The Battalion
Wednesday • April 8, 1998
itte
Vggie
Sports
■RIEFS
' from staff and wire reports
ten’s team Jumps
o No. 17 ranking
The Texas A&M Men’s Tennis
am iust keeps moving on up. The
gies have a No. 17 ranking in the
:esl edition of the Rolex Collegiate
inkings released Tuesday,
do The Aggies (11-3, 4-1) jumped two
Aisitions in the national rankings for
^Jo-week period beginning Tuesday.
The Aggies are the second-highest
d nked team in the Big 12, behind
ily [Texas at No. 7. Other Big 12
hobls in the top 50 include No. 25
jylor. No. 37 Oklahoma State, No.
) Kansas and No. 41 Colorado.
His ranking does not take into ac-
iunt any matches played on or after
arch 30, including the Aggies’ re-
nntpns over then No. 31 TCU and
). 40 North Carolina, or the loss
is past weekend to No. 13 Duke,
j The Aggies only three losses this
4 sason are to teams in the top 15.
fell to 4-3 at No. 6 Louisiana
ate (now ranked No. 5), to No. 8
ixas on the road, 4-3 (now ranked
D. f) and to No. 13 Duke the road,
2 |now ranked No. 18).
liadden receives
conference honor
j Texas A&M freshman Shuon Mad-
i enjhas earned Big 12 Tennis Player
Y the Week honors for second con-
Hitive time, the league office an-
ounced Tuesday.
Hadden, who hails from Miami, Fla.,
| iflpeen a driving force behind the Ag-
jes' success this season. His 130
verall record since joining the team has
een vital in the Aggies’ 11-3 record and
rfheirNo. 17 national ranking.
U| This past week, Madden posted a
^ TO singles record as the Aggies took
J i break from conference play. Mad-
' fen is the Aggies’ leading dual match
singles winner with a 130 record and
n the Big 12 he holds a 40 record,
ill at No. 3 singles. Madden also has
seen limited action at No. 1 singles.
Ninth-inning A&M rally falls short
Aggies lose for second time to Sam Houston 5-4 after spotting Bearkats five early unanswered runs
A: ■.. ; . ■':fV.
By Travis Harsch
Staff writer
A ninth-inning rally came too late
for the Aggie Baseball Team Tuesday
night in a 5-4 loss to the Sam Hous
ton State Bearkats that had several
questionable calls. Coach Mark
Johnson said the Aggies didn’t come
out with their best game.
“We hit the ball early, right at
them, then we went into goose eggs,”
Johnson said. “I don’t want to take
anything away from their pitcher, but
we see better pitching than that on
the weekends, and there’s no excuse
not to be ready for it on Tuesday.”
The Bearkats got on the board
first in the second, as Chris Ful-
bright gave up a double with a man
on second to make the score 1-0.
After giving up two singles and a
walk to load the bases with no outs in
the second, he worked his way out of
the jam for the Aggies by getting a sac
rifice fly that turned into a double play
as a runner on third left before the ball
was caught. A popout to Craig
Kuzmic at third ended the inning and
kept the score at 1-0.
Fulbright was pulled with two
outs in the third after giving up two
runs to make the score 3-0. Chance
Caple came on relief and hit a bat
ter with his first pitch before getting
the last out of the inning.
Sam Houston State led 5-0 after
the fourth, when the Bearkats put
runners on first and second with no
outs. A single and a sacrifice fly
made the score 5-0.
A leadoff walk to John Scheschuk
led to runs for the Aggies in the
fourth, as Steven Truitt scored him
with a triple to right that kicked up
chalk as it landed fair and rolled to
the corner in rightfield. Truitt then
scored from third on a single by
Sean Heaney to make the score 5-2.
Outstanding defense got the Ag
gies out of the sixth without allow
ing a run, as they picked off two
Bearkat runners attempting to steal,
one at the plate on a double steal at
tempt with two outs that ended the
inning with the score 5-2.
Daylan Holt doubled with one
out in the eighth and things were
beginning to look up for A&M when
John Scheschuk sacrificed Holt over
to third. The umpire ruled, howev
er, that Holt had left second before
the ball had been caught, ending
the inning and prompting Johnson
to argue the call.
