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Show !TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2000 PAGE 39 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL SPORTS suu teams battle for Mid-Con titles over the summer INhile many SUU students went home for the summer, members of the baseball, softball and track teams competed for championships. BASEBALL: Oral Roberts University took home the MidContinent Conference baseball title for the third straight year after defeating SUU 8-4. The two high-powered offensive teams were held scoreless for the first two innings as starting pitchers Trevor Leu and James Anderson battled it out. SUU's Anderson tallied five strikeouts in the first two innings to keep ORU off the board. An error by ORU shortstop Steve Holm put Shane Heughly on first and pitcher Anderson helped himself out with an RBI double to left center. Third baseman Curtis Jacobsen brought Anderson home with a single to right field. Holm led off the Golden Eagles· fourth with a double. Last year's tournament most valuable player, Ryan Neill, hit a two-run bomb to center, his 15th of the season, to even the game at two. In the fourth, shortstop Brandon Boyle got to third with no outs after walking, stealing second and advancing to third on an error. With one out, Chad Grundy hit a short fly ball to centerfield, but Boyle was able to tag up and score after a mean collision with ORU catcher Brian Hickman. ORU continued to build the lead in the sixth as center fielder Jeff Stallings singled home Neill, who reached on an error. The Golden Eagles tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the eighth which would prove to be needed as Southern Utah loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with no outs. ORU brought in Jordan Gerk in the crucial situation and the junior did his job, striking out three of the four batters he faced. SOFTBALL: SUU's softball team also made it to the MidCon finals, but fell short when Western Illinois scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning to earn a 4-3 victory over the 'Birds. SUU's Renee Heitbrink and WIU's Holly Killion staged a prtcher's battle, but Killion came out on top. Killion allowed nine hits and struck out nine in picking up the win while Heitbrink allowed 16 hits but was the beneficiary of three T-Bird double plays. Western Illinois scored a run in the bottom of the first but the Thunderbirds came back ~Mo rutrsJn ttte-top-or the second when Erin O'Donnell doubled to drive in Sarah Poloni and Kolbi Clothier. The 'Birds added another run when Wendy Haramoto scored on a Kelly Grundy double, giving SUU a 31 advantage. WIU came from behind with two in the sixth to send the game into extra innings, however, then claimed the championship on Hoffman's RBI single in the 11th. Western Illinois had to win three games in one day to claim the title after SUU upset the Westerwinds. 6-2, in the second round of the tournament the day before the championship game. WIU was up to the challenge as it beat UMKC 7-1, then came back and took a 5-3 win over Southern Utah to force a seventh and deciding game in the tournament. Killion was also the story in the 5-3 win, as she threw seven innings of six-hit ball to claim the win. SUU starter Lori Shephard struggled with her control, giving up four runs on one hit, three walks and an error. SU mounted a rally in the fifth , putting up three runs on a twoRBI double by Joni Bardsley and an RBI single by Poloni. SUU Head Coach Laurel Simmons was also named MidCon Softball Coach of the Year. SUU was picked to finish fourth by Mid-Con coaches before the season started. Have some 4:;mJi, ·Free Fitness Fun with our FREE multiple visit pass •Racquetball & Walleyball •Exciting Aerobics Classes •Circuit Weight Training for Curves in the Right Places •Heavy Metal for the Big Boys and Wannabes •Rooms Full of Exercise Equipment •Tanning Only $300 • Personal/zed weight loss systems! •Great student rates! •20% Off fashion exerdsewean Life Phase Fitness 246 E. Fiddler's Canyon Road (behind Fiddler's Cinema) ~586-7447 TRACK: suu·s men's and women's track teams both finished second to UMKC in the Mid-Con track and field championships. UMKC's women easily out-distanced the field, winning the championship by a 268-153.5 margin over the Thunderbirds. UMCK men edged the 'Birds 251 .5-247.0, with the championship coming down the the final race. Gofng onto the 4x400 relay UMKC held a 2.5 point edge over the 'Birds and finished the race in 3:12:59 with SUU coming in second at 3:14:00. Highlights for SUU included Jodi Benson winning both the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races. Curtis Moore was second in both races, and nearty beat Benson in the 5,000-m as Benson finished 14:39:45 and Moore finished at 14:40:25. Kyle Rowley and Brad Wyatt finished 1-2 in the javeline throw while James Finks won the 400-m and finished second in the 200-m. Troy Ford finished first in the shot put at 52-06. On the women's side, Teresa 9 9 Ricewonthe1 ,500-mm atime of 4 :33:17. Rice also won the 3,000-m at 10:06:69. Chalys Lambwonthewomen'sjavelin 9 "t!'row~wfth ~!' effbrt:of _1~~-o_o_.... _i - - - -.......-.............................._ _ _ __ Student Special! Show student I.D. and get a free tan with purchase of _any tan package. Ask about our ~ew exciting specials! Under new management. All old memberships still honored. Monday-Friday a.m. to p.m. Saturday a.m. to 3 p.m. Wal k -i ns o r A ppointments Welcome _ _ __ .....,..,-==!!!11~ ______ |