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Show I IN THE Z NE Baseball struggling early and often on road By ALEX RIVERA Sports Writer Campus sports defy sexual stereotypes Wolverines' track and field star Megan Burr has done a little bit of everything. Track. Soccer. Football. No, really. That's not a typo. It's a fact. Burr was the starting kicker for her high school football team. Varsity. In Las Vegas. She was good, too, producing far more accurately than any of the male candidates available. And while Burr's cleats are unlikely to convince UVU to open an NCAA football program, it does highlight an oftdebated topic: whether sports need a sexual divide. The UVU women's rugby club could answer with a resounding "no," but they might prefer a full-fledged body tackle. They're a reminder that "women's rugby" literally means "women's rugby." Not watered down rugby. Not sissy. Not dainty. They hit, and they hit hard. At least one athlete on every professional team could learn something from them, and at least fork over the club costs out of their million-dollar paycheck while they're at it. After all, why should a lazy pro be rewarded while the motivated college athlete goes unnoticed? While women's rugby may startle some, women's basketball bores others. Unlike their male counterparts, they don't dunk. They're not as physically imposing. They lack the wow factor. Yet there's junior forward Sammie Jensen, matching men's senior forward Geddes Robinson rebound for rebound. Jensen snags 10.6 rpg to Robinson's 10.1. It begs the question, why does the grunt work of one earn more attention than the other? It's not like the men are reaping all the benefits, either. UVU boasts NCAA programs for women's soccer and volleyball, but the men's versions wallow in club status without the perks or support from the athletic department. That doesn't stop them from paying for equipment, scheduling road trips and making national tournaments. If women's volleyball had the Utah on its schedule, you can bet everyone would know about it. Instead, the men went to Salt Lake, proving they're as legit in their own right as the Great West Conference champion women. The fact is, UVU athletes — male and female, collegiate and amateur — are showing they can do anything the other can do. Even if you don't believe it. This road trip for UVU has been a bumpy one, but it is only the beginning of a long stretch. The Wolverines started their season in Seattle, dropping two of the three games they played against the Redhawks. The first of the three-game set saw Jeremy Glendlek take the mound and give up an uncharacteristic four earned runs over a five-inning span. UVU's bats were asleep as they only pushed across two runs and five hits in the loss. The second game was postponed and turned into a doubleheader on Sunday where the bats woke up. The Wolverines hit the ball 16 times and scored 15 times in the first game, winning behind Blake Krahenbuhl's effort, only giving up two runs in five innings. The second game of the doubleheader, as well as the Arizona game played two days later, had a similar ending. The Wolverines were up 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh before giving up five runs in that inning and four in the next. Although the Wolverines scored three runs in the ninth, they came up short to lose that game 9-7. "We have to beat those teams," head coach Eric Madsen said. "If we beat those teams, we put ourselves in a really good position. We need to improve our focus and recognize our responsibilities." In Tucson, Ariz., UVU came out strong being up 5-1 in the fourth inning on No. 8 Arizona. But as the game rolled on, Arizona decided to show up and scored three times in the fourth and fifth innings and sealed the deal with six runs in the sixth. Goose Kallunki batted in two runs in the effort and after four games, while batting .471. Madsen believes these games are must-win situations, but also understand that there's still work to be done. "We really played really well," Madsen said. "But we have to do a better job controlling the damage." On that same note, Kallunki has confidence in his team to play better. "That is the level we can compete in," Kallunki said about facing off with No. 8 Arizona. "We just couldn't pull it together. But it wasn't like we were starstruck. We were pretty confident we were going to win that game." UVU 6 After a year Arizona 12 and a half of not playing on the field because of an injury, Jake Rickenbach returned to the team and is already making an impact on and off the field. He has the second highest onbase percentage (.421) and is batting a .267 for his team. But off the field, it is his intangibles that are making the difference. "It was really the leadership that we missed last season," Kallunki said about his teammate. "It makes us a little more confident. He's back and he is another confidence booster for us." UVU's confidence may be enough to take down No. 16 Cal State Fullerton when they face them in a three-game set starting Friday, March 2. 