Sports
TUESDAY
S3
i
#
7 p.m.
vs. No. 6 Rice
Olsen Field
The Battalion
Page 5 • Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Aggies gear up for second half of season
National champion Rice visits Aggies at Olsen Field
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By Jordan Meserole
THE BATTALION
The No. 6 defending national
hampion Rice University base-
all team is coming to College
tation Tuesday, but don’t expect
to. lOTexas A&M University to
1 out the red carpet.
“It’s just another ball game,”
aid A&M head coach Mark
s ls° n ,l!t “p’s s tiH going to be
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tensity.
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allow to
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interesting game, though,
lecause they’re a good ball
as well as the defending
ational champion.”
Rice (16-6, 5-1 WAC) has
forward ieen chosen by many sports
lucingh mthusiasts to win the College
sW Vorld Series again this year,
of fc md it is off to a good start by
finning 14 of its last 15 games.
(21-4, 1-2 Big 12) is not
een quAeing counted out to make a run
is tiKior the title, however, after
umping out to one of its best
inieniifeason starts in almost 10 years.
"A&M is one of the better
sayuleams in the country right now,”
os Load aid Rice head coach Wayne
Jraham. “This will be a good
gauge to see where we are.”
The Aggies are looking to
.jigp.jlu bounce back from a paltry per-
nixed’t f ormance ' n l ast weekend’s
e pj series against Baylor University,
n which the Aggies lost two of
v hearil ^ § ames - A<&VI entered the
series against Baylor with a
learn batting average of .323, but
only managed to bat .241 in the
day series. Many of
’s top hitters struggled
against strong Baylor pitching,
including A&M senior outfield-
eiCory Patton, who went two
foillwith three runs batted in.
rftey're not necessarily in a
slump as much as just not hitting
ra,”Johnson said. “It's all part
of the game though, where
letimes your game isn’t hit-
igon all cylinders.”
Rice is coming off a week-
id series win against the
Jniversity of Hawaii, winning
he first two and dropping the
it game 5-3. The Owls' pitch-
staff dominated the stat
es, striking out 15, 17 and
in each respective game, and
ly allowed seven earned runs
the entire series. The Owls’
tching staff has many of its
iprlers returning from last year
ho helped the team win the
kmpionship, including three
if its four top starters.
“I’m sure we’ll probably be
ing a little bit of heat from
mound,” Patton said. “We
:ed some good pitchers
jainst Baylor so we should be
more prepared for what-
r comes at us.”
A&M freshman pitcher
Pug Frame is scheduled to
against the Owls. It will
Frame’s second start of the
ason, the other coming
ainst Sam Houston State
lari
1
Evan O'Connell • THE BATTALION
ABOVE: A&M junior pitcher Zach Jackson delivers a pitch against Arkansas on Feb. 27 at Olsen Field in the
Aggies' 7-5 victory over the Razorbacks.
RIGHT: A&M senior first baseman Eric
Sheidt slides into home plate to score
in the top of the sixth inning while sen
ior outfielder Cory Patton waves him
home on Feb. 28 at Olsen Field. The
Aggies beat New Mexico 1 1-10.
University on March 17. Frame
showed good composure in the
game, lasting four innings,
striking out seven and allowing
only one run.
Rice will send left-handed
sophomore pitcher Matt Ueckert
to the mound. Similar to Frame,
Ueckert will be starting in his
second game of the season.
Ueckert appeared in a Feb. 15
game against Kansas State, last
ing five innings, striking out six
and allowing no runs.
Graham said even though the
outcome of Tuesday’s game
shouldn’t effect either team’s
season greatly, it still is an ji|§g|
important game this season.
“A&.M fans are about the
best in the country,” Graham
said. “It will provide a good
experience to see how some of
the younger guys perform
undei prt
First pitch is scheduled for 7
p.m. at C.E. “Pat” Olsen Field
and will be televised on Fox
Sports Southwest.
■-■'v
Big 12 a tough test for
Texas A&M baseball
TROY MILLER
As stu
dents filter
back onto
campus at
Texas A&M
University to
finish out the
final stretch
of classes
before sum
mer, the
Aggie base
ball team finds itself in a similar
situation as it enters Big 12
Conference play.
And just like classes, this
final stretch in anything but easy.
The Big 12 Conference is one
of the most dominant leagues in
college baseball. In fact, besides
the Southeastern Conference, no
other even comes close.
The No. 10 Aggies are one of
six Big 12 teams that dot the
four major national top-35 polls.
If having more than half of
the Big 12’s 10 baseball schools
(Iowa State University and the
University of Colorado don’t
sanction baseball) in the nation
al polls doesn’t make the Aggies
notice the potential pitfalls in
the Big 12, then their first week
end of conference play should.
A&M dropped its first series
of the season, winning only
one of three games against
Baylor University.
The Bears were picked sec
ond in the Big 12 by media in the
preseason, but Baylor fumbled
in non-conference play by win-
%}
’g! -y
ning just five of its first 18 games
before taking two from A&M.
Leave it to a rivalry series to
bring out the best in Baylor.
But the Bears are the least of
A&M’s problems. On the hori
zon in conference play are the
University of Nebraska,
Oklahoma State University and
the University of Oklahoma - all
top-35 teams. The Big 12 even
houses the No. 1 team in the
nation in the University of
Texas, which will play A&M in
its annual season series finale.
But A&M went 20-2 in non
conference play, making many
believe that this Aggie team
could duplicate the feats of the
1999 Aggies that made it to the
College World Series.
The problem is that this sea
son’s non-conference schedule
did not adequately prepare
A&M for the rugged Big 12.
It’s not anyone’s fault on
A&M's side, though. In a typi
cal year the University of South
Alabama,- the University of
Arkansas, UCLA and Santa
Clara University would be a
daunting non-conference slate.
All four teams are usually in the
top 25, but in 2004 they so far
combine for a 49-40 record.
Not bad, but not exactly
super either.
In those 22 non-conference
games, the Aggies were able to
rely on their three starting
See Big 12 on page 7
mmmmmm
. A
Sharon Aeschbach • THE BATTALION
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If you have strong sales ability,
DON’T MISS THIS MEETING!
Information Meeting:
- Wednesday, March 24
at 5:30pm
- Rudder 407
- Refreshments served
th
SPUN
PEST CONTROL
Got Talent?
^3how your art, music, poetry,
literature, dance, or ant) otner creative
talent you Nave at ELvenintz; of the /\rts:
"(Jnique Rerspectives** this year.
IT” or more information contact £>ecca at
hecca m^st u den 11 if e . ta mu .ed u or T^hris at
c b e rge ro n O hiUn.tamu.edu
1
cm<3if if you arc interested.
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M m r ch Z 6> th , ZOO-F
'VV* i.rarrr - a b n i: ■ : :r:;D a r i: s ■ r •
Bz/enin0 of the Arts: "Unique Perspectives
April i5 / ^004
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