Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1992)
Page 5 e Donalds Crmor e inform. Sports friday, Aprif 10, 1992 The Battalion Peaker - ^ctions f 0r , 3 Jean at 84;,. , enera ' Diepi. M2 - 93 and Si Cal1 Laura ajj | 0MET °WNci f ^93-3724 fofJ : Guest speafej 6y ' Also, ae, J ,r y°ne digs it 504 Rudder ion. ;f rcle Prancajj llw ay through 3oquet. I Meeting it,™ changes loL : °u raged toagJ at 847.252:| CHRIS WHITLEY Assistant Sports Editor A&M must stay with tradition, sweep 'Homs HOOL: r pre-law 'ernic, on Apd none informal ve from lOarr i Commons. S lY: Meeling; 93-8345 lortji , ‘Envin lay Reed, TAI t the Teen onference Cn ve. Call Gan; E: Free he:; 1 Beta Alpha fi Wednesda|i 1 MSC. neral disew DPE atWMS i at the Safe in in Bryan, Q ibmilted to ft later than fc ndate. IVei”; ■ofthecontac service that® missions area ;, There is / sau T he last time the Aggies and the Longhorns met in Olsen Field in 1991, Texas A&M shocked the baseball world with a three-game sweep of Texas - their first in 25 years. The last time the Aggies and the Longhorns met this season, however, Texas returned the favor by winning two of three, including a walloping 13-2 defeat in the series finale. This weekend, the two reunite in College Station as the top two teams in the Southwest Conference. Can Olsen work its magic charm again? It better. Nothing else is working. A&M enters its most important se- | ries of the year in an overall slump. The team made the trip to Lubbock to play Texas Tech last weekend, but their bats didn't. Not only did the Aggies lose two of three, but they managed only two runs the entire weekend. And only 13 hits. The one game they did win was the series opener, and that was in ten innings, 1-0. The bats were as cold as the Lubbock weather. Aggie ace Jeff Granger pitched fairly well against the Red Raiders, but Friday he will need a much better performance than the one he gave in the first Aggies-Longhorns meeting this season. In the series opener in Austin on March 21, Granger gave up eight runs and two home runs in seven innings. It was a bad night for him despite the Aggies' eventual victory in ten in nings. For the ace pitcher in the rotation to have that kind of game is unsettling to a team fighting to stay in the confer ence race. He needs to deliver a strong outing Friday to give the Ag gies some momentum through the weekend and, if anything, to rest the bui/pen. Also, they must beware of the of fensive onslaught that comes with the return of Brooks Kieschnick. By him self, he could provide the Longhorns with enough runs to win if the Aggies continue hitting like they are. Kieschnick was out for four weeks due to an injured ankle, and he still leads the Southwest Conference with 42 RBIs! Aggie pitching beware. He leads a Longhorn batting order that A&M coach Mark Johnson said was as good an offensive Texas team as he had ever seen. Can you blame him? They scored 30 runs against the Aggies in Austin. See Whitley/Page 8 Tennis team faces No. 20 Rice, No. 2 TCU By Chris Whitley The Battalion The flourishing Texas A&M tennis team may never have any bigger challenges than the two that await at Omar Smith Tennis Center this weekend. The fate of their Southwest Conference and national contention will be on the line when the Aggies take on 20th-ranked Rice today at 1:30 p.m. and second-ranked Texas Christian on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. A&M, who has a 15-3 record and a 3-0 SWC mark, is ranked 16th in the nation in the Volvo/Tennis Collegiate poll, their highest ranking since 1985. A win over both Rice and TCU will clinch the Aggies a tie for their first ever SWC team championship. Aggie head coach David Kent said his team is cautiously opti mistic about the opportunities that this weekend could bring. "Like Thomas Jefferson said, 'There's no such thing as security, only opportunity,'" Kent said. "We've got opportunity right in front of us. "We're in a position to win the conference and get invited to the NCAAs. A lot of good things can happen." However, Kent said defeating two of the best teams in the country, let alone the confer- Weaver ence, will be quite a chore. "Actually, Rice is pretty dog-gone good," Kent said. "TCU's just awesome. They could win the NCAA. "We're looking forward to playing this weekend. You get to this point in the season, and it's all cake. But now, your destiny is in your own hands, so you just need to get out and play." Rice is 7-6 on the season and 1-3 in the conference. The Owls are led by Steve Campbell, who was one of the top players in the SWC until he suffered an injury. Kent said A&M must have a good