1991_03 The Daily Collegian March 1991

              Sports
The Collegian • March 10, 1991
6
Bulldogs ready for eight-team tourney
By Doug McLeod
Collegian Sports Writer
The Fresno State baseball
team enters its own 13th-annual
Pepsi/Me-N-Ed"s Classic
baseball tournament today with
hopes of claiming its eighth
title after losing a heartbreaker
in last year's championship
game to nationally ranked
Arkansas 6-4.
This years' Classic field
features four ranked teams,
which may make it tough for the
Bulldog to claim the Classic
title, however, the Bulldogs
carry the highest ranking into
the tournament and are playing
before a home crowd at Beiden
Field.
The following is a look at the
Classic Reid by team:
Fresno State (14-6, No. 15 In
Collegiate Baseball/ESPN
Poll>— The Bulldogs enter the
tournament after taking two of
three games from St. Mary's this
past weekend. The Bulldogs
have played impressively both
offensively and defensively all
year, but the pitching staff
remains a question mark after
pitchers Bobby Jones, Jim
Patterson, and Robbie Saitz.
Look for sophomore
catcher/pitcher Todd Johnson to
see some time on the mound and
freshman Steve Soderstrom time
as the Bulldog's fourth starter.
Cal-State Northridge (15-7,
No. 24 in Baseball America
Poll)— The Matadors move up to
Division 1 after ending last year
as the NCAA Division II runner-
ups. Northridge returns eight
position players and three
pitchers from last year's squad,
including    two    AII-Americans,
junior picher first baseman Scott
Sharts (305 avg., 29 home runs; 6-
3, 4.65 ERA) and junior
pitcher/utilityman Craig
Clayton (397 avg., 13 homers; 12-
6,5.41 ERA).
Creighton (8-1, No. 18 in
Collegiate Baseball/ ESPN
Poll)— The Bluejays return top
player Scott Stahoviak (.417
avg, all-Missouri Valley
Conference selection) and four
starting pitchers who accounted
for 22 wins last year in what was
the    first NCAA    regional
playoff appearance In 17 years
for Creighton.
Indiana State (3-1,
unnnked)— The Sycamores
return eight position players
from last year's 43-21 Missouri
Valley Conference runner-up
team. Top returnees include
senior Mike Farrell (.377avg, pre¬
season All-American) sophomore
Proposed bill would stop late games
In an effort to encourage
student athletes and fans to get a
good night's sleep, legislators in
Indiana have introduced a bill
that would forbid state
universities from playing non-
tournament basketball games
after 8:10 pjn.
The bill is aimed at stopping
Purdue and Indiana universities'
basketball teams from playing
on "Big Monday," a night of
ihree games produced by ESPN,
.1 cable sports channel.
"Anybody who believes that
we have athletics" for the
students would be in favor of this
bill,'" Rep. Jerry Bales, R-
Bloomington, one of the bill's
sponsors, told the Purdue
Exponent
The opponents are money-
hungry people who want to
exploit the players to make
their money," he added.
"Every Monday night, ESPN
telecasts a Big East game at 7:30
p.m. EST, a Big 10 game at 930
p.m. EST and a Big West game at
midnight EST.
Teams in the Mountain and
Pacific time zones, as a result,
have tipped off as late as 10:30
p.m. local time so ESPN can
squeeze in .two or three games
Monday through Thursday
nights, reported ESPN
spokesman Michael Soltys.
"1 think all of us agree that
9:30 is too late, " said Jim
Vruggink, director of athletic
public relations at Purdue.
'It's especially troublesome
for teams when they're on the
road" and don't get back to
school until the early morning,
hesaid.
Bales said he introduced the
bill because Indiana Coach Bob
Knight complained that the late
games interfered with the
athletes' studies.
But the late-night games seem
to be popular with fans, who
have been known to show up in
pajamas and make the national
focus on their campuses into
festive events.
"I think the fans love it,"
Vruggink admitted. There's
added excitement when (ESPN
sportscaster) Dick Vitale comes
to town."
ESPN's Soltys added the
network isn't too worried about
Indiana teams refusing to be
televised, noting Big 10 teams —
including Indiana and Purdue —
have a contract to play on
camera on Monday nights.
The Monday games, moreover,
regularly draw bigger audiences
than those shown on other
nights, he added.
Besides, the network's
contract with the Big 10 still has
four more seasons to run. The bill
containss a "grandfather clause"
allowing Indiana and Purdue to
fulfill the contract, Soltys
pointed out
After the contract expires,
"they can certainly say 'no we're
not interested,'" Soltys said.
College Press Service
Collegian Sports: Are we the only ones who hate UNLV?
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rafting with the Kings River Expeditions for just $35.
