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Show THE {!NIVERSlTY JOURNAL• SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY• WEDNESDAY,. APRIL 8, 1998 Softball squad hits road again Valaparaiso is hitting .204, but carries a team The SU softball team takes to the road this week ERA of 2.48. Valpo is led by Kari Wiseman with a for a pair of Mid-Con doubleheaders in facing batting average of .423 which includes five doubles Western Illinois tomorrow and Valparaiso this season. The Lady Crusaders pitchers consist of Saturday. Jill Campbell and Erin Ryan each of whom have an The Lady 'Birds, who are coming off a four-game ERA under 2.00. The 'Birds have been producing split with Valparaiso, and are 2-2 this season in when it counts this league play. season. Burge has The heart of the been particularly 'Birds order has been effective in producing good power conference games for numbers, with Cami the ladies. In MidNiko, Christy Burge Con action, the junior and Sarah Adams catcher is hitting .583 combining for 10 with a 1.250 slugging home runs. Niko has mark. Two of her been the team leader home runs and two of with four homers, her doubles have while Burge and come in league play. Adams each have Brittany Esplin has three. The trio also are been effective in Midthe team 's leaders in -4 Con games as·well, doubles and triples as ~ hitting .333 as is well. Niko leads the ~ Jeanne Nielson. Sarah team in RBI with 13, @Poloni is hitting .300 while Adams has 12 ~in Mid-Con games as and both Burge and ::lopposed to .182 Emily Cedarholm GOutside of the have n ine. SU will be facing a Western ~ conference. IUinois squad that hjts , __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _..;...._ _ _ _ __ -J Q. Tomorrow's doubleheader begins .245 with a 1.94 ERA. Third baseman Tin a Clark Cara Johnson leads the - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - -- - at 3 p.m. while Saturday's contest way at the plate for with Valparaiso starts at 1 p.m. The ladies do not the Westerwinds with a .325 batting average, two return to Mid-Con action until April 25 against home runs and six doubles. Hollie Killion carries a Western Illinois here in Cedar City. team-low 1.80 ERA and a record of 7-6. Sluggers face San Francisco The 'Bird baseball team travels to California for a five-game series starting tomorrow against the University of San Francisco. SU is corning off a series split with Mesa State last week, improving to 17-15 on the year. The 'Birds and Dons met earlier this year in the Stanger Toyota Tournament where SU prevailed 13 -11 after being down by four runs. The 'Birds scored eight runs on six hits in the fifth inning, including RBI doubles by Justin Garrett and Gavin Duckworth, and a three-RBI single from Scott Carlson. Jake Petersen leads the team in home runs with 11 on the season, and needs just two more to tie the record(13) set by Doug Alldredge in 1986. ... ., Pitching has been superb this season as Nick Roberts and Scott Harrison have combined for 10 of the 'Birds wins. Harrison leads the team with 49 strikeouts and Roberts is right behind with 48. Kyle Kjmoto has 10 saves on the season and Jamie Burton is 3-0 in 16 innings pitched. "When we have good pitching, obviously we win, " said Head Coach DeLynn Corry. According to Corry, San Francisco is on a roll with a 25-15 record this season, however, Corry said he feels the team should play well. Tomorrow's doubleheader begins at 2 p.m., with a doubleheader Friday and a final game Saturday to wrap up the series. The team travels to Salt Lake next week to face Utah April 15-16. .( .,. .4, .$.... 'BIRD WATCH • TENNIS TEAM DEFEATED BY UTAH STATE: Behind the impressive play of Carolina Ferrandez and Robin Daynes, the SU tennis team picked up two wins Saturday in a 2-7 defeat by the hands of Utah State. Ferrandez, SU's number one singles player, one the match in two sets over the Aggie's Julie Hansen7-6, 6-2 while Daynes played well in a 64, 6-3 victory over Sydney Manning. Erin Gephart, SU's number five singles player, went down on a ball and was not able to complete her second set due to a sprain injury. In doubles play, number two team Ferrandez and Brienne Short beat Aggie opponents Tiffany Bullock and Heather Grass with number one doubles team Daynes and Sarah Scott falling by two sets to Hansen and Mindy Nelson The ladies travel to Kansas City for their first Mid-Con match of the spring season starting tomorrow. The women will face UMKC first, with Oral Roberts Friday arid Western Illinois Saturday. • TRACK TEAM HEADS BACK TO SAN DIEGO: Southern Utah Track