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Page8
The Battalion
Hot-pitching Ags hope to roast Frogs
Battalion file photo byj.janner
Junior pitcher Rich Robertson will take his 9-0 record on the
mound in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader with TCU.
Home cookin’
to be served
from mound
By ALAN LEHMANN
Of The Battalion Staff
The hot-pitching Texas A&M
baseball team hosts Texas Christian
this weekend in a key Southwest
Conference matchup.
The series opens with a 7 p.m.
ame at Olsen Field and closes with a
p.m. doubleheader Saturday.
Ranked 12th in the ESPN/Colle
giate Baseball poll, the Aggies (40-11
and 8-4 in SWC play) come into the
weekend with a new record to their
credit. The A&M pitching staff has
already thrown 12 shutouts this sea
son, and has nine games remaining.
The 1979 team turned in 11 goose
eggs and featured future major-
league pitchers Mark Thurmond,
Steve Davis and Mark Ross.
Although the Frogs are 3-9 in
SWC action, A&M coach Mark John
son said he isn’t taking them lightly.
The Horned Frogs beat the Aggies
4-2 in the series opener last year in
Fort Worth.
“We are not going to overlook
TCU,” Johnson said. “They’re a
good, scrappy ballclub. If they get
some hits to fall in, they could beat
us all three times.”
The Aggies looked good Tuesday
night as they thrashed the Texas
Southern University Tigers 6-0 and
9-0 in a late twinbill.
In the nightcap, Tim Holt was 2-
for-3 — both doubles — with three
runs batted in. Six pitchers com
bined on the shutouts that toppled
the record.
Holt was switched from his usual
leadoff slot to ninth in the batting
order. He said that he didn’t mind
and proved it by sparking the Aggies
to 18 hits in the doubleheader.
“I don’t mind the switch,” Holt
said. “I’ll do anything that I need to
do to help the team.”
Holt, who was hitless in the lead-
off role in the Texas series last week
end, said he accepted Johnson’s de
cision. He added that batting ninth
helps him get more fastballs.
Johnson said the change is not
necessarily permanent.
“It will depend on how things go
in practice,” Johnson said. “I will be
looking at a lot of players this week
end.”
Johnson said injured ri^ht fielder
Dan Robinson will get his doctor’s
approval to practice Monday. Al
though Robinson will be limited in
his motions, he has been taking bat
ting practice since last Monday.
One thing that is set is the Aggie
pitching rotation for the weekend.
Ronnie Allen (6-2, 2.00 ERA) will
face Britt Shoptaw (5-6, 3.56 ERA)
Friday night.
Allen lost to Texas ace Kirk Dres-
sendorfer last Friday 5-1. It wasn’t
Allen’s fault, however, as he retired
the first nine Longhorns he faced.
His defense fell apart when the
game was on the line, and A&M
couldn’t recover from the four-run
Texas fourth inning.
Rich Robertson (9-0, 1.50) will
face Jared Shope (6-3, 6.79) in Sat
urday’s opener.
Robertson, who beat Texas 5-3
Saturday, is closing in on the A&M
season strikeout record. He already
has 91 K’s in 72 innings and is cur
rently in third place. Clint Thomas
holds the record with 109 whiffs in
109 innings in 1976.
Pat Sweet (5-4, 4.04) will throw
against David Bentancourt (6-3,
4.82) in the nightcap.
Sweet lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to
the Longhorns Sunday. He held
Texas to one run through eight
frames, the Aggies gave him almost
no run support and he lost when he
gave up a ninth-inning single to Da
vid Lowery.
Johnson gives credit to pitching
coach Jim Lawler for keeping the
Aggie team ERA down to 2.43 on
the season. Six of the nine A&M
pitchers have an ERA lower than
three, and four of the 12 shutouts
have been combined efforts.
In the absence of Robinson, who
led the team in several offensive cat-
agories for two weeks after he left
the lineup, David Rollen and Travis
Williams lead the Aggies at the plate.
Rollen, a junior transfer from
Panola Junior College, is hitting .310
with seven home runs and 32 RBI.
He leads the team with 13 doubles
and six game-winning RBI.
Williams, a sophomore third base-
man, has a team-leading eight home
runs to go with his .307 average. He
leads the team with 38 RBI and 31
runs scored.
Friday, April 20,199
»p1
SWC netters prepare
for conference tourney
nl
GRA
From Staff and Wire Reports
The Texas A&M men’s tennis
team will need all its strength this
weekend as it enters the Southwest
Conference Championship Tourna
ment this weekend in Houston.
Hosted by Rice at the Jake Hess
Tennis Center, the tournament fea
tures all eight SWC tennis teams.
