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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1999)
le Battalion Sports Page 13 • Tuesday, May 4, 1999 (Aggies E own lorns MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Senior first baseman John Scheschuk dives for a foul ball during the Aggies’ game against the University of Texas Friday at Olsen Field. The A&M Baseball Team bounced back from Friday’s loss to take both games from the Longhorns in Austin. BY DOUG SHILLING The Battalion For a team to be considered champi- iship caliber, it has to meet certain re- lirements — two of the biggest being well they play on the road and how ^■ell they bounce back from adversity. I The top-ranked Texas A&M Baseball showed it was a championship-cal- ^Her team this weekend, bouncing back fr n a dismal performance Friday against ( University of Texas at Olsen Field to t two games from the Longhorns at :h-Falk Field in Austin to win the series, t was the first time since 1978 that the ies (42-11,21-5 Big 12) won two con- itive games at Disch-Falk. coach Mark Johnson said win- l two straight on the road is a testa- it to the the character of his team. Well, you wouldn’t have bet the house t but these guys haven’t let us down /ear,” Johnson said. “We’ve had bad sTHEBcMjtingg like everyone else, but we always returns ftunce back well. The character of this ijor,ins team has always been good.” I The teams’ character was definitely Usted after Friday night’s debacle at Olsen ■eld. In front of the largest crowd to ever |*itness an Aggie baseball game, 11,052 in 'TIAInd outside of Olsen, A&M responded was J bi vn out by the Longhorns 18-6 in sev- ted w eh innings. aander. I Senior first baseman John Scheschuk, 1st InfarMho played his final regular season se- 1. against Texas, said the loss was one lave bee °i the most unbearable things he has at the: ; been through. 1 detemJi “I was sick,” he said. “It was one of the /Borst feelings I’ve ever had in sports in a sperson ling time. They embarrassed us.” The ’Horns jumped on junior Casey Possum for five runs in the first inning, and never let up, scoring at least one run in every inning played. In his worst outing of the season, Possum (8-5) gave up 11 runs on 12 hits with only two strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings pitch. In the only bright spot for the Aggies, sophomore right fielder Daylan Holt set the season home run record for the Aggies with his three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh. Johnson said Texas jumped on the Ag gies and never gave them a chance to breathe. “It was a nightmare,” Johnson said. “You go out there with your ace on the mound and then give up five runs in the first inning. We tried to chip our way back, but we could never put a goose egg on them. Things didn’t fall right for us.” Things almost did not fall right for the Aggies Saturday night either as the bullpen blew a 6-1 lead in the eighth in ning but used a three-run home run by senior designated hitter Erik Sobek in the top of the 10th inning to defeat the Longhorns 10-6. After junior third baseman Dell Lind sey hit a two-run double in the 10th to give the Aggies a 7-6 lead, Sobek came up and applied the hit that put the game out of reach. Lindsey said Sobek’s homer was a clutch one for the Aggies. “You gotta love that guy coming through like that in the clutch,” Lindsey said. “My hit gave us the lead, but that re ally boosted us into the win.” Sobek said he was just looking for a pitch that he could hit. “I was just looking to drive a pitch,” Sobek said. “I wanted to hit something hard, and I was able to get a pitch to dri ve. It feels great. I was happy to do it and happy to help the team out and get a vic tory.” In Sunday’s final game, the Aggies rode senior pitcher Matt Ward to a 10-1 victory. Ward kept the Longhorn hitters off bal ance all day as he did not allow a run un til the eighth inning as the Aggies wrapped up the series. Ward (5-0) pitched a complete game for A&M, scattering 10 hits, with four strikeouts and no walks. Scheschuk said the series win by the Aggies showed what the team is made of. “What we showed this weekend was more than I think we could have ever dreamed of,” Scheschuk said. “We showed that we could come back in the toughest of situations, and we responded by winning two games. “I don’t care what anyone says, when we hook up with the ’Horns, it’s different than any other team. These guys came to play three times this weekend, and we just withstood everything they had, and we were able to get after it.” A&M javelins soar at Texas Invitational BY TOM KENNEDY The Battalion The Texas A&M Men’s and Women’s Track Teams returned from the Texas Invitational in Austin Saturday after a strong showing which included numerous qualifying times and win ning performances. The meet, which was unscored, was high lighted by a 1-2 finish from sophomore Esther Eisenlauer and freshman Katy Doyle in the javelin throw. Eisenlauer threw for 160 feet and 8 inches to land her fifth NCAA provisional qualifying mark this season and a win in the event. Doyle’s toss of 153-5 was good for sec ond place. Texas A&M track and field coach Ted Nelson said he expects to see Eisenlauer and Doyle, who are both nationally ranked, improve their distance as they begin to taper their workouts for conference competition. “They’re working really hard right now try ing to peak,” Nelson said. “(Assistant Track and Field Coach Juan de la Garza and I] think after they res,t their distance will increase. ” Senior Kelli Schrader was the top collegian in the discus with a season-best mark of 161-2, and sophomore Meshell TVotter placed second in the hammer throw with a distance of 169-8 to help make the throws a bright spot for the women. In running events, junior Ann Dwyer placed second collegiately in the women’s 800-meter run with a time of two minutes 10.37 seconds while sophomore Christina Ohaeri placed sec ond in the 100-meter hurdles with a provision al qualifier of 13.46 seconds. The 1,600-meter relay team, made up of ju niors Johan Lannefors and TVavis McAshan and seniors Derrick Woods and Michael Price, pro vided a spark for the men’s team as they won their event in 3 minutes 6.01 seconds, nearly six seconds ahead of second place Brigham Young University. McAshan was also the top collegian in the 400-meter hurdles after finishing in 50.82 sec onds, while Price placed third among college competitors in the 200-meter dash with a pro visional qualifying time of 20.84 seconds. SALLIE TURNER/The Battalion A&M freshman Erica Boren competes in the women’s pole vault April 10 at the Texas A&M Invitational at the Anderson Complex. The men’s 400-meter relay grabbed second place collegiately and third overall behind the University of Texas and second place Team Canada. They rounded the oval in a provision al qualifying time of 39.89 seconds. In field events, senior Kendall Madden placed third in the pole vault after clearing 16 feet 6 3/4 inches while Bashir Ramzy placed third in the triple jump with a leap of 50 feet 3 inches. Sophomore Aaron Smith placed fourth in the men’s decathlon after racking up 6,787 points during the two-day event. Both squads will resume competition this weekend in College Station as the Aggies host the A&M All-Comers Meet at the Anderson Track and Field Complex. TFYAQ A P, \/4 I_J A Q TWF 1 t A/\D /A lx /VI ii /\c> 1 rl t It's not too late to purchase YOUR Walk of Champions brick! (iR4i)i 4Ti\(i Aggies. Dos t Miss Oi t! Discounted prices are reserved for ALL Texas A&M University students. Take advantage of the $100 student price and purchase YOUR brick before you graduate. For more information call 862-1856, pick up a brochure in the Rec Center or check out www.recsports.tamu.edu. SPORTS