Sports
The Battalion
Page 6 • Monday, March 1,2(
4
A&M shines on diamonds over the weekend
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A&M wins Domino’s Pizza Aggie Baseball Classic
Sharon Aeschbach •THE BATTALION
A&M sophomore second baseman Parker Dalton hits a single to shortstop in the Aggie’s 6-4 loss to Arkansas
Saturday in the Domino’s Pizza Aggie Baseball Classic. A&M avenged its loss by beating Arkansas 9-7 Sunday.
By Kyle Davoust
THE BATTALION
The No., 14 Texas A&M
baseball team had luck on its
side Sunday, as it escaped with
a 9-7 victory over the mistake-
prone Arkansas Razorbacks at
Olsen Field.
In what could have been an
easy victory for the Razorbacks,
the Aggies were able to rally
from a 7-4 deficit by scoring five
runs, three earned, in an error-
filled ninth inning.
Entering the ninth, the
Razorbacks seemed to have the
game in hand with their three-
run lead and sophomore closer
Zach Butler on the mound.
Butler started off the inning
by walking the first two batters
and then giving up an infield sin
gle to A&M sophomore short
stop Cliff Pennington, which
loaded the bases with no outs.
A&M senior right fielder Cory
Patton hit a fielder’s choice to
second, which scored sophomore
first baseman Coby Mavroulis
from third and left runners on the
comers with one out.
Then came the Arkansas mis
takes. The next batter, A&M
sophomore centerfielder John
Infante, hit a chopper down the
third base line to Arkansas senior
Brett Hagedom, whose errant
throw allowed Infante to reach
safely while scoring A&M sen
ior second baseman Eric
Schindewolf from third.
After battling through a 13-
pitch at bat, A&M senior first
baseman Eric Scheidt hit a dou
ble in the left field gap, which
scored Patton and Infante, giving
the Aggies an 8-7 lead.
“With each pitch you gain a
little more confidence,” Scheidt
said. “The more you foul off, the
more pitches you see, so that
allows you as a hitter to have a
little bit. But you have to give it
to the pitcher, he didn’t back
down either.”
Another error, an infield sin
gle, and a hit batter gave the
Aggies their final 9-7 cushion.
The ninth was not the first
inning in which the Aggies ben
efited from Razorback mistakes.
Trailing 3-0 in the top of the
second, A&M sophomore desig
nated hitter Parker Dalton
stepped to the plate with two
outs and the bases loaded.
Dalton hit a chopper to
Hagedom that should have ended
the inning. While it looked as if
Hagedom could have easily
tagged the runner or simply
stepped on third to end the inning,
he made an errant throw to first
base, allowing all three Aggie
base runners to score, while
advancing Dalton to third.
“It’s just a routine play,” said
Razorback head coach Dave Van
Horn. ’’You just have to run over
and tag the bag; that's it.”
Yet another error on the ensu
ing play, this time a booted ball
by Arkansas junior shortstop
Scott Hode, brought Dalton
home from third and gave the
Aggies a 4-3 lead.
The gifts from Arkansas had
the Aggies, including A&M head
coach Mark Johnson, talking
about ‘Olsen Magic.’
“We talk about Olsen Magic
because it does happen,”
Johnson said. “We got some
help from Arkansas today, and
we helped them a bunch too.”
Softball goes 3-1 at
Aggie Invitational II
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
The price of errors for the
No. 23 Texas A&M softball
team was three runs on Saturday
during its loss to the No. 17
University of Oregon. 4-1, at the
Aggie Softball Complex.
The first of the two costly
mistakes by the Aggies (11-9)
came in the fourth inning when
A&M junior catcher Nicole
Robinson couldn’t hold on to a
long throw from freshman cen
ter fielder Sharonda McDonald.
Oregon freshman center fielder
Kayleen Hudson slid under the
failed tag to score the second run
for the Ducks (13-4).
The second costly error came
in the top of the fifth when
Aggie junior second baseman
Sherah Atkins couldn’t come up
with a ground ball. The error
resulted in Atkins missing the
force out at second and Oregon
sophomore shortstop Breanne
Sabol scoring.
Atkins had a second error in
the seventh that resulted in an
Oregon run.
A&M head coach Jo Evans
I said Atkins’ errors were close,
and she shouldn't be blamed.
