The Battalion • Page
Tuesday • May 2, 1995
Just a stroll
in the park
for Curl,
Alexander
Robert
Rodriguez
Sportswriter
After watching the Texas-
Texas A&M baseball games
this weekend, I had to won
der if the TV Guide was
right. Was this a baseball
game or Home Run Derby?
In the series, Aggie hitters
knocked nine home runs and
eight of those went out of the
“friendly confines” of Disch-
Falk Field. Four of those
home runs came off the bat of
senior John Curl, including
three in Saturday’s 16-11
loss. Two of them were hit by
juniors Chad Alexander and
Jason Stephens, and a homer
by freshman Matt Garrick.
After seeing their perfor
mance, I had to make a plea
concerning both Curl and
Alexander and their bright fu
tures that’s ahead for them.
Curl is a perfect example
of just how much hard work
and dedication can lead a per
son to succeed. After an “off
year” last season. Curl decid
ed to hit the weight room and
get stronger. Not only has his
batting numbers increased
dramatically, but his amateur
baseball draft stock must
have increased as well.
Curl has one of the sweet
est swings in baseball. In my
opinion, he joins Will Clark of
the Texas Rangers and Uni
versity of Texas freshman Kip
Harkrider in the smoothest
swing department. Also, the
weight room has given Curl
that “Jose Canseco-like pow
er” that major league scouts
should notice.
In the game Saturday the
Longhorn pitchers tried to
pitch Curl in every possible
way. But when those pitchers
made one mistake. Curl
jumped all over it and hit the
ball in almost the same exact
spot over the fence.
If the U-Haul that was
parked behind the right-cen
ter field fence was two more
feet to the left, the target
someone made would have
had some bulls-eyes on it,
courtesy of Curl.
Curl has a promising fu
ture ahead of him in the orga
nization which snatches him
in the draft. He belongs in the
top 10 rounds of the draft be
cause of his bat. Hopefully,
Curl will lead the Aggies to a
Southwest Conference cham
pionship and a berth in the
College World Series.
Alexander is another play
er who will be a key in lead
ing the Aggies to a SWC
crown and a CWS berth.
However, Alexander’s will
have a major decision to face
once June comes around.
Since he is a junior,
Alexander will be eligible for
the baseball draft and he is
expected to be picked in the
early-to-middle rounds. After
a solid performance in both
hitting and fielding, Alexan
der’s stock should have gone
up throughout this season.
As an opponent of mine in
the Bi-District playoffs of my
See Rodriguez, Page 10
Womens golf team
to hit Scottish links
□ The Rangers manager
is back after asking off
to be with his wife.
ARLINGTON (AP) — Johnny
Oates returned from a leave of
absence four days earlier than
planned Monday night and man
aged his first regular-season
game for the Texas Rangers.
The 49-year-old manager left
the Rangers during spring train
ing to be with his wife, Gloria,
who was suffering from exhaus
tion. He was granted a leave of
absence of up to two weeks.
The Rangers won two of their
first five games under interim
manager Jerry Narron.
Oates was expected to join the
team at Oakland on May 5 for
the start of a seven-game road
trip. But Oates said his wife re
covered faster than anticipated
and the family agreed that he
should return to his job.
“Things on the home front are
much better,” Oates said prior to
Monday’s game against Seattle.
“Now I can devote 100 percent to
baseball. I don’t foresee missing
a beat. That’s the reason we took
two weeks, so that when I came
back everything would be okay.
I’m here with the intention of
staying, hopefully for a long
time.”
Oates, who managed the Bal-
□ While playing on
some of the best
courses, the Lady Aggie
team will also get
valuable experience.
By Kristina Buffin
The Battalion
The Texas A&M women’s golf
team has the opportunity to
travel abroad this summer and
play on some of Scotland’s best
golf courses. On August 14 the
team will travel to Scotland to
compete at St. Andrews,
Carnoustie, Crail, Letham
Grange, Blaingowrie and maybe
Glen Eagle courses.
“We will be playing four ball
matches against the course’s
teams,” coach Jeanne Suther
land said. “It will be a different
type of competition. Instead of
match play it’ll be stroke play so
we will play head to head. It’ll
be good for golf and help our
competitive nature.”