The 17-6 Aggies finished the reg
ular season 3-4 in conference play,
Texas
clinching fourth place to face I exas
Tech in the first round of competi
tion Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Earlier in the season, A&M
crushed the then Volvo/Intercolle-
f iate Tennis Coaches Association
4th-ranked Red Raiders 8-1 in Col
lege Station. The sole Aggie loss
came in a close No. 1 doubles com
petition when the team of senior
Gustavo Espinosa and sophomore
Blake Barsalou fell to Tech’s Matt
lackson and Alan Christopher 6-1,
6-7, 6-4.
“We beat Tech earlier this season,
but it’s hard to beat them twice in the
same year,” head coach David Kent
said.
giate careers.
O’Donovan has compiled a 1?.;
overall record this season and is 5-5
in the conference. Rated 48thintlit
Volvo/ITCA’s latest rankings, O’Do.
novan faces Matt Jackson of Ted
whom he defeated 4-6, 6-2, 6j
when the two teams played in tkt
regular season. With continued im.
pressive play, a bid for the NCAA
Championships next month is noi
far from O’Donovan’s grasp.
The 16-7 Espinosa has a 4-3
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position this weekend.
A&M hopes it can count on its No.
1 and 2 singles players seniors
Shawn O’Donovan and Gustavo Es
pinosa to keep them in the single-
elimination tournament, playing
their last SWC matches of their colle-
Aggie freshman Scott Phillips
could be a solid anchor for the team
at the No. 6 singles spot with a ^5
season record, 4-1 in the conference
Phillips has finished the regular sea
son strong, defeating all opponents
in his last eight matches.
“We’ve had a lot of positives this
season like Shaun O’Donovan play-
ing so well and Scott Phillips coming
on so strong at No. 6 singles,” Kent
said. “We’re excited about the tour
nament.”
The winner of the A&M/Tech
match will go on to face the winner
of the Texas and Baylor match. The
Longhorns have the No. 1 position
in the conference and is undefeated
in SWC play.
Jouston’s Olajuwon atop list
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NEW YORK (AP) — Six players
were fined $10,750 by the NBA
Thursday for their roles in separate
incidents in games the past week.
The largest fine was $5,000 im
posed on Houston’s Akeem Olaju
won for pushing Sacramento’s Greg
Kite in the face with both hands dur
ing a game at Houston Tuesday
night. Olajuwon was ejected after
the third quarter incident.
The fines were assessed by Rod
Thorn, the league’s vice president
for operations.
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Nuggets send Rocket hopes
plummeting with OT win
HOUSTON (AP) — Denver’s La
fayette Lever attempted only two 3-
point baskets Thursday night, but he
sank both of them and that was
enough to beat the Houston Rockets
in overtime 130-127.
Lever launched a 3-pointer with
4.9 seconds to go in regulation to
force overtime, and his 3-point bas
ket with 58 seconds left in overtime
put the Nuggets ahead for good.
“Yeah, I’m the hero tonight but
there are going to be nights when I
miss,” Lever said. “I have missed in
games in the past.
“When you have the open shots
on this team, we take them.”
Houston was leading 127-125
when Lever hit his go-ahead 3-point
basket.
Nuggets coach Doug Moe wanted
the 3-point try rather than playing
for a tie.
“I felt it was time to take a gamb
le,” Moe said. “We used too much
energy not to take a chance to win it
right there.
“At the half, I was so excited I
couldn’t stand it. We could have
been blown out. I felt if we could
keep it close, we would put the pres
sure on the home team.”
The victory spoiled a career-high
52-point performance by Houston’s
Akeem Olajuwon, who also had 18
rebounds before fouling out with
seven seconds left in the game.
“It seemed like they capitalized on
all of our mistakes,” Olajuwon said.
“Fifty-two points is nice but I’m not
really enthused right now.
“Denver doesn’t make mistakes
down the stretch. They have tre
mendous confidence shooting from
the outside.”
Gee receives SWC honors
Spurs trounce Utah 102-93,
setting record for turnaround
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The significance of victory
No. 54 was not lost on San Antonio guard Willie Ander
son.
One of only two players back from last year’s disas
trous 21-61 season, Anderson was all smiles after the
Spurs beat Utah 102-93 Wednesday night and moved
into a tie for first in the Midwest Division.
The victory gave the Spurs the NBA record for
greatest single-season turnaround, a 33-game im
provement with two games left to play. Rookie Larry
Bird triggered a 32-game turnaround for Boston in
1979-80.
The victory over Utah also broke the Spurs’ all-time
record for wins in one season.
