Marct
dnesday • March 11, 1998
The Battalion
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xas A&M splits doubleheader with SHSU
By Travis Harsch
Staff writer
I
^ i he temperature dropped Tuesday at
Field, so did the A&M Baseball
; fortunes. A&M won the first game
doubleheader against Southwest
State 6-0, behind a strong perfor-
2 from Chance Caple, but lost a
second game, 4-3.
)le said he has been doing the things
:ds to do to be successful,
e been getting ahead in the count,
^ spots and cutting down on walks,”
said. “Tve just been letting the de-
do the work. The way they’re play-
ti not afraid to throw strikes.”
ach|Mark Johnson said his staff per-
d well in the frigid atmosphere,
was cold, but I thought the pitchers
;11 Caple really had his breaking pitch
” Johnson said.
the jfirst game, John Scheschuk had
hits and drove in a run. The Aggies
1 get 12 hits, two each from Jason
’ anti Craig Kuzmic and five more
butlCaple would only need one, as
Id the Bobcats scoreless in six in-
^ of work, tying a career-high with
[flfstrikeouts and walking only two to
improve his record to 4-0 on the year.
Clancy Possum came on to preserve the
shutout in the seventh and struck out one
without allowing a hit.
In the second game, Chris Fulbright
went six innings, giving up one run on two
hits and striking out four.
Southwest Texas got a run in on a wild
pitch in the first to take the lead 1-0.
The Aggies had gone hitless into the
“I went back to hitting
right-handed because
we thought it would be
good for the team.
Steven Truitt
Sophomore outfielder
third, when Tyner, who had his nine-game
hitting streak snapped, reached on an er
ror, then scored on Steven Truitt’s third
home run of the season to give the Aggies
the lead for the first time at 2-1.
Truitt, who sat out the first game and
batted right-handed for the second game,
said he and Johnson discussed the move.
“We talked about it, and I went back to
hitting righthanded because we thought it
would be good for the team,” Truitt said.
Fulbright got into a jam in the top of the
fifth when he had runners on second and
third with one out. He got the next batter to
foul out, and Chris Russ snagged a soft line
drive to end the inning.
Fulbright was relieved in the seventh by
Kyle Holle. David Walters hit a solo shot for
the Bobcats with one out in the seventh to
tie the game at 2.
Erik Sobek took the lead back for the Ag
gies in the bottom of the seventh on a long
drive that cleared the 330 marker in left that
made the score 3-2.
Eric French, who took over for Holle
with one out in the seventh, gave up a lead-
off walk in the eighth, then got two outs on
a sacrifice bunt and a grounder that ad
vanced the runner to third. Anthony Ro
driguez singled up the middle to score a
run and tied the game again at three.
With two outs and two on for A&M in
the eighth, Chad Hudson hit a floater to
shallow right center, but the Bobcat sec
ond baseman made a diving catch to
preserve the tie. After an A&M error put
e\
ROBERT MCKAY/The Battalion
Junior third baseman Craig Kuzmic tags out a would-be Sam Houston State base-runner.
a man on second with no outs, French
fell behind 3-0 on the next batter. He
worked the count full, however, and got
the strikeout.
A single brought home the run that put
Southwest Texas back in the lead 4-3. In
the bottom of the ninth, Daylan Holt hit a
leadoff triple, but the Aggies couldn’t
bring him home and the game ended.
A&M next travels to Stillwater to take
on the Oklahoma State Cowboys this
weekend in a three-game series.
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’rceni jy Jones was a bright spot for A&M’s season.
I lhe Texas A&M Women’s Basketball Team
has taken its final examinations of the
11997-98 season and the grades, as de
fined by no one of any consequence, are in.
luards:
ringing the ball down the court was left up
Inior college transfer Kim Tarkington. Tark-
pn, the only Aggie to start all 28 games this
pn, led A&M in total minutes played, 960,
average minutes per game, 34.
lie 5-foot-6-inch junior’s most surprising con-
Ition was her 139 rebounds, the third-highest
on the team. She finished the season with 156
ts, though she did commit 110 turnovers,
inior shooting guard Kerrie Patterson was
rfnd on the team with 82 assists. Although she
Philip
Peter
sportswriter
played hard and sacrificed
her body for the loose ball
on more than one occa
sion, Patterson was unable
to generate any substantial
offensive output, shooting
just 33 percent from the
field for an average of 5.1
points per game.