According to NCAA regula
tions, a team is allowed to travel
abroad for tournament play once
every four years. Playing in a
tournament like this will give
the Lady Aggies extra practice
and experience for next season.
“It will give us a good start to
next season,” junior Kristina Ed-
fors said. “It will give us the op
portunity to play on a variety of
courses. It will only make us
better. Scotland will give us
more experience in our game.”
The Lady Aggies goal is to
raise $20,000 to make the trip.
They are only $3,000 away from
their goal. The money being
raised has mostly come from for
mer Aggies all over the country.
“Having a good season has
helped in the fund raising,”
Sutherland said. “Our better
play has made more people in
the community follow us. It is
amazing how supportive Ags
are. We’ve even had a (Universi
ty of) Texas player’s father do
nate money.”
The Lady Aggies are looking
at this as an opportunity to not
only compete in the internation
al arena but to have fun as well.
“We will get to see where golf
has originated,” Jamie Hullett
said. “The traditions and original
courses that we see on TV now
we will be able to see in person.”
For a lot of the golfers this
will be the first time that they
will travel out of the country.
Although the Lady Aggies will
be there to compete, they are
also looking at this trip as an
opportunity to see places other
than Texas.
“I think golf has given us an
opportunity to travel and see
places that other sports do not
have the opportunity to see,”
Hullett said. “Some other ath
letes and teams only get to trav
el as far as Oklahoma.”
The Lady Aggies are looking
forward to playing at St. An
drews and Glen Eagle because
of the prestige that the two
courses have.
See Golf, Page 1 0
Photo courtesy of A&M Sports Information
Using a little body english, junior Kristina Edfors follows her putt as
it approaches the hole. She and the other members of the Lady Ag
gie golf team will travel abroad to play some of Scotland’s best
courses this summer.
Oates returns from leave of absence
timore Orioles from 1991-94,
said his bosses were understand
ing of the importance that he
placed on his family’s well-being.
she is better. “I feel much better
now because of it. I’m thankful
to the whole organization for
their support.’
“You have to do what you
have to do and I’m glad I did
what I did,” said Oates, who has
refused to elaborate on his wife’s
condition other than to say that
Oates said he was
only able to see one
of the five games he
missed: the Rangers’
8-6 opening day loss
to the New York
Yankees.
“I talked • with
„ _ Jerry every day and
lexas Rangers manager Doug almost every
day,” Oates said. “As
far as managing the ballclub, I
"You have to do what you have
to do and I'm glad I did what I
did."
—Johnny Oates
thought Jerry did an outstand
ing job. I thought the team
played hard for him. They’ve
been in fouV of the five games.”
Women’s golf team
gets Regional bid
The No. 18 Texas A&M women’s
golf team received a bid to the West
Region Championship yesterday. The
Aggies along with 19 other teams will *
compete for a trip to the NCAA
Championship scheduled for May 11- . j
13 in Tucson.
Seven teams from the East
Regional and 11 teams from West will !
advance to the NCAA Championship,
which begins May 24-27 in
Wilmington, N.C.
“We expected to receive a bid, and
we are pleased that we got one,”
coach Jeanne Sutherland said.
“Arizona State, Stanford, San Jose
State and Tulsa are very strong
contenders, but I think we can play |
with all of the teams out there.
“It’s going to take really low scores
to advance to the NCAA'i
Championship. We’ll have to shoot
three rounds around 290 to qualify. If
we don’t break 300, we’ll have no
shot at going.”
The Aggies last trip to the West
Region was in 1993 when they placed
17th. A&M will be seeking its first
NCAA Championship appearance
since 1985 when the Aggies placed |
10th.
Curl named national
Player of the Week
Texas A&M first baseman John
Curl was one of four players named
to the Mizuno’s National Players of
the Week. In four games. Curl belted
four home runs with 10 RBI, three
doubles and scored eight runs. He
collected nine hits in 15 at bats with
seven hits being for extra bases. He
was also walked five times (three
intentionally).
Astros’ May 12 game
officially a ‘give-out’
HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston
Astros announced Monday that no
tickets remain for the May 12 game
against the Philadelphia Phillies. All
tickets were given away.
