The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 27, 1992, Image 5

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    A/l
Sports
Monday, April 27, 1992
The Battalion
Pago 5
NFL rich with star-studded Aggies
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Coryatt, Smith headline
A&M's part in big show
By Chris Whitley
The Battalion
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Quentin Coryatt's selection as the
second overall pick in the NFL draft
highlighted a quartet of Texas A&M
players who saw their dreams of
playing professional football come
true Sunday.
The Indianapolis Colts selected
Coryatt as their second pick behind
1992
Draft
top pick Steve Emtman of Washing
ton. He shares the highest position
an Aggie has ever been selected in
the draft since John David Crow was
picked second in 1958.
A&M cornerback Kevin Smith
was selected by the Dallas Cowboys
as the 17th pick in the first round.
Defensive lineman Mark Wheeler
was taken in the third round by the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the 59th
pick overall. Aggie safety Chris
Grooms was chosen by the Los An-
at home one® g e ] es Rams in the fifth round with
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the 114th pick.
Quarterback Bucky Richardson
and five other A&M players eligible
for the draft were not selected in
Sunday's action. The second half of
the twelve-round draft will take
place Monday in New York.
Coryatt, a Baytown native, had
59 solo tackles and was instrumental
in making A&M the No. 1 defensive
team in the country last year. He
said he was anxious to play in the
NFL.
"I'm happy with the decision,"
Coryatt said. "I'm ready to be in
camp on time and ready to get start
ed."
Colts head coach Ted Marchibro-
da was satisfied in the selection of
Coryatt and assured that he would
keep him as an inside linebacker.
“We anticipate to keep Coryatt
inside where he would feel more
comfortable, because that's what he
did at Texas A&M," Marchibroda
said. "Our first thought going into
the draft was that we would draft the
best athletes available, and we're
very happy with them."
Colts' owner Robert Irsay said he
felt Coryatt and Emtman could be
signed to a contract within 24 hours.
The Cowboys, who originally
had the 13th pick, traded down to
See Four Aggies/Page 6
Former A&M linebacker Quentin Coryatt and former
cornerback Kevin Smith were first-round selections in Sunday's
Battalion file photob
NFL Draft. Coryatt was drafted second by the Indianapolis Colts.
Smith was taken by the Dallas Cowboys with the 17th selection.
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STEVE
O'BRIEN
Sportswriter
Yi
eah, yeah. Whatever. The Cowboys
drafted Texas A&M cornerback
Kevin Smith and isn't life wonder
ful down in Valley Ranch? World hunger
has ended, pollution has stopped and the
hole in the ozone has sewn itself shut.
Come on, people.
It's great for A&M and the Southwest
Conference that Smith was picked in the
first round and went to a Texas team, but
it doesn't really matter. All that matters is
what Smith can do for the Cowboys and
what other players were taken by Dallas.
Smith can help Dallas in the defensive
backfield. But what else did the Cowboys
get? They sure didn't get what they need
ed.
After Smith, Dallas hauled in East
Carolina linebacker Robert Jones, Jackson
State wide receiver Jimmy Smith and Ari
zona State safety Darren Woodson. With
these players, the Cowboys got a lot of
numbers but failed to get what they real
ly needed - a high-caliber, impact player.
In terms of numbers, of course, it was
a successful draft for the Cowboys, and
they're not even through yet. There will
Dallas drafts defense Page 6
be seven more rounds today.
But the Cowboys seemed to stumble
after they took K. Smith at No. 17 and
then Jones at No. 24.
See O'Brien/Page 6
The SWC Select
First Round
2. Quentin Coryatt, LB, Indianapolis
6. David Klingler, QB, Cincinnati
17. Kevin Smith, DB, Dallas
Second Round
54. Shane Dronett, DL, Denver
55. James Patton, DL, Buffaio
Third Round
59. Mark Wheeler, DT, Tampa Bay
75. Tommy Jeter, DT, Philadelphia
Fourth Round
104. Frankie Smith, DB, Atlanta
110. Chuck Johnson, OL, Denver
Fifth Round
114. Chris Crooms, DB, L A. Rams
132. Santana Dotson, DT, Tampa Bay
Oilers make best of draft
HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston Oil
ers,, without a first-round pick, chose ver
satile Alabama State linebacker Eddie
Robinson in the second round of Sunday's
NFL draft as the 50th pick overall.
Robinson recorded 77 tackles, 33 unas
sisted, and had 6 12 quarterback sacks for
the Hornets last season and six tackles be
hind the line of scrimmage
"He qualifies as a big backer but I saw
him in the All-Star games and he played
all three positions and didn't look out of
place in any of them," Houston coach Jack
Pardee said.
The Oilers were projected to take a
wide receiver with their first pick to help
fill Plan B losses that included the club's
all-time leading receiver Drew Hill, who
signed with the Atlanta Falcons:
But they also wanted to add depth to
their linebacker corps.
"It's no secret that we were looking to
ward linebackers and wide receivers,"
Pardee said. "He's a big backer with
speed. He's played different roles and
he'll fit in with some of the defensive
packages we use."
