Page 8 • Friday, April 9, 1999
Sports
TheBr IBattalio
Aggies face KSU on road
Baseball team aims for .500 record in away games
BY AARON COHAN
The Battalion
The harsh road again awaits the
Texas A&M Baseball Team.
The sixth-ranked Aggies have
been brilliant at home, winning 20
of 21 games, but the road has tak
en its toll as A&M
has a record of 6-
7 away from
Olsen Field.
The good news
for the Aggies is
that the team will
face conference ri
val Kansas State
University. The
Aggies have been
JOHNSON
successful lately against Big 12 op
ponents, taking two games from
the University of Missouri and
sweeping a hot University of Ne
braska club last weekend.
A&M coach Mark Johnson said
his club will need to perform well
against KSU if it wants to stay in the
hunt for the Big 12 title.
“We have to play our game this
weekend if we’re going to be suc
cessful, ” he said. “I know our guys
will be ready — it’s just a matter of
getting over the hump.”
The Wildcats lost their last
three games and are now eighth
in the conference standings with
a 5-10 record. The Wildcats are
1-14 on the road this season but
hold an impressive 12-4 record at
their so-called “home,” as they
have been playing home games at
neutral sites while their new sta
dium is being built.
A&M will be led again by the
All-American pitching staff of
Casey Possum and Chance Caple.
Possum, the probable starter for
Friday, has a 6-3 record, including
83 strike outs in 63 innings. His
performance so far has placed him
second in the Big 12 conference in
whiffed batters.
The junior will be followed by
another All-American in Caple. The
big hurler is holding opponents to
a .231 batting average while amass-
Women netters
host Vanderbilt
BY SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
The Battalion
KLEINECKE
After a 10-day layoff, the Texas
A&M Women’s Tennis Team re
turns to the Varsity Tennis Center
Saturday for an afternoon non-con
ference match against Vanderbilt
University.
The No. 34 Ag
gies, at 12-4 overall
and 6-1 in the Big
12, currently are
one game behind
the University of
Texas in the race
for the conference
crown. The No. 12
Lady Com
modores (14-6 overall, 5-5 South
eastern Conference) are coming off
a 5-1 home loss to the University of
Georgia April 3 and have lost three
of their past four matches.
The Aggies last played March
31, when they came away with a
thrilling 5-4 victory over Harvard
University. Freshman Martina Ne-
dorostova continued her strong
play with a straight-set victory at
No. 1 singles. Also notching singles
victories for A&M were Leah Killen
and sophomore Eva Marcial at No.
3 and No. 6, respectively. With the
score tied at 4-4, Nedorostova and
Lisa Dingwall prevailed in a tie
breaker, 9-8 (7-4), to win the de
ciding doubles point.
The break in action comes at a
good time for the Aggies as they
prepare for their stretch drive, A&M
coach Bobby Kleinecke said.
“We took a little time off for
Easter break,” he said. “Then we
came back and worked on our net
game and our volleys.”
The Vanderbilt match will be
highlighted by the No. 1 singles
match between Nedorostova and
the Commodores’ Julie Ditty. Ditty,
the National Player of the Month,
currently is ranked 12th in the
country. Ditty had a perfect 10-0
record in March and is 14-5 overall
in dual matches this season. Her
ranking of No. 7 earlier this year
was the highest ever for a Vander
bilt player.
“That will be an interesting
match,” Kleinecke said. “It’s a
good opportunity for Martina.”
Kleinecke said his team needs to
play a complete match to upset the
Commodores.
“We have to play well at every
position,” he said. “We can’t give
them any easy matches, and we
need to put them behind at the
start and get them in a hole on the
road.”
Vanderbilt, which will be play
ing the first match of a three-
Texas squads gather
for A&M Invitational
Outdoor season continues for track teams
BY TOM KENNEDY
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Men’s and
Women’s TYack Teams will host
the Texas A&M Invitational Sat
urday at the Anderson Track
and Field Complex. The meet,
which will not feature team
scoring, will be attended by
eight teams, including Texas
Christian University, the Uni
versity of Houston and Rice Uni
versity.
The A&M women will at
tempt to continue their recent
success on the outdoor track af
ter finishing ninth at the Big 12
Indoor Meet. The Aggies have
moved up consistently in the
polls and currently are ranked
14th in the nation by Trackwire
Online.
The men are beginning to
near preseason expectations as
the 400- and 1,600-meter relay
units appear to be more com
fortable running together.
A&M TYack and Field coach
Ted Nelson said he expects his
squads to be competitive.
“I look for us to compete
well,” Nelson said. “We had a
really good meet last weekend.
so I’m hoping some of that will
carry over to this meet.”
Both squads turned in their
share of provisional qualifiers
for the NCAA Championships
last weekend. Senior Detrich
Clariett had one of the strongest
outings of the day, breaking her
school record in the triple jump
with a wind-aided leap of 43
feet, 8 1/2 inches.
Sophomore Esther Eisenlauer
and freshman Katy Doyle con
tinued A&M’s one-two punch in
the javelin throw by both toss
ing provisional qualifying
marks to place second and
fourth, respectively.
Nelson said more impressive
performances could be wit
nessed by those on hand Satur
day.
“This will be a quality meet
with some quality teams,” he
said. “If the weather cooperates,
we could see some more people
qualifying for nationals.”
