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Show ,, . THE THUNDERBIRDD SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITYOTHURSDAY APRIL 2, 1992DPAGE 11 Grid coaching staff Softballers to host BVU, Utah prepares for spring BY JAY HINTON Thundnbird Sports Editor Some specific needs will be addressed over the next month during spring football drills at SUU. The T-Birds will have 94 players in uniform-the largest group ever during spring workouts-beginning April 6. Although they return an experienced group in most areas, TBird coaches will be looking to fill key holes created in the lineup by graduation. ''Our recruitment and organization have gone pretty well so that we've got (the depth] to have players step up into spots when a guy goes out," Head Coach Jack Bishop said. "But we do lose some important players and have a few challenges as far as replacing those guys. '' Solidifying the offensive line will be one of the biggest challenges. We've got more prospects this year, but we don't have a lot of dominant guys back, '' he said of a line which loses all-Western Football Conference players Roger Home and Joe Hayes as well as standouts Nale Fa.kahua and Warren Taylor. That line opened the holes and provided the protection for an offense which last year ranked ninth nationally (NCAA Division II) in total offense, 12th in rushing offense and 15th in scoring offense. The line isn't the only position the T-Birds will be looking to bolster, however. Second-team all-conference quarterback James Armendariz, the third-ranked passer in the country, will also have to be replaced, as will wideouts Dan Silcox and Bob Stookey, the school's all-time leader in touchdowns by reception and another all-conference performer. SUU Head Coach jack Bishop will be looking for topquality athletes to fill the vacancies of the 7-3-1 team of a year ago. At running back the T-Birds will either have second-team Little All-America performer Zed Robinson, who will be trying to overcome off-the-field troubles, or JuCo transfer Shawn Jones, 6-foot-2, 200-pounder from Cerritos Junior College. One running back slot the T-Birds will need to fill, however, 1s the fullback spot. Last year's starter, Scott Firestone, will graduate despite still having a year of eligiblity and Kevin Brooks has used his eligibility, so Kevin McKiernan, who saw a lot of action as a backup last year, is currently the heir apparent. On the defensive side of the ball the T-Birds will be looking at possible replacements for a host of players, including the Western Football Conference's Defensive Player of the Year, middle linebacker Clint Christiansen, as well as all-WFC safety Tim Nicolodemos and all-WFC linemen Reed Benjamin and Mark Zesiger. "Defensively we lost a lot of players but we feel like we've got some good guys who can step in and take their places,'' Bishop said. "Now we want to see who will step up and prove themselves." We try to come out of spring with an idea of who the starters will be or at least know what our two-deeps [ top two players at each position] arc," Bishop said. The schedule calls for the players to be on the field from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday of the first week with a scrimmage on the 11th. The team will then work out M onday through Friday of the second week and daily during the third week in preparation for the intrasquad game, which is slated to begin at 1 p.m. With the opening of the Western Athletic Conference schedule one week away, SUU Softball Coach Joy Peterson has concerns with the play of her 5-17 Lady Thunderbirds over the first half of the season. " I 'm concerned that our mental aspect of the game is not there," she said. " We're not as competitive as we need to be and we're not as aggressive as we need to be .. .I would like nothing more than to watch the game, call signals, and see everybody do their jobs." SUU will have tune-up games with BYU tomorrow and Utah on Saturday at .. ",J_ SUU's Melanie Hams went a perfect 4-4 in SUU's split with Mesa State Tumiay. Thunderbird nine to finish at home The fans in southern Utah will get their final look at the SUU baseball team in the final two home doubleheaders Friday and Saturday with Mesa State College. The Thunderbirds are coming off a sixgame road stand in northern California where they picked up a win over University of Pacific and dropped five to Sacramento State. Southern Utah is led on the pitching mound by pitcher/center fielder Chris Weaver. In 61 ~ innings Weaver has posted a 2-8 record with a 6.60 ERA, while Will Scott, 2-6, in 47 ~ innings posts a 7.70 ERA. As a pitching staff the Thunderbirds, who hold a 11.14 ERA, have handed out 239 walks while striking out only 82. At the plate, Joe Blackham leads Southern Utah with a .329 batting average with 27 hits in 82 trips. Weaver follows Blackham with a .250 average and Allen Enochson at .241. The Thunderbirds will swing bats with Pacific April 8 and Nevada-Reno April 10-12, before playing BYU in Provo April 14-15. Thunderbird Field before jumping into conference play Thursday at San Diego State in San Diego and Saturday at University of New Mexico. The Lady ' Birds are coming off a split with Mesa State Tuesday in Mesquite, Nev., with a 5-2 loss and a 3-1 win. Peterson said that they should have won both games. "We split," said Peterson, " But we shouldn't have. Our pitch selection was poor. We swing at a pitch we have no business swinging at and then ground out. Some cases we are not hitting the ball out of the infield. It's just a matter of concentration and wanting to be competitive." At Mesquite, Mesa State held a 1-0 lead going into the sixth inning and they scored three runs to go ahead 4-0. SUU cut into the Lady Mavericks with two runs in the home half of the inning, but MSC scored another run in the seventh to SUU's zero to take the 5-2 win. Melanie Harris led SUU by going 2-2 for the plate with one run scored. In the second game, SUU drew first blood in the home half of the first. Melanie Harris s·ingled and went to second on a sacrifice by Kim Olsen. Harris reached third on a passed ball and scored on a Kelly Anderson RBI single. SUU's starting pitcher Tara Tremblay held MSC's bats quiet until the fourth inning when the Mavericks knotted the score at one apiece. The Lady Thunderbirds produced a two-out rally for two runs to take the lead for good. Anderson reached first on a fielder's choice and then stole second. Joni Reynolds tripled her home for the game-winner. Reynolds scored on a single by Tremblay. Spikers to hit road The competition level may jump this week for the SUU men's and women's track squads when they compete at an invitational hosted by Idaho State University Saturday. The Saturday meet in Pocatello, Idaho, will include teams from Utah State, Boise State, SUU and Idaho State. " We will be trading Ricks and College of Southern Idaho-who were in last week's meet with USU-for Boise State who will be in this week's invitational," said Paul Maggio, SUU track and field coach. "We didn't compete with Boise last week, but I suspect they will be a litte tougher than Ricks and CSL" Team scores will be kept Saturday, and Maggio figures 'that the relatively small size of his squads will hurt in the point totals. SUU's men could get points from Virgil Clark and Colby Sanders in the 100 and 200 meters. Steve Christian is ma.king his presence known in the javelin and both Roger Melvin and Jason York will be factors in the 400 meters. The women are paced by Heather Witney in the 1500 meters, while SUU record holder Lalena Page leads in the 400 meters. |