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Show ---------------------•••IW111 MAH 1A•• SPORTS THETIIUNDERBIRD•SOt.TmERNUTAHUNIVERSITY•TifURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1993 • PAGE 7 'Birds drop 5-0, 9-2 games to USU Gymnasts set new marks BY JAY HINTON Thunderbird Spom Editor Despite Denise Johnson's 5-6 from the plate, two doubles and one RBI in the two games with Utah Stare Tuesday, the SUU softball team dropped 5-0 and 9-2 decisions to the Aggies. Going into the series Johnson was hitting a blistering .-436 and with the five hits in six attrmpts boosts her batting average to .465. Along with the teams best average she leads in doubles with eight Johnson and the lady Thunderbirds wiU look to break a seven-game skid Friday when they host the University of New Mexico in a Western Athletic C.Onference doubleheader at the SUU softball complex. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. Aggie pitcher DeAnna Earsley fired a three-hitter, two coming of the bat of Johnson, in the 5-0 shutout win. Denise Johnson Utah Stare scored single runs in the first and second Innings off SUU starter Lorrie Muir. The Aggies picud up a pair of runs in the fifth and another in the sixth for the 5-0 victory. Sue Barrett had SUU's only other hit In the second game of the doubleheader, Southern Utah bats came alive for eight hits, but it wasn't enough to upend the Aggies. Johnson and Stacy Stuart both had three hits in three trips to the plate with an RBI each. Muir and starting pitcher Gennifer Turley had a hit a piece. It took the Lady 'Birds five innings to wipe the goose egg off the board, but by that time the Aggies had scored eight runs. USU's big inning came in the third when it scored four runs. The Lady Thunderbirds, counting the games this weekend with the lady I.obos, wiU have eight straight home WAC games. The 'Birds host Utah April 24, Fresno Stare April 30 and Sac Stare May 3. BIRDWATCH MEN'S BASKETBAIL: Senior center Richard Barton was one of 14 recipients of the NCAA' s $5,000 postgraduate scholarship. Barton was one of seven Division I basketball players to receive the honor. He is the third SUU athlete, and second basketball player to earn the scholarship in the past four years, joining Peter Johnson [basketball) and and Sreve McDowell [football] as recipients of the award now afrer GCU pitching held him 1-8, drops his average to .440. He currently has a team-high six home runs and 33 RBI. Pitche.r Troy Nordick. who leads the team with a 5.61 ERA, will be out for several weeks afrer being hit in the head by a comebacker. GOLF: At Saturday's Grand Canyon Invitational the SUU golf team finished 18th in a field of 19 teams. BASEBALL: The 5-29 Thunderbirds will travel to las Vegas to meet 13--18 UNLV in a three-game series Friday and Saturday. The 'Birds will look to snap a five-game losing streak. Their last two losses were to Grand Canyon University 16-1 and 11-2 last weckena. Before the GCU series, Mickey Houston's .467 batting average was 12th-best in the country, but Cory Monsen, SUU's r.op golfer, withdrew from opening day action because of the flu, but the second day returned to shoot a 77. Ken HoUificld led SUU with rounds of 76, 77 and 78. Todd Mullin fired rounds of 78, 74, 82, while Matt Oldroyd shot rounds of 78, 77, 80 and Jason Reynolds had rounds of 79, 82, and 80. It's almost beginning to sound liu a broken record. The SUU gymnastic ttam ha.s jun completed a record-breaking season-again. The Thunderbird gymnasts' rise in the NCAA gymnastic ranks can easily be tracked by taking a glance: at the season-ending average scores over the past five yea.n. In 1989, the team's first year at the Division I level, the average team score through 10 meets was 165.32. In 1990, the team made in; biggest jump in NCAA history, 14.06 points, to a l 79 .38 average. The average has steadily improved since that time, to 182.16 in 1991 and 186.31 in 1992 and again this year to 188.64. This year's jump is probably the most significant for one simple reason-the higher the squad goes, the harder it is to improve. The ream finished the year with a regional qualifying score of 190.25, a figure arrived at by taldng the team's two best home and road meet score., and the next two highest scores, tossing the high and low marks and averaging the remaining four soores. Before 1993, SUU had never scored a 190 or better, let alone averaging mch a lofty mark. "This year, we've made the improvement where it's the harde.st, and from here on out It's going to get even tougher. Once you get into the mid-180 range improvement is measured in very small degrees," said Bauman. This year's ream broke every school record in the books and accomplished every one of its goals except perhaps the biggest one: qualifying for the NCAA Midw t Regional meet Had the 'Birch competed in any region besides the Midwest, they would have accomplished that goal as well. "If we were in any other region in the country, we would have qualified no lower than the fourth position," said Bauman. "But here, we finished eighth." Only seven teams qualify for the regional meets and the 'Birds were edged by Oldahoma, whjch scored a school record 194.30 in the Big Eight competition to push SUU out of the seventh spot at regionals by a mere 0.40 points. So if improvement •from here on our" is going to be tough, what is in store for 'Bird gymnastics fans in the future! "Next year is definitely going to be a rebuilding year," said Bauman. "We Lose seven girls [six seniors and one junior), who have made this program what it is today. I don't want to underrate the talent of the younger girls we have in the program now, or the new girls we have coming in next year, because they are all ve.ry skilled gymnasts, but we may struggle a little bit You simply can't replace juniors and seniors with freshmen in this sport. They just don't have the experience. Seniors are well adjusted to the system. They lcnow how to work. within the system and within themselves. But to ask a freshman to get up on that beam in front of 3,000 or 10,000 people is asking a lot Some can do it, but it isn't euy." Next year's team loses Julie Aguirre, who wiU graduate early, Jodi McKay, Usa Gomci, Mika Goldstein, Kim Francis, Cris Beder and Susie Specht "You really can't say enough about what this group of girls has dome for this program," said Bauman. "And we will go through a rebuilding phase next year, but at the same time, we wiU still have a strong ream. I don't see us having a weak event next year. With our recruiting class and the five girls we have returning., we'll be strong." Returning next season will be region qualifier Jill Eagles along with Anne Marshall, Stacy Fullmer, and Tiff.my Jones. Jill Johnson will return from a knee injury. Plus Bauman said that he is very pleased with the talent he has recruited so far this year. Sl l ''S Pl lBLIC:\TU>NS COCNCIL IS :\CCEPTl:\'G A PPLICATI<>NS F<>R THREE ~E\\. \IE\IBERS. Thl' Council j.,. n._·... pon ... ihk for admini ... t<:ring the gt·m:ral affair._ of lltC' J/11111,l,•rhird and li1i/1t'i11d. induding thl' "'dcction of th(' l'ditor If you're trucing one of these tests, take Kaplan first of t:ad1 puhlic1tio11. lht· appnl\al of tht· annual hmlgl'l aml lhl' hl'a.-ing of complainh that an· not amdioratnl al a lowl'r kn:I. .\ 11 applicant 11111 ... 1 h(' a full-ti ml' ... tmknt and not a .. tall llll'mhtT of dllu.T puhl ical ion nor a llll'lllhl't· of ..,t mknt gonTn llll'lll. Kaplan has come to SUUI Call 865-1413 for more Information. KAPLAN The answer to the lest question. \ ppl ictt ion ... may Ill' pickl'd up from l.oi-. B111lod1 in \I> 212 and n:t11r11nl 110 latl'r than~ rrida~ .. \pril lh. p.111.. |