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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1999)
The Battalion Sports Page 7 • Monday, April 26, 1999 Aggies sweep Jayhawks Baseball team extends Big 12 lead to 1 1/2 games MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion A&M junior Chad Hudson slides into second during weekend action against the University of Kansas. The Aggies swept a three-game home series against the Jayhawks to improve their record in the Big 12 to 19-4. BY DOUG SHILLING The Battalion || (pommg into their weekend series with the Universi- Uir Aty ot Kansas Jayhawks, the third-ranked Texas A&M \Baaeball Team was nine games away from their goal of being the Big 12 Conference regular-season champions. ifouta'fB'he Aggies (39-10, 19-4 Big 12) are now three steps Tioe, closer to completing their goal, as they p$Mk completed a three-game sweep of the mejph Jayhawks Sunday at Olsen Field. •obroker MkVith the University of Oklahoma defeating Baylor University Sunday, uHlreqi the Aggies’ lead in the Big 12 is now annerwe:opened up to a game and a half. Klh&M head coach Mark Johnson ■dsprzi said that sweeping the Jayhawks was viik in lis plans all along, easpec. |®obviously, to get a sweep is what we wanted to do,” Johnson said. “You can’t say that on handy Friday but you can say that on Sunday. That was the ? on you:: plan; to win at home and take care of all the business hs. bm we could take care of. ” ■n Sunday’s series finale, freshman designated hitter tadrar Greg Porter broke the game open with a grand slam in m saicr th? third inning, as the Aggies cruised to a 12-3 victory, linoes '- pSophomore right fielder Daylan Holt also broke iandry through with a long ball, tying the school record for I - nottoi' home runs in a season with his 25th in the fourth in- ning Holt, who was 5-for-9 in the series with four home if runs, five RBls and seven runs scored, tied the record set last year by third baseman Craig Kuzmic. ■Porter’s home run capped off a five-run third inning that stretched the Aggies’ lead to 8-0. MfMter junior second baseman Sean Heaney and Holt ■phed base to start the inning, junior third baseman Dell Lindsey came up and knocked Heaney in with a double down the left field line. Following a walk by junior center fielder Stephen Truitt, Porter stepped up and knocked Kansas pitcher Rusty Philbrick’s pitch over the Green Monster in cen ter field for the grand slam. The home run was Porter’s sixth on the season and punctuated a huge series for the freshman. Porter went 5-for-ll from the plate with three home runs, six RBIs and five runs scored against the Jay hawks. Senior pitcher Matt Ward got the win for the Aggies. Ward (4-0) pitched six scoreless innings, giving up sev en hits and striking out six Jayhawks. Johnson said that Ward’s performance was a bonus for the Aggies. “I thought Matt Ward gave us a really good start,” Johnson said. “His work was multiplied when we put two other pitchers out there and they got hit around a little bit.” Philbrick, who gave up the grand slam to Porter, took the loss for the Jayhawks. In 2 1/3 innings of work, Philbrick (2-8) gave up seven runs on four hits with four walks. In Saturday’s game, the Aggies allowed the Jayhawks to stay close until the seventh inning when they scored four runs to distance themselves from the Jayhawks, en route to a 10-5 win. Heading into the seventh inning, the Aggies lead only by a score of 5-3. But an RBI single by senior first base- man John Scheschuk and a two-run double by junior catcher Joe O’Jibway helped the Aggies put the game away in the seventh inning. Junior pitcher Chance Caple got the victory for the Aggies. Caple (7-3) gave up four runs, three earned, on nine hits. He also struck out two and walked three. Chris Williams was saddled with the loss for Kansas. In 2 1/3 innings, Williams (0-8) gave up two runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout. Friday night’s game was dominated by junior pitch er Casey Fossum as he pitched a complete game to lead the Aggies to an 8-1 victory. Fossum (8-4) gave up one unearned run on