The Battalion
SPORTS
mrsday • April 30, 1998
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Medical Miracle
nior pitcher Ryan Rupe saw his professional fortunes fall
er numerous surgeries, but finds himsew back as staff ace
Bears, Aggies showdown in Waco
for Big 12 title; team ranked 10th
t(
By Chris Ferrell
Staff writer
atching senior Ryan Rupe take the mound, it’s
easy to see why he was a first-team All- Big 12
pitcher a year ago.
11 you have to do is take a look at his 6-foot-6, 225
ndframe to see why professional scouts have been
oling over his talent since he was in high school,
(tchingbatters stand frozen like a deer in headlights
-plus mph fastball comes bearing down on
m shows what kind of talent he possesses.
ButforallofRupe’s physical attributes and abilities,
what’s inside (or not inside as the case may be)
ichsets Ryan Rupe apart from the rest of the crowd,
llyou were to look inside him, the first thing you
see would be his heart. A heart which has per-
red through so much during his career.
No one expected Rupe to be pitching for the Aggies
season, especially not Rupe. By now everyone fig-
dhe would have been well on his way to millions of
larsand a long professional career. And why should-
he be? The scouts love the fact
emfi
.J2 the is a big, strong guy who
1 throw in the 90’s for an
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Bone spurs in his pitcR\ n g arm caused him to miss
all of the ‘96 season. He returued in ‘97 to earn first-
team All-Big 12 honors. He lecHhe staff in victories and
was set to lead the team into re^ Qna i s when tragedy
again struck. A blood clot in Rupe’stight arm ended his
season early and almost ended his career.
“There was the closing of a vein cahedihe subclavian
which runs from your arm to your heart," l\up e said “The
blood would go into my arm but it wouldn’t come back
“After the surgery, when the
doctor told me I may never pitch
again, that changed everything.”
Ryan Rupe
Texas A&M senior pitcher
tfte Base
baU
ll*E
ire game. He has three
ches- a devastating fast
a slider and a change up
md he can throw all of
m for strikes.
But over the past three
sons, Rupe has been hit
a rash of injuries which
aid have
nyed even the
sngest of
de
nd Mu
edict â– :
out. My arm swelled a good four inches and the bicep
started turning purple. We figured out there was a circu
lation problem around there. I went into the hospital
here and they diagnosed it. Then I flew to Denver. They
removed my top rib to allow for circulation into my arm.”
The surgery was similar to that of former Houston
Astro pitcher John Hudek, except for the fact that Rupe
had already developed a blood clot, which further de
creased the chances of a full recovery.
“It’s really unique,” he said. “I had already developed
a blood clot. The big part of my surgery was if the blood
clot would dissolve. If the blood clot didn’t dissolve,
my arm wouldn’t go down. But the clot did dissolve.
“"They don’t have too many surgeries like that,
especially not with a guy who throws, so there
was some doubt as to whether or not I
could come back. After the surgery,
when the doctor told me I may nev
er pitch again, that changed every-
diing. I went ahead and got my de
gree. That particular- time in my life
was a set back. I’ve had several.”
In fact no one knew for sure if
he was going to return until this
past fall when practices began
and Rupe started throwing again.
“The past two years I went into the draft ex
pecting to be a high pick and something has happened,”
Rupe said. “After last year’s surgery, I’m just happy to be
pitching again. I was upset my junior season with the
bone spurs, but that’s a surgery you can bounce back from.
The last surgery was somewhat different, ft was unique and
I wasn’t sure that it was one 1 could bounce back from. So
for me to throw again is an accomplishment.”
Please see Rupe on Page 12.
s the season winds down,
the Aggies find themselves
fighting for the top spot in
the Big 12 race.
Lock, Stock and Barrel
Texas A&M will play their last
conference and regular season
home game Friday night in what
could be the biggest series of the
year against Baylor before the set
heads to Waco for games Saturday
and Sunday.
