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Sports
SECTION
THE BATTALION
Thursday, April 18, 2002
Ags stunned by Horns
By Dallas Shipp
THE BATTALION
The No. 23 Aggie women’s tennis
am headed into Wednesday’s match
gainst the No. 11 Longhorns with
isions of its first Big 12 championship,
he University of Texas dashed those
isions, beating the Aggies 6-1 in front
If 501 fans, the largest crowd ever at a
Ifexas A&M women’s tennis match.
It was a great crowd, and they were
iito the match from the start,” said
&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke.
\\ am sorry we didn't give them a win.”
After being swept in the doubles
the first time this season, the
ggies headed into singles play
Iready down 1 -0.
“I was dissapointed in the doubles,”
Cleinecke said. “I felt like we didn't
lay well, and that was a big part of the
latch. We came out and gave them
hat point, and all of a sudden your
acks are against the wall to start the
match. We have to come out and play
better in doubles.”
The Aggies are now 0-4 when los
ing the doubles point.
In singles play, the leadership pro
vided by the seniors from Texas
proved to be the difference in the
match and gave the Longhorns wins
on courts 1 -4.
”1 am always ready for matches
like these,” said Texas senior Vladka
Uhlirova. “We just proved we are
tough. It’s about hitting the right shots
at the right time under pressure.”
While the Horns were led by solid
play at the top of the lineup, Aggie
sophomore Jessica Roland extended
her losing skid to five straight matches
against Uhlirova on court No.
“[Roland] is starting to get down on
herself, and that is a tough thing to
come out of. It’s just going to take a
match to get her there,” Kleinecke said.
In addition to Roland’s struggles,
A&M was without the play of senior
Martina Nedorostova, who sat out
her singles match due to a back
injury she re-injured in her match
against Kansas State on Saturday.
Nedorostova is listed as day-to-day
and may be able to play against
Kansas in the regular season finale
on Friday night.
The lone bright spot for the
Aggies was the play of sophomore
Roberta Spencer who moved up to
No. 5 to face the Longhorns’
Lindsey Blau after Nedorostova was
forced to sit her match out. Spencer
won the match in straight sets giv
ing the Aggies their only point of
the match.
“1 was happy with the results and
feel good all around about the way I
played,” Spencer said. “I just went out
there and played off of adrenaline and
heart. It was dissapointing to lose the
title. Hopefully we will get a chance
to play them again here at home in the
Big 12 tournament.”
STUART VILLANUEVA • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M’s Jessica Roland returns a shot during the Aggies’ 6-1 loss to UT Wednesday
night. The loss eliminated A&M from the Big 12 regular season championship.
Olsen magic returns, 2-1
By True Brown
THE BATTALION
Olsen magic made a dramatic return to
Aggieland on Wednesday night, thanks in
part to two errors by Southwest Texas
State in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the final frame,
the Aggies scored two runs with no outs to
earn their 30th win of the season, 2-1.
The win capped a solid performance
on the mound for the Aggies (30-13, 9-6
Big 12) by starting pitcher Steven
Ponder, who allowed two hits and one
run while striking out 11 batters in six
innings. Ponder’s 1 1 strikeouts were one
short of his career high.
“Steven Ponder stole the show,” said
A&M head coach Mark Johnson. “He
started to throw strikes and got into a
pretty good groove, and when he’s in a
groove he has a real biting breaking pitch,
and he is good. This was definitely his
best outing of the spring.”
Catcher Justin Pouk started the rally by
ripping a double down the left field line off
of Southwest Texas State (25-17) reliever
Michael Gultz. Left fielder David Evans
followed Pouk’s hit by blooping a 1-0
pitch into right field and scoring Eric
Reed, who was pinch-running for Pouk.
Reed’s run prompted SWT coach Ty
Harrington to bring in Dickie Gonzalez to
relieve Gultz.
With Evans on first base and no outs,
the Bobcat meltdown began. A&M first
baseman Neal Stephenson laid a bunt
down the third base line, but SWT third
baseman Marc Coles over-ran the ball,
allowing Evans to go to second base and
Stephenson to take first.
The next hitter for A&M, Ryan
See Magic on pa^e 4B
A&M softball
comes up empty
By Micala Proesch
THE BATTALION
Softball is a game of inches where every play counts.
Players cannot afford to let up for even one pitch, as
good teams will pounce on each mistake and take
advantage of every opportunity.
The Texas A&M softball team held the short end of
the stick as Baylor capitalized on three A&M errors to
blank the Aggies, 3-0, at the Aggie Softball Complex
Wednesday night. With the loss, the Aggies fell to 33-12
overall and 6-7 in Big 12 play, while the Lady Bears
(42-13, 9-5 Big 12) continued to roll through their
Cinderella season, setting a new school record with nine
conference wins this season.
The game remained scoreless until the sixth inning,
See Empty on page 4B
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