“It is tough. Sherah is an out
fielder playing the infield,”
Evans said. “I feel bad for her.
That is a tough spot to be in.”
Oregon head coach Kathy
Arendsen said the Aggies’ errors
I are what cost them the game.
“Tonight they made more
mistakes than we did,” Arendsen
said. “In these kind of games
between top-ranked teams, that
is usually the difference.”
Arendsen said the victoij
was proof of the effectivenessof
a defensive strategy.
“Our defense was outstand
ing tonight,” Arendsen said,
“We definitely won with om
defense tonight.”
Evans said Oregon’s defenst
was the difference, especiallj
the play of Oregon junior third
baseman Ashley Richards.
“I thought they did a nicejoli
defensively,” Evans said. “Their
third baseman did a nice job.”
Arendsen said Richards is a
major defensive force.
"She’s a feisty kid,” Arendsen
said. "She is always looking for
a way (to win). She doesn't take
anything for granted.”
Evans said Arendsen’s deci
sion to pull Oregon starting
pitcher Anissa Meashintubby
(5-1) in the bottom of the fourth
for junior Ani Nyhus, after four
hits that inning, was a dedsion
that helped win the game.
“They did a good job of get
ting Meashintubby out in a
hurry,” Evans said. “(Nyhus)
came in and gave us a complete
ly different look.”
Arendsen said she doesn't
have a closer, but instead likes to
use her bullpen to throw off the
rhythm of the game.
"I like to change pitchers.lam
not one who goes for all complete
games (for pitchers),” Arendsen
said. “When hitters haveseenthe
pitchers for the third time it isi
great advantage to the hitter.”
A&M senior pitcher
Lindsey Wilhelmson (2-3)
threw for all seven innings with
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Homestand starts with two wins
By Kyle Davoust
THE BATTALION
The No. 11 Texas A&M men’s tennis team did
a little experimenting with its doubles lineup
Saturday as it cruised to 7-0 victories against the
University of Texas-San Antonio and
Southeastern Louisiana.
The most obvious change to the lineup was the
absence of the nation’s No. 1 doubles team of jun
iors Ante Matijevic and Lester Cook. Each played
with different partners, as Cook paired with junior
Zack Malmgren against UTSA, and Matijevic
teamed with redshirt freshman Alex Strom against
Southeastern Louisiana.
“We were trying to play our depth, so that’s
why you saw the different combinations in dou
bles was to give some guys a chance that don’t get
a chance to play all the time,” said A&M head
coach Tim Cass. “All in all, I was pleased with
how they played. We had a slow start on a couple
of courts, but then we were able to settle down and
get into the matches pretty good.”
Also notable was the pairing of seniors Khaled El
Dorry and Mohamed Dakki against UTSA. It was
only the second time the two had played together.
“I thought Khaled and Mohamed played well
down there at (court No. 3),” Cass said. “So we
could see that team again.”
The wins maintained A&M’s perfection at
home, bringing its overall home record to 6-0.
Against UTSA, the Aggies (11-4, 2-0 Big 12)
barely broke a sweat as they dominated the match.
After sweeping the doubles point, the Aggies were
able to win all of their singles matches in straight sets.
El Dorry set the tone at court No. 5 with a perfect
6-0, 6-0 victory over UTSA sophomore Joe Olfindo.
“I struggled earlier in the season, so I had to
kind of take a step back and get back to basics in
practice,” El Dorry said. “I played really well, and
I’m happy with the way I played, so hopefully I
can help the team out one way or another.”
The loss was the fourth straight overall for UTSA.
Winning was harder against Southeastern
Louisiana.
Things looked bad for the Aggies early on in
doubles, as they were losing to the Lions at two of
the three courts. Freshman Brett Joelson and Marvin
Rolle overcame a 4-1 deficit, rallying to an 8-4 win.
Malmgren and sophomore John Nallon also had to
fight hard, coming back from 4-2 to win, 8-6.
In singles, however, the Aggies reverted back to
form, winning all of the matches in straight sets.
Lions head coach Jason Hayes said he was still
impressed by the way his team held up.
“I was real proud of how our guys played,” Hayes
said. “This is such a great environment to play tennis
in. We told our guys before they went out that this is
one of those special places to play and to go out and
have fun, and I think they played well.”
