■e Battalion
Sports
Page 5 • Friday, March 5, 1999
Men’s Golf Team
eyes NCAA berth
TERRY ROBERSON/The Battalion
-sheii: Senior Ryan Palmer takes a practice swing. Palmer and the Texas A&M
share;: vlen's Golf Team will travel to Lafayette, La., this weekend to compete in
P- Bthe Louisiana Classics.
) well,
story
oesoi
houtikt
BY TRAVIS HARSCH
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Men’s Golf
Team will be looking for more than
a win when it heads to Lafayette,
La., this weekend for the Louisiana
Classics. The Aggies will be looking
to use the tournament to increase
their chances of making the NCAA
Tournament.
“We are currently 12th in the
Central Region,” A&M coach Bob
Ellis said. “We need to be eighth
or above to be in the champi
onships, so we are looking for a
solid performance.”
“With this and the following
tournament, the Border Olympics,
we can help our situation out quite
a bit.”
The Aggies can make a big
jump in the standings this week
end because of the quality of the
teams in the Classics. Of the 14
teams in the tournament, only
six are unranked. Among A&M’s
competition this weekend are
ranked Big 12 foes University of
Oklahoma, University of Nebras
ka, University of Kansas and Bay
lor University.
Ellis said he will tell his team
to have a good time on the
course despite the pressure on
the Aggies.
“It’s going to be a challenge
for us as a team, as individuals
and myself as a coach to take the
pressure off and make this a fun
situation,” Ellis said.
A&M is coming off a 12th-
place finish in the Big Island In
tercollegiate in Hawaii. The field
featured seven ranked teams, in
cluding three in the top 10. The
Aggies finished ahead of No. 22
Oregon and No. 23 Arizona,
something Ellis said shows the
Aggies are ready to put their ear-
ly-season struggles behind them.
“I think they’ve (the team)
reached that point where they
are willing to do more than what
it takes to win and more than
what it takes to be the best you
should be,” Ellis said. “1 think
the team has accepted that chal
lenge and is ready to go forward
and have a good year from here.”
The Classics will be played at
the 7,002-yard, par 72 Oakbourne
Country Club. The appearance
will be the 12th for the Aggies.
The team has never taken home
the title, but A&M has finished
second four times and third twice
and has won the individual title
four times, including three times
in the last six years.
Those four titles include the
most recent one, won by Ryan
Palmer last year, as he went 70-
73-74—217 to take the trophy by
two shots. Palmer’s showing was
not enough to take the team title,
however, as Tulsa finished 14
shots in front of the Aggies.
The teams will play 36 holes
on Monday and 18 on Tbesday.
naketli
t the a
ileaser.
\ggies send two to indoor track finals
BY TOM KENNEDY
The Battalion
March is here, and so are all the events as-
'unytwciated with it: spring break, March Madness,
)red u83-degree days and 45-degree nights — at least
. Uiscrarmost students.
I But A&M senior triple jumper Detrich Clariett
ganddftd junior pole vaulter Richard McDonald have
i theMMifferent view of this time of year since both will
tation. ft competing in the NCAA Indoor Tfack and
ganddfteld Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., March
nbytteftand 6 for the second year in a row.
he ft McDonald comes into the pole vault ranked
titjustftth on the NCAA qualifying list after record-
| ftg a season-best clearance of 17 feet, 4 1/2
be cutaftches on his final attempt at the Big 12 Indoor
preter»iampionships, where he placed third. Last
ftar, McDonald placed 13th at the NCAA Indoor
—, -ftiampionships.
es you li
A&M Track and Field coach Ted Nelson said
McDonald has the potential to do well, barring
the mishaps that can go along with the event.
“She (Clariett) is very capable
of hitting a big jump, and she
has the experience to compete
well for us ”
— Ted Nelson
Texas A&M track and field coach
“Richard has been there before, so he knows
what he has to do,” Nelson said. “The pole vault
is a crazy event because it is so easy to ‘no
height’, but if he goes out and performs like he
is capable, he could place high.”
