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TUESDAY
April 16, 1996
Sports
Page 7
sports
GLANCE
Tech plummets, UT
vaults in latest poll
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Top 25
teams in the Collegiate Baseball
poll, with records through April 14
(voting by coaches, sports writers
and sports information directors):
1. Cal-St. Fullerton
Record
36-4
2. USC
31-9-1
3. Wichita State
27-5
4. Florida
31-10
5. Louisiana State
33-8
6. Miami,Fla.
29-7
7. Florida State
33-8
8. Clemson
33-7
9. Texas
30-13
10. South Florida
32-9
11. Alabama
29-12
12. Texas Tech
36-9
13. UCLA
23-15
14. Georgia Tech
25-12
15. Cal.-Northridge
37-10
16. Tennessee
23-12
17. North Carolina St.
32-10
18. Georgia Southern
32-8
19. Mississippi St.
24-12
20. Stanford
23-17
21. Arizona St.
27-16
22. Missouri
26-11
23. Oklahoma St.
26-12
24. Arkansas
31-10
25. Long Beach St.
26-15
Johnson to miss three
games for ref bump
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) —
Magic Johnson, who recently criti
cized teammates for irresponsible be
havior, was suspended for three
games and fined $10,000 Monday for
bumping a referee in the Los Angeles
Lakers' game a day earlier.
Johnson will sit out games at Dal
las on Tuesday night, at San Antonio
on Thursday night and at home
against Minnesota on Saturday night.
He will be eligible to play again in
the regular-season finale at Portland.
“\ accept the league's fine and
suspension and I want all the fans, the
media, and everyone associated with
the Lakers to know that my actions
were unprofessional and wrong,"
Johnson said in a statement issued by
'the Lakers before he left for Dallas
with the team.
"I apologize to Scott Foster, to all the
referees, and to the league and I hope
they know, as I do, that the incident was
accidental and that I respect them in
their professionalism in what is a very
difficult job. "
SCORES ROUNDUP
NL
Cincinnati at Chicago (n)
Cardinals 6, Pirates 4
San Diego at Colorado (n)
NBA
Knicks 1 25, Raptors 79
Heat 110, Nets 90
Indiana 90, Charlotte 87
Seattle 112, Houston 106
Sacramento 90, Denver 86
San Antonio at Portland (n)
AL
Cleveland 8, E^oston 0
Toronto 8, Detroit 2
Chicago 11, Kansas City 10
Oakland 8, Texas 3
California at Seattle, (n)
Petru won’t stop short of perfection
Dave House, The Battalion
Texas A&M shortstop Rich Petru awaits anything hit his way in the infield of Olsen Field during a recent
game. Petru has stepped into former All-SWC performer Robert Harris' shoes easily this season.
By Lisa Nance
The Battalion
When on the baseball field,
junior shortstop Rich Petru
gives new meaning to the game
of hardball.
“I try to play hard every
night,” Petru said. “If I had to
pick something that people in
the stands or my teammates
thought of me, it would be that
I play hard. Whether or not I
win the game with a home run
or go 0-for-4, I’d want them to
know that I played hard and
gave it my all on every play. I
feel like I am playing with
heart and praying hard.
“I like the overall competi
tion,” Petru said. “I like to com
pete, and I like to get out there
and lay it all on the line and see
what happens. Baseball is a
hard game because it can break
your heart, and that’s what they
say it was meant to do.”
Petru hasn’t seen that many
heartbreaks in his career as an
Aggie. This season he is hitting
.351 and has three home runs.
He has started 37 of 39 games
and has 34 runs batted in.
In his sophomore season, he
started 25 games at second
base, two at shortstop and two
at third base. He started the fi
nal four games of the NCAA
"That's the mark I want to leave, that of playing
hard and playing with a lot of heart."
— RICH PETRU
Texas A&M junior shortstop
“That’s the mark I want to
leave, that of playing hard and
playing with a lot of heart.”
Petru’s hard work and heart
are already established with
his teammates. Senior second
baseman Paul Barber said that
he has definitely made his
mark defensively.
“What makes him stand out
in my mind when I’m out there
with him is some of the defen
sive plays he’s made this year,”
Barber said. “They’ve just been
incredible. There are plays that
he gets to and I’m thinking
‘Don’t throw it, don’t throw it,
there is no way,’ and the next
thing you know, he’s got them by
a step and I’m thinking, ‘Wow,
how’d he make that play?’”
Petru is motivated to do his best
by the competition of the game.
regional tournament, turning
in solid defensive performances
in all games.
