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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1998)
4, Monday • May 4, 1998 The Battalion s <5 c F i tl’l, ggies come home Big 12 champions Record crowds at Olsen, Ferrell Fields witness Texas A&M complete its improbable run for the conference title By Travis Harsch Staff writer A&M rode the pitching of its j_£|| j|esto the Big 12 title this week- id, as the Aggies took two of lee from the Baylor Bears. Ryan tape and Casey Possum com- ■ied to strike out 28 Baylor bat- s on Saturday and Sunday. ■ Baylor coach Steve Smith said le opposition his team faced was lying at a higher level. think we saw two guys the It two nights that’ll pitch in the IW leagues,” Smith said. JlRupe got the Aggies the win Friday night, working a com pete game and striking out 13 in -1 win before an all-time ei ord crowd of 9,151. There Ire 7,351 paying attendees and ■SOO in the left field Aggie Alley, ■ey all saw A&M jump out to I eight-run lead, thanks to five on five hits, including a ^ Iple by John Scheschuk and LU ^iolo home runs from Craig ■zmic and Steven Truitt. ■ Scheschuk said he felt the ear- llead allowed a little relief from le stress that had been building ■ week. rl'The ball happened to fall for m, to jump out to a 5-0 lead in a ]|me of this caliber is huge be- Juse it takes so much of the pres- |re off you,” Scheschuk said. ■ The wind began picking up in le bottom of the first, as a thun- Irstorm approached and after Baylor hit in the top of the second, the rain began to fall, causing a 19- minute rain delay. When action resumed, Jason Tyner singled and stole second. Scott Sandusky then drew a walk and Daylan Holt followed San dusky with a single to score Tyner. John Scheschuk hit a bases-clear- ing triple to make the score 8-0 af ter two innings. That was all Rupe would need, as he allowed only one run, on an Eric Nelson homer in the fourth, the rest of the way. Smith said the strikeouts for the Bears were key in deciding the outcome. “You’re not going to win many baseball games striking out 13 times,” Smith said. Or striking out 15 times, either. Possum sent 15 Baylor players back to the bench Saturday night, going the distance in the 8-4 win that clinched the title for A&M be fore a record crowd of 4,456 at Baylor’s Ferrell Field, including many Aggie fans that were able to turn the bleachers behind the Ag gie dugout into a northern version of Olsen Field. Possum, who pitched for Midway High School in Waco said the homecoming win was made sweeter by the fans. “I’m just glad I had the oppor tunity to pitch here, and being at home made it more enjoyable, to share this with all my friends and all our fans,” Possum said. “I’m glad the fans came out and saw us; M VLJrn\sorsity Ort\s€> FINALS SCHEDULE P )U P) SCIENCE MON' Mav 4 TUB Mav 5 WED Mav 6 THU Mav 7 RHYS 218 2-4 PM PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 RHYS 202 4-6 PM PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 CHEM 101 6-8 PM PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 CHEM 102 8-10 PM PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 CHEM 107 10 PM- MID PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 RHYS 208 9-11 PM PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 RHYS 208 11PM- 1AM PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 SCIENCE SAT 9-May SUN 10-May RHYS 201 4-8 PM PART PART 1 2 PART PART 3 4 SCIENCE MON May 4 TUB May 5 WED May 6 THU May 7 BIOL 1.13 8-10 PM PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 BUSINESS MON May 4 TUB May 5 WED May 6 THU May 7 FINC 341 6-8 PM PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 JS( The Committee for the Awareness of Mexican American Culture presents. . . . Cinco de Mayo Talent Show A Awards Ceremony Tuesday, May 5, 1998 7p.m. in Rudder Theater f 0, % e «y vC^ All are invited to attend donation box located at front entrance Viva <k Mexico! Persons with disabilities please call 845-1 51 5 to inform us of your *P°cial needs. We request notification three (3) working days prior to the event to enable us to assist you to the best of our abilities. Kuzmic I just couldn’t ask for anything more.” Kuzmic, on his 21st birthday, gave A&M a 5-0 lead with home runs in the first and in the third. The two blasts gave Kuzmic a total of 21 homers on the season, eclipsing Mike Scanlin’s mark of 20, set in 