A
Thursday, March 1, 1990
The Battalion
Page 11
Staying out of the jaws of the piranha ...
Sweet brings pitching arsenal
to mound Saturday against LSU
By ALAN LEHMANN
Of The Battalion Staff
Pat Sweet knows better than to
look a gift piranha in the mouth.
Although the senior lefthanded
pitcher can’t blow a 99 mile-per-
hour fastball past hitters, he can get
them out with his “piranha” pitch.
The piranha is a submarine slider-
curve that Sweet has developed to
retire lefthanded hitters.
He’ll get his* chance Saturday.
Sweet is expected to start one of the
doubleheader games against Loui
siana State.
The Aggies will host the Tigers
for a three-game series at Pat Olsen
Field. Friday’s game starts at 3 p.m.,
and either sophomore Ronnie Allen
or junior Rich Robertson are sched
uled to start.
Whoever doesn’t w*ill start along
with Sweet in the doubleheader Sat
urday. It starts at l p.m.
It figures to be an emotion-filled
series between No. 22 A&.M and No.
II LSU. The Tigers eliminated the
Aggies last year in the regional tour
nament at College Station. That loss
prevented the 58-7 Aggies from ad
vancing to the eight-team College
World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Sweet was a junior in last season’s
loss to LSU, but he’s come back for
his senior campaign loaded with a
full pitching arsenal. His piranha
isn't the only pitch opposing batters
have to worry about.
Sweet’s fastball, which he’s jok
ingly named “Nolie” in honor of the
Texas Rangers’ Nolan Ryan, seldom
exceeds 81 mph. That’s below aver
age for a collegiate pitcher, so Sweet
has had to rely on his control and the
deceptive movement of his pilches to
get by.
“I’ve never been overpowering,”
Sweet said. “It’s just a matter of hit
ting my spots. I have a lot of
movement on all of my pitches.
That’s made me successful.”
Success is an understatement. As a
freshman, Sweet was 1 1 -0 with a
1.69 ERA to lead his Cerritos Junior
College team to the California Ju
nior College Championship.
Although he fell to 8-4 his sopho-
Pat Sweet
more season, Cerritos still made it to
the state tournament and took third
place.
Then he transferred to A&M.
Last season, Sweet was a top
starter for Coach Mark Johnson. He
started more games and pitched
more innings than any other Aggie.
Sweet compiled a 10-3 record in
1989, and struck out 65 batters while
walking 34.
The sinking motion of his pitches
results in a lot of ground ball outs.
But Sweet doesn’t mind letting his
fielders get the outs for him.
“I’m not scared to let them work
for me,” he said. “If someone gets
on, I concentrate on keeping the ball
down to get the ground ball and a
double play.”
His style worked well enough last
year to enable him to pitch a team
leading six complete games, and re
cord a 3.57 earned run average.
Although Sweet can’t resist fanta
sizing about having a super fastball,
he’s happy with his “Nolie”.
“It would be a blast to throw gas,”
Sweet said. “I’ve always dreamed of
throwing hard, but if I threw
harder, it would probably make my
fastball straighten out.”
Battalion file photo
Former A&M wide receiver Rod Harris'(1985-88) was picked up
by the Dallas Cowboys Wednesday as a Plan B Free Agent.
When he’s not throwing the Nolie
or the piranha, Sweet might throw
the “Paralyzer,” a slow-breaking
curve that freezes lefties.
Or he could throw the “Fish,” as
his changeup is called because, as he
said, if s just like reeling in fish.
His “Chainsaw” is a slider that
moves into the hands of right-
handed batters.
However, Sweet may have a sense
of humor about his pitches, but he’s
serious about his work ethic.
In the first week of spring train
ing this year, Sweet failed to run the
mandatory six-minute mile needed
to qualify for the team. He finished
with a mark of 6:40.
However, he worked hard
enough in one week to shave almost
50 seconds off his time, and later
qualified with a 5:52 mark.
After finishing a promising career
at Cerritos, near his home town of
South Gate, Calif., Sweet turned
down scholarship offers to play Divi
sion I baseball at Miami, Fresno
State, Nevada-Reno, Sacremento
State and Long Beach State.
He was undecided where to go
until he talked to the brother of for
mer A&M infielder Ever Magallanes
(1986-87).
When Sweet heard of the tradi
tions, he said A&M seemed to be the
right school for him.
“I thought it would be a neat
change to get away from home and
try something different,” Sweet said.
Although college life was difficult
at first, Sweet said he adjusted —
with a little help from his friends.
“I got used to being here because
the guys on the team showed me
around and made me feel welcome,”
he said.
Sweet still likes to go home every
summer to see his family and enjoy
life at the beach. It also gives him a
chance to focus on this season’s
goals, he said.
When Sweet takes to the mound
Saturday, he’ll be concentrating on
those same goals: being more consis
tent and giving up less walks.
In the meantime, the hitters will
be trying to stay out of the jaws of
the piranha.
Cowboys pick
up former Ag
receiver Harris
FROM STAFF & WIRE REPORTS
Billy Cannon Jr. became the first
Texas A&M football player to be
come a Dallas Cowboy in the mid-
1980s, but the linebacker had to
leave the NFL early because of an in
jury.
The Cowboys on Wednesday
picked up their second Aggie in
wide receiver Rod Harris, who
played at A&M from 1985-88.
He was one of four Aggies se
lected in the 1988 draft, along with
John Roper, Jerry Fontenot and
Dana Batiste. Harris was an All-
Southwest Conference selection his
senior year.
Harris, who played 11 games for
the New Orleans Saints last year, is
the Dallas Cowboys’ first 1990 Plan
B free agent, the club announced.
Harris, a fourth-round draft pick
by the Houston Oilers in 1989,
signed a two-year contract worth
about $400,000.
The Saints got Harris in the
fourth week of the season but used
him as a kick returner.
He returned 27 punts for a 7.3 av
erage and had 19 kickoff returns for
a 19.9 average.
Harris played high school football
at Dallas Carter.
SPORTS
Only The Battalion has assistant sports editor Clay Ras
mussen. And with the end of the Texas A&M men’s basket
ball season just around the corner, only you can read his in
sightful snipets of pure basketball opinion ... in his column
in Friday’s Battalion.
THE
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"We endorse Jim Turner
„ for the Texas Senate."
Senator Kent Caperton
Rep. Allen Hightower
Rep. Tom Uher
Rep. L.B. Kubiak
Rep. Robert Saunders
Rep. Mike McKinney
Rep. Billy Clemons
Our 5th Senatorial District Legislators know
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TURNER
Democrat for Texas Senate
Pol. Adv. Pd. bv the Jim Turner Camnaian, PO Box 780, Crdckett, TX 75835
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