lon day,Febniar
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11
Sports
Page 7
THE BATTALION
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the possible!
- Roger Clhi
4ggies salvage series with Sunday win over Baylor
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No. 19 Bears take 2 out of 3 in weekend series
By Doug Puentes
The Battalion
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jntil Sunda unior shortstop Ryan Wardinski fields a groundball during the first game of this weekend's action with
erlain. Si laylor. The Aggies dropped the first two games to the Bears, but won Sunday's game in Waco 8-6.
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After losing the first two games Of
its series against the Baylor Bears lit
home, the Texas A&M baseball teark’
was faced with the daunting task otf
hitting the road to try to salvage a wim
in the series. jqx
Nevertheless, the Aggies did jufcd
that, using a big inning and stella'K
performances by their pitchers tb
down the Bears, 8-6, on Sunday in
front of 3,933 fans at Baylor Ball
park.
“This is the biggest win this sea
son,” said A&M baseball coach
Mark Johnson. “To lose two at home
and go on the road to finish it and win
is huge. That really says something
about our balLclub. We didn’t die.
“We’ve been struggling and we
needed a win. We were playing a
great ball club. But to come into their
home court and get a win was big.”
The Aggies (4-7, 1-2 in Big 12)
jumped on top of Baylor (11 -4, 2-1)
early, scoring a run in the first inning
to go up 1-0.
Sophomore center fielder Eric
Reed lined the first pitch of the game *
from Baylor’s Kyle Edens up the
middle for a hit. Reed later came
around to score on a sacrifice fly by
Senior first baseman Jeff Freeman.
A&M broke things open in the
fourth, scoring five runs to take a 6-
0 lead. Freeman, junior second base-
man Ty Garner and junior third base-
man Greg Porter led off the inning by
each getting a base hit.
Edens then walked freshman
catcher Rusty Meyer to force in Free
man. Then, junior shortstop Ryan
Wardinsky provided the big blow in
the inning.
Wardinsky, starting only his third
game this season after starting every
game last season, laced a pitch from
Edens down the right-field line,
which hit the line and rolled all the
way into the corner for a bases-clear-
ing triple. Wardinsky was driven
home by a single from Reed.
“Coach Johnson talked about it
before the game and said, ‘Everyone
be ready for their chance because it
might be one hit or one play,’ ”
Wardinsky said. “That’s exactly right
because we finally got a break or two
today. That ball that barely stayed in,
hadn’t been falling for us. We hadn’t
been getting many breaks and today
showed how just one can make that
much of a difference.”
While the A&M offense
clicking, junior pitcher Khalid Bal-
louli was keeping the Baylor hitterlstn
at bay. Ballouli, who had not pitched
since opening weekend because of
tendinitis, was cleared to start and
made the most of it. He allowed only
four hits through the first four innings
and did not allow a runner past sec
ond base. He tired in the fifth inning,
and the Baylor hitters made him pay.^
Ballouli gave up a two-run double*
to Tim Hartshorn and a RBI single t3*J
Trevor Mote to make it a 6-3 game, t*
Junior pitcher Brian Strelitz relieved^
Ballouli and ended the inning by al
lowing a sacrifice fly to Kelly Shop-
pach, as the Bears pulled to 6-4.
The Aggies had a chance to an-1*.
swer back in the top of the sixth as
Wardinsky, junior left fielder Eddie
Lang and Reed each reached base
on bunt singles, loaded the basest
with no outs. I*
But Baylor pitcher Jared Theodor-
akos, who replaced Edens in the fifth
inning, got out of the jam unscathed W
as he forced freshman designated hit- p
ter Erik Schindewolf to fly out to first
base and junior right fielder Neal ^
Stephenson to ground into an inning- $
ending double play.
was
See Salvage on Page 8. u
1
Ags sweep Red Raiders with 62-52 win
itotoc | . IyDoug Puentes
r he Battalion
Until Saturday, the Texas A&M
nen’s basketball team had been hav-
ng trouble staying focused for an en-
Montgc-ire game.
But against the Texas Tech Red
aiders, the Aggies put together 40
ninutes of basketball to down Tech,
>2-52, in front of 4,264 fans at Senior
Day at Reed Arena.
Sophomore guard Bernard King led
itrio of Aggies in double digits with
p8 points. Sophomore guard Jamaal
jilphrist came off the bench to chip in
11 points, and senior forward Carlton
Brpwn, playing in his last home game,
icored 10 points.
Tonight we played 40 minutes for
icnange,” King said. “At halftime,
;o4ch said, ‘Come out and start the
second half the same as you started
he game.’ We kept our focus tonight
ind came out ready to play and got
he, win.”
