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Show SPORTS oe DailySHerald Daily FEBRUARY 8, 2006 ‘SPORTS EDITOR| Damell Dickson - 344-2555 - ddickson@heraldextra.com UVSC NOTES BYU AT UTAH | TONIGHT ‘We want towin for our fans... for our school’ FILE/Daily Herald Senior 3B Reno Mendenhall and his UVSC teammates open the season on Thursday at Southern Utah. Wolverines ready to take field = —- Neil K.Warner DAILY HERALD Forget the fact that thereis still snow around campus andtheir ihfield is too wet to take groundballs on and workouts fortheir pitchers consist of throwing from a manmade moundindoors. Reddy or not, UVSC opens the 2006 baseball season Thursday, Friday and Saturday with a fourgameseries at Southern Utah. “It’s a big weekend.If we could take three out of four that would be great,” said UVSC.coach Steve Gardner. “Wehaveeight of nine starters backandI think ourpitchaestaffisis improved overlast yuu finished 26-28 as season ago and 12-10 in Mid-Continent Conferenceplay. The Thunderbirds return Trever Dimick, who led the team in 2005 with a .345 average and Jeff Oliverson, who posted a schoolrecord 1.95 ERA in ‘05. Last year, Southern Utah swept UVSC (3-0)in their first series of the year. The two teams played a total of seven gameslast season. Southern Utahfinished the season series edge 4-3. Gardnersaid his probable rotation for the series will be BYU transfer Kalen Parsons in Game1 followed by Kam Mickolio, Kyle Tash and Ryan Jessop. “We'll probably have ourstarters throw fourorfive innings,” Gardnersaid. “I hope to play everyoneat somepoint this weekend,” Following their opener at Southern Utah, the Wolverineswill : travel to baseball power Fresno State for a series. UVSCwill be on the roadall of February. Its home openeris scheduled for March 3 against Air Force. Wait until next year Speaking of next year’s sched- ule, UVSC women's basketball coach Cathy Nixon said the Wolveriries will somefamiliar facés next year at the McKay Events Center, including Utah and BYU. Speaking of familiar faces, the JAKE SCHOELLKOPF/As: BYU teammates Trent Plaisted, Rashaun Broadus, Brock Reichner and Jimmy Balderson (23) question a foul called on Plaisted on Feb. 1 at New Mexico. It’s been 12 years since BYU beat Utah at the HuntsmanCenter. Can a resurgent Jimmy Balderson and his teammates snapthe streak? border winter. Thefast time he was Jason Franchuk HERA on the courtfor tipoff, Dec. 22, he Jimmy Baldersonhas attacked the basketlately with a Canadian player's insecurity. Hovering forever in the back of his mindis the ideaof historical prejudice that hoopsters fromhis homelandaren't good enough. Steve Nash, the NBAstar, is considered the very rare exceptionat anylevel of American basketball: So the 6-foot-6 junior guard's reinsertion to the Cougar rotation comes with a sheepish smile and more than a touch of humility. He credits his last three games, in which he's averaged 18.3 points — double his season average — to opportunity more than anything. Going into tonight's game at Utah (7 p.m., KJZZ Ch. 14)he's hardly patting his own back. I don’t feel I played that well,” Baldersonsaid. “The coaches put me in the game,and I've had a chance to do little bit. One good thing andit led to another, and the points just built up as I had the MATT SMITH /Daily Herald The matchup between BYU's Trent Plaisted, and Utah's Luke Nevill will be keyin tonight's game. chanceto play more minutes.” Hestarted thefirst nine games then wentcolder than a north-of-the- wasyankedquicklyin a five-minute performanceat UtahState. Baldersonis reticent to talk about his feelings as he lingered on the bench,fearful of sounding whiny. But hesaid he did oncetalk to an assistant coach abouthis status, and expressed a concern that the decision makers haditchytriggerfingers whenit cameto deciding who had the hot hand. The Cougarsare loaded with shooters, and head coach Dave Rose has optedto play freshman Lee Cummardmore. Since Balderson’s return to more minutes, which started with a 10point showing in a dramatic Jan. 25 win against TCU,he's changedhis routine upon entrance. It's worked, putting uptotals of 24, 14 and 17 in the last three outings, “A monthinto the seasonthey decided to go a different direction,” Baldersonsaid. “Andthenit took % © BYU (14-6, 6-3) at Utah (10-10, 3-6) 7 p.m., Huntsman Center TV: KJ2Z Ch. 14 Radio: KSL 1160 AM Tip-ins; Senior Bryant Markson leads Utahwith 14 ppg, 5.6 rpg. ... BYU won last month's meeting, 72-60, behind 17 points from Rashaun Broadus and Trent Plaisted’s 12. Johnnie Bryant led Utah with 23. The winner gets the Oquirrh Bucket, given annually to the Utah Division | team with the best record against in-state competition, The Cougars and Utes are both 3-1 See BYU, C4 See UVSC, C5 PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL State wrestling meet dee today at UV; C Bruins come back to down Lone Peak Jared Hunsaker . HERALD CORRESPONDENT After an early scare from a Lone Peak, BRUINS KNIGHTS 62 54 and drove the Bruins toa combbeck victory over the Knights, enssaved 18 points and Miphelle Harrison 15 for the Bruins, The first quarter was owned by the Knights, as they were hitting shots from all four corners of the court, Trailing 5-2 in the early going, Lone Peak went on a 9-0 run. After a Lindsey Pflueger three-point play, the Knights finished the quarter with a 20-9 lead. “They have to learn that you haveto come ready to play every night and be consistent,” said Mountain View coach Laura Romo about her team. “You haveto be prepared every night to play. This is a See BRUINS, C3 PREP WRESTLING ROBB COSTELLO/Dally Herd Lone Peak’s Amanda Farish (44) passes around Mountain View's Natalie Hall at Lone Peak on Tuesday night, WWW.HERALDEXTRA.COM — CALL375-5103 To suasCRIBE pot Lord sure thekids are mentally and The best way to succeed in stressful situations has always beento have the correct mental \dset. It’s a simple formula: Work tirelessly to prepareforall possibilities, then rely on your preparationto earn the best possible results, All of the Utah Valley wrestlers that earned their way to the state tournamentface the intensity and excitement of the biggest contest of the year during the next three days. Coaches who have watched these boys workall season now can only hope they are mentally prepared. “We've been trying to make Clark, whose Dons took second placein Region4. “The other competitions prepare you for this one, but none havethe intensity. There's so muchriding emotionally prepared,” said Spanish Fork head coach Dave on everymatch, the intensityis much higher.” Althoughthe excitement and the energywill be at a fever pitch, Provo head coach Brian Preece said the hardest work of the season is past “L enjoystate more than | enjoy region,” he explained. “At region, we're workingto get as manywrestlers as we can qualified. Once you get there,it's just icing on the cake.” See WRESTLING, C2 Ae} |