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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1995)
Wednesday • May 3, 1995 Sports Ticker SWC Baseball Southwest Conference baseball standings through games of May 1: xConf Pet. Overall Pet. Rice 13-8 .619 37-14 .725 Texas A&M 13-8 .619 35-17-1 .673 Texas Tech 12-8 .600 41-11 .788 Texas 14-10 .583 41-14 .745 TCU 10-11 .476 26-25 .510 Baylor 7-13 .350 25-24 .510 Houston 5-16 .238 24-27 .471 Major League Baseball National League East Division W L Pet. GB Atlanta 5 1 .833 — Montreal 4 2 .667 1 Philadelphia 3 2 .600 1 1/2 New York 2 4 .333 3 Florida 1 5 .167 4 Central Division W L Pet. GB Chicago ' 4 2 .667 — Houston 3 3 .500 1 St. Louis 3 4 .429 1 1/2 Pittsburgh 2 4 .333 2 Cincinnati 0 6 .000 4 West Division W L Pet. GB Colorado 6 1 .857 — San Diego 4 3 .571 2 San Francisco 4 3 .571 2 Los Angeles 3 4 .429 3 Tuesday’s Games San Francisco 4, Los Angeles 3, 15 inn. Atlanta 7, Florida 1 Montreal 9, New York 6 Philadelphia 6, Cincinnati 0 Houston 5, Chicago 2 Pittsburgh 7, St. Louis 6 Colorado 6, San Diego 5, 11 innings Wednesday’s Games Pittsburgh (Loaiza 1-0) at St. Louis (Watson 0-0), 1:35 p.m. Houston (Reynolds 0-1) at Chicago (Trachsel 0-0), 2:20 p.m. San Diego (Hamilton 0-0) at Colorado (Ritz 0-0), 3:05 p.m. Atlanta (Glavine 0-0) at Florida (Witt 0-1), 7:35 p.m. New York (Saberhagen 0-0) at Montreal (Martinez 1-0), 7:35 p.m. Philadelphia (West 1-0) at Cincinnati (Smiley 0-0), 7:35 p.m. Los Angeles (Astacio 0-0) at San Francisco (Leiter 1-0), 10:35 p.m. American League East Division W L Pet. GB Boston 4 2 .667 — New York 4 2 .667 — T oronto 4 3 .571 1/2 Baltimore 2 4 .333 2 Detroit 2 4 .333 2 Central Division W L Pet. GB Milwaukee 5 1 .833 — Cleveland 3 2 .600 1 1/2 Kansas City 3 2 .600 1 1/2 Minnesota 2 4 .333 3 Chicago 1 5 .167 4 West Division W L Pet. GB Seattle 5 1 .833 — California 3 3 .500 2 Oakland 2 4 .333 3 Texas 2 5 .286 3 1/2 Tuesday’s Games Late Games Not Included Cleveland 11, Detroit 1 Chicago at Toronto, (n) Boston 8, New York 0 Seattle 15 Texas 3 Kansas City 4, Minnesota 3 Oakland 2, California 0 Wednesday’s Games Cleveland at Detroit, 7:05 p.m. Chicago at Toronto, 7:35 p.m. Milwaukee at Baltimore, 7:35 p.m. Boston at New York, 7:35 p.m. Seattle at Texas, 8:05 p.m. Kansas City at Minnesota, 8:05 p.m. Oakland at California, 10:35 p.m. Lady Aggie tennis team weathers stormy 1995 The Battalion □ Finishing second in the SWC Tournament helped A&M regain confidence. By Tom Day The Battalion Like a wild roller coaster ride, the 1995 spring season was anything but smooth for the Lady Aggie tennis team. Mired in inconsistency throughout the season, the team hit every possible high and low in just three months. The team started 'the season off with a bang in February, sweeping North Texas 9-0 at the Omar Smith Tennis Center. However, follow-up losses to Louisiana State and Southern Methodist convinced the Lady Aggies that adjustments would have to be made if they were to mount a serious charge in the Southwest Confer ence race. “We started off (conference play) with a loss to SMU, but we caught ourselves and made the corrections we needed and got back on track,” A&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke said. “I was really proud of the way we bounced back.” Picking up a little momentum, the team won four consecutive dual matches, including key conference wins over Rice University and the University of Hous ton. However, the team faltered in mid- March, suffering tough setbacks to top 25 opponents Wake Forest and Tennessee on their way to losing five straight non-con ference matches. “Our biggest disappointment was non conference play,” Kleinecke said. “In March, we didn’t play as well as what we had set goals for. “We didn’t do what we needed to do and as a result, our ranking dropped.” The Lady Aggies finished the regular season winning five of their last eight dual matches, tying for second place in the conference. “The highlight of the season was the conference race as a whole,” Kleinecke said. “Finishing in second place after that (SMU) loss was a big feat.” Hosting the SWC Championships April 21-23, the Lady Aggies capped off their up-and-down season with impressive vic tories over Houston and Rice before losing to the University of Texas 5-0 in the final. Although the team finished the season with a 12-12 record, Kleinecke