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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1998)
Sports la 1 Friday • March Aggies put No. 14 ranking on the line vs. KSU By Travis Harsch Staffwriter As their Big 12 season approaches the halfway point, the Texas A&M Baseball Team will take on the Kansas State Wildcats in an important conference series for both teams this weekend at Olsen Field. The Aggies will be looking to continue their recent hot streak, one which has seen them take two of three from Oklahoma last week end and sweep a doubleheader against the Houston Cougars on Tuesday. Ryan Rupe, who will start the first game for the Aggies, will be trying to improve on his impressive season record of 6-1 and his solid ERA of 2.10. Rupe said he will continue to work with what has brought him success. “I need to do what I’ve been doing, work the ball in and out, let my defense carry most of the outs and get all three pitches over the plate,” Rupe said. The way the season has gone so far for Kansas State, El Nino should receive some sort of special award at the postseason ban quet. The Wildcats have only played seven conference games because of weather can cellations, compiling a 3-4 record, with two of those wins over Texas last weekend at home. Coach Mark Johnson said the Wildcats will be coming in on a high after beating the Long horns, despite battling some defensive trou bles. “They’re hitting around .290, their fielding has been a little bit below average, they’re making some errors, but they’re doing some things well on the mound,” Johnson said. “They’re a team that hasn’t played much, they’ve had some tough luck, they haven’t gotten all their games in, but they beat Texas two out of three last week, so they’ve got to feel good about that.” Rupe, Casey Fossum and Matt Ward will take the mound for the Aggies in the series and Johnson said their performances have been a big part of the Aggies’ 23-10 record. “One of the main reasons we’ve had success on the weekends is that we’ve pitched well, and we’re going to have to get that to continue, Rupe and Fossum and Ward are going to have to do well, and there’s no reason to think that they won’t,” Johnson said. “I’m encouraged that our pitching is giving us a chance to win.” After losing the first game of the three- game set last year, A&M pulled off two late- inning comebacks to win the next two games and the series. The wins gave the Ag gies a 6-2 lead in the all-time series, which first started in 1985. This series will mark the midpoint of con ference play and Johnson said he believed there were opportunities to get better as he evaluated his team. “My feeling was that we could hit better, there’s room for improvement, we really haven’t had hot bats,” Johnson said. “I think we can improve offensively and I know we can improve defensively, we’ve been able to steal bases. It’s the little parts of the game you’ve got to be sure you’re doing right.” Rupe said the first half has left the Aggies right where they want to be. “I think we’ve put ourselves in good posi tion, we’ve obviously put ourselves in posi tion to win the Big 12, and let everybody know that we are a team to beat, we still have some ball to play, but I think we’re going to do well,” Rupe said. The Friday and Saturday games will begin at 7 p.m., with the Sunday matinee scheduled to start at 1 p.m. PHOTO COURTESY SPORTS INFORMATION Sophomore Casey Fossum will be going for his second consecutive victory Saturday. Softball team opens Big 12 play Men’s tennis team faces pair of conference foes this afternoon By Robert Hollier Staffwriter Coming off a doubleheader sweep against Sam Houston State Wednesday, the Texas A&M Softball Team (22-14-1) will begin conference play this weekend on the road against Iowa State on Saturday and No. 12 Nebraska on Sunday. Both se ries will be doubleheaders and will start at noon. “If we could go 3-1 this week end, that would be a great start for us,” Coach Jo Evans said. “A split with Nebraska on the road would be great and I believe we could sweep Iowa State at their place.” After competing in five tourna ments, the Aggies should have the much-needed experience their young team needed and they feel they are ready. “We’re as ready as we’ll ever be,” senior catcher and co-captain Marianne McGuire said. “Our pitch ing is stacked. They should carry us like they have all season.” “Right now, we’re not making the routine plays and that worries us the most,” McGuire added. “Sometimes our intensity is also lacking and we’re' McGuire not always as focused as we should be in the field.” So far this season, the Aggies have committed 63 errors including 13 at the Sacramento tournament. Evans said poor field play has been the team’s Achilles’ heel and she would like to see more con sistency from the team defensively. “Inconsistency in the field is our biggest problem and our goal is to get that consistency back,” she said. “It’s costly in any game when you make errors.” We played well in the beginning in California, then the wheels fell off. We won two in a row against some tough teams, but then we lost our focus and lost three straight.” The Aggies will have to maintain that consisten cy and focus when they travel to Lincoln for the doubleheader against Nebraska “They’re a very solid