His freshman year, he started
the very first game of the season
at second base and stayed at
that position for 44 games, start
ing in 41 of those. He had three
home runs as a freshman and
had a season-high, six-game hit
ting streak.
But along with the good come
the heartbreaks at times. Petru
remembers last season’s region
al tournament as the highlight
and the biggest heartbreak of
his career as an Aggie.
“Over the past three years, the
highlight was last year, getting to
the regional in Miami,” Petru
said. “It was also the worst time,
See Petru, Page 9
Wins = Postseason
Ags need to stay hot for continued play
Stew Milne, The Battalion
A&M second baseman Brian Benefield hits the deck
while shortstop Rich Petru relays the ball to first.
By Lisa Nance
The Battalion
After a three-game
sweep over the Horn-ed
Frogs of Texas Christian
University, the Texas Ag
gie Baseball team will
play a nonconference
game against the Bear-
kats of Sam Houston
State tonight at Olsen
Field.
The Aggies improved
their record to 30-14 and
8-7 in SWC action after
defeating TCU in all three
games of a weekend series
at home. They bring a
five-game winning streak
with them into tonight’s
game against the Bear-
kats, who are 21-22 in the
season and 12-9 in South
land Conference play.
SHSU enters tonight’s
game after taking two of
three from Southwest
Texas State this past
weekend in San Marcos.
The Aggies are at the
end of their schedule, and
wins are crucial if they
want to see postseason ac
tion. Paul Barber,
tonight’s probable starter
for A&M, said that in or
der for the Aggies to win,
they will have to continue
to play at the level they
reached over the weekend.
“We’re going to have to
keep what we’re doing
right now and take it on
across the line,” Barber
said. “Right now, we’re
playing well. Our pitch
ing is going well and’our
hitters are hitting the
ball well. We’ve got to
keep that up.
The Aggies are 56-31-1
against SHSU, and have
faced the Bearkats twice
this season. Sam Houston
won the first meeting at
home, 9-8 on a home run
from Ryan Rosplock in
the bottom of the ninth
inning. The Aggies won
the last meeting 17-6 at
Olsen Field.
The Aggies posted
three solid wins over TCU
See Baseball, Page 9
The one that got away:
The White Shark’s agony
Philip
Leone
Sportswriter
ii
H e’s tall, tanned and Aus
tralian. I’m a short, red
necked Italian-Texan.
He has seven Ferraris, a
handful of Suburbans and a he
licopter. I drive an ’88 Dodge
pickup with a bad paint job and
a droopy headliner.
He’s the No.l golfer in the
world. My best score is a 103
on the municipal course back
home.
He’s known as the “Shark.” I’m
known as ... I’d rather not say.
This may come as a shock,
but Greg Norman and I have
absolutely nothing in common
— except, of course, for a mutu
al aversion to the color green.
I won’t eat spinach or broc
coli or asparagus. Greg, on the
other hand, is a bit more ex
treme. He even went so far as
to blow a six-shot lead in the fi-
-nal round of the Masters on
Sunday just to make sure he
wouldn’t have to wear the fa
bled green jacket.
My excuse for Norman is as
lame as his self-destructing 78
that grabbed defeat from the
jaws of victory and let his bud
dy, Nick Faldo, walk away
with his third Masters cham
pionship.
For Norman, what was sup
posed to be a Sunday stroll to
ward glory turned into the
longest four hours of his career.
For those of us who viewed his
struggle on television, it was
like watching one of those
Faces of Death movies — we
were disgusted, we felt bad for
him, we wanted to look away,
but morbid fascination would
n’t let us.
Not only did Norman give
the tournament away, but he
also enhanced his reputation as
being golfs version of the Buf
falo Bills, the guy who’s aces
See Leone, Page 9
D.
THE FINAL ROAD TRIP
DESTINATION AGGIELAND
DATE
EVENT
PLACE
TIME
APRIL 23RD
PARTY ON THE PATIO
WINGS N’ MORE
Across from campus
7-10 P.M.
APRIL 24TH
OLD ARMY YELL
RUDDER FOUNTAIN
6:30 P.M.
APRIL 25TH
SENIOR BASH
TEXAS HALL OF FAME
8 P.M. - 1 A.M.
APRIL 27TH
SENIOR BANQUET
HILTON HOTEL
6-8 P.M.
RING DANCE
MSC & RUDDER
9 P.M. - 1 A.M.
*7cc6et coil $45-1234