and Field Coach Eric Houle said he would like his athletes to concentrate on their individual performances and their performances against Mid-Con athletes as well as the team competes at the UC San Diego meet Saturday. It is the second time in two weeks the 'Birds have competed at the UC San Diego campus and it is a non scoring meet. . "The UC San Diego meet is a large meet, but few schools will bring full squads, 11 said Assistant Head Coach Bish Dolegiewicz. "ln fact UC Irvine is one of the few schools that will bring a full squad." I' 'BIRD SPORTS ~-- )1~1 CHAD LAMB SPORTS COMMENTARY Support SU athletics When I came to SUU in 1993, I had the chance to do what I've always loved to .do-write about sports. After serving a mission and returning to SUU in 1996, I was given the opportunity to be the sports editor and learn even more about sportswriting and what it takes. It hasn 't been an easy job, but after two years on the job I have come to a realization- you can't please everyone. I was excited this spring as the baseball team got off to such a great season, and felt that nothing could go wrong as the team won more games than it ever has in Division I baseball. Although they are not the best team in the country, it is the best squad SU has ever field ed in terms of victories with 17 wins already this season. The article by Jonathan Walker (who does not write for this newspaper) in the April 6 edition of the University Journal really surprised me, though. In the past I have received letters and complaints about how the sports stories in the University fournal are not very supportive of the athletic teams here on campus. However, this simply isn't true. The letter written by Walker was not accurate, and although it wasn't written to the sports editor, I feel that I n eed to respond to what has been said. The letter had obviously been written with incomplete infom1ation and must have been something he concocted with o nly minimal forethought. It is possible Mr. Walker overheard other students or faculty members that continually complain about how so much money is dumped into sporting programs here at SUU, and how that money could be put into other programs. Walker is entitled to h is own opinion, and I am sure that there are others that share his sentiments, but there is more to a team than having a good winning percentage. I'm sure that if he would have taken the time to talk with other athletes at this school, he would have learned that the money is put to a good use. Sure, it's true that the sporting programs h ere do not bring in huge revenues to the school. However, it is necessary to understand that this is a small school and it probably isn't a top priority for these programs to be big money makers at this time. I'm sure the school would be elated if the teams were to make more money, which is probably why the school pushed so hard to get into the Mid-Continent Conference. The conference opens up new doors for the school, not only bringing in more money for the athletic programs, but also bringing in funds that the school can use towards other things. In my opinion, the baseball program is full of hard working students who are trying to make their way through school, as are all the sports tea ms h e re o n campus. In fact, this past season both the gymnastics and softball teams received academic national championships for having the highest grade point average as a team . The athletes work for the same goal as all the academic majors do in college-excellence in learning. In speaking with Head Coach DeLynn Corry, what he wants most is to see his ballplayers succeed as both athletes and students. The baseball program will continue here at SUU for years to come. If the administration really wanted to dump the baseball program, it would do so like Mr. Walker suggests. It really isn't a matter of money or of how bad the baseball team has performed in the past. This is an issue of a team that represents SUU and brings recognition to the school that is difficult to get, and whatever anybody thinks, no athlete gets a "free ride." The next time anybody drives by the SU baseball field and sees the team playing with with a small amo.u nt of spectators watching the game, instead of thinking how pathetic it is that nobody attends the game s, think to yourself why you aren't there yourself supporting a program that represents trus institution. Instead of putting down the baseball program, take the time to stop and watch the team perform. Maybe then it will be easier to understand that there is more to life than just a letter grade. |