There is no question
who the big three-point
shooter was. Out of 181
three-pointers taken,
sophomore shooting guard
Amy Yates, who played the majority of the sea
son at small forward, hit 67, nearly three times
more than anyone else on the team.
Yates was second on the team in both minutes
played, 879, and average minutes, 31. However,
out of all players who shot at least four times,
Yates’ .327 field goal shooting percentage was
second-lowest on the team.
Finally, freshman Brandy Jones provided a
spark off of the bench, starting in only two
games. Jones finished fourth on the team in re
bounds with 90. She only shot 32 percent from
the field, but averaged nine points a game.
Her most distinguishing characteristic, her
ability to take the ball to the hole without hesita
tion, helped her to post 58 assists, but she also
committed 68 turnovers.
Grade: B-
Forwards:
Sophomore Prissy Sharpe’s play is the defin
ition of finesse. She sank lay-ups, baseline
jumpers, three-pointers and turn-around fade
away’s to lead the team with 15 points per game.
Sharpe’s dominance was most evident on
the glass where she pulled down 273 rebounds,
109 more than any other Aggie. Sharpe just
seemed to be in the right place at the right time
all the time.
Sophomore Kera Alexander came off of the
bench and showed everyone how to play with
intensity. She led all scorers in conference play
with 16 points per game.
In all games she averaged 14 points while
pulling down 164 rebounds, six per game. And
her desire was unquestionable.
When she put on her game face, it was ob
vious she meant business. And she wasn’t
afraid to get physical inside either. She also
just happened to lead the team in times
fouled out with six.
Junior Brenda Beard only averaged seven
minutes per game, but when she came in, she
shot 53 percent from the field. However, she only
shot 38 times and her season high scoring total
was 10 points. That was in the final game of the
year against Iowa State, when A&M was elimi
nated from the Big 12 Tournament.
The remaining forwards, Lacy Garner, Robin
Wise and Samantha Cartwright, played a com
bined 26 minutes, scored a combined six
points, and recorded a combined five rebounds.
In fairness though, all were freshmen and
Cartwright blew her knee out two games into
the season.
GraderA-
Centers:
With no true post player, an undersized Kim
Linder started the beginning of the season play
ing in the paint. Through twelve games she av
eraged five points and four rebounds while
playing 23 minutes. But late in January she frac
tured her foot, sat out three games and was un
able to bring consistent offense or dominant
defense back with her.
Sophomore Jennifer Burrows also saw play
ing time at center. The Big 12 is a conference full
of quality post players though, and Burrows was
not experienced enough to contain the compe
tition. Burrows averaged three points and a re
bound in 13 minutes per game.
The third in line on the depth chart was fresh
man Margaret Eaton. In four minutes per game,
she averaged a point and a rebound. She only
saw the court in 12 of 28 games.
Grade: D-
Coaching Staff:
Although technically A&M’s record was
worse than the year before, the coaching staff
deserves to be commended on their ability to
maintain a positive work environment.
Please see Aggies on Page 9.
tfce SoftbaU
\1? 1
1
The Texas A&M Softball Team
finished competing in its fourth
tournament this weekend, where
they have a combined record of 13-
10-1 against some of the top teams
in the country. For the season, the
team has a 17-10-1 record.
Young Guns
With Trina Solesbee as the lone
senior on the pitching staff, the Ag
gies have had to rely heavily on
young and inexperienced pitchers.
The rest of the staff includes sopho
more Danielle Lemuth and fresh
men Ashley Lewis, Amy Vining and
Kristina Gandara.
As a group, the pitchers have an
excellent combined ERA of 1.96 with
Lewis leading the team at 1.51. The
pitchers have also struck out 58 more
batters than their opponents (138 to
80) with Lewis again leading with 68.
The staff has also shown tremen
dous durability on the mound. They
have 17 complete games, including
three shutouts. Lewis has seven, Vin
ing and Gandara have four each, and
Lemuth and Solesbee each have one.
Lewis and Vining have combined for
13 of A&M’s 17 wins, (Lewis is 7-2
and Vining is 6-1).
Offensively, Vining heads the
staff with a .345 batting average, a
.500 on base percentage and a .621
slugging percentage. She also leads
the staff in RBI with nine.
Lewis is second with a .257 bat
ting average and a .405 slugging.
She has 19 hits, scored seven runs
and driven in six runs.
