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Show ......._._ ........__. 'BIRD SPORTS jl~ Tennis squad faces USU tomorrow Sluggers split with Mesa posted a 2-6 record. Both of her wins·came during MidCon matches in the fall season. The ladies face Utah State in the first of two matches JOLJRNAL SPORTS EDITOR scheduled for this season. The Aggies will visit Cedar City for a match with the 'Birds on April 16. After more than a month since its last match, the SU Lee said he feels that Utah State is a little deeper than tennis team returns to action as traveling to Utah State SU, but the top players for the 'Birds to face the Lady Aggies tomorrow in should farewell in tomorrow's Logan. The ladies were scheduled to play bench. He said that if the lower the University of Denver last seeded players perform strong, the weekend in Las Vegas, but due to 'Birds will have a good chance at winning the match. "The lineups inclement weather the match was are pretty equal," Lee added. canceled with no makeup matches The team is excited for the chance scheduled. to compete in the conference this "We are looking forward to playing season as they have a larger goal to anyone because we have been off for five weeks now," said Head Coach shoot for. Lenny Lee. "The program and players are The last match for the Lady 'Birds excited to be in the Mid-Con," Lee was on March 1 when they lost to said. " We can be pretty San Jose State 7-0. competitive- and hopefully finish "They were more competitive in the top half." matches with the California The Mid-Con Tennis Championship will take place April colleges, 11 Lee added. 23-26 in Buffalo, N.Y. There will be It's not that Utah State will be an easier match for SU, but Lee said he two days of competition on April 24 feels that the 'Birds match up better and 25, with the seeding meeting with the Aggies than they did against taking place on April 23. Seedings will depend on record, head-to-head the California schools. competition and strength of The ladies are led by number one singles player Carolina Ferrandez, schedule. Robin Daynes bas won five matches Lee said he feels SU's schedule is this year with two singles wins and who is 2-6 this season in singles one of the strongest in the matches. Ferrandez has also paired three doubles wins with teammates conference with their five-match up with Robin Daynes, Brienne Short Sarah Scott and Carolina Ferrandez. and Darcey McAndress with a total swing against the California teamsrecord of 3-5 in doubles competition. which might help the ladies get a higher seeding and face Daynes has also had a strong season for the ladies in one of the school's in the conference that are equal in both the number two and three positions where she has strength to the ' Birds. By CHAD LAMB The SU baseball te-am was unable to keep its win.oing streak alive heading on the road against Mesa State this week. However, splitting two doubleheaders with the Mavericks on Tuesday and Wednesday enabled the 'Birds to maintain their overall record at 17-15. In the first of four games with Mesa State, SU jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the second inning. The 'Birds never trailed as Mesa State used seven different pitchers in SU's 14-11 win. Gavin Duckworth and D.f. Penick had four RBI each in four at-bat. Mesa State took the lead early in the second game and went on to win 8-2, ending the 'Birds six,game win streak. The 'Birds picked up just four hits the entire game. The Mavericks hit four home runs against the 'Birds, and Mesa's Wayne Lenertz picked up two hits and two runs. In Wednesday's games, SU opened up with a 14-7 win in the first game, but lost the nightcap 7-6 to the Mavericks. The 'Birds started off slow in the first game leading 3-2 after fi ve innings, but finished strong adding 11 rnns in the final two innings for the seven-run victory. In the seventh inning alone, SU scored eight times. Mesa State overcame a 5-2 SU lead in the fourth inning of the nightcap, edging the 'Birds by one-run. The Mavericks' Nate Duvall hit his fifth home run of the season, and SU's Jake Petersen slammed his 11 th homer of the year. 