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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 1995)
Wednesday • April 12, 1995 The Battalion • Page 7 Strength of team not in scheduling Sportswriter W hen it comes to ac tively supporting a college football pro gram, the Texas A&M athlet ic department is one of the best. The program provides the Aggie football team with a top-notch playing facility in Kyle Field and state-of-the- art training facilities and equipment. The department also goes out of its way to hire the brightest coaching minds the game has to offer. The team gets the best of almost everything. But in recent years, the braintrust in the A&M athlet ic department has not done the team any favors when it comes to formulating a decent non-conference schedule. This year is no exception. As one of the top national championship contenders for this season, the Aggies won’t be picking up any points from pollsters for strength of schedule. As if playing in the lame- duck Southwest Conference wasn’t punishment enough, A&M won’t have enough sol id non-SWC teams to match up against either. The Aggies had better hope they receive a high preseason ranking, because it’s going to be difficult to See Schedule, Page 8 Curl putting punch into the lineup □ The first baseman/ designated hitter leads the team in batting average and home runs. By Robert Rodriguez The Battalion Opposing pitchers have trou ble trying to pitch against the mostly right-handed Texas A&M line-up. Things don’t get much better when left-handed senior first baseman John Curl steps into the batter’s box. Curl leads the team with 10 home runs and has the highest batting average at .396 despite being in the shadows of some of the Aggies’ more prolific hitters. He said he attributes his suc cessful season to one thing. “Being in the weight room, that is what has helped me,” Curl said. “The weight room has kept me from getting so tired and it gets me up.” Baseball America magazine tabbed Curl as the first baseman to watch in the Southwest Con ference. However, he said there is no additional pressure placed on him because of the selection. “I don’t really have any pressures,” Curl said. “Last year, I had more pressure on me (it) being my junior year and with the major league draft. This year, I just want to win, and I don’t really look at stats, just wins and losses.” Curl said helping the team win is his main goal for this year. “I just want to win,” Curl said. “This is my last year, and I want to go out with a Southwest Conference ring and possibly go to Omaha.” Curl came to A&M from Lo- gansport High School in Indi ana, where he was a three-time All-State selection. He helped his team to the state title in his senior year and during his ju- See Curl, Page 8 Stew Milne/THt Battalion First baseman/designated hitter John Curl swings for the fences against Cal-State Northridge. He leads the team with 10 home runs. Aggies down SWSTU, 5-0 Q Five Aggie pitchers combine for a shutout as the team wins their tenth straight. By Tom Day The Battalion Riding its new-found wave of momentum, the Aggie baseball team continued its winning ways Tuesday night defeating Southwest Texas State 5-0 at Olsen Field. Five Aggie pitchers combined to scatter five hits and shutout SWT for the team’s 10th win in a row. Starting pitcher Dean Mitchell was in a comfort zone early as the Aggie hit ters put all five of the game’s runs on the board in the first three innings. Ju nior first baseman Jeff Bai ley hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first to start the scoring. “It takes a lot of the pres sure off when the offense goes out there and puts a couple of runs on the board early,” Mitchell said. “There’s a lot more confi dence on the field.” “Dean Mitchell gave us a great start, and Jeff gave us a real spark right off the bat,” A&M head coach Mark John son said. “It’s almost a cinch for any ball club (to win) if your pitcher goes out and con trols early and someone bangs one out of the yard. “Everybody gets excited about playing.” The Aggies used an RBI See Baseball, Page 8 Trail Blazers snap Spurs’ streak □ ^an Antonio sets some unprestigious records while shooting a dismal 31 percent. SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs set fran chise lows in scoring and shooting Tuesday night and had their 15-game winning streak snapped by the Port land Trail Blazers, 91-71. The points were a fran chise low for a game as was the Spurs’ 31 percent shoot ing and 23 field goals. Clifford Robinson had 23 points for the Trail Blazers, who took a 64-48 lead after three quarters, outscoring San Antonio 22-10 in the third period. It was the lowest scoring quarter for the Spurs this season. The 15-game winning streak was a franchise record for San Antonio and was the longest in the NBA this season. David Robinson led the Spurs with 21 points and 12 rebounds, but the All-Star center was only 6-of-23 from the field. Sean Elliott added 15 points for the Spurs and Avery Johnson had 11. Despite the victory, the