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
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Texas Bikini Team Model Search Finals
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