Clariett will begin competition ranked No. 15
on the NCAA women’s triple jump qualifying
list after setting a season best of 42’ 3 1/4” at
the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
Last year, Clariett set a school record with a
leap of 43’ 7 3/4” on her way to fifth place. Nel
son said Clariett’s experience and ability to per
form under pressure will improve her scoring
chances.
“D.D. (Clariett) has a chance to score points
at this meet,” Nelson said. “She is very capable
of hitting a big jump, and she has the experi
ence to compete well for us.”
Both athletes will compete on the second day
of competition, March 6, with McDonald slated
to start in the men’s pole vault at 5:30 p.m. Cla
riett will take the infield five minutes later when
the women’s triple jump begins.
gs to battle Cyclones in weekend series
| Aggies looking to
eep flawless home
record against ISU.
BY AARON COHAN
The Battalion
I The fourth-ranked Texas A&M Baseball
lC uniwltam will try to get back on track this week-
;s end when they host a three-game series
i,li,xlC! against Iowa State University.
nets ■ The Cyclones are off to a rough start, as
;^ s heduling has not allowed them to play a
oo"L hb m e game this season. In the ten games
■ tf "' v ’'Dey have played, ISU has marked up in a 5-
The Aggies are coming off a tough loss
jC7»4|ainst the University of Texas-San Antonio
2£i^hiesday night. A&M made a late comeback
A&M Baseball
vs. Iowa State
(March 5-7)
Game 1 (Friday):
A&M - Casey Possum (3-2)
ISU - Brian Curtin (2-1)
Game 2 (Saturday):
A&M - Chance Caple (3-1)
ISU - Mike Laesch (0-2)
Game 3 (Sunday):
A&M - TBA
ISU - Nate Hilton (0-1)
only to lose their lead in the bottom of the
ninth behind some irregular pitching.
“1 guess we proved Casey Possum is hu
man,” A&M Baseball coach Mark Johnson
said. “Our guys pitched well that night; they
(UTSA) were just hitting really well, also.”
The road has not been friendly to A&M
this season, as the team is only 2-3 away
from Aggieland. But the Aggies should be
welcomed home with open arms by
the fans at Olsen Field.
“Our fans get us going big time,”
junior shortstop Steve Scarborough
said. “It’s a big factor for us at
home. ”
Junior second baseman Sean
Heaney said the A&M fans have been
a big part of the Aggies’ 10-0 record at
home this season.
“I really don’t think there’s any other
place that anyone would rather play than at
Olsen Field,” Heaney said. “Our fans are a
tremendous factor in our wins.”
Getting the start Friday will be junior
pitcher Chance Caple. The righthander, who
has given up just six walks in the 29 innings
he has pitched, will
look to keep
his edge on
the Big
12 com
petition
after
pitching a
complete
game last
weekend
against Okla
homa State Uni
versity.
Preseason All-American
candidate Casey Possum will
toss in the Saturday matchup. The
junior ace will look to regain the form he
had before his appearance in Tuesday’s
game. Last weekend, the junior blew away
10 batters in his eight-inning win against
OSU.
On the other side of the ball will be the
usual supporting cast of Aggie hitters. Senior
first baseman John Scheschuk leads A&M
with a .451 batting average. Sean Heaney is
right behind Scheschuk with a .406 batting
average and has nine multi-hit games this
season.
Heaney said the Aggies cannot look past
ISU in their second Big 12 se
ries this weekend.
“We’re not going to
take ISU for granted,” he
said. “We’ll be ready to
play. ”
FILE PHOTO/The Battalion
Sophomore Rachel Lewis makes the stop at second base during com
petition at the Aggie Invitational I. The Texas A&M Softball Team will host
the Aggie Invitational II this weekend at the Aggie Softball Complex.
A&M hosts weekend
softball tournament
BY BEN WESTBROOK
The Battalion
Coach Jo Evans will go for her
400th career win this weekend
when the Texas A&M Softball Team
(15-5) hosts the Aggie Invitational
II at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Evans needs three wins in the
round-robin tournament to reach
the milestone. She currently boasts
a 397-269-2 career record and an
84-59-2 (.586) record with the Ag
gies.
