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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 2000)
SPORTS THE BATTALION Page 5 BY R. DEL att named as new lefensive line coach II join the Ag- p 'nonmlJCulpH tiomepagerfS as the defen- iMBne coach, a XL lE' Kf! fit's-. • ption which he // ■ -AN K CROSSCO.i.-B at the I'ni- I JlCT i/f rH#r of c ol- last fall and [LyA/ • a IB other pro- v ams SfAFF AND WIRE REPORTS le Texas A&M football team’s ng shake-up is finally complete, ich R.C. Slocum filled his fourth d final coaching vacancy on Tuesday. , Buddy Wyatt WYATT “|’ni excited to announce Buddy 1 'yatt as our new defensive line jach ” Slocum said. “He’s a bright lung coach who is originally from the of Texas and has done an out- ng job as a coach and a recaiiter. taken some time, but I feel we got st man for the job.” D ARpif Vhatt will fill the vacancy left by ' "ill Johnson who accepted a job with “Ae University of Arkansas Razorbacks t the cmd of the 1999 season. Milus will take over the defensive line coaching duties from Slocum, who tutored the line during spring practice. The Aggies’ return all the starters from the 1999 defensive line. A 33-year-old native Texan, Wyatt was a four-year letterman as a defen sive lineman for Texas Christian Uni versity. As a senior he recorded 46 stops including four sacks. After spending two seasons in the pros, he returned in the Big 12 Con ference. In addition to his 1999 sea son with the Buffaloes, he spent 1996 at Oklahoma State University. His other coaching positions have been two seasons with Northwestern Uni versity and four seasons at the Uni versity of Minnesota. “In the coaching profession, you do not get the opportunity to combine moving close to home and coaching an outstanding school very often,” Wyatt said. “Texas A&M is a top program with great traditions and I think I will fit in well with Coach Slocum and his staff. I look forward to working with the young men at Texas A&M.” Sports in Brief drops doubleheader to Baylor Baylor’s Kelly Fleming led off the :;venth inning with a home run and Jfexas A&M softball team watched ir hopes for splitting Tuesday it’s doubleheader slip away, lylor opened the first of two £s with a dominating win over ies by a score of 4-0. Riwever, A&M would not be de- irred as they battled the Bears in co to the final inning. "•aylor’s Lynn Stukel hit a solo Q0)rrie run in the second inning to J ive the Bear’s a 1-0 lead. ’ Baylor would remain in the lead ntlthe seventh inning. The Aggies tafted out the final inning all the ightways. Freshman Selena Collins led off with a single up the middle. Freshman Cheryl Fowler came in to pinch run for the Aggie catcher. Tiffany Esters reached base on a fielder’s choice bunt, but Fowler was thrown out at second. Ester’s promptly stole second base. Then sophomore designated hitter Kelly Ferguson stepped to the plate. Ferguson would double to right field, scoring Esters and tying the game. However, the Aggies would not score again and could only watch as Fleming’s solo shot left the park and gave Baylor the win. The loss marks the second con ference doubleheader loss in a row. Aggies end losing streak against SHSU GUY A ROGERS III/The Battalion Sophomore shortstop Ryan Wardinsky tags out Sam Houston State’s Christian Dennie at second base. The Aggies ended the longest losing streak in school history Tuesday night against the Bearkats at Olsen Field. Ags y rally in ninth to snap losing ways BY DOUG SHILLING The Battalion Throughout its 12-game losing streak, the Texas A&M baseball team re ceived no help from the baseball gods. Every hard-hit ball was hit at some one, every ball hit to the gap was caught and every close play went against them. That all changed Tuesday night. The Aggies scored four runs in the fi nal two innings, including two in the ninth on a wild play, to defeat the Sam Houston State University Bearkats, 6-5, and end the longest losing streak in school history. “We didn’t play great,” A&M baseball coach Mark Johnson said. “I thought we should have hit better. We hit a lot of balls at them. We went through some pitchers who didn’t throw strikes. So all of a sud den it looked like the same old, same old. “I’ve been saying all along that we haven’t been playing well enough and we needed the other team to help us out. And tonight we got a little help.” The Aggies, down 5-4 at the start of the ninth inning, got things going when senior second baseman Sean Heaney sin gled up the middle. Next, A&M got their first helping hand of the season from the baseball gods. Freshman center fielder Eric Reed squared to bunt to sacrifice Heaney over to second, but when Bearkat pitcher Howard Pence went to field it, the ball rolled right through his legs. Both Reed and sophomore Blake Whealy, who was pinch running for Heaney, were safe on the play. After a sacrifice bunt by sophomore shortstop Ryan Wardinsky left runners on second and third with only one out, junior right fielder Daylan Holt stepped to the plate. Unwilling to let Holt beat them, the Bearkats intentionally walked Holt, loading the bases for sophomore right fielder Carlos Sepulveda. Sepulveda stepped up and hit a grounder to Bearkats shortstop Ben Mor row for what appeared to be a game-end ing double play. Morrow went to second for one out, but when SHSU second baseman Phillip Weaver threw to first to complete the double play, Holt was there to disrupt his throw. “My main focus was putting pressure on the second baseman,” Holt said. “That’s really all I can do on that play be cause I’m pretty much a dead duck. I got to him pretty good and made it interest ing for Carlos [Sepulveda].” The throw was wild and went past Bearkat first baseman Jason Harrison and careened off the wall. With Whealy scoring on the ground ball, Reed motored home and beat the throw from Pence, scoring the winning run for the Aggies. “When I saw the ball come off the wall,” Reed said, “I was already halfway, so I said, ‘Shoot, just go for it.’ Something had to turn for us some time, and it did.” The win was highlighted by the re turn of junior pitcher Chris Russ. Seeing his first action since fracturing his left foot against the University of Oklahoma April 8, Russ started the game for A&M and perfonned well. He gave up one run on one hit — a home run to Harrison in the fourth inning — in five innings of work. “The big thing for me was to go out and throw strikes tonight since I have been off" a I ittle while,” Russ said. “Another big part of tonight was that I thought I owned the inside of the plate the whole night. I just pretty much took that away from them.” The win pushes the Aggies’ record to 22-28 on the season. The Bearkats fall to 20-25. The Aggies next take the field against the University of Texas this weekend in a three-game series. No Cover For Anyone Every Night Before 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 26th The Nine Hottest Contenders Compete In The Texas Bikini Team Model Search Finals 4// May 2nd - 6th Thursday’s Ladies Night Free Cover For (111 Ladies MARGARITAVILLE Cinco D0 Mogo Celebration May UJin fi Trip To Concun 2nd-6th Rodeo ZOOO and Viper Club I600B. S. College Bryan Texas Phone 979-823-61 1 1 For Details What comes from outer space and says “Greetings”? A KODAK Picture This Space Postcard on SPACE.com. Make contact with someone out there today. spac e^c om Houston, we have a website. www.space.com <§'2000 SPACE.com. Inc. All rights reserved. 0 Kodak Pidwie, POSTCARDS