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
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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.
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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
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Congratulations
to our new actives!
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Michelle MacMahon
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All Corp Cuts $7.
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846-0629
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‘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