1986. The five-run lead would hold up until the fourth, when Baylor got on the board, on a sin gle, a two base error and then another single by Bear slugger Charley Carter that plated a run. Baylor struck again in the fifth, as catcher Brian Loeb hit a two run homer to cut the lead to 5-3. Possum then struck out the next two batters before giving up a solo homer to Eric Nelson that made the score 5-4 and gave Baylor hope. With the game hanging in the balance in the eighth, A&M came through. Steve Scarborough dou bled with one out, bringing up Kuzmic. Kuzmic was intentional ly walked, bringing up Scheschuk. On the first pitch from Baylor starter Jason Jen nings, Scheschuk took a change- up off the wall in center field for a triple, scoring Scarborough and Kuzmic. The throw from the shortstop to third went wide and Scheschuk scored to put the Ag gies up by four. A&M coach Mark Johnson said he was expecting Scheschuk to come through. “John's been a cJutch hitter all season long, I would have bet on him,” Johnson said. “I don’t know how well we would have done had we not been able to get that cushion.” The 8-4 score gave Fossum six outs to keep the Bears from scor ing five runs, something Smith was not optimistic about. “If you try to come from four runs down against Casey Fossum with the conference champi onship on the line, you’re asking for a miracle,” Smith said. Fossum denied that miracle to Baylor, striking out Preston Un derdown to give A&M their first Big 12 title and first championship since 1993. Scheschuk said consistent play led to the title. “This is probably one of the top three conferences in baseball,” Scheschuk said. “To come in, week in and week out and get wins over quality opponents, it’s a difficult task, but one we took heart to and we got it done.” Johnson said the start the Bears got off to led A&M to focus on their own games. Please see Baseball on Page 7. AGGIELAND DEPOT allayallzxy HURRY!! Get 10% Off Your Diploma Frame IF ORDERED BY MAY 9 Quality Diploma Frames Starting at $ 96.00 Open Late Friday & Saturday May 15 ,h & 16“ %. Culpepper Plaza • 695-1422 Student Counseling ^ clpJlinCftttrmrnt fire you a aood listener? do you like to help others? fire you a responsible and committed person? (DVolunieen Heeded® to begin service in the Summer or Fall. Summer Training Class will be May 25-30, 1998. * ^INTERVIEWING NOW** Applications available in Room 104 Henderson Hail. For more information call Susan Vavra at 845-4427 ext. 133. Tan AM Unnmity iw »(trong iradtubond cornminM to Om prmdplt at diMnitir in ail vo*. Intta spirit, jdrriuion to T«*J AAM Unrrtnitrindiflf o<ia sporaond prognn* b span to ill qwiifiad indnidudi without nprd to an)r tufagreup, dau or noraetypa. Taking the GRE this summer? reasons yOU should take The Princeton Review now Our students have higher average score 1 We’re smarter improvements than students who took other courses. There are Pew guarantees... .. .in life. We ore one of them. If you ore not happy with will work with you again for free. THE PRINCETON REVIEW 409.696.9099 www.review.com Ihe Princeton Revitw is nol assoraled willi Princeton Uni*ecsily nor E1S. GREG MCREYNOLDS/The Battalion Aggie Head Coach Mark Johnson celebrates with his team after having a water jug dumped on him Saturday. The Aggies beat Baylor Friday at home 8- 1, and in Waco Saturday 8-4 to clinch their first Big 12 title. The conference championship was Johnson’s fourth overall, dating back to SWC competition. will publish Tuesday, May 5th and Friday, May 8th Advertising deadlines are as follows: For Ad to Appear Display Classified Tuesday, May 5 4 p.m. Friday 1 p.m. Monday Friday, May 8 4 p.m. Friday 1 p.m. Monday We will resume publication on Monday, June 1st <E>BX Congratulations to our new actives! Alicia Brothers Michelle MacMahon Lauren Crawford Niki McClendon Jessica Gerard Stephanie Perez Christie Giebler Brie Peschel Erica Harris Courtney Volney Amberly Husfeld Amanda Wiederhold Lindsay Lupton Carmen Wynn “Love through life in Christ.” MSC Barber Shop Serving All Aggies! Cuts and Styles All Corp Cuts $7. Regular cuts start at ,1 846-0629 Open: Mon. - Fri. 8-5 ‘TST Located in the basement of the Memorial Student Center GOOD LUCK ON FINALS!! From Dr. Malon Southerland Vice President for Student Affairs and The Division of Student Affair; 10th Floor Rudder Tower malon-southerIand(3)tamu. edu