OCR Text |
Show MONDAY-APRIL 17-2006 WWW.NETXNEWS.NET AIO i:fHi I I t I 1 t I ii-IT t i l l ! V; Wolverine Word ' Ben Webber Followad bothfrhesofcball and la* crosse teams this week. You can read about it on A9. And on A7, Morgan Vance chad with the track team's Bekah Meier Poppinga. BYU prevails A Wolverine swings away against the Cougars. UV Athletics-^ the progress report I may be completely crazy here, but it seems to me like only a couple weeks ago I was bagging up never-ending piles of October leaves in the backyard. And again, I may have jumped entirely off my metal rocker, but it seems like only a couple months ago I was nothing but a blind sophomore without a single idea of what I wanted to do with my life (I graduate April 28th). Time has this crazy, mystical thing going on, where it moves but often isn't felt. On the other hand, a heck of a lot has happened since then. For UVSC athletics, another Division I year has near passed, and we already have three complete seasons to digest as we offer up our own personal progress reports into how the athletic department has done since forever casting the JUCO shadow from its identity. Almost all the letter grades don my report, but I'd say you're to find more A's and B's, than you would C's and D's. Here's the sport-by-sport breakdown as I see it. y •> Women's Soccer The lady's in shin guards were dealt a big blow last August with the sudden departure of their head coach. Not to say Gabe Smart is any more of a soccer mastermind than '05 interim coach Justin Wagar, but the psychological and emotional impact that something like her surprised resignation had on her girls was evident. In the program's first year, UVSC took D-I by storm, posting a 9-7-1 record. They were also named by Soccer Buzz Magazine See RANT AIO f&M D^-^lfeSs^lS^^SSS^ Whitney Woodward/Nc-tXNpwi Cougars take advantage of two costly seventh inning errors to beat UVSC at home Whitney Woodward Sports Writer ;"i n the first of four scheduled con?- tests with BYU, UVSC struck ;; first and out-hit their opponent, -/ but couldn't get by the Cougars. Poor UV base running and problems in the field contributed to the 8-6 loss in front of nearly 1,000 fans in Orem. "We're kind of disappointed that we didn't play better," said UV coach Steve Gardner. "We can, but we just didn't do it tonight. We made two errors at first base, with one error costing us what would have been the second out (of the inning). We didn't get the out, and then they scored two runs," Gardner said referring to the bottom of the seventh. The offense started after BYU pitcher Mitch Woolf surrendered a couple runs to UVSC in the third inning after a two-out single off the bat of Chris Benson. But in the fourth, BYU's Kasey Ko answered Benson with a two- run single of his own, and the Cougars took the lead for good in the fifth with a solo homerun by Casey Nelson. UVSC bit into that lead on a couple of different occasions; first with a couple runs in the fifth to make it a one-run game, and again with another run in the sixth. But both times. BYU found a way to answer and never relinquish their lead. The seventh inning proved fatal to the Wolverines defensively. First* catcher Derrick Thomas bobblcd a routine bunt pickup, and later, pitcher Ryan Jessop had a prime opportunity to pickoff BYU runner Stetson Banks at first. Jessop, however, overthrew Adam Openshaw, allowing Banks to advance. Jessop then walked the next batter before Ben Saylor got a hold of a pitch, sending a double into the right corner, scoring two runs that could have been avoided, "We make mistakes, and they all add up," added Gardner. We just got to do better." Down 8-5 in the eighth, UV's Eli Slesk knocked in his second RBI of the game scoring Jason Zundel, but Y reliever Cortland Andrews came in to impressively strikeout the side in the ninth. Clayton Barnes (1-0) picked up his first win of the year, striking out three through two innings. UV's Dan Christensen (0-2) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on five hits. UVSC recorded 14 hits to the Cougar's nine, but as has happened quite frequently this season, errors proved costly. UVSC also stranded 11 runners on base. Slesk finished the game 4-5, while Nick Connor finished 3-5 with a couple of runs and an RBI for Utah Valley. BYU's Jeff Hiestand hit a monster solo homerun that hit the top part of the Scoreboard to open the sixth inning. UVSC falls to 10-25 on the season. SUMMERWOOD CONDOS Q-Kfi&fK PREMIER &IXCSLJ& SSTl'DKNT HOUSING Baseball at BYU @ 7 p.m. 4/18 • Baseball vs. Utah @ 7 p.m. 4 / 2 5 Softball at BYU @ 6 p.m. 4 / 2 0 • 4 Plriwaae BedJnoocns and 2 Fusil Bafifcs per Uiat • Wasfeer md Diyer m EVERY • Ftaes* Center aid Spwirt Cotnrt Free High Speed Internet H ~ jr.-—.*« Social]! • Jtasft A o o s s ttoe StoceftfirommUiVSC • Men's Golf at Ping Cougar Classic, April 21-22 Riverside Country Club in Provo • Real Sale Lake vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 2 p.m., 4 / 2 9 @ Rice-Eccles Stadium I ' fl *r J ' ;"'^i'S^r' V ' ' ^ 12© Sooth 1200 West Orem Call Htm ami Reserve Your Spot! ccin |