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