onday • June 29,1998
The Battalion
PORTS
■Johnson
'dOlickey replaces
linistrator
Texas A&M Baseball Coach
irk Johnson announced the
lation of David Crowson as
;administrative assistant to the
baseball
team.
Crowson
will enter
private
business in
Tyler.
"David
has done a
tremen
dous job in
an impor
tant posi-
^in our baseball program/'
on said.
Current coach Bill Hickey will
[over the job per Johnson's
?st.
Because of Bill Hickey's ex-
Ise, 1 have asked him to take
; Administrative assistant posi-
an, Johnson said. "1 will begin
okir ig for an on-the-field coach
ith emphasis on recruiting."
Wrowson worked with the Ag-
tBaseball staff as a volunteer as-
|tant in 1993 and worked three
as the baseball administra-
yelassistant. He served the '91
hd[92 seasons as a student assis-
(ntlwhile finishing work on his
iilsiology degree.
^■ickey served 14 years as an
feuiit coach on the A&M staff
working with catchers, defense
nd coaching first base.
inow’s grand slam
lowers Giants
)ver Rangers, 7-0
'|f$AN FRANCISCO (AP) — Last
H?, Mark Gardner was the win-
it an ning pitcher in the first interleague
lormf ganne ever as San Francisco beat
I'ithafHas. On Sunday, he once again
t rev had his way with the Rangers.
Etardner pitched a three-hitter
ir and J.T. Snow hit a grand slam
hri and drove in five runs, giving San
ItiieST jraiidsco a 7-0 victory over Texas,
jdardner (7-3) gave up a
kind-ball single to Tom Good-
I Mn leading off the fourth. He al-
|d-.»ed nothing else until Kevin El-
[ Sf#'s two-ou t single in the eighth,
cedi! fldking none and striking out five.
In three interleague starts
against the Rangers, Gardner is
arc: 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA.
[ylwyWhen you bring them to our
enlf '*■ equalizes things a little
nW |t," Gardner said, who pitched
j Giants past the Rangers 4-3 at
jas last June 12.
I cts ("But I think every pitcher
lieir should still be intimidated by
Jm. Great teams demand that
should bear down," he said.
Texas first baseman Will Clark
8s impressed.
'If you shutdown this team on
| ee hits, you're doing some-
” Clark said.
ISnow, who hit three grand
n ^ s while playing for the Cali-
fnia Angels, hit his first NLslam
[the second inning off Aaron
(H-5). The home run was
->w's seventh of the season and
§3th of his career.
After he hit that grand slam,
ats the flattest I've seen this
p™ in four years," Texas man-
lp Johnny Oates said.
| Sele missed out on his bid to be-
ie the AL's first 12 -game win-
| r ’ He lasted five innings and
|ve up six hits, walking four and
liking out seven. In his last seven
Fts, Sele is 3-3 with a 7.52 ERA.
Astros overwhelm Indians 12-3
Alou homers, drives in three as Houston manages to take series from Cleveland
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Houston Astros
marched around Jacobs Field as if it were their own.
For two days, they owned the Cleveland Indians.
Moises Alou homered, had three hits and drove
in three
runs as the
Astros beat
the Indians
12-3 Sun
day to take
two of three
in the inter
league meeting of Central division leaders.
"I was real happy to come in here and take two
of three from a team like this," Houston manager
Larry Dierker said. "1 didn't expect it."
They didn't squeak by, either. The confident,
NL Central-leading Astros outscored the defend-
ing AL champions 21-8 in the final two games of
the series, showing a nice mix of power and speed
that's tough to beat in any league.
"We have the same type hitters as they do,"
Dierker said. "We have guys who can hit it out
and guys who can run the bases."
And Houston can do it against the NL or AL,
take your pick. The Astros are 8-3 against AL
clubs, and starter Shane Reynolds (9-5) improved
to 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA against the junior circuit.
"It's not fun to face a team like this when
you're not feeling well," Reynolds said, still feel
ing the effects of food poisoning he suffered about
10 days ago.
After beating Houston in the series opener Fri
day, it was the Indians who looked ill.
The Astros matched Cleveland's three homers
and won the second game of the series 9-5 in 11
innings on Saturday, then homered twice against
Charles Nagy (7-4) on Sunday. Nagy, winless in
June, was charged with eight earned runs in 5 1-
3 innings after Houston rocked newcomer Tim
Worrell in the sixth.
The Cleveland right-hander left the ballpark
without doing interviews.
"To say the least, Charlie didn't have it," Indi
ans manager Mike Hargrove said.