■After falling behind early, 6-3, ju
nior guard Andy Leatherman and
Brown hit back-to-back shots to give
4/
A&M the lead for good at 7-6 with 15
minutes, 52 seconds remaining in the
first half.
Although the Aggies held the lead,
the Red Raiders stayed within strik
ing distance. With 4:52 left in the
half, Tech pulled to within two points
at 22-20 on two free throws by Bran
non Hayes.
With the Red Raiders within two,
A&M made a run to put some dis
tance between itself and Tech before
halftime.
The Aggies went on a 11-2 run to
stretch their lead to an 11-points, at 33-
22, its largest lead of the game, with
only 42 seconds left.
Tech went into halftime on a good
note as Hayes hit a shot that appeared
to be after the buzzer, but was counted,
to go into the half only down by nine,
33-24.
Tech only shot 35.7 percent in the
first half and committed 11 turnovers.
The Aggies hit 46.7 percent of their
shots in the first half.
A&M came out in the second half
with the same intensity it had in the
first half and held onto the lead. De
spite poor shooting the Red Raiders
stayed close to the Aggies throughout
the half.
Tech cut the lead to 51-48 on a
jumper by Jamal Brown with 4:02 re
maining.
But instead of closing in on the Ag
gies, the Red Raiders fell prey to the
cold shooting that had plagued them
the entire game.
After Brown’s jumper. Tech Went
four possessions, a span of mpre than
three minutes, without a score.
During that time, the Aggies went
on a 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 58-
48, with 53 seconds left. The teams
traded free throws the rest of the game,
and the Aggies held on for the victory.
Tech shot only 28.1 percent in the
second half and only 31.7 percent for
the entire game.
“I want to congratulate Melvin and
his team,” said Texas Tech coach
James Dickey. “They played with a lot
of energy and played good defense. We
missed too many easy shots. Their de
fense was active and did a nice job. But
you can’t shoot as poorly as we did
and expect to win on the road.”
Andy Ellis led the Red Raiders
with 14 points. Cliff Owens was the
only other Tech player in double dig
its, with 12 points.
Although Saturday was Senior Day
for the Aggies, Watkins will only say
goodbye to two seniors. Brown and
forward Aaron Jack, who had to retire
from basketball earlier this season be
cause of several concussions, will de
part at the end of the season.
“We have only one in uniform
that we were saying goodbye to,”
Watkins said. “So that means that the
meat and the bulk of our team will be
back for us.
“We’ve already talked about
when this season is up, we’re going
to have maybe one day off, then
we’ll get right back to the gym to get
back to work to get this program
where we want to be.”
A&M returns to action this
Wednesday as it travels to Lincoln,
Neb., to take on the Nebraska Corn-
huskers.
BERNARDO GARZA/The Battalk
Sophomore guard Bernard King dribbles by a Tech defender
during the Aggies' 62-52 win over the Red Raiders.
f
Women’s tennis split weekend Big 12 action
By True Brown
za
The Battalion
It was an up-and-down weekend
or the Texas A&M women’s tennis
earn, as they split a pair of Big 12
natchups against Oklahoma State
University and the University of Ne-
)raska.
Friday, the No. 29 Aggies (7-1, 1-
1 in Big 12) were upset by the 30th-
•anked Cowgirls from Oklahoma
State, 4-2. OSU, a team the Aggies
seat on the road last year, ended a
seven-match losing streak to A&M.
The Aggies started off strong by
winning two of three doubles
a
I was very proud of
the girls today. We
were able to adjust
all afternoon. The
better [Nebraska]
played, the better
we played. ”
- Bobby Kleineck
A&M women's tennis coach
matches to claim the doubles point
and an early 1-0 lead.
After 45 minutes of singles play,
the matches were moved from the Var
sity Tennis Center to the Bryan Indoor
Courts because of rain. The move
slowed A&M’s momentum, and the
.ggies only won one more match.
The lone singles victory for A&M
Was posted by junior Majorie Ter-
rgh, who knocked off Katia Kolo-
nska in three sets, 0-6, 6-3, 6-0.
The Aggies lost in sin
gles at No.’s 1,2,3, and 5,
blowing leads in two of
those.
“This was a tough
loss,” said A&M women’s
tennis coach Bobby Klei-
necke. “It wasn’t so much
that we played worse, but
they played better. We
were not able to adjust.”
The Aggies responded
from Friday’s upset by
flying past Nebraska Sun
day, 6-1.
Nebraska (7-2, 0-2)
was playing its second
match in as many days af
ter coming up just short of
No. 5 University of Texas
Saturday.
