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Show 'BIRD SPORTS 111 Baseball wins three straight Track teams place second After playing its first home games of the season in St. Geo.rge due to weather conditions, the SU baseball team returned to Thunderbird Park and won three straight last week in sweeping UC Riverside March 20-21. The 'Bi.rds survived a comeback in a 9-8 win over Riverside, then pounded the Highlanders 9-0 in the following game. In the final match up the ' Birds prevented another comeback in a 14-11 win. Jake Peterson and Gavin Duckworth were the heavy hitters for SU in game one. Peterson cranked a two-run homer and Duckworth added a two-run double which gave the 'Birds a9-2 lead after six innings. UC Riverside started a comeback in the seventh, which included a three-run home run by Jeff Stevens for the Highlanders. The comeback was short lived however, as Steve Madril flew out to left giving SU pi tcber Nick Roberts his four th win of the year. In game two, SU scored four runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer from T .J. King and an RBI double from Peterson. Justin Garrett slugged a two-mu home run as well, and Phil Downing picked up a run, a hit and an RBI in the 'Birds first shutout of the season. Saturday's final game icatured a comeback by SU as the 'Birds came from six down to take the 14-11 win. Down 93, SU tied the game with a six-run fourth inning, then rook the lead on a two-run home run from Brian Ford. The 'Birds stopped another late run by the Highlanders to preserve the win and give the 'Birds a 13-1 record on the season. SU now prepares for another the final home series of the season against Portland State this weekend. The 'bi.rds will be on the road the remainder of the season. Currently, the ~Birds have three players that are batting over .400. Downing (.447) Duckworth {.409) and Peterson (.402) are the top sluggers for the 'Birds. The last time SU had a .400 hitter was in 1993 when Mickey Houston averaged .436 for the season. Peterson leads the team in home rons with 10 and also has 31 RBI. Th e school record for home runs in a season is 13, set by Doug Alldredge in 1986. Peterson should have no trouble setting the record with more than 15 games remaining on the schedule. Scott Carlson has stolen 14 bases in 17 attempts. Carlson is second all-time in stolen bases with 34. Kyle Kimoto has a 2.20 ERA and seven saves from the pitching mound, and Scott Harrison leads the team in strikeouts with 39. Saturday will be the last home gam_e for tlie seniors. Kimoto, Carlson, Garrett, Yeterson, Ro.bbie Allen, Wade Sipple, Kyle Turner famie Burton and Woody Redner ·all graduate this year. Friday's fi rst game at Thunderbird Park begins at 2 p.in., with a nightcap · following. Saturday's game starts at noon The outdoor track an_d field season got under way over spring break with both the men's and women's teams finishing second at the Long Beach Classic in California Saturday. The men's team finished with 40 points and was led by first-place finishers Jody Benson, Layne Richards and Richard Bush. Benson competed in the 5000-meter and finished with a time of 14:47.79. Richards and Bush finished tied for first in the high jump with a mark of 6-6, and Richards abo finished second in the javelin with a throw of 62.67. Other top three performances for the Richard Bush men included Phil Woolston and Jason Blackh~ fi~ishing second and third respectively m the 5000. Woolston finished with a tin1e of 15:14.69 and Blackham turned in a time of 15:45.86. Dave Forsberg and Gjaison White finished second and third respectively in the discus and Mark Wright turned in a time of 3:53.59 in the 1500-meter for second place. The women's team finished with 49 points and was led by fi.rst-place finisher Natalie Gibson in the 400meter with a time of 60.87. Deena Peterson finished second in the long jump (174. 75) and the triple jump (35-2), while Louize Elison took second in the shot put (41-2.S) Amy Ballard performed well with a second place finish in the discus (13 7-5) and the women's relay team finished second in the 400meter relay. The team hi ts the road this weekend to participate in the UC San Diego Invitational in California Saturday. The team will continue to focus on individual performances and it performances against Mjd-Con athletes. Both teams stand a good chance at winning both the men's and women's champi onships in the MidCon this yeax after an excellent performance by both teams at the Mid-Con indoor championships. |