Aggie netters beat Missouri, 6-1
By Jon Gilbert
THE BATTALION
Attitude and fight are two com
petitive traits that Texas A&M
head women’s tennis coach
Bobby Kleinecke said he con
stantly tries to instill in his players.
Those two mentalities helped the
No. 17 Aggies to a hard-fought 6-
1 win over Missouri Sunday at the
Bryan Tennis Center.
A&M (7-5, 2-0 Big 12)
ground out a methodical win
against the Tigers (6-4, 0-4) to
win its fourth consecutive match.
“Our attitude is that no mat
ter who we play, we’re going to
come out and compete,”
Kleinecke said. “We stress this,
and they responded.”
The Aggies came out and
set the tone early as they dom
inated Missouri in doubles to
win the point.
A&M senior Jessica Roland
and sophomore Nicki Mechem
teamed up to defeat the Tigers’
freshmen Erika Joshena and
Yelena Olshanskaya, 9-2.
Roland and Mechem dominated
from the start as they overpow
ered and outwitted their oppo
nents with every shot.
“Doubles helped get us
going,” Mechem said. “We’ve
improved so much. Our attitude
is, we’re going to win. All of us
are tired of losing.”
That desire to win carried
over to singles as A&M junior
Helga Vieria and Roland
notched relatively easy wins.
Then, junior Lauren Walker
clobbered Olshanskaya 6-0, 6-1.
Walker took control early and
never gave Olshanskaya a
chance to establish her game.
The most competitive singles’
match was Mechem against
Missouri’s junior Mary Barry.
Mechem lost the first game 7-6,
then dominated the second game
6-0 and won the tiebreaker 1-
0(8). It was Mechem’s fight and
detennination, as well as the sup
port from the crowd that helped
her get the win.
“One of my strengths is men
tal toughness,” Mechem said.
“I’m just going to fight. I used
the energy from the crowd, and
that helped me.”
The win was the third for
the weekend.
“We competed in all nine
matches,” said Missouri head
coach Blake Starkey. “We didn’t
lose, we just got beat.”
A&M will next face Houston
at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Ags finish winless at Reed
A&M head coach Melvin Watkins gets on his hands and knees to see a play during A&M’s 76-70 loss to ;:; al
Colorado Saturday at Reed Arena. The loss assured the Aggies of having a winless home conference record
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
On a day that was supposed to be reserved for
Texas A&M men’s basketball’s six seniors, the
buzz in the air at Saturday's 76-70 loss to
Colorado at Reed Arena was all about head
coach Melvin Watkins and if the loss would be
his final home game as head coach.
Even Watkins asked the media after
Saturday’s game, “Everybody got a tape
recorder for my last speech?”
The loss assured A&M a winless conference
record for the first time since the Big 12 formed in
1996. The last time A&M went winless in confer
ence was in the 1990-91 season when the Aggies
went 0-8 in the Southwestern Conference.
Colorado head coach Ricardo Patton said he
knows what Watkins is going through. Patton
took over at Colorado nine seasons ago when the
Buffaloes were the cellar dwellers of the Big 8
Conference and faced similar talk during his
tenure in Boulder, Colo.
But Colorado (17-8, 9-5) stuck with Patton,
and last season Patton led the Buffaloes to its sec
ond NCAA tournament appearance of his tenure.
Barring any major collapses, Patton’s 2003-04
Buffalo version will make it two consecutive trips.
“I don't think you can give a five- or six-year
stamp on turning a (program) around,” Patton said.
“I hope Coach Watkins gets a little more time.”
The Aggies began their last home game of the
season by jumping out to a 42-36 halftime lead
on the shoulder of senior guard Kevin Turner's
14 first-half points.
Turner would finish the game with a career-
high 21 points, shooting five-for-eight from
beyond the three-point arc.
“At halftime I wanted to stop the game,"
Watkins said. “They have some rule that you
have to play 20 more minutes.”
In the second half, Colorado came out with a
stronger offensive presence. Buffalo junior center
David Harrison owned the paint as he scored21
points and collected eight rebounds in the game,
“(Harrison) is a load wherever they play
him,” Watkins said. “He’s an NBA player in a
college uniform.”
Colorado senior guard Blair Wilson con
tributed 15 second-half points after scoring just
four in the first.
“Blair really sparked our offense," Patton said.
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