The May 12-14 three-game series
with the Phillies has been designated
“Fan Appreciation” and “Turn Back
the Clock” weekend. The players will
be wearing the “shooting star”
uniform worn during the inaugural
season 30 years ago and fans will be
treated to T-shirt giveaways.
Several thousand fans waited for
the free tickets outside the Astrodome
Monday morning. The last ones were
distributed by 3 p.m.
Fans will have another opportunity
to pick up free tickets when the Astros
play the New York Mets on May 16 7
18. Beginning at 10 a.m. on the day of
each game, all 3,400 Pavilion tickets
will be given away on a first-come,
first-served basis at the Astrodome
box office. The limit is four tickets per
person.
Order your Olympic tickets now
□ Thousands line up
for order forms for
tickets to the 1996
Olympic Games.
ATLANTA (AP) — Thou
sands of people, some in At
lanta lining up before dawn,
turned out Monday to be among
the first to order tickets to the
1996 Summer Olympics.
“I figure it’s a once-in-a-life-
time chance,” said Gabe Owens,
a student at Emory University
who was among about 150 peo
ple standing in line at a subur
ban Atlanta grocery when book
lets containing ticket order
forms were released at 6 a.m.
“They told me a lot of people
were going to be here, and I did
n’t want to miss out,” he said.
Lines ranging from 25 people
to 400 were reported at Atlanta
area Kroger and Home Depot
stores, where the first brochures
were distributed. A total of about
36 million brochures were to be
distributed at more than 15,000
outlets across the country, includ
ing Home Depots and groceries
that sell Coca-Cola, on Monday.
However, for some would-be
ticket buyers it may be a few days
before they get a chance to order
tickets. Spot checks across the
country found that some stores
listed as distribution points in
Oregon, Indiana, Kentucky and
North Carolina did not have the
brochures available.
Mark Pygot, manager of a
Food Lion in Raleigh, N.C., said
he hoped to receive the booklets
from a Coke bottler later this
week. “We’ve been getting many
calls for them. It’s been generat
ing a lot of excitement,” he said.
In most places, however, the
rush for ticket books was for
many people the first real event
of the 1996 Atlanta Games. Now
the waiting begins — ticket or
ders won’t be con
firmed until Septem
ber.
“We’re beggars
and we can’t be
choosy,” said Bill
Geddes. “I’d like to
just see part of the
Olympics.”
Some people said
they were afraid
they would not be able to get
tickets to the most popular
events.
“I think we have a 50-50
chance of getting tickets,” said
Sherm Tratten of Moultonboro,
N.H.
"We're beggars and we can't be
choosy. I'd just like to see part
of the Olympics."
— Bill Geddes
hopeful ticket holder
Collegiate Baseball Top 20
The top 20 teams in the Collegiate Baseball poll, with
records through April 30, point totals and previous ranking
(voting by coaches, sports writers and sports information di
rectors):
Record
1. Florida State
38-9
2. Auburn
42-6
3. Clemson
44-7
4. Cal. St.-Fullerton
41-9
5. Oklahoma
33-11
6. Southern California
36-17
7. Louisiana State
38-10
8. Tennessee
37-11
9. Wichita State
39-12
10. Florida Inti.
46-7
11. Miami,Fla.
34-12
12. Fresno St.
36-15
13. Central Florida
43-10
14. Oklahoma St.
36-13
15. Texas Tech
41-11
16. Rice
37-14
17. Alabama
31-17
18. Texas
41-14
19. Texas A&M
35-17-1
20. Mississippi
32-15
FREE
MONEY
For programming a campus-wide
International Awareness Program for the
95-96 school year
Open to all International Student Groups
and Academic Departments
Sponsored by the Enrichment Fund of the L. T. Jordan
Institute for International Awareness, 845-8770
Pick up applications in
MSC RM 223 F
Due: Fri. May 12, 5p.m.
One thing true Aggies shouldn’t be withou
1/
1996 Aggieland
O RDER YOUR COPY of one of A&M’s most beloved traditions when you reg
ister for fall classes. Don’t miss the. chance to own the nation’s largest
yearbook — an £>04-page record of the 1995-90 Texas A&M school year.
Simply select fee option 10. Just $30 + tax.