five hits while striking out 13 and walking four. Holt led the Aggies from the plate, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, three RBIS and two runs scored. Kansas pitcher Ryan Schmidt took the loss for the Jayhawks. Schmidt (2-1) gave up seven runs on eleven hits in six innings of work. Senior first baseman John Scheschuk said that the sweep is just what the Aggies need to accomplish their goal of winning the Big 12. “If we win, we win it [conference title],” Scheschuk said. “We have to come out every day and win because it’s in our own hands. That’s the good thing about the position we’re in. We know if we take care of our own business, things will fall into place. The Aggies return to action Tuesday when they take on Sam Houston State University at 7 p.m. at Olsen Field. TERRY ROBERSON/1 m: Battalion hel' e ' A&M senior Monica San Miguel hits a forehand shot during singles play against Vanderbilt University at the A&M Varsity Tennis Center April 10. • Aggies win weekend ■=4iatch over Wildcats No. 39 Women’s Tennis Team moves to 14-7 STAFF AND WIRE REPORT C P ■ The Texas A&M Women’s Ten nis Team defeated Kansas State University, 9-0, Saturday at the L.P. Washburn Tennis Complex at Man hattan, Kan. ■ The No. 39 Aggies improved to 14-7 overall and 8-2 in the Big 12 i and retained second place in the h :! ilte ue - ■■“We came out today and took %■ care of business.” A&M Coach Bob by Kleinecke said. “There were a couple of close sets, but we turned it bn when we needed to.” ■ A&M made quick work of the Wildcats as the Aggies won five singles matches in straight sets. Kansas State forfeited the sixth sin gles match due to having an insuf ficient number of players on the team. I No. 1 singles player freshman Martina Nedorostova defeated KSU’s Anna Pampoulova 6-3, 6-3. Nedorostova is currently ranked /iNo. 66 in the country. At No. 2 sin- 4l gles, junior Lisa Dingwall defeated the Wildcats’ Alena Jecminkova by >an identical 6-3, 6-3 score. /■ The middle of the Aggie line-up zatio"' was just as successful. Freshman Leah Killen defeated the Wildcats’ Eva Novotna, 7-5, 6-0, at No. 3 sin gles while senior Monica San Miguel slipped by K-State’s Natalia Farmer, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 4 singles. Junior Kathryn Scott was also vic torious at No. 5 singles over Ves- selina Jeliaskova, 6-2, 6-0. The Aggies closed out the dou bles portion of the match just as convincingly. Nedorostova and Dingwall beat Pampoulova and Jeliaskova 8-3 at No. 1 doubles while Scott and San Miguel scored a 8-5 vic tory at No. 2 doubles. A&M was awarded another forfeit at No. 3 doubles for its ninth and final point of the match. The Aggies will now prepare for the Big 12 Championship, which will be held at the A&M Varisty Tennis Center beginning on Thurs day. Big 12 regular-season champi on University of Texas is the top seed for the championships. The tournament will run through Sunday and is the final competition before the upcoming NCAA Southwest Regional Cham pionship. Men’s tennis team falls to Baylor BY AL LAZARUS The Battalion Battling for second place in the Big 12 Con ference, the Baylor University Men’s Tennis Team squeaked by Texas A&M, 4-3, Saturday af ternoon at the A&M Varsity Tennis Center. With the match tied at three, the crowd of 405 turned its attention to court No. 3, where A&M sophomore Cody Hubbell was locked in a three- set duel with Baylor’s David Hodge, the nation’s 96th-ranked player. After falling behind 3-0 in the third set, Hubbell mounted a comeback, eventually breaking Hodge’s serve to pull within one game, 5-4. Hodge then matched Hubbell’s break with one of his own, taking the victory, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and giving Baylor the decisive point. “This was one of the closest matches we’ve had in a long time,” A&M coach Tim Cass said. “It really came down to the wire today.” The Aggies, ranked 18th by College Tennis Weekly, are now 14-5 overall and 6-2 in Big 12 action. The ninth-ranked Bears improve to 20-2 on the season with a 7-1 mark in conference play. The Aggies came out strong, sweeping