said the fi nal score was not indicative of the Lady Aggies effort against third-ranked Texas. “We competed well against Texas, they were just a little tough,” Kleinecke said. “We were closer to pulling those matches out than most people thought. “We had to play two matches in one day in bad weather, so we didn’t have any easy matches. I thought they handled themselves extremely well and did a great job.” Kleinecke said the play of Lady Aggie sophomore Julie Beahm was instrumen tal to the team’s spring success. “Julie was 17-6 in singles play in the spring and that was a big plus for us,” Kleinecke said. “She pulled us through a lot of holes. “Nancy (Dingwall) and Wilson (Pate) winning the conference at No.l doubles was big as well.” Although there were only two Lady Ag gies with winning singles records, Klei necke said his players backed each other up with key victories. “Julie and Monica Rebelled© had win ning records, but everybody else had a losing record in the singles,” Kleinecke said. “That meant even the players with losing records had to come through at other times to make up for the others. “The team pulled through where the individuals didn’t.” After finishing the year with a disap pointing No. 42 ranking, Kleinecke said the team will work hard in the next few months in preparation for next spring. “We’re not satisfied with (the ranking) at all and we’re dedicating ourselves to making sure we correct that next year,” Kleinecke said. “We need to work on some things this slimmer. “What we do in the summer and fall is going to determine our success next spring. We’re setting high goals again and there’s nothing but big expectations for us in the future.” Robyn Calioway/THE Battalion Senior Christine DiNardo smashes a backhand during a match in the SWC Tour nament April 21-23. The Lady Aggies finished second in the tournament. A&M splits with SWTSU Staff and Wire Reports The Texas A&M softball team staved off a potential non-win ning season Tuesday night by defeating Southwest Texas State 5-2 in the second game of a dou bleheader. The Lady Aggies concluded their regular season with a 29- 27 record, down from a 35-10 regular season mark last year. A winning season was in jeopardy when the game en tered the ninth inning with the score tied 2-2. But the Lady Ag gies put together a three-run rally in the top half of the ninth and junior pitcher Erin Field shut out SWTSU in the bottom of the inning to perserve the victory. The Lady Aggies were behind early in the game 2-0 as the Bob cats scored a run in the third and fourth innings. A&M tied the score however with two runs in the top of the sixth inning. As was her norm this season. Field went the distance, pitching nine innings, giving up nine hits but only one earned run while not issuing a walk. Field also spearheaded the of fensive attack for the Lady Ag gies, going 2-for-4 at the plate and driving in two runs. Also enjoying a big game at the plate for A&M was sopho more first baseman Mya Tru- elove, who went 3-for-5. In the first game of the dou bleheader, the Lady Aggie of fense simply could not get any thing started, losing 2-0 in a six- inning game. Home cookin’ spoils in playoffs I t is the rabid support, of 18,000 fans pulling for you. It is the energiz ing atmosphere that gets the adrenaline pumping and sets spirits soaring. It is the roar of the crowd that charges the home team up and intimidates the visitors. It is what every team desires but only the “lucky” teams obtain. It is the homecourt advantage. In the NBA, teams jockey throughout the 82-game regular season to attain this treasured homecourt edge for the playoffs. Once the second season begins, teams are expected to hold serve on their home floor, as a loss there would be tragic. Typically, in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the home team reigns supreme. This rang true last Thursday and Friday as the home team won the opening game in seven of the eight playoff series. But like last season, this is not a typical year in the NBA and what happened in Game 2 in several of these matchups was unlikely, yet more enter taining and better for the game. The top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, the Orlan do Magic, crushed the eighth- seeded Boston Celtics by 47 points in the opening game of that series. A 150 to 1 shot to win the NBA title, the