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Sports
The Battalion
Page 7 • Monday, March 29, 2004
b. 20 Aggie tennis completes weekend sweep
day in the life of Aggie tennis player Lester Cook
iminanis,
By Kyle Davoust
THE BATTALION
I The daily life of a student-
Jilete is, in a word, full. Classes
llhe morning, practices that last
lim the afternoon until the
ening (depending on the mood
o the coach), recuperation and
then finally some time for study-
ir a (if needed) before sleep. This
i not to mention individual
or analij w jrkout time, mandatory tutori-
andp a sessions and countless events
id competitions. Yet somehow,
se students try to squeeze in a
ial life to give them the full
illege experience.
This sort of hectic schedule
I is had two enduring effects
II Texas A&M junior tennis
ayer Lester Cook: greater
J|raturity and even greater
nhaiiM Jne-management skills.
“It definitely taught me how
manage my time better,”
k said. “You have to sepa-
iteeverything. I have to do my
Me school schedule in the
icming to get it out of the way
fore practice. And then some-
i^ies our practice schedule will
t:from six to nine - it really
oesn’t leave that much free
i me or time to study.”
Cook said practice for an
ahlete is like a job for most
sudents - a burden in which
n t see cil
oon.
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But wll
in, puf
ilowl
have
work around.
O 350 *! ames, or in this case, match-
are an entirely different
isue. Cook said practices and
atches have caused him to
iss classes and exams.
This spring has proved to be
en more hectic for Cook
auseof the amount of time
\pentontte road. He, along with
rest of the men’s tennis team,
already played 10 matches
In the road, nine of them coming
i a one-month period.
“It’s tough,”
Cook said.
“Sometimes when
you miss a test,
the professors
don’t understand
as much, so
they’ll make it an
essay test. You
know, it’s not your
fault that you
missed it. And you
have to ask people
for notes and try
to study for all the
stuff you missed.”
Cook, however,
realizes the impor
tance of a degree.
The economics
major knows that
if tennis doesn’t
work out down the
road, he will need
an alternative
career plan.
Cook said there
are times when he
wonders what
school would be
like without ten
nis. He thinks
about how much
he could accom
plish with all of
the extra time.
“School would
be much easier
(without tennis),”
Cook said. “There
are certain days
when we get off.
And when we don’t have to
practice, there is so much time
in the day. It feels like I can do
whatever I want with my day. I
can study however much I want
without any time constraints.”
Student-athletes, though,
are forced to deal with the rig
ors of both.
“You have to deal with
everyone on the team and know
Evan O'Connell • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M junior Lester Cook competes in singles Saturday in A&M's 6-1 win over
Oklahoma at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Cook and partner Ante Matijevic are the
No. 1 doubles team in the country. Cook is also No. 20 in the nation in singles.
their personalities, so you have
to deal with them and spend
time with them,” Cook said. “I
honestly haven't met too many
friends outside the team
because there is so much time
spent with (my teammates).”
Cook also said he has to be
careful when he has free time.
“As a student-athlete, you
don’t ask to be a role model for
your school, but it’s placed
upon you,” Cook said. “It’s your
decision. If you go to jail or
make stupid decisions, it’s
going to be known. We don’t
ask for it, but it’s a fact. That’s
how your school is looked
upon. It’s nice to take on that
role and all, but it’s also a lot of
responsibility. You have to be
very mature.”
A&M overpowers OU y
Tyler Junior College
By Kyle Davoust
THE BATTALION
Many times, conference
play represents a second sea
son. It is seen as a chance to put
previous losses behind and gain
a new focus. After falling on
some rough times during non
conference play, the No. 20
Texas A&M men’s tennis team
hopes to start anew as it plays
through its “second season.”
On Saturday, the Aggies (15-
6, 3-0 Big 12) extended their
conference record to 3-0 with a
dominating 6-1 victory over the
University of Oklahoma (12-3,
0-1). After a shorter than usual
break, the Aggies took the
court, defeating two-time
defending junior college
national champion Tyler Junior
College, 5-1.
“I thought we played with as
good of a purpose as I’ve seen all
year from our guys,” Cass said.