She and Vining have two of the
four home runs hit by the team this
season as well.
Dope Run-Producin’
The Aggies have outscored their
opponents 96 to 85 and have a .246
team batting average compared to
a .207 average by their opponents.
Freshman centerfielder Tiffany
Esters leads the team with a .349
batting average. She also leads in
slugging percentage at .444. Esters
has a .354 on base percentage, eight
RBI and 13 runs scored.
Freshman third baseman Aman
da Whalen leads the team with 13
RBI and is second on the team with
21 hits, a .321 on base percentage
and a .276 batting average.
Sophomore shortstop Jamie
Smith is tied for second on the team
in hits with Whalen at 21, is second
on the team in on-base percentage
at .323 and in slugging at .329. She
has also scored 12 runs and has 11
RBI to go with a .256 batting average.
Full-Speed Ahead
The Aggies have been a running
machine so far this season. They
have stolen 52 bases while their op
ponents have only swiped 23 bases.
Esters currently leads the team,
stealing 15 bases out of 16 chances.
Freshman Amy Lawler is second,
swiping 10 out of 10, including nine
in the Aggie Invitational II over the
weekend.
Senior Tanya Klecker is third on
the team with eight and needs only
seven more to tie the all-time A&M
record of 45.
Robert Hollier is a junior
journalism major.
>11
AGGIE RING ORDERS
THE ASSOCIATION OF FORMER STUDENTS
CLAYTON W. WILLIAMS, JR. ALUMNI CENTER
DEADLINE: March 12, 1998
Undergraduate Student Requirements:
You must be a degree seeking student and have a total of 95 undergraduate credit hours reflected
on the Texas A&M University Student Information Management System. (A passed course, which
is repeated and passed, cannot count as additional credit hours.)
6Q undergraduate credit hours must have been completed in residence at Texas A&M University if
your first semester at Texas A&M University was January 1994 or thereafter, or if you do not qualify
under the successful semester requirement described in the following paragraph. Should your
degree be conferred with less than 60 undergraduate resident credits, this requirement will be waived
after you graduate and your degree is posted on the Student Information Management System.
3Q undergraduate credit hours must have been completed in residence at Texas A&M University,
; providing that prior to January 1, 1994, you were registered at Texas A&M University and
successfully completed a fall/spring semester or summer term (I and II or 10 weeks) as a full-time
student in good standing (as defined in the University catalog).
You must have a 2J) cumulative GRR at Texas A&M University.
You must be in good standing with the University, including no registration or transcript blocks for past
due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc.
Graduate Student Requirements
If you are a May 1998 degree candidate and you do not have an Aggie ring from a prior
degree, you may place an order after you meet the following requirements:
Your degree is conferred and posted on the Texas A&M University Student Information
Management System; and
You are in good standing with the University, including no registration or transcript blocks for
past due fees, loans, parking tickets, returned checks, etc.
However, If you completed all of your course work prior to this semester and have been
cleared by the thesis clerk, you may request a “letter of completion” from the Office of
Graduate Studies. The original letter of completion, with the seal, may be presented to
the Ring Office in lieu of your degree being posted.
Procedure To Order A Rina:
If you meet all of the above requirements and you wish to receive your ring on May 7, 1998 , you must
visit the Ring Office nQ later than Tuesday. March 12. 1998 between the hours of 8:30 a m.-3:30 p.m.
to complete the application for eligibility verification.
If your application is approved, you must return and pay in full by cash, check, money order, or your
personal Discover, Visa or MasterCard (with your name imprinted) qq later than Friday, March 13, 1998
between the hours of 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Men’s 10K-$327.00
Women’s 10K - $201.00
14K
14K
$432.00
$225.00
Add $8.00 for Class of '97 or before.
The ring delivery date is May 7, 1998.
APPLY
YOURSELF!
Bryan/College Station's first and finest private
dormitories are looking for motivated individuals to
be a part of the 1998-1999 Resident Advisor Staff.
All applicants must have at least one year of college.
Applications can be picked-up at the front desk of
University Tower in the lobby and are due Friday,
April 3 by 5:00 p.m.
The Forum
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 840-4242
improvisational comedy
Quit your beachin
Thursday, March 12
9 p.m. Rudder Forum
Tickets are $4 in advance (MSC
BoxOffice)
http://http.tamu.edu: 8000/~fslip