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Show I - - -~ THE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL • SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY • THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1998 'BIRD SPORTS Jlll 'Birds pull off upset in baseball over Cougars By C HAD LAMB JOURNAL SPORTS EDITOR Looking to continue one of the best season ever in SU baseball, the 'Birds extended their run of big wins with an upset 17-12 win over BYU Wednesday in a game that was dominated by Southern Utah. The win was the first for SU over BYU in Provo since 1987. The win, however, was tempered by two losses to the Cougars yesterday. Leading 2-1 after two innings in Wednesday's game, the 'Birds exploded in the third inning with six runs to take a seven-run advantage. After another run for the 'Birds in the fourth, BYU finally responded until by reeling off four runs to pull within 9-5. The Cougars battled back in the eighth to tie the game at 12-all, however, a pair of sacrifice bunts and three straight doubles helped SU score five runs in the final inning for the victory. Jake Peterson tied a school record with his 13th homer of the season-a two run shot in the six-run third inning when BYU committed three of its seven errors. The SU pitching staff gave up 11 hits throughout the game, however, solid pitching jo the final inning by Kyle Kimoto never allowed the Cougars to score again. Starter Nick Roberts gave up just nine hits through seven innings before being relieved by Kimoto, who picked up his third save of the year. The Cougars got solo homers from Troy Farnsworth in the first inning and one from Troy McNaughton in the sixth. McNaughton leads the team with 15 clingers while teammate Spencer Obom also added a three-run homer in the fourth. Good luck ran out on the 'Birds yesterday though, as the Cougars swept the 'Birds in what could be deemed a nightmare doubleheader. BYU, hoping to evade a three-game sweep by SU, rallied for a 6-5 win in the first game of the day, Benson honored by Mid-Con Jody Benson was named the Mid-Con athlete of the N ata lie Gibson qualified provisionally in the 400m eter hurdles with a time of 59.06 and was named \vcek for his performance at the Mt.SAC Relays on Saturday. Benson, a junior from Payson, Utah, the female athlete of the week for her performance. The team heads to its final regular season track qualified provisionally for the NCAA meet tomorrow, competi ng in Championships in the 10,000m e tcr run with a time of the BYU Invitational. According to Houle, not all 19:40.65. He lost his shoes with seven laps rema ining team members will travel to the meet, as several athletes and finished the race barefoot. need rest before next week's " Jody's perfo rmance was Mid-Con Championships in o ne of those performances Kansas City, M o. where an athle te rises above The BYU meet is an open all the obstacles to achie ve invitational and we expect all greatness," said Head Coach of the big schools from Eric Houle. "Anyone can run northern Utah to be there," barefoot, but to record a national provisional - - .., said Assistant Coach Bish ~ ~ Dolgiewicz. "The BYU track is qualifying mark barefoot is a 50 an excellent fac ility and the special accomplishment." ~ weather should be pretty good, This is the third-straight :l so we expect good week that a track athlete from SU qualified nationally and performances in preparation for • , ~,.... · ~ Bthe Mid-Con Championships." was named the athlete of the l:: I .">I " .,-..; <"'":ff::'.~ week. Two w eeks ago, Layne ~\~ r ~;,P ~ Along with t he ma1or . - .~ .:~.,.,. '"· .· ~"' . · ~ ·. ,. N Q universities from Utah teams Richards qualified fody Benson (left) became the third SU expected to compete i~clude provisionally in the javelin Montana State, Idaho State, with a throw of 221-9 and was track and field m ember to be named N ew Mexico and Northern named athlete of the wee k in athlete of the week by the Mid-Con this spring season. Colorado. · the Mid-Con. Last week ,-=~~~;!;"'·~ ~~~~i&;t;;~~~~ ~;,4~-~,.