The meet will begin with the
field events at 1 p.m. The run
ning events will begin with the
women’s 3,000-meter run at 5
p.m. and conclude with the
1,600-meter relay competition
at 8:15 p.m.
ing a 5-3 record and 67 K’s, second
to Fossum for the Aggies.
The third-game starter spot is
still up for grabs but might be tak
en by Chris Russ. The sophomore
has been one of the most effective
pitchers on the Aggie staff this year,
leading the staff in wins (8) and in
ERA (0.79). Russ’ ERA leads the
nation with four earned runs in 45-
plus innings.
“If we don’t have to use Chris
Friday or Saturday, we will more
than likely start him on Sunday,”
Johnson said. “He has become so
versatile, it’s hard to keep him off
the field.”
The Aggie offense, which is av
eraging almost 13 hits per game in
Big 12 play, will be supplied by
some of the most potent lumber in
the conference, as senior Shawn
Schumacher and junior Dell Lyn-
dsey are each hitting over .400 in
conference, while juniors Daylon
Holt and Steven TYuitt and senior
John Scheschuk have totaled 14
long balls between them.
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A&M junior third baseman Dell Lindsey dives for the base during the Aggies' game against the l r pec ted to b
of Michigan Wolverines March 20 at Olsen Field. The No. 6 Texas A&M Baseball Team willgooniti^E wevei g
Friday to take on the Kansas State University Wildcats in Manhattan, Kan., in a three-game, weekendcon i e imiin being:'
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BY TRAVIS HARSCH
The Battalion
There is a pretty big golf tourna
ment in a southern state this week
end.
Oh, and the Masters is also being
played.
The Texas A&M Men’s Golf Team
will take
on
seven Top 25
teams in the
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tercollegiate
Tburnament
Saturday and
Sunday at Mac
Gregor Downs
Country Club
in Cary, N.C.
The field for
the tournament
includes No. 2
Clemson and
No. 3 UNLV.
“I’ve always felt
that the best way
to prepare for a big
tournament is to
play in a big tourna
ment.”
Human bei
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— Bob Eliis
A&M Men's Golf Coach
Effe
MIKE FUENTES/The Battauon
A&M junior Lisa Dingwall returns a volley during singles play against
Texas Tech University March 29 at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Texas
A&M Women’s Tennis Team will host Vanderbilt University Saturday.
match, three-day trip to Texas, de
feated the Aggies last season in
Nashville by winning five of six
singles matches. A&M’s next
match is April 17 at home against
Rice University.
The tournament will be the last
for A&M before the Big 12 Champi
onships, April 25 to 27 in Hutchin
son, Kan.
A&M coach Bob Ellis said the
strength of the field will play a big
part in his team’s preparation for the
conference tournament.
“I’ve always felt that the best
way to prepare for a big tourna
ment is to play in a big tourna
ment,” Ellis said. “The tourna-
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The second-place finish
the third consecutive time
has finished in a tournamem
ten, and was his second
finish after placing third in
Louisiana ClassicsMarch9. r v er-eni
Palmer, whose 73.46 tolerance, it is
leads the team, will be joined-} C d t b at chrisl
tournament by sophomoresCh es \ 0 c hange
lick and Casey Cronin, junio Ur L a j en( j arS]
Reed and senior Matt Welch.(f t ]L new ni i|
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BY BEN WESTBROOK
The Battalion
When the No. 19 Texas A&M Softball
Team travels to Red and Charlin Mc
Combs Field in Austin Saturday, it will
have one major thought on its mind — hit
the ball.
The Aggies faced the University of
Texas and All-American pitcher Christa
Williams last Friday at
the Aggie Softball Com
plex and were held with
out a hit for the entire
contest, Williams’ fifth
career no-hitter.
A&M is coming off a
two-game sweep of non
conference foe Stephen F.
Austin State University
Wednesday, bringing its
SMITH
season record to 33-9 and getting the pop
back in its bats along the way.
Freshman standout, who leads the Ag
gies in several offensive categories, Lisa
Klam came back with vengeance
Wednesday, slapping two home runs
while going 4-for-6 against the embattled
Lumberjack pitching staff.
Klam was joined in the Aggie offensive
by shortstop Jamie Smith, who went 3-
for-5 on the night, and drove in two RBI’s.
A&M coach Jo Evans said the duo’s
performance was a key to the Aggie vic
tories.
“I am happy that we won,” Evans said.
“Offensively, I thought we could have hit
the ball harder and pushed their defense
more, but Lisa and Jamie really stepped
up and came through in the clutch.”
Despite the pair’s strong performance.
the Aggies were still
out hit 17-13 in the
two games. The
team also commit
ted an uncharac
teristic three er
rors Wednesday.
“I didn’t feel
we played our
best,” Evans said.
“We made some errors
on defense that we haven’t
been making lately, but we kept
it together.”
The Aggies will face off against
Texas, rated No. 15 in the nation
and No. 1 in the Midwest. The
team features two All-Americans,
Williams and senior second baseman
Nikki Cockrell.
The two Texas standouts swept the
Big 12’s weekly honors for games
ending April 4, as Williams
claimed her first Big 12
Pitcher of the Week
award for her
no-hit,
eleven-
strikeout
performance
against
A&M, and
Cockrell re
ceived Big 12
Player of the
Week honors.
Cockrell, who hit the game-winning
home run in the Aggies’ 1-0 loss last Fri
day, has an eight-game hitting streak and
is batting .304 with a team-leading 22
runs scored for the season.
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