'Bird golf team Women host Valpo at home finishes ninth The SU goli team held on to finish for ni nth b1 the rain-shortened George Buzzini Invitational on Tuesday in Turlock, Calif. . The Thunderbirds, who stood ninth after Monday's first and second rounds, posted the field's third-best final round (156) in brutal conditions Tuesday, bu t couldn't m ove up on 8th-place Portland State. CS Stanislaus, the host and defending champion, ran away with a 17-shot victory over 2nd-place Western Washington, thanks in large part to a team score of one-under-par, 143, in the final round. The next-best fi nal round was CS Bakersfield's 154. The final score of 746 by CS Stanislaus was 42 shots better than SU's 788. The 'Birds were led by junior Rob Kaas and sophomore Dave Loughcon. Each shot 18-overpar, 198, and tied for 32nd in the 83-player field. Garrett Hannig, who was playing in his first collegiate tournament for SU, tied for 37th with a score of 19-over, 199. Todd Mullen tied for 40th and Tyler Barlow checked in at 56th. Boise State's farrod Warner took home medalist honors with a 45-hole score of five-over-par, 185. CS Stanlisaus' Dan Bradlee and Yascha Feld were second and third, respectively, at 186 and 187. This was the second meet of the spring for the team, and will have a week off before participating in the Grand Canyon Classic April 13-14 in Phoenix, Ariz. The 'Birds will finish the spring season participating in the BYU Cougar Classic in Provo before heading to the Mid-Con championship in Tulsa, Okla. The SU softball team will host its first MidContinent Conference games this weekend when the 'Birds play host to Valparaiso. After the first week of conference action, SU is in a tie for second place in the Western Division with UMKC at 1-1. The 'Birds and Roos split a pair of conference matchups last weekend in Kansas City. Valpo is one game back in fourth after dropping a pair of one-run games, 1-0 and 2-1, to Western Illinois last weekend. WIU leads the Western Division at 2-0. The teams are scheduled to play two doubleheaders with two games today and two tomorrow. The games will be -played i n either St. George or Mesquite at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow due to yesterday's early morning snowfall. Saturday's games are scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. here in Cedar. Valpo hits just .240, .but carries a team ERA of 2.48. The Lady Crusaders are led at the plate by Kari Wiseman, who is hitting .423 with five doubles, while two pitchers, Jill Campbell (l.08) and Erin Ryan (1.50) have ERAs under two runs a game. After a successful weekend in Kansas City for the Lady 'Birds, Elizabeth Chamberlain is enjoying her time at-bat. Hitting just .240 before the trip, Chamberlain's seven hits in four games pushed her atop the SU batting charts with a .333 average. Chamberlain hit .500 with a pair of walks for a .643 onbase average. Chamberlain also got her first double of the season, her first RBl and her first walks at UMKC. Jeanne Nielson and Emily Cedarholm experienced good weekends as well. Nielson went 5-12 (.417) wi th fi ve RBI and a pair of sacrifices, while Cedarholm went 7-15 (.467) with four RBI. N ielson raised her batting average from .212 to .267, while Cedarholrn wen t from · ninth on the 'Birds batting list to fourth by upping her average from .160 to .275. Chamberlain is also listed as one of the top sluggers in the Mid-Con. Chamberlain, Christy Burge and Cam i Niko are all listed among the Mid-Con's top-20 hitters this week, with Chamberlain in a sixway tie for seventh (.333). Burge at 14th {.326) and N iko 16th (.308). N iko leads the league in home runs with three, while Burge and Sarah Adams are in a fourway tie for second with two. Niko also leads the league in triples with three, is fifth in RBI with nine and is fourth in slugging at .581. Among pitchers, Jenny Kerr is first in the league for complete games (nine), second in innings pitched (62), third in appearances (10) and fourth in fielding (.25 1). As a team the 'Birds rank third in hitting (.251), seventh in pitching (4.50 ERA) and fourth in fielding (.935). Although Burge set the SU home run record of 10 last week, Niko isn't far behind. She has eight clingers in the last two seasons. "Cami h.as been doing it for us all year," said Head Co'.1ch.Joy Peterson. |