After falling behind
early in all three doubles
contests, A&M rallied to
sweep the Huskers and
take an early lead.
The No. 10 doubles
team of freshman Jessica
Roland and sophomore
Ashley Hedberg fell behind 3-0
quickly in their match, but they
stormed back thanks to a combina
tion of strong serves by Hedberg
and brilliant net play by Roland to
win, 9-7.
Senior Eva Marcial teamed with
junior Leah Killen to edge out Amy
Frisch and Ndali Ijomah, 8-6.
“Overall I think the doubles went
really well,” Marcial said. “We
came out solid and were able to ad
just and find ways to beat them.”
The Aggies have not lost the dou
bles point through their first eight
contests.
junior Martina Nedorostova and the
Texas A&M women's tennis team took
on Oklahoma State and Nebraska this
FILE PHOTO/The Battalion
weekend. The Aggies were defeated
by the Cowgirls, but rebounded
against Nebraska with a 6-1 victory.
A&M jumped to a 2-0 lead just
45 minutes into singles play, as Ter-
burgh overpowered Rose Kdtmayu-
ra, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 4.
Hedberg put the Aggies up 3-0 just
15 minutes later, earning a straight-set
win in her match at No. 6.
The win was sealed at No. 1 by
sophomore Olivia Karlikova, who
was forced to overcome some serv
ing jitters early in the match.
Karlikova used a strong back
hand to come from two games be
hind in the first set en route to a con
vincing 6-4, 6-2 win.
Junior Martina Nedorostova fol
lowed suit by ending her three-
match losing streak, posting a win in
a very close match with Ijomah, 7-
6, 6-4.
Freshman Roberta Spencer also
claimed a victory, rolling to a
straight-set win.
Nebraska’s lone point in the
match up came No. 2, where
Roland struggled to find a rhythm
and lost to Katarina Boland.
“I was very proud of the girls to
day,” Kleinecke said. “We were able
to adjust all afternoon. The better
(Nebraska) played, the better we
played.”
Sports in Brief
Ags fall to No. 9
Iowa State, 82-61
Senior forward Jaynetta Saun
ders scored 29 points to break
the single-season scoring record
in the Texas A&M women’s bas
ketball team’s 82-61 loss to the
No. 9 lowas State Cyclones.
Saunders’ performance was
not enough to overcome the Cy
clones’ eight 3-pointers, as the Ag
gies suffered their ninth-straight
conference loss.
The Cyclones were lead by ju
nior center Angie Welle who had
17 points and 12 rebounds on
the night.
A&M will finish out the regular
season when they take on the
Kansas Wildcats at Reed on
Wednesday. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
Softball squad
gets pair of wins
The No. 21 Texas A&M softball
team defeated Auburn and Cal
Poly on Friday to open up the first
day of the UCSB/Easton Invita
tional.
Against Auburn, the Aggies
took an early 2-0 lead on the
Tigers, and the Aggies would
hang on to win 4-1, with the help
of a save by freshman pitcher
Jessica Stapler.
Sophomore catcher Selena
Collins hit a three-run home run in
the bottom of the eighth to give
A&M a 5-3 victory, increasing its
winning streak to six games.
Saturday’s action was can
celled because of heavy rain in
the area.
*
Aggies tracksters
take 2nd, sixth
Texas A&M’s men’s track team
placed second in the Big 12 this
weekend the gold medal perfor
mances of seniors Bashir Ramzy,
Travis McAshan and junior Bran
don Evans, while the women,
placed sixth behind Melissa Guf*
li’s school-record breaking run.
Ramzy won his second con
secutive Big 12 championship in
the triple jump with a leap of 52-
8. Fie also finished third in the
long jump and sixth in the 60-me-
ter hurdles. McAshan missed a
school record by just four-tenths
of a second in his championship
600-meter run. Evans broke the
Big 12 record in his 200-meter,
dash, as well as placing third in
the triple jump.
Senior Christina Ohaeri placed
fourth in the 60-meter hurdles,
and Robyn Burkhardt placed sev
enth in the high jump. Andrea
Bookout finished sixth in the
1000-yard dash.
Women sixth at
Midwest Classic
Freshman Mira Bendevis shot a
freshman record two-under-par 70#
in the final round of play at the Mid- 1
west Classic Sunday to land the
team in sixth place.
Bendevis finished third in the in
dividual standings, trailing the
leader by five strokes. p
The Aggies struggled the firsts
two rounds with scores of 318 and
315 and were in ninth place going
into the final round.
The Oklahoma State Cowgirls
shot a 906 to win the team title.