“After the national season going
like it has so far, I think (the Big
12) gives us a good chance to
redeem ourselves. I think it is a
little bit of a fresh start.”
Led by the nation's top-
ranked doubles team of juniors
Lester Cook and Ante
Matijevic, the Aggies were
able to take control of the
match by sweeping the doubles
point, maintaining A&M's per
fect Big 12 doubles record.
Cook and Matijevic set the
pace with an 8-4 victory over
the Sooner team of junior
Ondrej Fukala and sophomore
Tommy Garrison.
Cook carried his doubles suc
cess into his singles match with
an easy 6-2, 6-1 victory over OU
sophomore Alexei Ivanov.
After a quick win by A&M
senior captain Khaled El Dorry,
Matijevic sealed the match by
defeating OU freshman Marek
Velicka, 6-3, 7-6 (11).
“I think we fought hard and
had some opportunities,” said
Oklahoma head coach Paul
Lockwood. “Obviously, we did
n’t take advantage of enough of
them, but we’ll learn from this
and get better from it.”
With so many matches
against OU going to three sets,
the Aggies had very little turn
around time before facing Tyler
Junior College at 6 p.m.
While most of the match
went as planned, A&M suffered
two unexpected defeats. The
first occurred in doubles play,
where Cook and Matijevic lost
to the Tyler team of sopho
mores Mark Growcott and
Jordan Fruitas, 8-6.
Matijevic’s play then fol
lowed him into his singles match
where Growcott once again got
the best of him, 6-3, 6-3.
“In hindsight, an hour and a
half between matches might
have been a little tight,” Cass
said. "They’re a very good team.
They're probably real compara
ble to Oklahoma in my opinion.”
Tyler coach John Peterson
said the match was a special
one for his players, as most
aspire to playing for a top
Division I school.
“The guys that come here
dream about playing at a place
like Texas A&M. That’s what
they want to do," Peterson said.
“Sometimes they think some
coach didn’t see ’the greatness'
of me, I came from the wrong
background or my grades just
weren't good enough,’ but that’s
where they want to go."
A&M baseball ends series
ith 14-5 loss to Texas Tech
Aggies top No. 9 Oklahoma
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By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M’s baseball team couldn’t close
ta series sweep over Big 12 rival Texas Tech
| the Red Raiders won the final game, 14-5,
unday at Olsen Field.
After getting shut down by Aggie pitching in
re first two games of the weekend series. Tech
7-9,1-2 Big 12) was able to jump on A&M sen-
rrpitcher Justin Moore early, scoring six times in
ie first two innings.
“(A&M) dominated us for two nights with their
tching,” said Tech head coach Larry Hays. “If a
|itcher’s not on, we’ve hit pretty well. We’ve just had
lard time when the pitcher’s having a good day.”
Tech was able to score three more runs in the
topofthe third inning off A&M junior relief pitch-
Kyle Marlatt to increase its early lead to 9-1.
oore and Marlatt combined to pitch three
Jinings for the No. 10 Aggies while giving up nine
ied runs and 11 hits.
A&M (23-6, 3-3) was able to get to Tech jun-
rstarter Michael McGowan in the bottom half of
third for two runs to cut the Tech lead to six
fore Hays pulled McGowan in favor of senior
itcher Corey Gerstner.
Gerstner stomped out any chance of an Aggie
meback as he retired the first 13 batters he faced.
“I’m not going to blame it all on the starting
pitching,” said A&M head coach Mark Johnson.
“I didn’t think we hit the ball real well. We didn’t
have enough quality at-bats.”
The Aggies weren’t able to get to Gerstner until
the bottom of the seventh inning. Trailing 13-3,
A&M senior designated hitter Brian Bowe broke
Gerstner’s no-hit streak with a single to left field
with two outs. Gerstner followed by walking
A&M sophomore center fielder John Infante
before getting pulled by Hays.
Tech junior relief pitcher Barret Pliler walked
A&M senior second baseman Erik Schindewolf,
prompting Hays to go to the bullpen again.
