t on
Sports
The Battalion
Page 3 • Wednesday, June 9, 2004
F CHAMPIO
Baseball team riding on cloud nine to Louisiana
By Jordan Meserole
THE BATTALION
3 e
The only thing that might be worse than
having to face a former national champion
in the first round of baseball regional play
could be having to face another former
champion the next weekend.
To advance to the College World Series,
that is exactly what No. 14 Texas A&M
(42-20) will have to do. After upending last
year’s champion Rice University last week
end, the Aggies will face off against No. 8
Louisiana State University this weekend,
which won the championship in 2000.
“1 spoke to the team Monday and told
them how proud we were of them. My
speech now will be to put all this behind
them and move forward,” said A&M
head coach Mark Johnson. “In a climb
to the mountain top, some people stop
along the way after they've surpassed
others and admire how well they’ve
done, and it kills all their momentum.”
The Aggies have been absent from the
super regional tournament for five years. In
1999, A&M defeated Clemson University
in three games to advance to the World
Series where the Aggies eventually lost in
the first round. A&M sophomore infielder
Cliff Pennington said he discovered there
was much more than just beating Rice on
Sunday.
“It didn’t hit me till 15 minutes after
wards,” Pennington said. “Seeing Coach
Johnson’s face you know we had done
something good. And you could definitely
see it in the faces of the guys that have been
playing three or four years, how special and
awesome it is to make it to the supers.”
A&M enters Baton Rouge with hot bats
and strong arms. In the four games the
Aggies played last weekend, A&M hitters
hit a stunning .340 and collected 34 runs.
On the mound, Aggie pitchers allowed
only 10 runs on 29 hits in all four of the
games. Pennington was the bright spot for
A&M, going 8 for 13, scoring eight runs
and driving in four more. Pennington’s
work at the plate earned him Most
Outstanding Player honors after the tour
nament. Senior outfielder Justin
Ruggiano also enters the game against
LSU with a hot bat, hitting an eighth
inning grand slam that secured the Aggies’
7-5 win over Rice and advancing the team
to the next round.
A&M senior outfielder Cory Patton
said he knew many people slated A&M
as the underdog, and didn’t think A&M
would get past Rice, but that the Aggies
should be getting more respect now.
“I know what we’re capable of, and we
can do just about anything,” Patton said. “I
feel confident about our pitching and hit
ting because they’re working together right
now. I don’t think calling us a ‘Cinderella
team’ is fitting for us.”
LSU enters the weekend series with
stats similar to A&M’s. In the three games
LSU played in its regional tournament, the
team batted .339, scored 26 runs and held
opponents to five runs on 28 hits. Aggie
pitchers will have to try and find a way to
silence Tiger junior infielder Blake Gill’s
bat, who hit .455, with seven RBIs and
zero strikeouts.
“All of their stats indicate they’re a pretty
big time ball club,” Johnson said. “Everyone
that is still standing is good. There are no
weak spots, or they’re hard to find.”
The Aggies will have something else to
deal with other than just the Tigers on the
field; the fans off the field. For the last 10
years, LSU has consistently had one of the
top five attendances in the NCAA, includ
ing last season when the Tigers drew the
most fans to home games. Patton said he
has seen some games at Alex Box Stadium
and knows what the fans are like.
“They are loud. Very loud,” Patton said.
“But it shouldn’t work against us too much
because we play in front of a lot of loud
fans on a regular basis. The only difference
is that instead of 8,000 people cheering for
us, there will be 8,000 cheering for LSU.”
WHO:
Texas A&M (42-20)
vs. LSU (44-17)
WHERE:
Alex Box Stadium,
Baton Rouge
WHEN:
• Saturday, 6 p.m.
• Sunday, 5 p.m.
• Monday, noon (if needed)
Ruben Deluna • THE BATTALION
Sophomore shortstop Cliff Pennington makes
against Rice. A&M lost the game 3-1, and then
Brian Wills • THE BATTALION
an off-balance throw to first base on Sunday
beat Rice in the second game to advance to the
image courtesy of ncaa sports super regional tournament against LSU.
A&M Track and Field aims for gold at NCAA Championships
By Ryan Irby
THE BATTALION
A total of 13 Aggie men and women will
travel to Austin to compete in the 2004
NCAA Championships at Mike A. Myers
Stadium on June 9-12.
Of the 13 athletes, seven are women,
and six are men, yet there is one unifying
spirit that Texas A&M Head Coach Ted
Nelson feels gives the Aggies a competi
tive advantage.
“I think that Texas A&M track and field
is a team, and I’m always going to try and
have a team,” Nelson said. “I think it’s fair
for us to feel like a team instead of just
individuals.”
