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Show FACE 10 THE THUNDERBIRD MONDAY MAY 9, 1988 g 'Bird likely ends season twin-killin- BY DAREN COTTAM Things started out a bit rocky for the Southern Utah State baseball squad last week, but some great pitching from Blaine Reber and Kirk Jensen on Saturday capped off a disappointing season with two wins against Cal State Sacramento. In the first game Reber pitched a three hitter and was supported with a three-ru- n homer by Mike Verso in the fourth to seal the In the victory. SUSC won the game second game, Kirk Jensen started out a little shaky but only gave up four hits in the final four innings to pace the to their second win of the day in a 3 victory. "These two wins we had today were baseball," picturesque SUSC Hustlin' skipper Bill Groves said of his team. "We had a lot of fun today and I'm very proud of the players. We had two clutch pitching performances and got the clutch hits. The two wins Saturday will more than likely be the final games of the season for the A twin bill with Brigham Young Friday is a possibility but a cloudy Cougar playoff picture will probably squash that chance. If BYU doesn't come the 'Birds will 5 finish 1988 with a record. The started off the week traveling to Provo to face the Y. The Cougs were looking for revenge because of an earlier meeting in which SUSC took one of two games from the high powered squad. This time SUSC Kyle dropped both games 16-- 3 and 12-Delange hit home runs in each game for the Verso went 31 in the first game and had a home run in the second while playing great defense behind the plate on the day. In a double-heade- r on Friday with Cal State Sacramento, Ron Barrus pitched another great game but wasn't supported with any offense In the nightcap the lost losing another close one 6-- 2. 5-- i 1 13-2- 5. 2-- 0. t J i 5-- 4. Ladies host New Mexico State this week Gridders Wahlheim, McComb The tuneup will be tough for the Southern Utah State women's softball team when it hosts New Mexico State Wednesday in preparation for an NAIA playoff series. Playoff games (best of three) won't come until May 13 for the lady Thunderbirds, who captured the District Seven championship last week. The winner of NAIA District Three, expected to be California Lutheran, will be the opponent. The winner of that playoff advances at to the NAIA National Tournament May 19-2- 1 Oklahoma City, Okla. The Lady 'Birds lost an opportunity for a warmup series when Friday's tilts against Utah State University were canceled due to poor weather, but another impressive opponent, the Aggies from New Mexico State, will be in town Wednesday to test the Thunderbirds in a single 2 p.m. game. record. Despite a pair SUSC sports an 18-1- 4 losses of impressive performances a pair of to USU and Division I second-ranke- d University of Arizona the Lady 'Birds dropped five games in the Utah State Invitational last week. "We played as well defensively as we have season in a couple of those games," Joy all Peterson, SUSC coach, said. "Except for a rash of outfie'd errors, we could have had our best defensive series of the year." A pair of injuries could be costly to the Denise Sproul, who has played a lot of designated hitter and some second base and shortstop this season, suffered a knee injury in a collision with an Arizona base runner. She has undergone surgery, and is lost for the season. Outfielder Michelle Stewart Injured an ankle, and will not see action again until at least the games. She has been a regular starter all season. Recent hot hitting by shortstop Luann Weston and left fielder Heather Hobbs tailed off slightly last week against strong pitching. W'eston, however, is cull hitting a healthy .397, and Hobbs is smacking the ball at a .307 clip. with an earned run average Donna Pay (11-1- 0 1.45 ERA) will of 0.92) and Cindy Ropelato v6-see nearly all the pitching duty for the 4, sign free-age- nt NFL i contracts Two members of the 1987 Southern Utah State football team have signed free agent contracts with teams in the National Football League. Defensive back Pete Wahlheim will receive a signing bonus as part of his contract with the Phoenix (formerly St. Louis) Cardinals. Punter Jeff McComb has signed a two-yeagreement with the Green Bay Packers; he will also receive a bonus as part of his contract package. Both players will attend mini-camprior to the start of regular preseason practices by their respective teams. McComb is scheduled to report to Green Bay, Wis., Friday, mini-cam- p on May and Wahlhpim will report for his three-da- y 23 in Phoenix. Wahlheim has been a starting strong safety and defensive leader for the Thunderbirds for each of the past two seasons. He transferred to SUSC from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College. honors last season McComb earned Kodak after leading the nation's Division I! punters with an average of 44.4 yards per kick. He lettered three years with the after transferring from Paradise Valley (Calif.) Junior College. ar i |