Alou, who hit three homers for Florida against
the Indians in the 1997 World Series, beat Cleve
land on Saturday with an RBI single in the 11th
off Jose Mesa.
He got a key hit for the second straight day,
making it 4-2 with a two-run homer, his 16th, off
Nagy in the fourth.
Reynolds allowed two runs and seven hits in
six innings, nicked only by Sandy Alomar's
sixth homer off the left-field foul pole in the sec
ond. Derek Bell hit a 433-foot solo homer in the
first, his 11th, and made a couple of sliding
catches in right field.
"If I saw Derek Bell dive one more time, I was
going to puke," Hargrove said.
Dierker
"I didn't plan on making those catches diving,
it just happened," said Bell, who robbed pinch-
hitter Shawon Dunston of a
hit in the ninth.
Houston scored four
runs in the ninth on six
straight hits off Worrell and
Alvin Morman. Alou had
an RBI single, and Tony Eu
sebio had a two-run single
off the left-field wall. C.J.
Nitkowski pitched three in
nings for his third save.
Nagy, who surrendered
his major league-leading
22nd and 23rd homers, was chased in the sixth
after Sean Berry gave Houston a 5-2 lead with a
bases-loaded RBI single.
Worrell, claimed on waivers from Detroit as
part of the Geronimo Berroa trade, promptly
walked Eusebio to force in a run.
Carl Everett, who singled, scored on Ricky
Gutierrez's sacrifice fly to the wall in left, and
Craig Biggio drilled an RBI double into the
right-field corner to make it 8-2.
That left Nagy with his worst line since his
first start on March 31 — 5 1-3 innings, eight
earned runs and seven hits.
Nagy, who walked three and struck out five,
was 0-2 with three no decisions this month.
Host country
France advances
PARIS (AP) — With a sweep of
his foot, Laurent Blanc allowed 60
million Frenchmen to breathe again.
Blanc's short shot 24 minutes into
overtime Sunday lifted France to a 1-
0 victory over Paraguay and into the
quarterfinals of the World Cup. It
was the first sudden-death score to
decide a World Cup game; the so-
called "golden goal" is being used in
the tournament for the first time.
"You shouldn't put forward the
one who scores, but the whole
team," Blanc said. "We were fight
ing, fighting and we got our reward
in the very last minutes."
Nigeria didn't get any reward for
winning its first-round group. It got
a Denmark squad that took advan
tage of gaping holes in the Africans'
defense for a 4-1 romp.
"We're on a high, definitely a
high," Danish goalkeeper Peter
Schmeichel said.
France plays Italy and Denmark
takes on Brazil in the quarterfinals.
The French couldn't finish off
dozens of penetrations through the
Paraguay defense. Instead, goal
keeper Jose Luis Chilavert made 24
saves and his defenders cleared
away ball after ball.
Playing the game
Texas A&M strives for all-around success
in athletics like rival Texas Longhorns
I magine a head-to-head compe
tition between the two Texas
athletics powerhouses, Texas
and Texas A&M, played out on an
oversized
chessboard.
The pair of
players con
struct their at
tacks, reveal
ing a skew
here, a pin
there.
However,
in the end,
Texas' superi
or pawn struc
ture would
Jeff
Webb
sports editor
eventually overtake the Aggies'
porous defense.
That has been the story between
the bitter in-state foes for as long as
many students can remember. Sure,
A&M has dominated the football series for the last 14
years, compiling a record of 11-4, but how has the
A&M Women's Tennis Team fared over time?
In case you haven't been keeping up, Texas is 26-1
against A&M since the 1980 season.
The story repeats itself for most of the "lesser" pro
grams maintained by both institutions.
Texas leads the all-time women's basketball series
43-8. Legendary coach Jody Conradt nailed a 580-133
record in her 22-year tenure in Austin. Recently de
parted coach Candi Harvey turned heads around the
state by posting a 4-6 record against the 'Horns.
Former men's basketball coach Tony Barone
was a paltry 2-12 in meetings with his good friend
Tom Penders.
The men's tennis team was 2-26 versus the Texas
team in the last 20 years until a monumental upset vic
tory over the 5th-ranked Burnt Orange and White in
the Big 12 Championships.
Add to that a 103-200-5 mark in 94 years of base
ball, and the balance looks like a Kate Moss-Mama
Cass weigh-off.
Texas always is mentioned in the same sentence
with Stanford, North Carolina and UCLA when
conversation turns to overall athletics superiority.
Why not A&M? There is no reason for A&M not to
be a contender in any sport it participates in.