all three doubles matches to take the doubles point from the Bears, who sport two top-50 doubles teams. A&M’s top-ranked doubles duo of sopho mores Dumitru Caradima and Shuon Madden “This was one of the closest we've had in a long time. It really came down to the wire today." — Tim Cass A&M men’s tennis coach defeated 26th-ranked Johann Jooste and David Hodge of Baylor, 8-6. In the No. 2 spot, the Aggie tandem of se nior Brent Horan and freshman Jarin Skube defeated No. 50 Pawel Gajdzik and Joey Michalsky, 8-5. Also winning for the Aggies were Hubbell and freshman Keith From, playing in the No. 3 doubles slot. In singles play. Madden fell to Jooste, 6-4, 6- 2. Both players came into the match undefeated in league play, setting up a battle for the Big 12’s No. 1 singles championship. At the No. 2 position, Caradima fell, 6-4, 6-4, to Gajdzik. Caradima also came into the match undefeated in conference play. Posting the Aggies’ only two singles victories on the day were Horan and junior Juan Aram- buro, playing in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles slots, respectively. Horan defeated Michalsky, 6- 3, 6-3. Aramburo was victorious over the Bears' Mark Williams, 6-2, 6-3. Aramburo said he was proud of the team’s effort. “It was a close match, and we fought hard to day,” he said. “We just came up a little bit short.” Baylor and A&M will be the second and third seeds, respectively, in the Big 12 Cham pionships, beginning Thursday at the Varsity Tennis Center. If both teams win their quar terfinal matches, they will meet in Saturday’s semifinal. Unranked opponents spell trouble for Ags Texas A&M Softball Team drops pair to Missouri, splits with Kansas in weekend series BY BEN WESTBROOK The Battalion The Texas A&M Softball Team dropped three of four games this weekend to unranked Big 12 op ponents University of Missouri and the University of Kansas. The team headed north hoping to move closer to the top of the Big 12 softball standings, but left, instead, with a 37-16 overall record, 5-9 in the Big 12. The Aggies’ Sunday contests were delayed two hours due to rain, but it would be the Saturday match-ups that were just plain sloppy as the Aggies and Tigers combined to produce eight errors in two games, leading to ten un earned runs. The Aggies dropped the first game 3-1, the deciding inning coming in the bottom of the fourth on two hits and two Aggie errors. Sophomore Amy Vining was marked for the loss, dropping her record to 19-12. Vining was charged with just four hits for the complete-game defeat. Sophomore Tiffany Ester pro duced the Aggies only highlight in the 4-3 second-game loss. The right fielder hit her 14th double of the year in the first inning, tying her for the Aggies single-season doubles record. The only earned run for either team would come in the bottom of the fifth by the Tigers. Mizzou picked up the other three runs in the third inning on a misplayed ground ball by second baseman Lisa Klam. The freshman, who usually plays catcher or third for the Aggies, was handling the mid dle infield duties due to a broken A&M junior shortstop Jamie Smith tries to complete the double play during the Aggies’ game against Oklahoma State University April 18. The Aggies faced the University of Missouri and University of Kansas this weekend on the road, dropping two games to the Tigers and splitting the doubleheader with the Jayhawks. nose suffered by the regular sec ond baseman, Rachel Lewis. Sunday the Aggies headed to Lawrence, Kan., to try to salvage what was left of the weekend. The team fell a bit short, manag ing a split with the Jayhawks. The women dropped the first game in a 1-0, nine-inning contest after a two-hour rain delay. Min ing’s two-hit, complete-game per formance was spoiled by a sacri fice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning. The second game of the twin bill gave the Aggies their first win as they stomped the Jayhawks, 7- 4. Klam hit her 12th home run of the season as the Aggies broke the three-game funk. The A&M Softball Team returns to Big 12 action Saturday with a noon matchup against Baylor Uni versity.