9i1|The Battalion
SPORTS
7
M ‘Friday, February 9,1990
Sports Editor
Richard Tijerina
845-2688
o. 15 A&M opens 1990 season against UTA
ohnson brings
Rebuilt squad
^ .
Into new year
yALAN LEHMANN
fThe Battalion Staff
JIER A new season. A new team.
I The Texas A&M baseball team opens its
liftrB990 season today, hosting the University
' MfTexas-Arlington, at C.E. Pat Olsen Field.
■"Tp ■ The game starts at 3 p.m.
| The teams will complete the three-game
eries with a doubleheader Saturday, start-
igat 1 p.m.
H The Aggies begin the season having lost
> 14 players — all eight starting position play-
^ ers and six pitchers.
It will be an entirely revamped team for
le Aggies, who came one game away last
leason from earning a trip to the College
odd Series in Omaha, Neb. The Aggies,
|8-7 in 1989, were ranked No. 1 in the
lountry for 11 weeks last season.
I A&M starts out 1990 ranked No. 15 in
JESPN/Collegiate Baseball. Baseball Amer-
ffijfa has the Aggies at No. 24 in its season-
** Opening poll.
Twelve lettermen return for A&M, in-
luding part-time starters Travis Williams
nd Trey Witte. Returning pitchers Ronnie
lien, Pal Sweet and Steve Hughes will
|nchor the Aggie staff.
Allen, a sophomore who was 9-1 with a
s ^.66 ERA last year, will pitch for A&M Fri-
ay. He will face UTA’s ace, Jeff Burrow.
Burrow was 7-5 with a 3.74 ERA last year,
but one of his wins was a 2-0 shutout over
exas ace Kirk Dressendorfer.
A&M Coach Mark Johnson said that he
ill juggle his starting lineup right up until
ame time. He also said that most of the
ggies will have playing time sometime
during the weekend series.
■ The Aggie infield probably will include
ftyVilliains at third base, Witte at second base,
Jason Marshall at shortstop and Jeff Bernet
first base.
The probable A&M outfield is expected
be Chad Broussard in left field, Tim Holt
la center field and Dan Robinson in right
W® field.
liili
\ ■
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m
Pitcher Allen starts 1990 baseball season
trying to avoid dreaded sophomore slump
By JAY PEDEN
Of The Battalion Staff
Battalion file photo
A&M baseball coach Mark Johnson leads his No. 15 Aggies in the first
game of the 1990 season, today at 3 p.m. against UTA at Olsen Field.
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I The starting catcher will either be John
IVood or David Rollen. The designated hit
ler is still up in the air.
I MkM vnll start two lefthanders in Satur-
iay’s games. Senior Pat Sweet, who had a
10-3 mark and 3.57 ERA last season, will
ihrow in the opener. Junior Rich Rob-
|rtson, a San Jacinto Junior College trans
fer, will pitch the second.
The Mavericks will counter with left
hander Paul Paramo, who was 3-5 with a
7.11 ERA last year, and junior transfer Lee
Jones.
Coach Johnson comes into the game with
the fifth highest winning percentage
among active college coaches. In his five
seasons, Johnson has a .741 percentage.
Several former Aggie baseball players
will participate in the throwing of the first
ball, including John Byington, Chuck
Knoblauch, Keith Langston and Terry Tay
lor.
At the end of last baseball season, fresh
man pitcher Ronnie Allen was in a slump.
That’s why he really needs to avoid the
infamous sophomore slump this season, he
said.
“I want to do better than I did last year,”
Allen said. “I don’t want to fall into a sopho
more slump like most people do.
“Last year, I felt I did well in the begin
ning, but toward the end I started getting in
a slump.”
One of Allen’s problems was inconsis
tency due to bad mechanics, and the elbow
problems those mechanics gave him in high
school, he said.
His last three regular-season Southwest
Conference starts saw him shutting down
TCU in a complete game, getting bashed
around by Houston, and shutting out Ar
kansas in a complete game in consecutive
weekends.
“Last year, I had to rely on my fastball a
lot,” Allen said. “With my mechanics being
down, I really didn’t have a very effective
breaking ball, and then if I did it would be
there one game and gone the other game.
It wasn’t really consistent.
“This year, I’ve been working out the
kinks in my mechanics. I’ve got three
pitches I can throw for strikes the majority
of the time. I think that will help me out a
lot.”
For Allen, pitching in Houston’s 11-3
rout was a nightmare.
“For me, pretty much every thing I threw
up there, they were hitting,” he said. “It was
just one of those days.”
Several of “those days” gave Allen an
ERA of 4.66 in 1989. Amazing run support
helped him to a 9-1 record. But gone are
the monster hitters and the mechanics
problems of last year.
This season should be a better indicator
of Allen’s pitching ability. Allen credits Ag
gie pitching coach Jim Lawler with making
him a better pitcher.
“When I came to A&M, Lawler was
working with me, and through most of the
spring I was working on mechanics,” Allen
said. “I wasn’t throwing very hard — I was
relying mostly on movement. This summer,
I worked on mechanics a lot, and now I feel
that I’m back into the power pitching stat
us.”
Allen almost didn’t bring his power
pitching to Texas A&M.
In 1988, he was selected in the 11th
round of the amateur draft by the Seattle
Mariners, a team based just a few miles
away from where he played high school
baseball in Kirkland, Wash.
He was close to signing a professional
contract.
“I pretty much had my bags packed,” Al
len said. “I was going to go.”
Instead, he decided to get an education
while he had the chance.
“In the long run, that’s going to help me
out,” Allen said. “I can’t bank on baseball all
Ronnie Allen
Battalion file photo
my life. I just felt that the college experi
ence would be good for me.”
Allen hasn’t ruled out a career in profes
sional baseball. His favorite team is the New
York Mets, and he said he would like to
play for them someday. However, he said
he doesn’t regret coming to A&M.
“I love it,” he said. “On the field and off
tht; field. Its great. The people are super.”
See Allen/Page 9
"ir
%
MSC SCONA XXXV PRESENTS
"United States Foreign Aid:
Purpose, Players & Politics"
Paul Coverdell, U.S. Peace Corps Director
Today: 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Rudder Theater
10
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ace for
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clubs
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-epense
- e both i
will be
learn
lernres I
Wltat is America's role
in today's sweeping international events?
(f.
Bring the world into
sharper focus
SPEAKER SCHEDULE
All Events Held in Rudder Theater
Free Admission to the Public
Friday, February 9:10:30-11:30 a.m.
Address
"Evaluation of Foreign Aid"
Paul Coverdell - Director,
United States Peace Corps
Saturday, February 10:10-11 a.m.
Closing Address
"The Future of Foreign Aid"
Dr. Betty Unterberger - Professor of History,
Texas A&M University
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