The University Student Union Programs Committee is
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third baseman Steve Ruckman
(.391 avg.) and sophomore second
baseman Dave Doster (.352 avg)
Iowa Stale (0-01— The
Cyclones began their season this
past weekend with a three-
game series at Fullerton State.
The Cyclones have a strong
pitching staff and a veteran
outfield, but its infield is
untested. Top players include
pitchers Denny Schreckengast (7-
2, 3.50 ERA) and Kent Cesler (7-
2, 4.830, and all-conference
rightfieider Tom Vantinger.
North Carolina (12-3, No. 16
in Collegiate Baseball/ESPN
Poll) The Tar Heels return 18
lettermen from the 1990 squad,
which won a school record 51
games. The Tar Heels are
loaded, with a veteran outfield,
a fast-paced run scoring offense,
and one of the best bullpens in
the nation. Top players include
left-handed pitchers Brad
Woodall and Rich Fernandez
and first baseman Steve Estroff
(389 avg.).
St. John's (0-0)— The Redmen
begin their season tonight at 7
p.m. against Fresno State. Top
returnees include first baseman
Keith Rader (Bullard High
School), catcher Denis Durland
(.345 avg) and infielder Nick
Cosmo (339).
Virginia Tech (3-2)— The
Hokies enter the season having
to plug the hole left by the loss
of their top four pitchers. Top
returnees include centerfielder
Shaun Thomas (.311 avg.) and
pitchers Brad Ctontz (4-1, 2.81)
and Tim Fenn (2-1, 2.63), both
bullpen pitchers last year. Head
coach Chuck Hartman is the
seventh winningest coach in
Division I collegiate baseball
with 948 wins in 32 seasons.
Cinderella: Bulldogs rekindle
past memories in tournament
Continued from page 5
for a eight straight points to
take command of the game.
After UNLV scored the
game's opening field goal, the
Bulldogs rallied for an 11-0
run to take the 11-2 lead. The
largest defeclt UNLV had
faced all season was six
points at Arkansas. Trailing
16-6, the Rebels retaliated
for their own 11-0 spurt in
only 2:17.
Bernard then connected
' from three feet out in the lane
to give FSU an 18-17 edge
with 9:25 before intermission,
the Bulldogs' final lead.
UNLV answered the call
with a 9-0 run.
With 11:35 remaining,
Harris persisted. He drove
baseline, nailed the five-
footer, and was fouled by
Elmore Spencer in the act.
Harris' free throw pulled the
'Dogs within five points, 57-
52. That was as close as they
would get.
UNLV iced the contest
with a 23-5 rally, including
14 unanswered points over a 4
minute, 56 second span. With
559 left, the Rebels were
cruising, 80-57. Hunt busted
from the three-point land
three times during the rim and
added another long-range
jumper with 4:40 left to give
the Rebels their largest lead
of the affair, 85-59.
"In the second half we let
Hunt get away from us and
Larry Johnson is just too strong
for our people," said Colson,
who is now 501-328 after
completing his 30th year
overall. "Maybe we gave
lUNLVlawakeupcall."
"I think there's another
level left in those folks,"
Colson said about the Rebels'
Tournament preperations.
"They'll go back home and
turn it up. I'd hate to be the
next team to face them."
Colson said he kept quiet
for most of his team's halftime
meeting.
"For eight minutes I never
said a word to the team. 1 had
a list of about ten things I
wanted to say," Colson said.
"You knew what was going to
happen. In the second half
they started going down to
Larry Uohnson)."
Johnson scored 16 points in
the second half when the
Rebels hit 24-for-37 shots for
65 percent. They finished the
game with 55 percent
efficiency, whereas FSU shot
43 percent.
All five UNLV starters
finished in double figures.
Stacey Augmon scored 15
while Greg Anthony and
George Ackles finished *rfth
11 and lOpoints, respectively*
Baseball: Bulldogs prepare for tournament
by taking two of three games from St Mary's
Continued from page 5
The Bulldogs countered with
two runs in their half of the
third with two runs. Wade
Maxwell scored after Philip
Romero was safe at first on a St.
Mary's error. Romero then scored
after Wood got an infield hit.
The 'Dogs led arthat point 7-4.
Fresno State came back with a
run after the Gaels got a run in
the fifth inning. Wood scored
Wheaton on a single to right
field.
St. Mary's got another run in
the sixth inning as James Mouton
scored on a passed ball, making
the score 8-6.
Things went really bad for the
Bulldogs in the seventh inning,
as the Gaels went on an offensive
attack of their own, scoring seven
runs. The      inning      was
highlighted by a grand slam
home run by Craig Billed.
FSU made an attempt at a
comeback, but managed only one
run in the eighth inning.
Fresno State will begin the
13th annual Pepsi/ Me-N-Eds
Classic tournament tonight at 7
p.m. at Beiden Field against St.
Johns, weather .permitting....- -