“It’s very special,” Anderson said. “Last year was a
nightmarish season. When you go through a season
that horrible, you expect to go through another one.
That makes this one that much sweeter.”
Anderson and Frank Brickowski are the only players
left from 1988-89, a season that included three losing
streaks of at least eight games, a 1-12 mark in February
and a‘franchise low 3-38 road record.
This year, the Spurs’ longest losing streak has been
three games and they are 21 -19 on the road.
One of the newcomers, center David Robinson, is a
lock for Rookie of the Year. But Robinson said the
team’s performance is more important than individual
honors.
“The fact we’ve won this many games means the most
to me,” he said. “It means our chemistry is good. It
makes me feel a little better about myself.”
Because the Spurs captured the season series against
the Jazz 3-2, San Antonio would win the division title if
the teams finished with the same record. And the title
would make the Spurs the No. 2 seed in the Western
Conference.
Hot-handed heroics in Austin
Goody, Douglass lead Legends
From Staff and Wire Reports
Bobby Gee of the Texas A&M
men’s golf team was named South
west Conference Spring Athlete of
the Week.
The 6-0, 165-pound junior from
Midland received the individual title
at the Southwest Conference Cham
pionships, April 14. Gee finished the
54-hole tournament with scores of
76-70-72 for a 2-over-par 218 on the
Hills of Lakeway golf course in Aus
tin.
On Tuesday, Gee was selected to
the 12- player All-SWC men’s golf
team.
“With his great tournament win,
it’s just another positive for him to
be selected all-conference,” A&M
coach Bob Ellis said. “We have
struggled a little bit this year and I
was pleased to see it close this way
with Bobby playing the way he is.”
Gee goes on to play in the South
western Bell Colonial Tournament
next month.
AUSTIN, (AP) — Charles Goody
scored a hole-in-one and an 18th-
hole eagle as he and Dale Douglass
combined for a 13-under-par 59 and
a 5-stroke lead Thursday m the Leg
ends of Golf.
Goody scored his ace with a 7-iron
on the 142-yard third hole and
capped his first-round heroics in this
better-ball event with a 15-foot putt
for an eagle-3 on the 18th hole.
The 1971 Masters champion also
scored five birdies at Barton Creek,
a new venue for the 13-year-old
event that is credited with providing
the impetus for the start of golfs Se
niors Tour in a dramatic, televised
playoff in 1980.
The 59 also tied the tournament
18-hole scoring record, set by Orville
Moody and Bruce Crampton in the
1987 event at Onion Creek, a par-70
course.
“I rode him hard, but I won’t put
him up wet,” Douglass said. “Charles
playeo an absolutely great round.
It’s hard to help somebody shooting
63 on his own ball.”
The duo, which had a 60 in the
last round of this event a year ago,
played the front side in 29, picked
up four more birdies on the back
and then pulled away with Goody’s
4-iron second shot that set up his ea
gle putt on the final hole.
Chi Chi Rodriguez scored five of
his team’s eight birdies, including
those on the 17th and 18th holes, as
he and Dave Hill put together a 64
and a share of second place.
They were tied with Miller Barber
and Tom Shaw, a last-minute re
placement for Arnold Palmer.
Palmer had to withdraw due to a
court appearance in Orlando, Fla.
The defending champions, A1
Geiberger and Harold Henning, led
a group of four teams tied at 65.
Dallas secures
playoff spot
in 111-102 win
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -
Rolando Blackman scored 12 of
his 21 points in the third quarter
Thursday night as the Dallas
Mavericks clinched the sixth seed
in the Western Conference play
offs with a 111-102 victory over
the Charlotte Hornets.
The Mavericks will face third-
seeded Portland in the opening
round of the playoffs.
Dallas’ Derek Harper scored
half of his 18 points in the third
period. The backcourt duo com
bined to hit 16 of 20 shots.
With Blackman and Harper
hitting 9 of 10 field goal attempts,
Dallas broke a halftime tie, shoot
ing 68.2 percent in the period,
and took an 85-74 lead into the
fourth quarter.
Dallas built a 26-18 lead with
11:44 to play in the second Quar
ter. Sparkea by reserve Rickard
Anderson, the Hornets rallied to
tie the score 52-52 at the half. An
derson capped a 7-2 spurt with a
left-handed dunk to give the
Hornets their first lead at 35-34
wit h 7:02 to play in the half.
The Hornets played without
starting point guard Tyrone Bo-
gues, wno hyperextended his
right knee in Charlotte’s win over
Miami Wednesday night. Dell
Curry missed his fourth straight
game with a sprained ankle.
Armon Gilliam led the Hornets
with 20 points and Anderson had
19.
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