~ ~-~I (· · E ~"'it'~'ft--- . . Tennis squad ready for tournament By KRISTIN TENNIS JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER Heading into tomorrow's Mid-Con tennis championships for the first time, the SU tennis team is looking for a good seeding that might determine how well ladies will fare. Seeding for the middle teams in the tournament has not yet been decided., but coaches will meet today to lobby for the middle seedings in the tourney. According to Lee, SU could be seeded anywhere from third to sixth, depending on how the lobbying goes this morning. "How we do (in the tournament) is predicated on where we will be seeded in the tournament," Lee stated. According to Head Coach Lenny Lee, the team is excited to participate in what will be SU's first tennis championship in the league. Lee said that competing in the Mid-Con this season was a whole new game for SU tennis. "It was a good experience for my players seeing the caliber of competition, and seeing what they have to improve on in individual skills," Lee said. The 'Birds faced six out of the eight Mid-Con squads this season, finishing with a record of 2-4 in league play. The ladies will have a full team at the tournament as Erin Gephart is back after sitting out for several weeks with a sprained ankle. The 'Birds have been playing six out of their 12 matches with only five players, which has been a big disadvantage for the team. "They have been working hard-they will be ready," said Lee. "Playing at a disadvantage in six of our 12 matches only shows excellent character of this team and their willingness to persevere." Injuries continue to affect the 'Birds, as number one singles player Carolina Ferrandez is suffering from tendinitis in her left wrist-she will play, however. Oral Roberts has already wrapped up the number one position in the tournament after compiling a 12-6 record this season. Likewise, Western Illinois will be the second seed after a 10-7 season. then killed the 'Birds 22-1 in the nightcap. The Cougars opened up game one with a run in each of the first three innings a nd still led 3-0 by the end of the fourth. The 'Birds the n came back with a run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth to tie the game, then took a 5-3 lead in the ninth. Unlike Tuesday's game wµen SU he ld the Cougars scoreless, BYU came back with three runs to take the one-run victory. Scott Harrison took the loss for the 'Birds. Gavin Duckworth and Peterson each tallied a home run for SUU. In the nightcap, BYU averaged 5.5 runs over four innings before the game was called in the fifth. The 22-1 loss was the worst of the season for the 'Birds, who gave up 21 hits and used three different pitchers in the 21-run loss. The only SU score came when Downing hit a home run to avoid a shutout. The 'Birds return to play April 25-26 when they face UC Riverside in a three-game series. The 'Birds wrap up the season May 8-10 at CS Northridge. Ladies honte again for two Mid-Con doubleheaders Southern Utah University's softball team concludes the Mid-Con regular season this weekend when the Lady 'Birds host UMKC and Western Illinois. SU is coming off a four-gam e swing through Tennessee where the 'Birds swept two from T ennessee State but lost a pair at Austin Peay State. Two m ore gam es at Austin Peay were cancelled because of weather. · SU still has an opportunity to advance to the MidCon to urnament, but the 'Birds need a little help. At 3-5, SU is two games behind Valpara iso, which is in second-place in the western division with a 6-3 record. To pass the Crusaders, the Lady 'Birds need to win al I four of their games this weekend, then hope Val po drops its fina1 two conference gam es of the season, at home against Western Michigan, on Tuesday. Due to a unique twist of scheduling, Valpo faced league-leader Western Illinois !9·11 just twice this season, in a home doubleheader, and faces Western Michigan, also at home, as the reciprocal end of that WIU series. The result is Valpo get s eight home conference games and just four road contests, while the rest of the league plays a balanced schedule, with six home and six away league games. Tomorrow's gam es against UMKC begin at 1:30 p.m . at Thunderbird Park. The ladies host Western Illinois Saturday at 1:30 p.m. as well. Doubleheaders are scheduled for both days. Southern Utah met both UMKC and WIU for the first time this season. SU is 2-2 versus the Kangaroos after splitting four games in Kansas City and is 0-2 against the Westenvinds after dropping two in Macomb, Ill., earlier this season. UMKC has lost 10 straight games, dating back to an April 14 win over Iowa State, while league -le.iding WIU started the season 1-11, but has gone 20-8 since a March 23 win over St. Louis. Currently, the Westerwinds have five r,~gulars hitting above .290, and on the mound they have have three pitchers with an ERA under 2.25 SU and Utah State had rescheduled games originally slated for March 31 in Logan, Utah, to April 20, but that date has been revised. The two will now square off May 4 in Logan. The 'Birds have also resche'duled both of its dates with Utah. The 'Birds will now travel to Utah for a doubleheader April 28 and will host the Utes on May 5. All of the rescheduled contests will begin at 1:30 p.m. |