Robinson, 6-1, 241, said he expected to
be chosen in the second or third round of
the draft. Robinson, from New Orleans,
La., attended Alabama State his first two
years on an academic scholarship where
he majored in chemistry and switched to
an athletic scholarship his final two years.
"I can't say what it will be like, jump
ing from a 1-AA school to the NFL,"
Robinson said. "But playing in the All-
Star games helped my confidence and go
ing to the combines showed me I'm on the
same level."
The Oilers did not have a selection in
the first round for the second year in a
row. They traded this year's pick to the
San Diego Chargers for defensive end Lee
Williams.
The Oilers had three second-round
picks last season and two in the third
round. All three saw playing time last sea
son.
Syracuse center John Flannery started
eight games at guard for injured Doug
Dawson; second-round pick Darryl Lewis
of Arizona started one game at corner-
back; and Steve Jackson, a third-round
pick from Purdue, started two games at
cornerback.
Last-minute Aggies
pull out UH series
From Staff and Wire Reports
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HOUSTON - The Texas A&M baseball
team now has a new mission for the re
mainder of their season - hold onto sec
ond place in the Southwest Conference.
The Aggies won two of three games
against the University of Houston this
weekend and improved their record to 33-
17 overall and 17-13 in SWC play.
The series win maintained A&M's grip
on second place in the conference. The
Texas Longhorns clinched the conference
title with a three-game sweep of Texas
Tech this weekend.
Senior centerfielder Tim Holt played a
key role in both of the Aggies' wins. In
the third game of the series, Holt broke up
a 1-1 tie in the ninth with a single to cen-
terfield scoring Scott Smith.
Leftfielder Eric Gonzalez provided
two insurance runs with a double to close
out the scoring. James Nix picked up the
win in relief to improve his record to 9-4.
In Saturday's first game. Cougar pitch
er Jeff Haas scattered six hits through sev
en innings as Houston beat the A&M, 2-1.
The two teams were tied, 1-1, in the
sixth inning when A&M's Brian Thomas,
playing first base for the first time all sea
son, dropped the third out of the inning,
allowing Cougar Scott Kohler to score.
The losing pitcher was Brian Harrison,
who allowed six hits and two runs while
walking one and striking out one. With
the loss, Harrison's record fell to 5-4.
In Friday's series opener. Holt took
center stage once again. He drove in two
runs in the ninth Friday to break a 2-2 tie.
Jeff Granger went six-plus innings, strik
ing out two for the Aggies before being re
placed by Nix, who picked up the win.
Lady Aggie pitchers
trip Roadrunners
By Doug Foster
The Battalion
DARRIN HILL/ The Battalion
A&M's Sharia Cannon slides safely into third base as a Lady Roadrunner awaits a
throw in the second game of the Aggies' doubleheader against UTSA last Friday.
The Texas A&M softball team contin
ued its April hot streak by defeating the
University of Texas-San Antonio in a dou
bleheader Friday behind solid pitching
performances from senior Dana Mitchell
and freshman Jennifer Mortensen.
A&M improved its record to 41-19
with wins of 6-2 and 3-0 at Lady Aggie
Softball Field.
Mitchell (17-5) fought off illness to
hold the Lady Roadrunners to two runs
while giving up seven hits in six innings
of work.
Mortensen came in to secure the win
in the seventh by retiring all three UTSA
batters.
Sharia Cannon paced the Lady Aggie
offense with a 2-for-2 performance and an
RBI.
In the second game, Mortensen (24-11)
had one of her finest outings. She gave up
only one hit on the way to her 17th
shutout of the season.
She carried a perfect game into the
fifth, only to have it broken up on a single
by UTSA's Melisa Glazener.
Brock said, considering the stress put
upon his players during this time of the
year, he was glad to see they were able to
keep their minds on softball.
"Right now, it's that time of the year
with classes and make-up work and finals
coming up that makes it tough to stay fo
cused," Brock said. "I'm just glad the kids
were able to come out and stay focused
and win both of these games."
Brock made special mention of
Mitchell's solid performance and what it
meant to his team for her to play despite
being sick.
"I was a little worried about Dana be
cause she's been sick all week," he said.
"She was able to give us a pretty good
game, but I decided to take her out in the
last inning because she was just about on
her last leg."
The Lady Aggies moved their record
during the month of April to 17-3.
Brock said it was important for the
Aggies to stay hot late in the season if
A&M was looking for a post-season re
gional bid from the NCAA selection com
mittee.
"We've been on a roll, and we just
hope the committee will see that," he said.
"We still play as an independent and
we're locked in a region that's full of con
ference teams.
So we hope our record will be enough
for them to pay attention to us."
The Lady Aggies next series will be at
home against the University of Texas-Ar-
lington on May 6.
The Aggies and the Lady Mavericks
split two games of a doubleheader last
week, and A&M leads the season series
two games to one.
After that, A&M will travel to Ruston,
La., on May 9 to take on Louisiana Tech in
its final regular season games.