Alumni support has been in place to generate the
money needed. All it takes is an aggressive director
to concentrate the resources.
Finally, the A&M athletics department has demon
strated with its recent coaching hires that A&M is
committed to excellence in sports other than football,
and it's about time.
The addition of Peggie Gillom as the women's
basketball coach and Melvin Watkins as the men's
basketball coach is a Texas two-step in the right di
rection for Aggie athletics. In the last 15 years, Texas
garnered six national championships (one in base
ball and five in swimming) and won or shared 56
other conference titles.
With the internal strife in the Texas athletics depart
ment that led to the firing or reassignment of baseball
coach Cliff Gustavson, football coach John Mackovic
and basketball coach Tom Penders in the last two
years, the Aggies are in a position to wrestle away the
crown of Texas' athletics power that has been poised
atop the ears of Bevo himself.
With an incentive-laden contract that is rumored
to rival that of football icon R.C. Slocum and a new
arena at his disposal for impressing recruits, Watkins
promises no excuses for failure in his tenure as
coach. Gillom now finds herself thrust into the same
gem of a position.
When the next game begins between the orange
and maroon gamers, perhaps the Aggie counterat
tack will uncover a forgotten piece that slips
through undetected.
In chess parlance, that lone pawn that survives the
trip might become a queen. Checkmate.
Jeff Webb is a junior
journalism major.
Don Nelson says new acquisition
Nowitzki appears likely to play
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks brought Dirk Nowitzki to Texas
on Sunday, only four days after acquiring the German phenom amid doubts
they could get him to play in the NBA this season.
Whether or not Nowitzki will suit up for Dallas next season still is uncertain.
But it appears much more likely than when coach and general man
ager Don Nelson pulled off a three-way trade during Wednesday night's
NBA draft to land Nowitzki.
"We're going to continue to sell him," Nelson said Sunday. "We've
gone a couple of big steps in the right direction. I don't know when he'll
make a decision."
Nelson, along with his son and assistant coach Donnie Nelson, and
Mavericks owner Ross Perot Jr., went to Germany on Thursday to court
Nowitzki, who had hinted he would play in Europe for another one or
two years.
The recruiting committee needed only two days in the tiny Bavarian town
of Wurzburg to persuade the 6-foot-ll forward to go to Dallas.
Now the Nelsons hope a red-carpet tour will clinch their bid to sell the
20-year-old on an immediate jump to the NBA.
"Just the fact that we brought him back is a big step," Nelson said. "We
want to show him around where he has some idea where he would be liv
ing. Hopefully we can never let him go until he makes a commitment.
That's the idea."
The Mavericks had two big hurdles to persuading Nowitzki. First,
he wanted Dallas to consent to him leaving the team in February to
play Olympic qualifying games for his country. Don Nelson has agreed
to that.
Secondly, the Mavericks had to persuade Nowitzki that he's ready for
the NBA because it had been suggested he wasn't strong enough.
"It's a big decision that has to be made," Nowitzki said after arriving
at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and shooting a few baskets for
reporters. "I think I'm not ready yet, but they try to convince me that I'm
ready. ... We'll see."
The Nelsons promise he's wrong on that point.
"When people see him play, they'll understand," Donnie Nelson said.
"People aren't educated about this guy. To Mavericks fans, he's just a name.
When people see him play, it'll all make sense."
Nowitzki, the ninth overall pick in the draft, averaged 17.5 points and 10
rebounds for DJK Wurzburg last season.
He dazzled scouts at the Nike Hoop Summit in San Antonio in March
with 33 points with 14 rebounds. Then he returned to Germany and en
listed in the army to fulfill his military obligation.
Seattle bullpen blows another game
PHOENIX (AP)—Yamil Benitez homered on the first pitch by Bobby Ayala
in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, sending the Arizona Diamondbacks
to a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 32nd home run, and Seattle tied
it at 2 in the eighth on Alex Rodriguez's RBI grounder.
Ayala (0-6) retired the Diamondbacks in order in
the eighth, but couldn't handle Benitez, who hit his
second homer in as many games and fourth in his last
seven starts.
Alan Embree (2-0) worked two scoreless innings
for the win.
Matt Williams had an RBI single for Arizona in the
first, and Karim Garcia made it 2-1 with a run-scoring
triple in the sixth.
Jamie Moyer of the Mariners allowed seven hits
and two runs. Brian Anderson held the Mariners to five hits.
Griffey Jr.
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TTn e: Battalion
8^t5-05<S9>