Tech senior pitcher Steve Gooch walked
A&M sophomore shortstop Cliff Pennington,
scoring Bowe, before getting A&M freshman
third baseman Austin Boggs to fly out to center
field to end the inning.
“With McGowan not being able to throw more
than he did really put us in a bind,” Hays said.
“Gerstner was able to throw well enough, but with
that big lead we had to keep trying to score runs.”
The Aggies were able to score another run in
the eighth inning, but were never able to get with
in eight runs of the Raiders.
“We’ve been behind like that and won ball
games,” Johnson said. “We just had trouble hold
ing them down from an offensive standpoint, and
then we couldn’t gain ground on them.”
JP Beato III • THE BATTALION
Texas Tech
sxasA&M freshman pitcher Kyle Nicholson delivers a pitch in the seventh inning of A&AA's 14-5 loss to
unday at Olsen Field. A&M won two of the three games of the weekend series with Tech.
By Ryan Irby
THE BATTALION
The bus ride back to
Norman, Okla., will measure
about seven hours on the
watch, but it will seem like an
eternity to the No. 9 Oklahoma
softball team.
Texas A&M (20-15, 2-0 Big
12) sent OU packing Sunday
with a 5-4 triumph over the
Sooners (26-11-1,0-2) to com
plete the two-game sweep of
the weekend series at the Aggie
Softball Complex.
Oklahoma was looking for
revenge from its 1-0 loss
Saturday early as Sooner fresh
man shortstop Norelle Dickson
laced the first pitch of the game
into left field for a base hit.
Three batters later, OU junior
catcher Heather Scaglione hit a
towering home run to give the
Sooners a 2-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the first
inning, OU junior pitcher
Kami Keiter, who went the dis
tance on Saturday, drilled jun
ior right fielder Jana James in
the back with her first offering.
“That doesn’t surprise me,
if that’s the way you want to
play,” said A&M head coach Jo
Evans. “(Oklahoma head coach
Patty Gasso) said the hit batter
wasn’t intentional, and I have
to believe that.”
In the top half of the second,
OU added another run as fresh
man third baseman Jamie Fox
drove the first pitch she saw
frorrr A&M freshman pitcher
Jill Weynand off the scoreboard
in left to make the score 3-0.
Evans went to the bullpen
after the long ball and put sen
ior right-hander Lindsay
Wilhelmson in the circle, who
went the distance from there.
She allowed just one run on six
hits in the rest of the contest.
“We were making a state
ment,” Wilhelmson said. “We
couldn’t be content with just
one win. We wanted to beat
(Oklahoma) more than any
thing.”
JP Beato III
Texas A&M senior pitcher Lindsey Wilhelmson scores the winning run in
A&M's 1 -0 win over No. 9 Oklahoma Saturday. A&M also won 5-4 Sunday.
In the bottom of the second,
A&M freshman third baseman
Laura Durham rocketed an 0-1
offering from Keiter over the
wall in left center, scoring soph
omore first baseman Kristin
Gunter, who doubled earlier.
Keiter then pegged
Wilhelmson with her next
delivery on a pitch, and
Wilhelmson could do nothing
but take the blow.
“When they hit Jana, that
didn’t surprise me,” Evans
said. “When they hit
Wilhelmson, now the war was
on. You started it, you better be
able to finish it.”
The Aggies finished off
Keiter in the third with a pair
of home runs from junior
shortstop Adrian Gregory and
Gunter to give A&M a 5-3
lead. Wilhelmson and the
Aggie defense held on from
there as OU added one more
in the fourth.
“I’ve never seen fight like
that in our kids,” Evans said.
“There was no giving up. I
couldn’t be more proud of my
team; it’s a great way to start
the conference season.”
For Oklahoma, which was
predicted to win the confer
ence, dropping two close
games was a disappointing
way to begin conference play.
“(A&M) played well,” Gasso
said. “We are going to see if we
can have an attitude adjustment,
especially at the plate.”
Evans said these wins were
something she has been antici
pating for a long time.
“I hope this is the catalyst
that gets us going in the right
direction,” Evans said. “We
needed to get a little nutty.”