team offensively and defen sively,” Evans said. “They hit the ball very well and they have some marquee All-American players.” Iowa State is definitely a team that could beat us. They are a scrappy, well-coached team, but I believe we can beat them this weekend.” McGuire said the Nebraska offense is its biggest strength and will be the main concern for the Aggies. “Their lineup really worries me the most,” McGuire said. “Everybody on their team swings with no fear,"but our pitchers should be able to handle it.” ByAi. Lazarus Staff writer The No. 19 Texas A&M Men’s Tennis Team faces a Big 12 dou bleheader today at the Omar Smith Tennis Center against the Missouri Tigers and No. 55 Okla homa Sooners. A&M will begin with Missouri at noon and will then take on the Sooners at 6 p.m. The Aggies (7-2,2-1) are com ing off a 4-3 victory last Saturday against a tough Oklahoma State team that features the No. 1 sin gles player, as well as the No. 1 doubles team, in the nation. A&M defeated the Tigers twice last year, once during the regular season in Missouri, and again in the Big 12 Champi onships in Austin. Missouri will cancel its men’s tennis program after this season, but A&M Coach Tim Cass said he expects a tough match from Miz- zou despite its lame-tiger status. “ It’s disappointing that this w ill be our last time to play (Missouri), Spring ‘99 INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS in 154 Bizzell Flail West Monday, March 30 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 1 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Pick up an application at the meeting or drop by the Study Abroad Program Office. Study Abroad Program Office, 161 Bizzell Hall West, 845-0544 MSC OPAS Presents... ELVIS IS ALIVE! Join us as psychology professor Dr. David Rosen presents “Don’t Be Cruel to a Heart That’s True: The Myth of Elvis Lives On”, a tribute to the King of Rock and Roll and his legacy as a cultural icon. Long live the King! Admission is FREE Monday March 30 7:00pm Rudder 308 For ticket information on Blue Suetie Shoes, call845-1234 PROFITABLE NUMBER! The Battalion Classified Advertising but we are certainly not going to take the match lightly," Cass said. The Aggies traveled to Okla homa last year, and lost, 4-3, to the Sooners. “We have a lot of respect for Ok lahoma, they have had a good first part of the season,” Cass said. “In order for us to hang in the Big 12 race, we have to win out, because no one is going to win the Big 12 with two conference losses.” Junior Brent Horan, who is the Aggies’ team co-captain, said be expects a tough match from the Sooners. “They are a solid team and have played well against some good teams this season, so we know they will give us quite a challenge," Horan said. Horan, who is 7-1 in dual match singles play this season, admits that revenge will cer tainly be on the Aggies’ minds against Oklahoma. “You always want to beat the teams that beat you,” he said, “so we will be ready to play.” Track ml takes la tel Break in By Mk:uaelFe»;| Staffum< ere| After hosting theColkfT^ ( ompetition and Relayso. r ts t he Texas A& M Track and Fit turn to action this weekend el lo I lorida for the Florid the east ct>ast schoolslnd; olina, 1'lorida State and they ami will be competing in the meet along with the University ofTexas. Coach Abe Brown [ spoke about the ad- 1 vantages of traveling to F lorida to compete in the relays. "It gives us some flexibility. It gives us some new faces to see,” Brown said. “We really don’t have to go \ei\ hit to get all of the oml need It just gives usanopp clo represented in ntherpan lhai Aftet the grueling wet'ing "in i ompetition of the otat ( oat h Bn n\ 11 mentiom and] i lie . 1111 le i e ■- will he held t bit) i ialty e\ ents m order to f the > mhiig outdo:»orcl “ (Ad rien) Sawyer wifi i triple jump this week, but )Qj 4x100-meter shuttle relayat Brow^n said. “ 11 )emch Ck- ;andv the 100. She won’t beinh j im jumps. I aire Wade is still a::-Carle . i ult >( >i so he'sgc ’ 1 ~ ravj l 11< ii ><a seas ' l ? m£ j . a i . a i . Da H ns tinul toll week ofcompetKenn should benefit mamofthe.d-Man ration of the season, whi -Briaj n than ten v\< <“ksofn B " En tion. Bnm11 alluded tothesj rcla ' tirety precautions tl^ s | en when looking at the bigp “West ill havea longseSKPChl id. "If vou're not carefuls- p Jan ing to overload some peop PCh P DvJ cha nice of losing those peo; P Ba After the Aggies return the y will travel to Austin fo P Joa Tex as Relays. These relay P Mill bot isted some of the top coa sode lain d, including athletessu iheT ind Carl Lewis, was Relays will taketl ta /mc TEXAS AVENUE MEDICAL CLINIC Rany Cherian, MD Walk-ins & Appointments HOURS: Welcomed Mop - Sat Member of Brazos Valley 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Alliance & Brazos Valley Sun. Physician Organization 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. X-Rays, EKG's, Lab Tests, Physicals, Breath Alcohol Screens & more. dTo% Student Discount w/IdTD> 401 S. Texas Ave., Bryan - (409) 779-4756 Self Defense Workshop Sunday, March 29th 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. G. Rollie White Collesium Rm. 260 Awareness Workshop 3-4 Preventative Workshop 4-5 Defensive Workshop 5-6 Sponsored by A.W.A.R.E. 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