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Show Page 10 The Thunderbird Monday April 8, 1985 4v' ewi . Hv" ports QuMifoOTg Birds shock Mavs; take 3 of 4 by Stewart Smith Thunderbird skipper Bill Groves saw his outfield chat with his club pay off with three wins this weekend. SUSC baseball Coach Bill Groves must have been fuming when he took his players to the right field corner Friday afternoon following a humiliating loss to nationally ranked rival Mesa College. The Mavericks, number 10 in the current NALA rankings, had just finished drubbing the Birds 12-- 3 in the first game of a four game series and it looked like they were prepared to do it again. Groves stirred the Thunderbird ball club in right field. I had a nice little chat with the team, I guess you could call it a chat, Groves said. I told them all it took was a little heart, a little pride. I told them tq. have fun. The Birds clobbered the Mavs the second game of 11-- 2 the double-heade- r in what the SUSC players now describe as the turning point of the season. It was such a big turn around. They came out and played with so much enthusiasm, Groves said. Starting pitcher Kelly Lund collected his second win of the season without a loss and ace reliever Tom Garvin collected his second save of the year. The rest of the Thunderbirds collected a host of hits in dumping a little humility on the Mavericks. Junior first baseman Jim Kotkas smacked a two run homer over the center field fence in the fifth inning while teammates Floyd Armstrong, Jayme Esplin, Corey Lovern and Rudie Reiniger each slapped doubles. Mike Federico collect three hits in his four at bats in the impressive Thunderbird win. Those among the abusive Grand Junction fans who remained unconvinced by the first SUSC win were absolutely shocked by the next days events. The 2 Thunderbirds upset the Mavs two more times by and 3 scores. Grand Junction was shocked. Last year we were 5 14-1- 4-- 0-- at Mesa. This is the first time that SUSC has won more than two games over there, Groves said. Garvin, in relief of starter Rocky Lambourne, earned the win for the Birds behind strong hitting. Armstrong, Rob Palm and Scott Haney each hit home runs in the first game of Saturdays contest. Haneys three run homer proved to be the winning hit. Haney also hit two doubles in the game. In addition to his home run, Armstrong also hit a triple and two doubles. The games were very, very emotional, Groves said. SUSC, after a series-openin- g d drubbing, knocked off Mesa for three straight wins. lOth-ranke- The guys learned how to win and how to get the job done. SUSC swept the double-heade- r behind the pitching of junior hurler Carl Coates, who earned his second win of the year. Coates pitched four and scoreless innings. He kept them off with his fastball and his off speed curve. We got super pitching in tight situations by all our pitchers, Groves said. Mesas going to bill us for the chipped paint on their outfield walls, Groves smiled. It was like a pinball machine out there the way the balls were bouncing off the wall. This week the Thunderbirds will return to Brigham On Friday and Young for a Wednesday double-heade- r. Saturday SUSC will host 15th ranked Western New Mexico University. Were an exciting club, an entertaining club to watch. We hope to have a lot of fans come out and enjoy these games. SUSCs season record now stands at two-thir- 11-1- 5. Tracksters improve at Logan Thunderbird golfers finish atop heap in tournament The Southern Utah State College frack team improved greatly during the Utah State University Invitational Saturday in Logan, according to SUSC track coach Ben Davidson. Im very pleased with the way the team performed today, said Davidson. Having been hampered by poor are just now weather, the warming to the occasion. The main thing was that we finally got a week of good workouts instead of fighting the wind and the snow. Leading the T .underbirds during Saturdays competition was Jolene Fisher, who set two school records in the 3000 and 5000-metruns. Fisher finished first in the 5000 with a world record 15:30 time, running the race one lap short due to the official miscounting the laps run by the contestents. Fishers adjusted time was 17:59, still good enough for the school record. Shannon Heaps finished in fourth place with a time of 20:37. Diane Reynolds finished the 100 meters at 12.74, posting her fastest time of the year. Jana Julander came to form in the 1500 by finishing in 8th place. Jill Reynolds, who suffered a sprained arm last week, finished 5th in the javelin with a 123-- mark. Reynolds also took 3rd in the shot put with a 1 toss, her best throw of the year. 7 38-1- Jill did an excellent job this week considering she has had a hurt arm this week, Davidson said. The mens team continued to improve with the 4x100 relay and the mile relay both finishing in 4th place. Aaron Sampson racked up another victory. in the long jump with a leap of 23-- 7 Vz. Sampson hasnt lost the event this year. Scott Anderson placed 4th in the 800 with a 1:56.93 time in which Davidson was well pleased. I thought Scott Anderson did a fantastic job today, said Davidson. He took six seconds off of his time in the 800 from last week. With his performance and Jolene setting two school records, both just had an outstanding day. Kevin Bishop finished up the Birds achievements by taking 4th in the pole vault with a 13-- 6 jump. Utah State took the mens team honors with 89 points, followed by Weber State and the University uf Utah with 70 and 40 points respectively. SUSCs men finished fourth with seven points. The Lady Birds failed to score. Overall the entire team made improvement this week, Davidson said. The team performed better today because it was a low key meet and they were a little more relaxed. I think that we are improving every week. The Thunderbird golf team showed its stuff last week in a pair of tournaments, finishing second Friday and coming back Saturday to take the top honors in Pueblo, Colorado. That was the shot in the arm we needed, said SUSC golf coach Tom Kingsford. We had a slow start last week but now we are playing a lot better. Kingsford didnt think that the first meet was a good indicator of the squads potential. That was not a true test of ability, the weather simply destroyed the tournament, Kingsford said. The originally scheduled tournament ended event because of rain up a and high winds. Yet the high winds were again present at the Pueblo Country Club as the Birds posted a 320 to finish second behind Colorado at 313. Stuart Adams led the Bird charge shooting a 76 to tie the medalist honors. Ken Mason followed with 81 with Kris Abegglen totaling 82. SUSC finished two strokes in front of the University of Southern Colorado and Air Force at 322. Fridays performance gave the 54-ho- 27-ho- le players confidence going into Saturdays tournament, said Kingsford. All of the kids were really excited. The excitement carried over into the next day as the Thunderbirds won their first contest of the season at Pueblo West. SUSC shot an impressive 304 outdistancing the Air Force Acadamy (308) and Southern Colorado (322). Adams captured the medalist honors once again, shooting an even par 72 for the day. Abegglen shot a 75, Mason a 77, Alan Orchard a 80 and Jerry Ellefsen an 84. Kingsford said he was happy to be playing (and beating) teams from the Big 8, the WAC, and the RMAC in this tournament." Pueblo West and the Pueblo Country Club will be used to play this years RMAC Tournament April 25-2- 6. The now travel to Boise State for the Bronco Invitational Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Kingsford was confident the Birds would do well. I think well hold our own now, he said. |