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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1993)
,1993 lO.'IU OFC DON’T INS, &TT [TO- NOVJ IK>V 1 v * ■Gmun jojlfll (filter. Sports Monday, April 5,1993 MRHHRMHHHHI The Battalion Page 7 Injury displays faults inherent in spring drills c riticism is easy in DON NORWOOD Sports Editor It's time for 'h i n d - sight. We're all experts if we claim to be right about something we've waffled on in the past. The events of April Fool's Day were no joke, however, as they cement ed the beliefs of many of us about contact drills in spring football them to end. Now. When Texas A&M quarterback Corey Pullig fell in a heap on the Kyle Field turf last Thursday, the medial collateral ligament in his left knee torn after a teammate fell on him, the future of the Aggies was put into serious jeopardy. Only lat er, when team doctors said that Pul- lig's injury would not require surgery, did players and coaches breathe easier. This roller coaster ride of worry and relief should never happen, not at A&M, not anywhere. Inserting three weeks of contact practices into the middle of the spring semester might familiarize players with their coaches' schemes, but it also brings about the potential for the type of thing that happened to Pullig. Un fortunately, that's the way the game is played these days. Anyone who places the blame for Pullig's injury on the A&M coaching staff is either naive or looking for a scapegoat. Or both. A better source of blame is the system in which col lege coaches are forced to operate. Since spring contact drills are not forbidden, many coaches take the at- See Norwood/Page 8 Granger, Aggies mow down Chaparrals Junior pitcher breaks SWC record with 21 strikeouts in one game CRAIG FOX/The Battalion Jeff Granger delivers a pitch shortly after breaking the Southwest Conference record for strikeouts in a game with 21. The old record, held by three players, was 19. ... rr By WILLIAM HARRISON The Battalion The Texas A&M baseball team took two games from the Lubbock Christian Chaparrals this weekend, but two records, one missed and one made, stole the show. After two huge wins over the Chaps for the weekend, A&M pitcher Trey Moore said the Aggie baseball team felt one win short Saturday. The second half of Saturday's sched uled double header was rained out with A&M coach Mark Johnson poised for his 400th career victory after rolling in his 398th and 399th wins for the weekend se ries against the Chaps, 16-0 and 18-3. "We'd like to give it to him at home - it would have been better for the home crowd," Moore said. A&M, ranked as high as third in the nation in the polls, improved to 33-3, sit ting atop the Southwest Conference at 5- 1. All of Johnson's wins have come at A&M during his eight-year career, John son's only head coaching stop in colle giate baseball. In Friday's contest, A&M pitcher Jeff Granger set a SWC single-game strikeout record, nailing 21 K's against the Chaps to break the previous record of 19 held by A&M's Bruce Kaat and the University of Texas' Burt Hooton and Eric Stone. Granger's earlier strikeout high for the season was 10 against Southeastern Louisiana. Moore, who pitched in Saturday's win, said he scouted Granger's pitches on Fri day and described his performance as "awesome." "His slider was incredible," Moore said. "It was a great game to watch. I chart ed it (and) it was a great pleasure to be a part of it in that way," Moore said. Commenting on Granger's perfor mance, Johnson said the left-hander was in a groove, hitting the strike zone while throwing hard in the 90 mile-per-hour ige. 'jeff Granger was the biggest plus of pla\d bigge: _ the weekend - he just flat got hooked up. In the eighth inning he was throwing some 93's, and he was throwing that ear ly," Johnson said. "He's got good enough stuff that when that happens he's going to be dom inating — it didn't matter who we were hng." Respite A&M belting 16 runs to sup- f jort Granger, the pitcher didn't let up, al- owing only two hits in the shut-out. In Saturday's game, A&M's Moore got plenty of run support, too, after A&M batted around the order in the first two innings to spot Moore a 15-run lead. Lubbock Christian finally took starting pitcher Shane Jackson out of the game af ter more than an hour and a half, with the game still in the third inning and two outs against A&M. During the second inning when A&M sent 13 batters to the plate, Moore had to toss the ball in front of the A&M dugout to keep warm before taking the mound again. "You get in that groove, and then you have those long innings, and you kind of lose that adrenalin or whatever you had going," he said. However, Moore contributed to those long innings as a designated hitter, hit ting a three-run home run and run-scor ing single in his only at-bats before being lifted from his DH duties in the third by pinch-hitter John Curl. For the season, Moore upped both his games with a 8-0 pitching record and a .342 batting average. A&M third baseman Lee Fedora said the Chaps were a good team, but may have been short-handed against A&M. In mid-March, Lubbock Christian split a two-game series against A&M confer ence arch-rival Texas, losing 11-7 in the first game but winning 9-7 in the second. "I guess they were a little low on their pitching staff, but we hit the ball well. I See Strikeouts/Page 8 Monday - April 5 7:30 pm Tuesday - April 6 6:30 am 12:20 pm 7:30 pm Wednesday - April 7 12:20 pm 8:00 pm Thursday - April 8 12:13 pm 7:00 pm 7:00 pm 7:00 pm Friday - April 9 Kickoff Rally with Tom Nelson Men’s Bible Study with Tom Nelson Slow Motion football Wayne Watson/Wes King concert T-Shirt Day Dave’s Amazing Illusions Campus Worship Service with Louie Giglio Crucifixion Scene Corps Fellowship Banquet with Frank Cox “King of Kings” Easter Pagaent International “Jesus” Film Festival in English, Mandarin (Chinese) & Spanish A&M Methodist MSC Rm 201 Sbisa Lawn Rudder Aud. Sully Rudder Aud. 12:00 noon Celebration Rally with Frank Cox Rudder Fountain Brazos Center Bryan Civic Aud. Rudder Aud. 304, 510 & 601 MSC Flag Room 'Why do you look for the Living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen!” Luke 24:5-6 (deCe&iatituy featcb SEE EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION IN THIS ISSUE OF THE BATTALION FOR INFORMATION ABOUT CHRIST OR RESURRECTION WEEK CALL THE RESURRECTION WEEK HOTLINE AT 847-1950 OR COME TO OUR ACTIVITIES. This ;i<l is sponsored l>v contributions hr ;ire;t (.liristians, ()rgani/ations, and I ocal ( dm relics For a specific list o( which organi/.it ions have affiliated themselves with Resurrection Wee k call 847-1 ‘>50.