Standing in the Aggies’ way is
the University of Minnesota. The
Golden Gophers currently are
ranked No. 21 in the nation and
boast 15-4 record.
Leading the way for Minnesota
are freshmen Jordanne Nygren and
Heather Brown. Nygren is Min
nesota’s leading hitter, posting a
.393 batting average with nine
home runs and 23 RBIs. Brown
fills the role of ace for the Gophers’
pitching staff with a 4-0 record and
a 1.25 ERA.
Also participating in the tourney
will be Dayton University, a 3-3
team that opened its season last
weekend in a tournament hosted
by Southwest Texas State Universi
ty, and Butler University (0-5),
which has been outscored 59-8 by
the competition so far this year.
Evans said the Aggies are confi
dent of their chances this weekend
and feel they have a good chance to
win the tournament.
“We feel good about how we
played last weekend,” Evans said. “I
feel that it gives us momentum.”
Sophomore pitcher Amy Mining,
who has gone 9-3 on the year with
an 0.75 ERA, said she also felt the
momentum was in A&M’s favor.
“If we continue to play like last
weekend, we’ll do really well,” she
said.
Evans said the Aggies have got
ten a lift from the play of freshman
Tammy Donnell, who has stepped
in to fill the shoes of lead-off hitter
Hollee Hayden, who will be out at
least another four weeks with a
broken arm.
“Tammy Donnell did a nice job
[last weekend],” Evans said. “She
stepped up and played good de
fense. ”
The Aggies are ranked 27th na
tionally in the NFCA-USA Today
Top 25 Poll.
Men's Tennis Team looks
for revenge against Tigers
BY AL LAZARUS
The Battalion
Last year, the roles were re
versed.
The Texas A&M Men’s Tennis
Team was the underdog, fighting
to come away with a road victory
over a higher-
ranked team.
The Aggies
lost that match
to Louisiana
State University,
4-3, but this year
it will be the No.
19 Tigers who
are on the road,
trying to upset
No. 14 A&M.
The Aggies (5-0, 3-0) will take
on LSU Saturday at noon at the
A&M Varsity Tennis Center.
A&M sophomore Cody
Hubbell said the teams’ past will
play a role in this match.
“I think there will be a little bit
of a revenge factor this year,”
Hubbell said. “It was a really
close match last year, and we def
initely could have won it.”
A&M senior Brent Horan said
playing the Aggies at home was a
big advantage for the Tigers.
“It will be a different match
this year,” he said. “Playing at
LSU, the crowd really got into the
match.”
Saturday’s match will be
A&M’s first home match of the
spring season. In the fall, the Ag
gies defeated the University of
Nebraska in their first match at
the new Varsity Tennis Center.
A&M has been perfect in its
spring schedule so far, defeating Rice
University, the University of Okla
homa, Oklahoma State University
and the University of Miami.
After knocking off the Aggies
last season, LSU went on to fin
ish the season undefeated in
conference play, ending the sea
son ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Although they have fallen to the
No. 19 spot this season, the Tigers
have looked impressive early on, de
feating conference foe No. 3 Missis
sippi State University.
A&M men’s tennis coach Tim
Cass said the Tigers’ ranking is
not indicative of their strong play
of late.
“They may be ranked No. 19,
but based on them beating No. 3
last week, we’ll treat them like a
top-10 team,” Cass said.
Aggie sophomore Dumitru
Caradima is expected to play in
Saturday’s match after sitting out
the singles portion of A&M’s
match against Miami with a toe
injury.
Caradima and sophomore
Shuon Madden recently became
the first Aggie duo ever to be
ranked No. 1 in the nation in dou
bles.
Hubbell, who filled in for Caradi
ma at the No. 2 singles spot against
Miami, said being the favorite has
given the Aggies more confidence
heading into this year’s match
against the Tigers.
“We’re all excited to play them
again,” he said. “I bet LSU is go
ing to be worried, and they
should be.”