'tk,rtt-s PHOTO COURTESY OF UVU ATHLETICS Jeremy Gendlek delivers a pitch during UVU's 12-6 loss to nationally ranked Arizona on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Wolverines prepare for Cal State Fullerton By ALEX RIVERA Sports Writer Although UVU has been able to come home for a week after facing Nevada, they hit the road again this week to take on another nationally ranked team in California State Fullerton on March 2. This will be the first time the Wolverines will face off against the Titans. This will also mark the halfway point of their month-long road slate. Although the Titans of Cal State were ranked at Softball wins three, loses three to start season By KEVIN OLSEN Sports Writer Following a four-game series against Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Calif., the UVU women's softball team is still trying to find their groove with a young team as they sat at 3-3 heading into the North Carolina A&T Tournament (Feb. 24-26). The Wolverines headed to St. George, Utah, two weeks ago to kick off their season with a two-game series against Southern Utah University. The series resulted in two wins for UVU, both starting with early leads Head coach Todd Fairbourne expressed his satisfaction with his players' consistency regardless of game situations. "I'm real happy with how we came out of the gates," Fairbourne said. "Both games we scored in the first inning and it's nice to make the other team chase, especially with the nature of our sport where runs aren't easy to come by." The Wolverines' largest challenge throughout the last two series has been their lack of variety at the pitching position. Junior Louisiana-Monroe transfer Tiffany Mills was the only pitcher to see playing time throughout the SUU series. Game two of the Loyola Marymount series saw two different pitchers for the first time this season, Cassie Herrera and Megan Peay. Peay's playing time came after her slow and ongoing recovery from a shoulder injury that prevented the pitcher from throwing during her offseason and against SUU two weeks ago. As of Wednesday, Fairbourne hoped to increase Peay's playing time along with starting her in one of the five game series heading into Greensboro, N.C., but expressed his hopes for Herrera and Mills to lead the team's defense. "We are going to need Tiffany Mills and Cassie Herrera, any of our pitchers to step up," Fairbourne said. "Players just need to step up and manage themselves and continue to get better." Fairbourne opened the seasons with plans to work out the kinks on defense but he's confident that brighter competition will come from the offensive side of UVU this season. The opening game to each series has seen the Wolverines start hot early. They scored three runs off of four hits against Loyola Marymount. After losing three straight following a 3-0 record, Fairbourne's goal is to keep the team sticking together when finger-pointing or self-doubt start to arise, helping the youthful team learn from their mistakes. "This is all practice to some degree," Fairbourne said. "It's practice in game situations that have game intensity that we can't simulate. We are hoping that we just continue to make things to define ourselves." UVU the beginning of the season (No. 25), UVU head coach Eric Madsen understands that they are not a team to take lightly. "Fullerton is an outstanding team," Madsen said. "We have got our hands full this weekend. We need to play the way we are capable of playing." Although UVU has not had their best start of a season, senior shortstop Jake Rickenbach says that it is not just beating Fullerton on the field that will get them the win, but it should be an all-around victory. "I just think we have to keep at it," Rickenbach said. "I just feel we need to be more mentally tough. Things will start going our way." UVU's offense has delivered in games past, scoring 15 runs in a game earlier in the season, but their cumulative earned-run average was 8.42 heading into the weekend. "We have to take care of the baseball on the mound," Madsen said. "That usually starts with finding the strikez one." Perez honored for big week Utah Valley's Amanda Perez and North Dakota's Lexa Twist have been named Great West Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, after outstanding performances. The first honors of the season were announced Wednesday by the conference office. Perez, a senior from La Mirada, Calif., hit three home runs and drove home seven RBIs for UVU in a four-game series against LMU in Los Angeles, Calif., last weekend. The first baseman had a two home run and five RBI outing in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday. For the weekend the Southern California native hit .364, slugged a whopping 1.182 and tallied a .417 on base percentage. Twist, a sophomore from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, appeared in five games in relief for UND while picking up a win and a save. The righthanded pitcher struck out six batters in three innings of relief in picking up her first win of the season in the 8-4 extra-inning victory over Northern Iowa. She then earned her first save of the 2012 campaign with a four-inning, six strikeout, shut down performance against GWC foe Nebraska-Omaha in non-conference action. Twist also notched eight strikeouts in four innings against Western Illinois. Others nominated were Nebraska-Omaha's Lauren Larson (C), North Dakota's Cami Bennett (OF) and Utah Valley's Tiffany Mills (RHP). EGOME A PILOT AVIATION SCIENCE while earning your degree! UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY • UVU has one of the nation's leading collegiate aviation programs Here's your chance to ... • Financial assistance available • State of the art aircraft and simulators • Classes offered on site at the Provo Airport Need more support? • Aviation Administration and Professional Pilot degree emphases available Want more online? AVIATION SCIENCE 1316.82443 13341S Call to schedule your introductory flight and tour How are your classes? Enough group work? 1 (888) 901-7192 0 www.FlyUVU.com 0 |