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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1994)
_p, | ft 1 'C .ft - ^ 111 I r !s ' N 1 ; ? 3 KJ .v- 3 i ; Monday, February 14. 1994 The Battalion • A&M Baseball *5 standard Texas* coach needs 32 wins to break record By Kristine Ramirez The Battalion The Southwest Conference will witness another milestone this season when University of Texas head coach Cliff Gustafson breaks the all-time win record in college baseball. The Texas coach needed only 32 wins to become the all-time winningest coach in college baseball history. And the Longhorns are cur rently 6-0 this season. Gustafson has a record of 1,301-309-2 in his 26 years at Texas. The legendary Southern California Coach Rod Dedeaux had the record of 1332-571-11 in his 45 years. Gustafson said he's not con cerned about breaking the mark. "That's not a big concern of mine. Tm concerned about hav ing a good team," he said. Gustafson said he does not consider himself in the caliber of Rod Dedeaux. "1 have so much respect and awe for what he has accom plished," he said. "He has no peers and never will." He said he never expected to come close to breaking the record. "It never occurred to me that this would happen on a colle giate level, I just hoped to have a job for a while," he said. In his 26 years as head coach, he has won two national cham pionships (1974 and 1983), been to the College World Series 17 times, participated in the NCAA playoffs 24 times, won 21 SWC regular-season titles (19 out right) and won the SWC post season tournament 10 times in the 16 years the tournament has been played. Gustafson was was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame in 1992. He attended the University of Texas and said he is happy to live in the Austin area. Gustafson also said he never wanted to coach on the profes sion level because of he never wanted to travel. "I've been happy," he explains. "This is the place I wanted to raise my family." Gustafson credits his prede cessors for creating a tradition of baseball excellence at Texas. "Texas' success is not some thing I started," he said. " It started in 1910 when they hired Billy Disch." Bibb Falk during the next 25 years as head coach continued the winning tradition. Gustafson said he hopes to make a run this season for his 22 SWC title and 25 NCAA playoffs. "We hope to have a good winning record and make a bid for the SWC title." He said Texas A&M is a front runner in the SWC race. Gustafson has a record of 1,301-309-2 in his 26 years at Texas. The leg endary Southern California Coach Rod Dedeaux had a record of 1332-571- 11 in his 45 years. "A&M was chosen by the me dia to be the favorite and I think that is a deserved ranking," he said. "Texas will be a con tender. "I don't know how strong. It would be difficult to rank any one low." He said Rice and Texas Chris tian will have strong teams and Baylor will bring back the nu cleus that won the SWC tourna ment. Gustafson ranks the top three in the conference as A&M, Texas and Rice. Gustafson said he was con cerned with the future of the Southwest Conference especially with recent rumors of a possible merger with Big Eight confer ence. "I have a concern with that," Gustafson said. " I hate to see it happen. We have a very fine baseball conference. "I personally would like to see the SWC baseball conference to remain intact." Triple Crown Sportscards •Sportcards •Collector’s Supplies •Posters 'Autographed Plaques All the latest products! Culpepper Plaza (Next to Hastings) Mon.-Sat.11-8 p.m. Sun. 12-5 p.m. 696-1768