“I don’t usually go out, I tried re
ally hard this year not to go out, but
I felt like he may have missed the
call,” Johnson said. “He felt com
fortable with his call, he didn’t feel
like there was a lot of question.”
The Aggies’ ninth began with con
troversy as Truitt hit a ball down the
left-field line. The third-base umpire
didn’t signal whether the ball was fair
or foul, however. Widi Truitt standing
on first, the home plate umpire ruled
the ball had been foul and Truitt
headed back to the plate, striking out
on die next pitch.
Sean Heaney then ripped a double
to left. The third-base umpire sig
naled the ball fair this time and
Heaney had a double. After a wild
pitch advanced Heaney to third, Craig
Kuzmic crushed a ball to deep right
field for his ninth homer of the year
and cut the Bearkats’ lead to 5-4.
“Part of me wanted it to fall in
and for me to get on base, they al
ways say that a home run is a rally
killer and you never know what
could have happened with more
singles,” Kuzmic said.
With William Gray on first after a
single, the Aggies’ put the hit-and-
run on to take advantage of Gray’s
speed with Scott Sandusky at the
plate. A foul ball by Sandusky was
caught by the Bearkat first base-
man, who then beat Gray back to
first to end the game.
1
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Big 12 game returns to St. Louis
DALLAS (AP) —The Big 12 football championship
will return this year to the site of the inaugural confer
ence title game at the Trans World Dome in St. Louis.
“It’s a great city and the facilities are great,” Big 12
Commissioner Steve J. Hatchell said Tuesday, adding
that the supportive city and its hotels helped make
the 1996 game a success.
The title game moved to San Antonio last season.
This year’s game is Dec. 5.
Texas defeated Nebraska 37-27 in the first Big 12
championship at St. Louis. The game fell short of ca
pacity attendance, although it produced $500,000 in
additional revenue for conference schools.
The winner of this year’s game, to be televised by
ABC Sports, will again represent the league in the
Bowl Alliance.
“We had a really good experience in St. Louis in
1996,” said Donnie Duncan, Big 12 senior associate
commissioner.
“They have a tremendous facility there. It’s A-plus
and all of the pieces fit. The rationale was solid and it
all worked out in terms of the negotiations, the poten
tial revenue strengths and ticket locations.”
The Dome, home to the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, has
more than 65,000 fixed seats plus more than 6,000
club level seats, with 109 luxury suites.
In February, athletics directors reviewed opera
tional results of the first two Big 12 football champi
onships in considering plans for future contests.
Directors reviewed financial packages, scheduling and
choices of venues for this year’s football championship.
In 1996, Dr Pepper/Cadbury North America
signed a four-year agreement to become title spon
sor of the Big 12 football championship.
RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion
Texas A&M catcher Scott Sandusky manages to tag out one Sam Houston
State player who attempts to steal home in the sixth inning in last nightls game.
Astros lose extra-inning affair with Giants
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pinch-
hitter Rey Sanchez singled in the
winning run in the 10th inning as
the San Francisco Giants won their
home opener, 5-4 Tuesday over the
Houston Astros.
With one out in the 10th, J.T.
Snow and Rich Aurilia drew walks
off Billy Wagner (0-1). Sanchez then
lined a single to center and Snow
slid around the tag of catcher Tony
Eusebio to score the winning run.
Robb Nen (1-0) pitched two per
fect innings, striking out two.
Houston, which had just five
hits, tied the score with two runs in
the seventh.
An RBI double by Craig Biggio
and a run-scoring single by Derek
Bell off reliever Julian Tavarez made
it 4-all and tainted a strong start by
Orel Hershiser in his first home
game for San Francisco.
Once a favorite target of Giants
fans when he pitched for the hated
Los Angeles Dodgers, Hershiser got
a long standing ovation when he left
the game in the sixth with a 4-2 lead.
Jeff Kent drove in two runs for San
Francisco with an RBI single in the
first and an RBI double in the fifth.
Barry Bonds added a run-scoring
single in the fifth for his first RBI of
the season. Bonds, who is hitting
.219, went l-for-4 with a walk and
was robbed of an extra-base hit in
the seventh on a lunging backhand
ed catch by left fielder Moises Alou.
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