The Aggies, with a 19-8 confer
ence mark, have a .023 percentage
point lead on the Bears, who have
compiled a 17-8 Big 12 record.
A sweep by either team would
guarantee that team the title. How-
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foggy Depot
i-Sides
ordan tears down Nets with 39 points
hgate
riad.net
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)
Michael Jordan and the Chicago
Is made sure the New Jersey Nets
ended their first
playoff appear
ance in four
years with noth
ing more than a
little respect.
Jordan hit 15
of his first 18
shots and scored
38 points
Wednesday
night as the Bulls
eptthe best-of-5 series from the
Mart Nets with a 116-101 victory.
The first-round sweep was the
ltd straight for the two-time de-
iding NBA champions and it gave
ema24-l record in the opening
und since 1991.
Scott Burrell supported Jordan
hitting 9 of 11 shots from the
Jordan
field and scoring 23 points, includ
ing 11 in the third quarter when
Chicago opened a 93-76 lead. Den
nis Rodman added 17 rebounds as
Chicago outrebounded New Jersey
35-21, limiting New Jersey to 10
boards in the first 36 minutes.
Rodman also put an exclama
tion point on the win, hitting a 3-
pointer on a pass from Jordan in the
waning seconds. He then raised his
arms over his head, drawing catcalls
from the sellout crowd.
Sherman Douglas, again filling in
for Sam Cassell, led the Nets with 19
points. Chris Gatling and Keith Van
Horn each had 18 and Kendall Gill
17 for New Jersey, which lost despite
outshooting Chicago from the field.
The Nets had rallied from big
deficits and made the Bulls snuggle in
the first two games in Chicago, and
they thought that playing before a
home crowd would make adifference.
TURKISH NIGHT
'on think you tasted all the great food during
e)
Sponsored partially by:
IISC L.T. Jordan Institute for International Awareness
Student Activities Department,
torwest Bank Bryan-College Station, Coffee Station
Organized by Turkish Student Association (tsa@unix.tamu.edu)
the International Week 1998!11
But the feast is not over yet!
Join us for a great
TURKISH DINNER
(including famous baklava)
and enjoy the
FOLKDANCE SHOW
by an internationally
recognized group.
Monday, May 4, 1998
6pm: Dinner (MSC 201)
8pm: Folkdance (Rudder Theater)
Admission:
Folkdance Only: $3.00
Dinner & Folkdance: $7.50
(children under 12 pay half price)
Tickets are available at MSC Box Office
TOFITABLE NUMBER!
The Battalion Classified Advertising
ever, Oklahoma State, with a 13-8
Big 12 mark, could take the title.
If neither A&M nor Baylor
sweeps and the Cowboys win all six
of the games remaining on their
conference schedule, Oklahoma
State would take home the trophy.
The road is not exactly clear for
the Cowboys, who would have to
sweep both rival Oklahoma in
three neutral-site games and Mis
souri in three at Columbia.
Both the Sooners and the
Tigers are likely headed to Okla
homa City for the conference
tournament.
Stadium Runneth Over
With two teams battling for a
Big 12 title, there are sure to be sev
eral thousand fans of both schools
in Waco on Saturday and Sunday.
How many of them actually get
in to see the game is anyone’s
guess, something that could upset
a lot of people as the Bears have
adopted a policy that is less than
friendly to A&M fans.
The Baylor ticket office is pre
selling tickets for the game, but a
ticket may not guarantee you a seat.
Baylor’s Ferrell Field has a regular
capacity of 1,700, the third smallest
in the conference, but the athletic
department is still adding bleacher
seats down both the baselines for
the expected crowd of 4,500.
Fans will need to get in line ear
ly, as the gates open at 5:30 on Sat
urday and 12:30 on Sunday, and
prepare for close quarters; Baylor
plans on packing as many fans in
as possible.
Baylor will begin renovation and
expansion on Ferrell Field soon af
ter the conclusion of the series.
