aesday • February 10, 1998
The Battalion
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Lggies’ road to postseason begins today
ith a solid core of returning players and a strong group of freshmen, the Texas A&M Softball Team is in the Big 12 hunt
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JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion
or Tk'ina Solesbee and the Aggie Softball Team play at Southwest today.
By Robert Hollier
Staff writer
The Texas A&M Softball Team will take the field for the first time in the
1998 season when it travels to San Marcos to play a doubleheader against
Southwest Texas State today at 5 p.m.
The Aggies return eight players, including five starters, from last
year’s team that went 37-29 overall and finished fifth in the Big 12 with
a 7-9 conference record.
Led by second-year Coach Jo Evans, the Aggies are looking forward to a
season that could see them competing in postseason play.
“I’m really excited about getting started this season,” Evans said. “The
girls worked hard during the off-season to get into shape, and there was
improvement in every player. We are stronger and faster than ever.”
Topping the list of returners is second-team All-Big 12 shortstop,
sophomore Jamie Smith, who led the team with a .338 batting average
and drove in 27 runs. Senior pitcher and designated player Trina Soles
bee, who led the Aggies with eight home runs and 31 runs batted in last
year, is also returning.
Other returning starters include senior catchers Amy Schmaltz and
Mary McGuire, senior outfielder Tanya Klecker and sophomores Angie
Long, Danielle Lemuth and Susanna Reed.
The rest of the team, however, is composed entirely of newcomers, in
cluding an all-freshman pitching staff headed by Ashley Lewis, the team’s
opening day starter.
Lewis, a two-time All-American, state MVP and the 1997 Louisiana
Female Athlete of the Year, said that inexperience is the team’s main
problem, but playing in tournaments against some of the top teams in
the country should give them the experience they need.
“We have the talent. It’s our biggest asset,” Lewis said. “We just need
the experience of playing at the college level.”
Co-captain McGuire agreed, saying this may be the best team they have
had in a long time.
“This is the best team we’ve had in the four years I’ve been here,”
Mcguire said. “We have some excellent athletes with strong work ethics.
Their talent will make up for their mistakes and inexperience.”
Evans said the key for the freshmen is gaining confidence which hope
fully will come with experience.
“We have plenty of talent,” Evans said. “All we need is some game expe
rience. We have plenty of depth and tremendous team speed, we just need
the experience.”
Despite this, Evans said she believes the freshmen can and should con
tribute immediately.
“All of our new players have had success playing against some of the
best teams in the country,” she said. “They know what it takes to play at a
higher level.”
Evans also said the Aggies will face some tough teams in tournaments.
This should give the new players a good test against some quality compe
tition and prepare them for Big 12 play.
With tremendous young talent combined with senior leadership and
experience, A&M could be competing for the Big 12 title.
“This team is very young,” Evans said. “We have the nucleus and the foun
dation for a successful future and our team knows and understands that.”
After Tuesday’s doubleheader, A&M will play in the UTA Pepsi-Cola
Classic in Grand Prairie Feb. 13-15, followed by their home opener, Feb.
20-22, in the Aggie Invitational Tournament.
ennis teams off to dominating start
the tennis
A1 LwHiriis
The Texas A&M Men’s
and Women’s Tennis
Teams are off to strong
starts this spring both
winning their first two
matches. The women re
sume play against Hous
ton on Wednesday and
the men are in action Fri
day at LSU.
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ung Guns
With five freshmen currently seeing playing time, the men’s team is one
the [nation’s youngest. Dumitru Caradima, Rafael de Mesa, Cody
bbell, Brian Lubin and Shuon Madden lead a freshman class that was
ked by College Tennis Weekly as the best in the nation.
ider Construction
As anyone who has ventured onto West Campus lately has probably no-
jed, the r\ew tennis center is coming along nicely. Slated for opening this
mrrfer, it is being billed as one of the
^mier tennis faciMtpjj^fi die nation. Please see Lazarus on Page 9
Season opener against Southwest Texas
Katie Mish
Staff writer
Today marks the start of the season for the
Texas A&M Softball Team as its travels to San
Marcos to play Southwest Texas in a double-
header at 5 p.m.
The Aggies hope this game will bring more
confidence to their starting freshmen, espe
cially the pitchers who are playing for the first
time on the collegiate level.
Marianne McGuire, co-captain and catch
er, said the bulk of the pitching staff is still raw.
With only one sophomore and one senior, the
remaining freshmen players need some expe
rience at the collegiate level before conference
starts, she said.
Despite the young age of the team, McGuire
said she still has big goals in mind for this sea
son including a trip to the postseason.
“I don’t think I could honestly ever say this
before, but I think this team has the poten
tial to go postseason and potentially to a
World Series if we work hard and stay fo
cused,” she said. “It’s kind of a rebuilding
year because we have so many young girls,
but they are all really talented, so I don’t think
anything is out of reach.”
Ashley Lewis, a freshman and the starting
pitcher for the Southwest Texas game, said she
is ready to start playing.
“I’m excited to start as a freshman and this
is my first season. I just want to get it over with
and see how it’s going to be,” Lewis said.
McGuire said she has a great deal of confi
dence in Lewis’ ability and that she would be
unbeatable if she could get in a zone. Lewis
said she is positive she can get to that point if
she works on her focus.
“The game will be at a different level, but if
I can focus, we can kill ’em,” Lewis said.
Coach Jo Evans said Tuesday’s game will
be a good way to analyze where the team
needs work.
“We’re excited to play, we’ve been practic
ing for a long time, so this is a good chance for
us to gauge where we are, what our strengths
and weaknesses are,” Evans said.
Evans said the advantage of a young team is
the energy and eagerness they bring to a game.
She said the downside is their lack of experi
ence at this level, but they will be fine after they
get used to it. She is looking to her pitchers to
come through today.
“We need our pitching staff to step up and
take control of the game,” Evans said. “We had
a long talk the other day about how it starts
with that pitching circle, and if our pitchers
will get out there and hit their spots I think
we’ll do really well.”
WANTED
The Memorial Student Center 'nfr r
Vho: Motivated Aggies
Vhat: Leadership Positions Including:
MSC Committee Chairs
Application due: February 16, 1998
MSC Council Vice Presidents & Directors
Applications due: February 9, 1998
**For a complete listing of vacant positions, come to the MSC Student Programs Office.**
Where: Applications are available in the MSC Student Programs
, i Office
VISC Room 216 ph: 845-1515 web: http://wwwmsc.tamu.edu/
When: Immediately...Interview slots are filling fast!
Why: To gain hands-on experience and learn more about your major
Persons with disabilities please call 845-1515 to inform us of your special needs. We
request notification three (3) working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you
to the best of our abilities.
Your Class Agents will be elected
April 1 & 2
IN THE
1998 Spring Student Body Elections
Potential Candidates:
■ A team of 3, enthusiastic, motivated leaders to serve the
Class of’98 until 2003.
■ Will act as liasons between the Class of ’98, The Association
of Former Students, and Texas A&M University.
Requirements:
■ At least 2 of the 3 candidates, for each team, must attend a
mandatory information meeting on Tuesday, February 17,
1998 at 6:00 p.m. at the Clayton Williams, Jr. Alumni Center.
One member from each team must contact
Shannon Crockett ’93 at 845-7514 before 5:00 p.m. on February 16.