le Battalion
Sports
Page 9 • Thursday, April 15, 1999
^Playing the Hbt Corn
f unior Dell Lindsey has taken over third for the Aggies
BY AARON COHAN
The Battalion
Ope of the biggest factors in whether
^»xas A&M Baseball Team could repeat
st season’s success was who would step
take Craig Kuzmic’s spot at third
se.
Since third is such a hot spot on the di-
opd, A&M coach Mark Johnson and his
^aff devoted most of the fall to deciding
^■their man would be.
^Ren along came Dell Lindsey of Hous-
)n, ; fde is not very outspoken, but he lets
is game do the talking, showing why he
as been a force in the field and behind the
late for the nationally ranked Aggies.
Lindsey said he is just glad the oppor-
mity finally came around for him.
diversityPl.< “Nobody could ever fill Kuzmic’s
loeb,” he said. “But the spot was open
hen he went to the minors, so this op-
ortunity has been treating me great so
tr.”
The junior’s life in baseball has been
HKEFUEMtS
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tccessful ever since he passed the Little
•eague level. Facing the stiff competition
f North Shore High School in Houston,
jndesey emerged as one of the top young-
dlld ers in area > garnishing All-District
bnors three times, earning a spot on the
11-State Team and winning the national
AU Championships with Aggie teammate
teven Truitt.
Lindsey left high school for Blinn Junior
ollege and quickly picked up where he
tftfoff. In his freshman campaign at Blinn,
e earned All-Conference Honors under
mgtime coach Kyle Van Hook.
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my game to the next level,” Lindsey said.
“It was fun playing for a team like Blinn.”
The next season, Dell started grabbing
the attention of top Division I schools and
professional scouts, hitting .404 at the
plate to go along with 20 long balls and 97
RBI’s. Lindsey’s impressive statistics and
strong play helped him earn Second-Team
''Nobody could ever fill
Kuzmic’s shoes. But
the spot was open,
so this opportunity has
been treating me
great so far.”
— Dell Lindsey
Aggie third baseman
All-American Honors.
Now there were knocks on the door
from everyone, but to Lindsey the decision
to come to A&M was simple.
“Playing at Blinn made it easy on me to
make the decision to come here,” he said.
“Not just because it was close, but because
1 have played with so many of the guys
growing up, and we have great chemistry.”
Lindsey said he was glad to be given the
chance to play third base on an everyday
basis upon his arrival finally to Aggieland.
“Everyone on the team and all the
coaches put a lot of trust in me right off the
bat,” he said. “It really became easier to
play my game.”
The only real question that popped up
was whether Lindsey could manage the
jump from junior-college to top Division I
pitching. Unlike the JUCO pitchers he had
faced at Blinn, who often come right after
the hitters. Division I pitchers often will
pitch around and make the situation more
difficult for the hitters.
But Lindsey said his move to top-level
competition was smooth.
“Adjusting to the level of pitching was
easier than I expected, especially with the
help of the coaches,” he said.
It has shown so far this season, as Lind
sey ranks second on the team with a .368
batting average, putting him among the
top 15 batters in the conference. The ju
nior also has hit 10 home runs to go along
with 37 RBIs to show off his top-10 slug
ging percentage in the Big 12.
“Dell has been awesome for us this all
year long for us,” senior team captain John
Scheschuk said. “It’s great having a steady
bat like his in the lineup everyday.”
More importantly, Lindsey has built the
initial respect of the coaches into an ad
miration for what he has done thus far.
“He’s well liked and a great guy,” John
son said. “Without Dell, we wouldn’t have
the record that we have right now.”
Lindsey has helped the Aggies to an
overall record of 33-8 and now has his
sights set on helping them to the place
they were just five years ago.
“I want us to go back to the College
World Series,” he said. “It would be a great
accomplishment not only for me in my
first year here, but for the team as a
TERRY ROBERSON/The Battalion
Junior third baseman Dell Lindsey has taken over the position vacated by the
departed Craig Kuzmic. Lindsey, a junior-college transfer from Blinn College, is
second on the team with a .368 batting average.
pplB
MIKE FUENTES/Thi Battalion
AM junior catcher Krissy Renner tries to pick off the runner at first following a bunt attempt during the Aggies’
* lairie against Southwest Texas State University Tuesday at the Aggie Softball Complex. The Texas A&M Softball
Track teams head to California
earn scored eight runs in the first inning en route to a 10-0 win over the Bobcats.
BY TOM KENNEDY
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Men’s and
Women’s Ttack Teams will send
seven of their decathletes and hep-
tathletes to Walnut, Calif., for the
Mt. San Antonio College Multi-
Event to be held today through Fri
day at the Azusa Pacific Hack Sta
dium.
The meet will mark the season
debut of All-American senior
Kendall Madden and junior Chad
Meyer after missing time due to in
juries. Meyer, who ranks as the
number four decathlete in school
history, and Madden, ranked sixth
all-time at A&M, are both expected
to place high after finishing fourth
and fifth, respectively, last year.
Also expected to contribute for
the men are senior Toby Ware,
sophomore Jason Wyatt, and
freshman Jake Boone. Boone, who
leads the team this season with a
6,830 point performance at the
College Station Multis, was the
1997 USA Track and Field Junior
Decathlon National Champion.
The women will be led by
freshman Kendra Reimer and
sophomore Desi Hudson, who
rank as the number two and three
Freshman Erica Boren clears the bar during the women’s pole vault
competition Saturday at the A&M Invitational. The men’s and women’s
track teams will travel to Walnut, Calif., this weekend for the Mt. SAC
Multi-Event.
heptathletes, respectively, in A&M
history.