The expansion, which will
bring capacity to around 3,500
was planned to give Baylor a bet
ter chance of hosting an NCAA
regional, but even if the plan been
carried out last summer, the Bears
would still be scrambling to find
seats for this weekend.
Please see Harsch on Page 12.
Master Thief
Junior Jason Tyner uses his speed along the basepaths to
blaze a trail to professional scouts and the major leagues
By Michael Taglienti
Staff writer
'hu probably walk by him every day on campus
and don’t even know it. At 6’ 1 ” and 167 pounds, Ja
son Tyner does not exactly fit the mold of a world-
class athlete. In Tyner’s case, looks can be very deceiv
ing. The junior centerfielder from Beaumont is a walking
‘The speed was the deciding
factor with him. The whole
yy
It didn’t, even though the fans
booed Jordan and Co. more than
they had in the past.
On the court, nothing changed
and the Nets problems were com
pounded by Jordan’s sizzling shoot
ing. He opened with a 3-point basket
and then proceeded to sink one
jumper after another, most of the
time with a defender not too far away.
He finished 16-of-22 from the field.
Both teams shots about 65 per
cent in the opening half, but the Bulls
opened a 61-52 lead. Chicago broke
the game open midway through the
third quarter with a 14-6 spurt that
included nine straight by Burrell.
The Nets made one desperate run
in tire fourth quarter, closing to 97-85.
However, Jordan make several
fakes on Kerry Kitdes on the left wing
and hit another jumper. As the crowd
groaned, Jordan put his finger to his
lips and mouthed “shhhhh.”
package was speed.
Mark Johnson
Texas A&M Baseball Coach
contradiction to the stereotypes of college baseball
and the star athletes who play the game.
College baseball today is a game
dominated by the long ball. With suped
up bats, 5’8”, 170-pound infielders are
able to hit 20 home runs in a season
and be the cleanup hitter for their
ball club. Tyner is an exception to
this rule in that he dominates
games like few players in col
lege can, and he does it with
out hitting any home runs.
In baseball, a lead-off hitter
is supposed to get on base and
give his team a chance to score
runs. Tyner does this better than
any other lead off hitter in the
Big 12. He leads the Big 12 in
hits and stolen bases.
With such great creden
tials, one would think that
Tyner was recruited by hun
dreds of colleges out of high
school and that Texas A&M
had to sweat it out while he
decided to accept the Ag
gies’ offer of a scholarship
or join the exodus of high
school players who accept
million-dollar bonuses to play pro baseball. However,
this was not the case. Tyner was not drafted by a major
league team out of high school and was only offered
scholarships by Baylor and A&M.
Aggie Coach Mark Johnson said that he recruited
Tyner because of his speed.
“The speed was the defining factor with him,” John
son said. “The whole package was speed.”
Speed is definitely something that Tyner does not
lack. He has been timed in the 40-yard dash in 4.42 sec
onds and in the 60-yard dash in 6.4 seconds. Tyner and
backup outfielder William Gray (4.38 in the 40) are the
fastest baseball players on the Aggie squad.
As a freshman at A&M, Tyner surprised his coach
es and his teammates by batting .407 and setting the
A&M season stolen-bases mark with 41 in 46 at
tempts. Johnson said that he did not expect Tyner’s
success at the plate.
“Nobody expects anybody to hit .400 as a fresh
man,” Johnson said. “1 don’t expect juniors and se
niors to hit .400.”
Tyner continued his hot-hitting as a sophomore
and a junior and shattered the career stolen-bases
record at A&M earlier this year. With a stolen base
against Sam Houston State Tuesday night, Tyner
raised his career total to 112 stolen bases. The
previous record was held by Chuck
Knoblauch with 83. If his career were to
end today, Tyner would rank second
all-time among Aggies in career
batting average, with an
average of .389.
Please see
? Tyner on
Page 12.
JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Battalion
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