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The Battauun
igh rankings challenge Ags
By Jeremy Furtick
The Battalion
It has been a tough year for
Texas A&M. The struggles of the
football team
were just the
ck-off to
at has
en a
smal year
rA&M ath-
\ics. But sta
lled outside
sen Field is the
ng-forgotten
ndwagon prepar-
gto be bombard-
by victory-hun-
1 Aggies.
Jlhe Texas A&M
tseball Team is
)ised to make
lother run at
aiaha, Neb., and
e College World
ries. The
;gies, who fin-
bed last year
'ranked with a
•21 record,
ien this season
IthaNo.Brank-
fc by Baseball
ffierica.
■ Texas A&M
I ^ a d
Pseball
1° a c h
m
/ A
iffWJ-
) ** y
&** -
\w
Mark Johnson said it is
unusual for a team to
finish a season
unranked and start
the next in the top 10.
“Preseason rankings
usually come from
your team’s perfor
mance from the
previous year,’’
Johnson said. “Our
ranking says
something about
what we’ve done
in the off-season
to help our team.”
What the
Aggies have done
is bring Collegiate
Baseball’s No. 1
recruiting class to
College Station.
They also return
eight players who start
ed last season and reload a
pitching staff with two
starters coming off injuries.
Johnson said he expects
the 11-man recruiting class
to provide the team with
the talent needed to fill
holes and strengthen the
W pitching staff.
“Scott Sandusky, our only
junior college transfer, Casey
Possum, Steve Scarborough and
Sean Harvey are the new guys I
would highlight right now as play
ers who will probably see signifi
cant playing time,” Johnson said.
Sandusky will split time behind
the plate with junior Matt Garrick,
while Harvey is penciled in as third
baseman. Scarborough’s contribu
tion will revolve around his ability
to both pitch and play infield,
while Possum should step in as the
No. 2 or No. 3 starting pitcher.
“We lost some key people last
year,” Johnson said. “But we’ve
picked up some talented people to
take their spots.”
Returning to the field for the
Aggies are sophomore outfielder
Jason Tyner, senior short stop Rich
Petru, senior outfielder Johnny
Hunter, junior second baseman
Brian Benefield, sophomore
infielder Steve Leonard and senior
infielder Jason Stephens.
Tyner said the Aggie offense
should be strong again this year.
“We can hit one through nine in
our lineup,” Tyner said. “With so
many guys returning to this team,
we should just pick up where we
left off offensively last year.”
The Aggies hit .337 last year as a
team, and Johnson said they are
capable of putting up similar num
bers again this year.
“I would be surprised if we didn’t
hit real well this season,” Johnson
said. “With the majority of our guys
gaining a year of maturity, you would
expect some of them to repeat or
even improve on last year.”
See Aggies, Page 4
Pitching is the name of
the game in the Big 12
By Matt Mitchell
The Battalion
To use a phrase that has
become almost cliche in regard
to Texas A&M athletics, the Texas
A&M Baseball Team faces new
challenges and, for the most
part, new competition in its
inaugural season as a member of
the Big 12 Conference.
The Aggies’ move to a larger con
ference offers exciting possibilities
with the scheduling of fewer non
conference opponents to make
room for the Big 12’s talented core
of teams. Some coaches, including
A&M Head Coach Mark Johnson,
are not sure what to expect, aside
from good competition.
For the Aggies, picked by many to
win the Big 12, the question is who
that competition will consist of.
“Just history will tell you that
Oklahoma State is going to be in the
hunt,” Johnson said. “Missouri had
a great season last year and I think
they have all nine starters back. I
think Baylor’s got a good team back.
“Texas Tech is a team that’s
interesting in that they have their
pitchers back, but they have all
new position players, so if they
can come in and play, then
they’re going to be a good team.”
See Big 12, Page 4
How the Big 12
ranks in the Top 25
Rank Team
Points
1
Florida St.
489
2
UCLA
488
3
Florida
487
4
use
484
5
Rice
480
6
Cal. St. Fullerton
478
7
Mississippi St.
478
8
Louisiana St.
475
9
Georgia Tech
472
10
Stanford
469
11
Arizona St.
468
12
Wichita St.
460
13
Miami, Fla.
459
14
Texas A&M
457
15
Alabama
454
16
Tennessee
452
17
Clemson
450
18
Auburn
448
19
Cal. St. Northridge 445
20
Tulane
442
21
South Florida
440
22
Oklahoma St.
439
23
Texas
437
24
Missouri
436
25
South Carolina
431
'Source: Collegiate Baseball
Bold denotes Big 12 schools
Records reflected through games of
Feb. 16.