performance from ace Mark Weaver against Campbell, along with the other singles players, to win. "They've got very good depth," he said. "They're not See Tennis/Page 8 Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M Aggies Showdown at the Olsen Corral Longhorns in town for battle of Texas baseball powers By Anthony Andro The Battalion Texas A&M junior second baseman Eric Gonzalez may have best summed up the feelings of the Aggie baseball team going into this weekend's series against the University of Texas. "I just hate those guys," Gonzalez said. "I just want to rub their faces in the dirt." So goes the Aggie-Longhorn rivalry. • A&M, 25-13, 12-9 in Southwest Con ference play, hosts the first-place Texas Longhorns this weekend in a crucial se ries at Olsen Field. "For a championship, it's pretty much a make or break weekend," A&M shortstop Jason Marshall said. "If we get down any further, we'd have to pray for a miracle. "This weekend, we have to take of HUY NGUYEN/The Battalion Texas A&M coach Mark Johnson and Texas coach Cliff Gustafson discuss last year's bench-clearing brawl in Game Two of the series at Olsen Field. business." The Longhorns come into the series with a 31-8 record. They are 18-4 in SWC play and hold a 5 1/2 game lead over the Aggies. Senior third baseman Travis Williams said this is the season's most critical series. "It's the major point in our season, right here," Williams said. "We need to take three from them to get back in the race. We don't want to play for second place." When the two teams met the first time in March, the Aggies beat the Longhorns 11-9 in the opener before dropping the next two games 8-1 and 13- 2. The A&M bats have been silent in recent conference play. The Aggies have scored just 23 runs in their last eight SWC games and the team is hitting just .261 for the confer ence season. The recent hitting slump has the Ag gie players scratching their heads. "It's hard to explain," said Marshall. "I think all teams go through a spot where they are not hitting. Hopefully, we have strong enough people to battle back and battle through it." A&M junior Mike Hickey could pro vide some much needed hitting to the Aggies lineup. After injuring his hand earlier this season, Hickey has missed See Aggies/Page 8 Young Aggies to run weekend A&M Relays By Steve O'Brien The Battalion The 1992 Texas A&M track team, filled with freshman and sophomores, has matured quick ly this season, coach Ted Nelson said. But there's still some grow ing to do. The Aggies host the Texas A&M Relays this Saturday at the Anderson Track and Field Com plex. Field events begin at 1 p.m. and running events begin at 5:30 that evening. "We started out the year as a very young team," Nelson said. "We have a lot of freshman and sophomores on our team. We're winding down on the year, and we can't use that excuse any more." See Track/Page 6 Weekend Schedule Events happening this week end on the A&M campus. Friday Men's tennis vs. Rice 1:30 Baseball vs. UT 7:00 Harlem Globetrotters 7:30 Saturday Men's tennis vs. TCU A&M Relays AH day Baseball vs. UT 7:00 1:30 Sunday Baseball vs. UT 2:00 By Steve O'Brien The Battalion esources re\ and co| s just one implenn trtalion o| to develop 1 Football team injury proned Slocum holds scrimmage minus starters In a scrimmage on Thursday, the Aggies were without injured defensive linemen Sam Adams and Pat Henry. Both starting of fensive guards from last year, Tyler Harrison and John Ellisor, were sidelined with injuries, and wide receiver Brian Mitchell is out with a broken foot. "I was pleased with the scrimmage, although we had to control the tempo of it because we've got a bunch of injuries See QB/Page 8 After eight days of spring practice, two things are obvious about the Texas A&M football team. Injuries are making it hard for head coach R.C. Slocum to assess his team. And if next sea son's starting quarterback is among the four players fighting for the position now, he's keep ing a low profile. SCUBA LESSONS 1/2 PRICE BUDDY SPECIAL fSifin up and get your Buddy in at 1 /2 priceJ Classes begin: April 20th^ fcall for schedules) May 4th May 18th Oceanic Dive Computer Console ooiy $399 Zeagle Integrated BC Systems ^Queil Wet Suits Water Ski/Scuba 1 Trip; Cozumel- June 24th - June 29th 'tzzsz. fR/T Aj rt Hoxeu 4-days Boat Diving J $695 115 College Main. College Station COn Norfhgate) 409-S46-9396 Interested In Public Relations? Informational Meeting Concerning Membership on the =8* MSC Public Relations Committee Learn valuable information about Public Relations and the MSC Student Programs Office April 14 - 8:30pm Rudder, Room 507AB J