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Page 5 • Friday,
\&M searching for conference win streak
i day in the life of senior
litcher Justin Moore
By Jon Gilbert
THE BATTALION
Being a student athlete at
;xas A&M, or any university,
quires a devotion of time most
udents can only dream about,
or A&M pitcher Justin Moore,
ing a student athlete isn’t a
urden - it’s fun.
Moore, a 6 foot 4 inch right-
ander from Katy, Texas, is one
eight seniors on the No. 9
ne f ! ?1 l&M baseball team. Yet,
, . loore is not just a baseball
e ^ layer, but a college student like
veryone else, trying to gradu-
te and move on in life.
“(Student athletes) do a lot
lore than the average college
bi
lor, L.
the k|
>at
theirds
id."
'' ers l ' : tudent,” Moore said. “When we
ethome at midnight it’s hard to
tudy. Studying is the last thing
tsinfij ou want to do. You have to be
pies of tructured and manage your
weenta ime wisely. To do well you have
Countdown to Student-
Athlete Day
APRIL 6
A day in the life of...
• Lester Cook
Tennis
• Jennifer Jones
Equestrian
• Jana James
Softball
• Jamie Riojas
Track & Field
• Justin Moore
Baseball
• Dylan Leal
Basketball
• Terrence Murphy
Football
to be efficient in that area.”
Moore gets up at 6:30 a.m.
every Tuesday and Thursday for
his 8 a.m. class. He attends class
non-stop until 3:35 p.m. and then
rushes to practice. He has no time
for a nap, no time to go home for
a few hours, no time to just
“chill.” He gets out of practice at
about 6 p.m., has dinner, then
goes home to begin studying.
The effect of playing baseball
for the Aggies goes far beyond
books. Moore admits it’s tough
to find time to hang out with
friends, see movies, hit up the
town or basically do the things a
normal college student does.
“You spend all your free time
catching up with school,” Moore
said. “It doesn't leave much
time for hanging out. I can't
remember the last movie 1 saw.”
Furthermore, athletes miss
many classes, making it tough
to excel in academics. Moore
said there are also a number of
professors who are unsympa
thetic to their schedules.
“Some are very nice and
understanding,” Moore said.
“Others don’t care about what
you go through and will make
the tests extra hard. Some are
cool about it. though.
“Like, in one of my classes I
had only been (to class) once
since the last test. 1 showed up for
class one day and realized that it
was the day of a test and I had no
idea. I went up to the prof and
told him about the classes I had
been forced to miss, and he was
cool about it. He let me take it
another time.”
JP Beato III • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M senior pitcher Justin Moore delivers a pitch in A&M's 8-0 win
over South Alabama on Feb. 21.
Those are all the cons
involved with being a Division I
student athlete. Moore’s
lifestyle, however, definitely
has its share of pros.
For one, he gets to play base
ball, the sport that he loves,
every day. Also, being a baseball
player at A&M carries a high
status, which Moore welcomes.
He said he acknowledges that
some people recognize him as
he walks across campus, besides
his friends of course.
“Some people come to me
and will say, ‘Justin, nice game
last night,’ and stuff like that,”
Moore said. “One time a guy
came running up to me and
started talking to me and hand
ed me a bunch of little sched
ules where my picture was on
the cover. So, that was kind of
cool for him to do that.”
See Moore on page 8
Aggies prepare for tough
test at Oklahoma State
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
The No. 9 Texas A&M
baseball team is traveling to
Stillwater, Okla., this weekend
for its first conference series
away from Olsen Field this sea
son. To add to the Aggies’
already difficult predicament of
playing an away series,
Cowboy fans are expecting a lot
from all their teams now that
their basketball team has
reached the Final Four.
“Their basketball team is in
the Final Four and everybody
is fired up about Cowboy ath
letics,” said A&M head coach
Mark Johnson. “We’ll have our
hands full.”
Johnson said the Aggies will
need to keep up with Oklahoma
State’s .322 team batting aver
age. The Aggies have a .310
team batting average, but
Johnson said his team is getting
hits when it needs them most.
“If the top part of the order is
not good then the bottom part is
coming through,” Johnson said.
“We need some big hitters.”
Johnson said road wins are
especially valuable during con
ference play because of the near
impossibility of going undefeat
ed at home. He also said that his
team is still looking for a series
sweep during conference,
which, especially on the road,
can make up for home losses.
“The championship ballclub
is going to look back and they
got beat in some series, but they
are going to have some sweeps,”
Johnson said. “It is a lot harder
on the road but usually your
championship team is going to
punch out some sweeps some
where on the road.”
Johnson said this early in the
season he is not pressuring his
team to produce a sweep.
The Aggies will be led by
freshman Jason Meyer and jun
ior Zach Jackson on the mound.
Meyer and Jackson were the
winning pitchers in A&M’s two
wins last weekend over Texas
Tech University. Johnson said
he will wait to announce who
the starter is on Sunday because
of how little game footage of
the Cowboys he has seen.
“The teams that win, the
pitchers step up and the
defense stays solid,” Johnson
said. “But when you play teams
that have a high batting average
you are going to have to score
some runs.”
Johnson said that the
Cowboys* pitching has been
solid with junior catcher Jason
Jaramillo calling the signals.
“Jaramillo behind the plate
has been very steady for them,”
Johnson said. “He was very
steady last year and got a lot of
pre-conference publicity.”
Johnson said the top of his
batting order is starting to pro
duce and may be the deciding
factor, in what he described as
an offensive game.
“We’ve been struggling
some with our key hitters, but
we saw some good signs
Tuesday night,” Johnson said.
“It’s not something you can just
tell somebody to go out there
and start hitting.”
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The Top 10
Reasons Why You
Should Consider
Summer School!
/
\k
mi
Get Ahead
StayAhead
10. Stay on target, get ahead of degree plan, or
just catch up!
9. Graduate earlier!
8. Enjoy smaller classes with easier access to faculty!
7. Have a no-hassle "What to Do?" with your
12-month apartment lease!
6. Make your eligibility date for that Aggie ring order!
5. Gain easier access to classes difficult to schedule!
4. Get basic classes out of the way, and get a jump
on the year ahead!
3. Get that "pesky" course out of the way!
2. Find out why "Five weeks beats four months"!
1. Enjoy shades, shorts, and sandals in Aggieland!
Interested in Summer School? See your academic advisor for details.
Additional financial aid funds are also available this summer. For information,
contact the Department of Student Financial Aid at 979.845.3236 or email to
financialaid@tamu.edu, or get the facts online at http://myfinancialaid.tamu.edu/.
For off-campus housing assistance, contact Adult, Graduate, and Off-Campus
Student Services at 979.845.1 741 or email to ochousing@tamu.edu, or go to
http://aggiesearch.tamu.edu on the Web.
Remember, summer school pre-registration starts April 8!
Get Ahead Stay Ahead
Dean of Undergraduate Programs and
Associate Provost for Academic Services
Texas A&M University