Trail Blazers shot only 41 percent from the field. Otis Thorpe scored 16 points and had 10 re bounds for Portland, while Har vey Grant added 12 points. Portland led 24-19 at the end of the first quarter and held a 37-26 lead midway through the second. But a 10-4 run keyed by Johnson’s seven points to end the half pulled San Antonio within 42-38. San Antonio’s 38 points at halftime were a season low, but the bad night got worse. The Spurs are still awaiting the return of forward Dennis Rodman, who has missed 13 games since separating his right shoulder March 19 in a motorcycle accident. Rod- man did not participate in the team’s shootaround Tuesday because of an eye infection. Rodman sat in street clothes on the bench Tuesday night, wearing his familiar dark sunglasses. David Robinson led the Spurs with 21 points and 12 re bounds, but the All-Star center was only 6-of-23 from the field. Sean Elliott added 15 points for the Spurs and Avery Johnson had 11. Rockets cannot keep up with Mavericks in 20T □ Jason Kidd scores his third triple-double in a week and a half. HOUSTON (AP) — The Dal las Mavericks rallied behind Ja son Kidd’s third triple-double in five games to beat the Houston Rockets 156-147 in double over time Tuesday night. Kidd, who finished with 38 points, hit three 3-point baskets in the final 55 seconds of the first overtime, and Jamal Mash- bum had seven of his 42 points in the second overtime. Kidd, who had 11 rebounds and 10 assists, also had triple doubles on April 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers and April 8 against Minnesota. The Rockets, led by Clyde Drexler and Kenny Smith with 29 points each, took a 147-146 lead with 2:32 left in the second overtime but didn’t score anoth er point. The Rockets built a 139-128 lead in the first overtime, but Kidd forced the second extra pe riod with an off-balance 3-point- er with 2.5 seconds to go. Houston led most of the game and took an 85-73 lead into the fourth quarter. But the Maver icks turned to their perimeter game and got back into the game hitting three straight from long range. The Mavericks took the lead at 99-96 with 4:58 to play in reg ulation as the Rockets scored only two points in 3:06. Houston trailed 119-116 when Sam Cassell hit a 3-point basket with 1.9 seconds to play, forcing the first overtime. Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon and Vernon Maxwell sat out for the eighth consecutive game while getting treatment for iron- deficiency anemia. SPORTS Softball team takes two against SWTSU The Texas A&M softball team reached the 20-win mark by defeating Southwest Texas State 6- 1 and 3-2 at the Lady Aggie Softball Complex Tuesday. “All in all, we played well today,” A&M coach Bob Brock said. “It was nice to play at home, and anytime we can get two wins, we are happy about it. We don’t care who we are playing.” Strong starting pitching was the key in both victories as both Erin Field and Heather Hayden pitched complete games for the Lady Aggies. The Bobcats fell to 12-26 on the season. The Lady Aggies return to play on Friday when they travel to Tennessee to play in the three-day Chattanooga Tournament. Women’s tennis team to face #2 UT The Texas A&M women’s tennis team blanked Baylor 9-0 Tuesday in Waco, setting up a match with second- ranked Texas Saturday for a share of the Southwest Conference title. The Lady Aggies improved to 10- 10 overall and 5- 1 in the SWC. Texas is 17-2 overall and undefeated at 6- 0 in the conference. “One of our goals was to be playing for the SWC title, and we did that today, “ Lady Aggie coach Bobby Kleinecke said. “This was a very big victory for us. This is the second straight year that we’re playing for a share of the title.” A&M’s Omar Smith Tennis Center will be the site of the 1995 SWC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships April 21-23. Dreyer paces men’s golf team to fifth The Texas A&M men’s golf team used a round of 310 to finish fifth in the 40th All-American Intercollegiate Invitational Tuesday in Richmond. The highest individual finisher for the Aggies was Ryan Dreyer who finished with a score of 226 over the three-round tournament. Also placing in the top 25 finishers for A&M were Dru Fenimore who tied for 19th and Anthony Rodriguez who tied for 24th. The tournament, which was attended by 16 schools and hosted by the University of Houston, was won by Louisiana State University. Women’s polo team wins national finals The Texas A&M Polo Club women’s team won the finals of the National competition on April 8. They defeated the University of Connecticut 17-13 to win the title. The men’s team also was in the finals of their competition, but lost 19-17 to the University of Virginia. Kristy Waters and Abi Able were named to the women’s All-American team and Shane and Kevin Ceventry were named All-Americans from the men’s team. It was the first time both the men’s and women’s teams have made the finals at the Nationals at the same time. r Come join the... 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