A&M will be heavily represented in the
field aspect of the competition, as the Aggies
will send eight of 13 competitors to throw in
the javelin, shot put, and discus events.
A&M junior Jarrad Matthews, who
unleashed a 243-foot-6-inch blast last
weekend at the NCAA Midwest Regional
to bring home the gold in the javelin,
enters the meet ranked fourth in the nation
and will compete alongside A&M senior
Luke Marrs, 2001 Big 12 champion and
holder of the 23rd national ranking.
A&M sixth-year senior Kaly Doyle will
join sophomores Rachel Walker and Katy
Cullen in the women’s javelin.
The Aggies will also feature two discus
competitors this weekend, as Big 12
champion and A&M senior Karenrose
Honea will throw in the women’s compe
tition, with senior Josh Ralston throwing
in the men’s division.
Honea explained that her personal goal
for the weekend will be 55 meters, which
qualifies her to try out for the USA
iMOUt
WHO:
Brian Wills • THE BATTALION
Senior Katy Doyle, ranked No. 2 nationally in the javelin, prepares to launch a throw during the
track and field regional meet held in College Station.
1 3 Texas A&M track & field
participants
vs. other NCAA schools
Mike A. Meyers Stadium,
Austin
Wednesday, June 9
through Saturday, June 12
Ruben Deluna • THE BATTALION
LOGO COURTESY NCAA SPORTS
Olympic team.
“I am not going with a different game
plan,” Honea said. “I am going to go with
what I have always done and hope that it’s
good enough for the finals. Once I get to the
finals I will tear it up from there.”
Honea owns the A&M record in the
discus, as well as several of the school’s
top throws.
Competing in the shot put is A&M sen
ior Ronny Jimenez, ranked seventh nation
ally in his event.
“There will be guys who are in the top
10 in the world in the shot,” said Jimenez
about this weekend’s field. “Some guys
from UCLA will be competing as well,
and they are always great competitors. It
should be an interesting day in the shot.”
Fabrice Lapierre, a sophomore from
Sydney, Australia, will defend his fifth-
place national ranking in the long jump.
Aggie sophomore Jennifer Johnson and
freshman Alecia Green will compete in the
heptathlon and long jump, respectively.
On the track side of the venue, the
Aggies will be represented by senior
Melissa Gulli in the 10,000 meters, in
which she ranks fourth in the country.
Gulli will end her illustrious five-time
All-American career this weekend. A&M
senior Andrew Cook will round out the
track competitors by running the men’s
10,000 meters.
Regardless if all come home with medals
or not, Nelson said A&M is proud to be send
ing so many athletes to the championships.
“It’s always icing on the cake for our
athletes to go to a meet,” Nelson said. “It’s
almost a given that it’s a privilege to be the
athlete that qualifies for this meet.”
Six Aggies
selected on
MLB Draft Day
After two rounds of the
major league baseball
draft, six Texas A&M
baseball players have
been selected.
Senior outfielder Cory
Patton and junior pitcher
Zach Jackson were both
selected on day one by
the Toronto Blue Jays.
Jackson, who was the
32nd overall pick, led the
Aggie pitchers this sea
son with 10 wins and 119
strikeouts, and had the
second lowest ERA for
the team with a 3.54.
Patton, who was the
overall 177th pick, led
A&M’s offense with 11
home runs and 67 RBIs,
and ended the regular
season with a .335 bat
ting average.
Also drafted on the sec
ond day were:
Senior infielder Eric
Schindewolf, 776th over
all by the Arizona
Diamondbacks; senior
outfielder Justin
Ruggiano, 748th overall
by the Los Angeles
Dodgers; sophomore
infielder Coby Mavroulis
and junior pitcher Kyle
Marlatt.
Jackson, Mavroulis,
and Marlatt all have the
option of returning to
the Aggies if they do not
sign an agent or a con
tract with the team that
drafted them.
SPORTS IN BRIEF
Parcells not
fined for
remarks
AP — Dallas
Cowboys head coach
Bill Parcells won’t be
fined nor will any
action be taken by
the NFL for calling
surprise plays used in
practice “Jap plays,”
a remark for which he
later apologized.
Parcells made the
remark, an apparent
reference to Japan’s
1941 surprise attack
on Pearl Harbor, while
talking to reporters
during the Cowboys'
minicamp Monday.
Later in the day,
Parcells issued a state
ment apologizing.
"I made a very inap
propriate reference,
and although I pref
aced it with the
remark, ’no disre
spect to anyone
intended,' it was still
uncalled for and
inconsiderate,” he
said. “For that I apol
ogize to anyone who
may have been
offended.”
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