Celtics laughed in the face of adversity and returned to the court two days later to hand the Magic a seven-point loss in Orlando. Suddenly more interest ing, the series now shifts to the hallowed confines of the Boston Garden, where a young Magic squad will have to stave off elimination by beating the Celtics at least once on their storied parquet floor. Last season, the Seattle Su- personics led the NBA with 63 regular season wins and had the homecourt: advantage through out the playoffs, until they met Denver. Down 0-2 in their first round series against highly fa vored Seattle, the eighth-seeded Nuggets dumped the over-confi dent Sonics flat on their faces. In one of the most unlikely comebacks in league history, Denver charged back for a 3-2 series victory. Supposedly on a mission, the Sonics are said to be hell-bent on advancing past the first round this season. In Game 1 of the se ries with Los Angeles, they ap peared motivated as they embar rassed the Lakers by 25. But the Sonics have stum bled once again, dropping Game 2 at home and Game 3 in L.A. and now find themselves on the brink of elimination. Does the homecourt really make that big of difference? Denver hoped so. Last night, the Nuggets fell against the pow erhouse San Antonio Spurs. Jeez, after last year you would have figured they had them right where they wanted them. That brings us to the Hous ton Rockets and Cleveland Cav aliers. The Rockets tied up their first-round series with the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City while the Cavs evened their se ries with the New York Knicks in the Big Apple. Notice that both victories were on the road. Last season in the Western Conference semi-finals, the Rockets had homecourt advan tage over the Phoenix Suns, yet lost the first two games at home. Instead of panicking or folding, the Rockets came back, won two games in Phoenix, and eventual ly became the World Champions. So if there is one thing the playoffs have taught us the last two years, it’s that a team’s homecourt advantage can be overcome. Coaches, players and fans constantly harp on the im portance of getting the home- court advantage in the playoffs. Yet it is becoming more ob vious that teams playing on the road are blocking out the noise and intimidation of the home fans and are just getting down to business and pulling out victories. The homecourt advantage is nice to have, but as recent play off results have shown, it can be blown out of proportion. What would be the point of sports in general if the team with the homecourt advantage always won? As NBA teams are finding out, there is always room for the underdog. Spurs take Nuggets, head to second round DENVER (AP) — In a game marred by flagrant and techni cal fouls, Sean Elliott hit a driving layup with 33 seconds left Tuesday as the San Anto nio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 99-95 to complete a three-game sweep in the best- of-5 playoff series. San Antonio, which overcame a ferocious fourth-quarter Den ver comeback, advanced to the second round of the NBA play offs, where they will meet the winner of the Seattle-Los Ange les Lakers series. After Elliott’s basket, Den ver’s Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf missed a desperate 20-foot shot, and the Nuggets fouled Avery Johnson, who hit one of two free throws with 9.9 seconds left. Denver got the rebound, but Reggie Williams passed up a 3- point shot with the Spurs lead ing 96-93 in favor of a Dikembe Mutombo dunk.Trailing by one, Denver fouled Elliott, who hit 14 of 16 free throws, with 2.7 sec onds left. Elliott made the first free throw and iced the game when he rebounded his own miss on the second shot. David Robinson and Johnson scored 24 points each to lead the Spurs, who beat Denver for the seventh straight time this season. Elliott finished with 18 points. Bryant Stith and Rodney Rogers scored 18 points each to lead five Nuggets in double figures. The Aggie Players Association Presents FREUDIAN ^ \ Saturday, May 6,1995 W* TO 1A n..JJ P- 7 & 10 p.m. Rudder Forum Ticket Prices: $3/person, $5/couple. Doors open 30 min. before the show. Get there early! FREE MONEY Pick up applications in MSC RM 223 F Due: Fri. May 12, 5p.m For programming a campus-wide International Awareness Program for the 95-96 school year i 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