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Show THE THUNDERBIRD SOUTHERN UTAH STATE COLLEGE, CEDAR CITY T MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1990 PAGE 10 N Baseball to return r hiatus baseball will return to After a Southern Utah Slate this fall on a limited trial basis, Jack Bishop, Thunderbird athletic director, announced March 6. We have had a number of commitments from parents of players, alumni members, and others which indicates a willingness to pro ide funding to restart a baseball program here, Bishop said. There is a significant demand, I believe, to have a program such as this for the students in the southern Utah service area. We will initiate the program on a limited basis, coach. without scholarships, and with a part-tim- e We are also encouraged by NCAA discussions to make seasonal changes m baseball that consider the unpredictability of spring weather. Tentative plans are to start the program with fall practices at the beginning of the 1990-9- 1 school year and to limit the schedule to 27 spring games at the NCAA Division I level with no fall program. Our search for a coach will begin in the very near future, Bishop explained. We are hoping that the pledged commitment to baseball from parents and alumni is real and will allow us to build on this beginning. Well try it for a year, then evaluate where we go from there. SUSC dropped its baseball program after the 1989 season for a variety of reasons, some of them finance related. The Thunderbirds had 23 wins and 36 losses, playing a Division I schedule in their first season. Southern Utah began its baseball tradition with schedule in 1947. In 1963, the a three-gam- e school earned a Thunderbirds then a two-yeberth in the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament where they picked up two wins and two losses to finish in third place. period starting in 1975 and During a ending with the 1986 season, SUSC teams picked up four Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference baseball championships. League titles went to SUSC in 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1986. In 1977, the Birds won the championship of the four-stat- e NAIA District Seven and advanced to area (subnational) competition. We will carefully monitor our program, and, hopefully, we can renew what was a strong baseball tradition, said Bishop. one-yea- ermy Ekins was a question mark in January after having undergone back surgery that ended her gymnastic career. But she has proven her value to the SUSC squad this year with a record 9.6 on floor exercise and consistency on vault and beam. Gymnasts win final meet, use Pavilion floor exercise with a 9.4, and Jenny Ekins followed with BY BRENT RICHEY a 9.35. Coach Brent Hardcastle said he was disappointed with the intensity level of his team in the final meet. He also said he was sad that SUSC did not reach its goal of scoring 185 points. I hate not reaching goals, but I still feel good about the years performance, he said. Weaknesses in this years squad have been on bars, but Hardcastle is optimistic about recruits who should contribute to the event next year. The win against San Jose State boosts SUSCs overall record this season to 11-- 9 and marks the first time the Lady Birds have had a winning season. SUSC had to rally however, winning three of its last four meets, to finish above .500. SUSC faced San Jose State March 16 but lost 184.75-182.The score was the highest, one they reached three times. March 9 SUSC competed against UC Davis and picked 5 victory. The following day SUSC up a 5 continued its streak with a win over Sacramento State. Ekins set a floor exercise record with a 9.6, and Whiddon had a 9.5 as the Birds rolled over the Hornets for the second time this year. s look at the Gymnastics fans got a Harris Pavilion Friday night. Whats the Hams Pavilion? Its that building that looks like a on the south end of the football field thats been under construction for some time. The SUSC gymnasts have beer working out for two weeks in the new facility, which was designed as a practice arena with special safen features built in. Friday night the Thunderbird gymnasts were in the Centrum to close out the 1990 season with San Jose State, a team that beat SUSC a week earlier in California. The squeaked by the visitors 180.15-17thanks to a rallying erfort on the bars which had to be moved to the Harris Pavilion after they collapsed in the Centrum. McKay kicked off the event with a 9.1. Cris Becker and Lisa Gomez finished strong with 9.3s to help SUSC win the meet. Both tied for first on the event. In the Mika Whiddon had 35.7 points to finish third, and McKay was fourth with 35.6. She also was first in the vault with a 9.5. Whiddon was first on behind-the-scene- mini-Centru- 181.1-178.8- 179.9-170.1- Softballers whip Mesa, now 12-- 5 resulted in a 14-- blistering, as SUSC collected 25 hits. Lorrie Muir (5-threw game two for the 3 win. Joni Reynolds totaled five RBI and a homerun on th'' day. Saturdays games were similar, except that Mesa fared better from the plate. Reynolds had another stellar performance with four more RBI and another homer as SUSC won 1 and 1 BY JENNIFER HIGBY 8-- A double dose of Extra Strength Tylenol probably wasnt enough to relieve the doubleheader-headache the SUSC softball team served Mesa College over the weekend. The Lady Birds swept the four game series in Grand Junction, Colo., which followed a split with New Mexico State March 19. The beat the Aggies 1 in the first game, but fell 1 in the nightcap. Despite 20 hits in the series, SU stranded 20 runners on base. We outhit (NMSU) two to one, said Coach Joy Peterson. Theres no way we should have lost the game. But things would change soon enough. Game one of the Mesa series Friday 2-- 2-- 7-- 6-- 4. ar Golfers take their lumps Texas hospitality aint what it used to be. Ask any of the five SUSC golfers. The linksters just returned home from two tournaments in the Lone Star state, and all they goc served was a heaping plateful of humility. The St. Marys Spring Invitational (March in San Antonio sported 10 teams, and though the SUSC squad had to leave before the final results were in, Coach Tom Kingsford calculated that his team was in sixth place when they left. The following morning, SU was in Fort Worth for the Sugar 3 Tree Invite. The March tourney featured 17 of the best golf teams in the country, according to Kingsford. We were out of our realm. I think we finished dead last. 18-2- 21-2- Peterson remarked early in the season that the question mark was hitting. But, With 15 hits Saturday and 25 hits Friday, were hitting the ball a ton, she said. The girls are tired from running the bases. Play in Colorado will continue this week, and SUSC returns home April four-gam- e 2 for another series with Mesa. I1::.:...:.:,:---- : :.i Sophomore Jascn Mitchell led the Birds with a tally of 245. He was followed by freshman Jason Reynolds who racked up 249 strokes. Jared Barnes and Ken Thornock tied at 250 to round out the team total of 994. 54-ho- If nothing else, this trip made us realize that there are some challenges to be met if we plan to be competitive, said Kingsford. SUSC finishes the season April 0 at Grand Canyon College. |