too many this
weekend they have the advantage as far as the
remainder of the schedule goes.
| A&M finishes up at home against Houston and
[Texas Christian, while UT has to go on the road to
| play Houston before finishing up at home against
Arkansas.
[ This is it. This is our year.
Even though the Horns will have had the entire
week off with A&M coming off games against the
Houston Astros and TSU, the Aggies should have
the edge this weekend.
Of course, this is said by someone every year.
Last year at about this time the Ags were rolling
land even got to play UT here at Olsen Field. The
result: A&M lost two of three to the Horns, losing 8-
2 and 10-9, while winning 10-3 in the third and final
game.
In 1986, A&M was 13-2 in the SWC going into the
series in Austin. The Ags were sw’ept there 3-1,5-4
and 16-1 1 and were effectively eliminated from the
chase for the SWC crown.
However, A&M caught fire in the post-season
tournament held at Olsen. The Aggies shut out
Arkansas 4-0 and then beat Baylor twice for the
tournament title.
Baylor’s early elimination of UT kept the Aggies
and Horns from, forgive me, locking horns again.
But I still say it’s our year. This years’ Aggies seem
to have the character it takes to win on the road.
Witness the series with Arkansas earlier in the
year. Previous Aggie teams might have caved in after
the opening 5-0 loss, but the 1988 Ags came back the
very next day to smash the Hogs 6-1 and 8-6, letting
the conference know they were for real.
A&M’s losses, with the exception of aberrations at
the hands of Sam Houston State (a team that has
traditionally thwarted A&M) and Louisiana Tech (a
perennial playoff team nonetheless), have all come
against top-notch teams like second-ranked Fresno
State and top-ranked Oklahoma State.
Conference play has helped the team mature, and
a series of weekend sweeps against Texas Tech,
Baylor and Rice can do nothing but help the Aggies
going into this weekend’s series.
A&M has pretty much destroyed its opponents
while Texas has won, yet struggled. The Aggies left
no survivors against Tech, beating the Raiders 11-3,
10-0 and 5-3. The Horns swept Tech in Lubbock,
but not by much.
The Aggies didn’t treat Rice, a team that beat UT
once, much better. This time the scores were 10-2, 5-
0 and a 17-1 whipping of the Owls, a good team
despite their 29-21 overall record. The 5-0 washout
featured a no-hitter by the Aggies’ Fred Riscen.
UT beat Rice twice in Houston, but lost the
middle game of the series, putting the Horns in a tie
for first with A&M.
So the heat is on the Aggies this weekend. Forget
Oklahoma State, forget the Astros— this is the series
that really counts.
Great, now I’ve probably jinxed the team. Just
forget everything I said and go to the series.
But, hey — I’m a believer.
Photo by Mike C. Mulvey
A&M catcher Tom Carcione tags out a Texas Southern baserunner during the Aggies’ 8-4 over the Tigers. A&M
will play Texas in a three-game Southwest Conference showdown in Austin Friday and Saturday.
By Cray Pixley
Sports Writer
There was one obstacle for the
Texas A&M baseball team before it
heads to Austin this weekend to bat
tle Southwest Conference co-leader
University of Texas for the SWC
lead.
The obstacle, Texas Southern
University, w’as removed with an 8-4
Aggie win Tuesday night at Olsen
Field.
The Aggies are 11-1 in confer
ence play and 42-8 overall.
The game started out slow but
broke open for the Aggies in the
fourth inning.
Second baseman Terry Taylor
doubled to right field and Scott Liv
ingstone knocked one toward first
base but was caught out.
J [ohn Byington then hit a ground-
e double to left field to score Tay
lor.
Left fielder Tim McWilliam bat
ted one to left field to score Bying
ton.
TSU’s Jaime Castaneda struck out
Tom Carcione, and Andy Duke
popped out to end the fourth inning
and leave McWilliam stranded on
third base.
The Aggies two-run lead was
stalled in the fifth inning.
TSU’s Avery Johnson singled and
Derrick Young doubled to advance
Johnson to third base.
On second baseman Erin Adder-
ly’s bunt, Johnson tried to steal
home but was tagged out by Car
cione.
Marcus Newsome doubled to cen-
terfield to send Young home for
TSU’s first run.
The score was tied at two after
Adderly scored on a sacrifice fly by
McKinley Griffin.
A&M answered back in the bot
tom of the fifth after Mike Easley
was walked by Castaneda and Kirk
Thompson bunted. Easley was then
batted in by a Taylor single to right
field. It was Taylor’s first of three
RBI for the night.
Livingstone followed Taylor’s
RBI with a hit to right field that
caught the foul line to send Thomp
son and Taylor home.
Byington and McWilliam came up
empty-handed to end the fifth with
the score at 5-2.
There was little action for either
team until the seveth inning.
A&M’s Thompson singled and
Knoblauch bunted to get on base.
Taylor came up to hat and
knocked a three-run homer to give
the Ags an 8-2 lead and TSU a new
pitcher, Joe Quada.
Livingstone popped out while
Byington and McWilliam singled to
get on base.
They were left on base after
Maury Martin, pinch hitting for Car
cione, was thrown out at first base.
The Tigers’ last gasp came in the
eighth inning.
Johnson hit a two-run homer over
the 400-foot, fence to score Ramon
Rivera who had earlier hit a double
to center field. The home run wasn’t
enough to inspire the Tigers in the
ninth and the Ags finished out the
game without batting.
The Aggies pitched three men
and Anthony DeLaCruz was given
the win. The Ags gave up four runs
and nine hits with DeLaCruz’s re
cord going to 4-1. Jeff Jones pitched
three innings and Steve Hughes
pitched three innings.
A&M’s pitchers compiled 10
strike outs against the Tigers.
TSU’s losing man was Castenada
who gave up eight runs, 10 hits to
drop to a 2-9 record.
Wacky Wednesday Coupon
,nhaM
evei''
Muffin
or cookie.
COUPON GOOD WED. 4/20/88 ONLY!
Coupon not good in combination with other coupon,
(jintil
li< k
Dessert Shoppe
kxC^KtrtxFrozjrnYygttri.-Bakery
Store hours*
601 University Drive, College Station 10a.m. to midnight
WHAT’S A DEGREE GOOD FOR?
(
) PRE-APPR0VED CREDIT FROM FORD CREDIT
( ) $400 CASH BONUS FROM FORD
(p/) ALL OF THE ABOVE AT
beal Pord
At beal Pord , your
degree is worth a lot. If you’ve
graduated, or will graduate, with a
Bachelor’s or advanced degree
between October 1, 1987 and Janu
ary 31, 1989, you may qualify for
$400 from Ford and pre-approved
credit from Ford Motor Credit Com
pany. To qualify for pre-approved
credit, you need: (1) verifiable
employment beginning within 120
days after your vehicle purchase;
(2) a salary sufficient to cover
normal living expenses plus a car
payment; and (3) if you have a
COLL £Qf
'dSE P^°
Ford Motor
Credit
Company
credit record, it must indicate pay
ment made as agreed.
The $400 from Ford is yours
whether you finance or not. Keep it
or apply it to the purchase or lease
of an eligible Ford or Mercury
vehicle.
For all the details, contact Beal
Ford at 779-0664. But hurry. This
limited time offer is only available
between March 1 and December 31,
198$. Take advantage of the
Ford/Mercury College Graduate
Purchase Program now.
® beal Pord
779-0664 1309 Texas Avenue Bryan