Reimer is coming off of a 5,371
point performance at the College
Station Multis which provisional
ly qualified her for the NCAA
meet. Hudson, who was 16th at
last year’s NCAA Meet, will com
pete in her first heptathlon since
withdrawing from competition at
the College Station Multis due to
injury.
A&M Softball Team scores
pearly, often versus Bobcats
mas
Bji
BY JASON LINCOLN
The Battalion
he bottom of the first inning showed it would
be field exercises for the 19th-ranked Texas A&M
Softball Team as they took on Southwest Texas State
University in a non-conference match on Wednes
day evening.
■After quickly retiring the Bobcats’ top three with
wo strikeouts and a groundout, the
Aggies got to test their bats against
SWT pitcher Amber Mosher. Eight
runs later, the Aggies closed the first
inning with a comfortable lead.
■Each of A&M’s ten starters had a
hit as the Aggies finished the game
with 12 hits to win, 10-0, in four
and a half innings after the game
was called by the run rule.
■“We were due to break the bats
out and have a rally like that,” A&M coach Jo Evans
said. “We were aggressive at the plate and put pres
sure on their defense. It took them out of the game
at the beginning.
■“I was pleased to win big like that against a team
that has given us some fits in the past.”
■Even with the early momentum, the Aggies had trou
ble keeping the bats effective. They were held to one hit
VINING
and no runs in the next two innings, as Mosher found
her groove, and the Bobcat field improved its accuracy.
In the next three innings, A&M managed just four hits
and two runs, but the Aggie gloves kept SWT scoreless
on three hits in eighteen trips to the plate.
For the Aggies, sophomore pitcher Amy Mining
finished with three strikeouts, and designated hitter
Heather Martinez went 3-for-3 with two singles and
a double for one RBI. Junior Angie Long, sophomore
Tiffany Ester and freshman Tammy Donnell each
had two RBIs, while juniors Jamie Smith and Kris
sy Renner had one each.
“Their pitcher [Mosher] was a little slow, so it
was just a matter of waiting on the ball, having good
timing and picking the right pitch,” Martinez said.
“This game gives us a lot of confidence going into
the weekend [conference matches against the Uni
versity of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State Universi
ty] because we know we have the ability to hit the
ball well.”
The Bobcats now have an even .500 record for the
season with Mosher at 18-17, while the Aggies move
to a 34-10 record, and Mining improves to 19-8.
The Aggies will host two conference double-
headers this weekend as they face the eighth-ranked
University of Oklahoma on Saturday and Oklahoma
State University on Sunday. Both days’ games will
be held at noon and 2 p.m.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Men’s tennis signs
3rd-ranked recruit
Stephen Moros, the nation’s
third-ranked junior tennis prospect,
signed a national letter of intent
Wednesday to play for Texas A&M,
men’s head coach Tim Cass said.
Moros, who hails from Sarasota,
Fla., has been ranked No. 1 or No.
2 in the Sunshine State his entire
junior tennis career.
He finished in the top six in sin
gles recently at the prestigious East
er Bowl national tournament. Previ
ously, he placed third at the USTA
Nationals, positioning him to be one
of the top five players in the 18-and-
under division.
Moros is also a member of the
U.S. National Team and is ranked
No. 2 in the nation in doubles.
“Our goal is to fill our lineup with
U.S. National Team players,” head
coach Tim Cass said. “Stephen fills
that wish and many more. His junior
ranking is similar to that of other
guys we’ve signed like Rafael de
Mesa, Shuon Madden and Keith
From.”
Cass looks to fill one more va
cancy on his team. His first recruit
ing class in 1997 was selected as
No. 1 in the nation by College Ten
nis Weekly.
As a team, the Aggies are
ranked No. 14 nationally by Col
lege Tennis Weekly and hold a 14-
3 overall record and a 6-0 mark in
the Big 12.
Volleyball to travel
to spring tourney
The Texas A&M Molleyball Team
continues its off-season spring drills
with an exhibition tournament at
Southern Methodist University in
Dallas on Saturday, April 17.
Action gets underway at 9 a.m.
at Moody Coliseum as the Aggies
take on Big 12 Conference foe Bay
lor. The tournament runs throughout
the day, and admission is free.
Other teams A&M is scheduled
to face are host SMU, Texas Tech
and an open team made up of for
mer college players, including for
mer Aggie standouts Genny Wood
(1991-93) and Page White (1993-
96).
Match format is best two out of
three games. Games 1 and 2 are
rally scoring to 21. There is no scor
ing cap, and a team must win by
two. Game 3 is rally scoring to 15
with a 17-point cap.
A&M, which went 21-9 and was
ranked 15th in the final Molleyball
Magazine Top 20 Poll after advanc
ing to the second round of the 1998
NCAA tournament, concludes its
spring season Saturday, April 24,
with an exhibition tournament at
Texas in Austin.
Louisiana prospect
signs with Aggies
Andy Slocum, of West Monroe,
La., has signed a national letter-of-
intent to play college basketball at
Texas A&M, Aggies coach Melvin
Watkins said yesterday.
Slocum, a 6-11, 235-pound cen
ter, is ranked as the 88th best prep
player in the country by recruiting
analyst Bob Gibbons. Slocum aver
aged 21 points and 14 rebounds a
game as a senior and also consid
ered Utah, Notre Dame, Tennessee,
Florida State, Texas, Alabama,
Southern California, Tulane and Ok
lahoma.
Slocum is also a standout pitch
er for West Monroe’s nationally-
ranked baseball team and, accord
ing to USA Today has a 93-mph
fastball. Slocum will join two other
West Monroe athletes, football
signees Brian West and Jason
LeDoux, on the A&M campus.