1993_05 The Daily Collegian May 1993

              s
Collegian Spokfs^^
- Daily Collegian
Tuesday, May 11, 1993
TIMEOUT
By Curb Cocolcs
Dodgers still
a bore, but at
least'Stick
ain't sick
A special thanks to the diamond
gods for refusing to model Major
League Basebal I after Candlestick
Park and games involving the Los
Angeles Dodgers and the San Fran¬
cisco Giants.
I attended my first game of the
1993 season last Sunday at, that's
right. Candlestick, with the com¬
batants, guess who, the Dodgers
and Giants.
Let me clarify right now that I
share an intense hatred for both
teams. Being a loyal rooter of the
Oakland Athletics constantly puts
mein the middle of a fierce rivalry.
I can only handle a couple of
trips to Candlestick per. season,
and I happened to pick a day when
Los Angeles was in town.
Only a handful of stadiums can
match a game at the Oakland Coli¬
seum, but new Giants' owner Peter
Magowan has done a credible job-
in improving his team's home
ballpark.
Almost • real park
Candlestick is displaying the
looks of a legitimate Major League
facility, with actual outfield fences
replacing those chain-link jobs.
Then there's the food, with the
new hot dogs, Polish sausages and
peanuts finally tasting a little bet¬
ter than dorm food.
I also got a kick out of San
Francisco's new public address
announcer, who announced Dodg¬
ers' pitcher Orel Hershiser as No.
35 (a tribute to Bob Welch, no
doubt), and pronounced Eric
Karros' last name similar to Alex
Karras, the former Detroit Lions'
defensive' lineman and star of
"Monday Night Football",
"Against All Odds" and "Webster."
Unfortunately, the combination
of a crowd of about 57,000 and the
National League's most hated ri¬
vals on the same field offset
Candlestick's new look.
TraWc no different
Traffic on Highway 101 Was
bumper-to-bumper on the stadium
exit one-hour before game time,
and we lost sight of our compan¬
ions behind us, who had posses¬
sion ofthe ice chest containing the
pre-game liquid refreshments.
Our seats were fantastic, but re¬
member, this was a Giant-Dodger
game. The section was mixed with
a sprinkling of blue and white and
orange and black fans, with the
hollering and name-calling begin¬
ning long before Jeff Brantley's
first pitch of Ihe game to Brett
Butler.
It could have been worse. Ididn't
have the privilege of sitting in an¬
other new look at the 'Stick, the
See Coool—/page 7
Softball 'Dogs sit on the bubble
Collegian Sports Staff
The fate ofthe Fresno State soft-
ball team is in the capable hands of
former Sacramento State coach
Irene Shea and her supporting cast.
Shea, now an assistant athletic
director for the Homets, is the chair
of the NCAA Women's Softball
Committee, the group that hands
out the bids to the postseason play¬
offs, in which the Bulldogs have
participated in for the past 15 years.
For the one of the few times
during that decade-and-a-half,
though. FSU, ranked 11th in the
nation, is in jeopardy of being left
off the dance card.
The Bulldogs went 4-2 on its
road trip to Southern California
last weekend, but were mathemati¬
cally eliminated for the Western
Athletic Conference championship
and automatic bid to the NCAA's.
Second-ranked Cal State
Northridge is close to winning the
WAC title with a 16-2 record, ahead
of Sac State (15-5) and Fresno State
(13-9), who took over sole posses¬
sion of third place.
■ The Bulldogs are 34-21 overall,
already the worst regular-season
record in coach Margie Wright's
seven-year tenure as the Bulldog
BRADY'S WEEK
Record:3-0
Innings: 24.1
ERA: 087
Maureen Brady was named
WAC Player of the Week for
beating SDSU, Northridge and
Cal Poly. She is .10-5 on the
season as the third-place 'Dogs
head into final-weekend action.
jBBaVClOO
Sophomore Maureen Brady is the latest FSU athlete to be
named Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
boss.
In FSU's favor is its tradition
and brutal non-conference sched¬
ule. Its bad side equates to losses
against several teams with not-so^
impressive records, including two
defeats at the hands of WAC cel-
lar-dwcllar Southern Utah (7-34
overall)
The WAC has three teams ranked
in die Top 20, with the Matadors a
lock for a bid either way. That
leaves the Hornets and Bulldogs
hoping Shea can squeeze in three
teams out of her conference.
On the field, the Bulldogs com¬
pleted their road schedule with a
successful weekend at Northridge,
San Diego State and Cal Poly
Pomona.
Against the Matadors, Fresno
State handed the WAC leaders their
second loss in the conference after
the two split a pair at Bulldog Dia¬
mond on April 18.
Northridge won the first game,
6-3 over Marcie Green, but sopho¬
more Maureen Brady, the WAC
Player of the Week, tossed a six-
hitter in a 2-1 win.       *
Brady pitched three complete-
game wins in as many days, allow¬
ing justone earned run, three walks
and striking out seven. She im¬
proved 1 o 10- 5 overall with an ERA
of 1.21.1
In her last 10 appearances, in¬
cluding eight starts, Brady is 7-0
with an 0.92 ERA with 28
strikeouts and only 12 walks in 53
1/3 innings of work.
In Sunday's 4-0 win over Cal
Poly Pomona, juniorshortstopKim
Maher went 3-for-4 and hit her
13th home run of the season, bol¬
stering hex school record. Maher
also had three hits and two RBIs in
the first game against Cal State
Northridge.
The Bulldogs conclude their
regular season at Bulldog Diamond
with doubleheaders against New
Mexico on Saturday, and Pacific
on Sunday. The first pitch for both
games will be at 1 p.m.
The pairings for the NCAA's
will be announced at 5 p.m. (PDT),
when the Bulldogs and Tigers will
be close to wrapping up their sec¬
ond game, and perhaps FSU's sea¬
son.
Opposing batters
knuckle under to
upstart Fernandez
By Dave Donnelly
Staff writer
.Starting pitcher Steve
Soderstrom allowed 10 runs in only
three innings against Sacramento
State in Sacramento last week but
J a red Fernandez came in and
stopped the bleeding.
It was a shining example of die
role Fernandez has carved out for
himself on the Bulldog staffiput
out the fire.
He allowed just two runs in six
innings against the Hornets, his
longest relief stint of the season,
earning the 12-7 victory.
The junior transfer from West
Valley City, Utah is one of just
three Bulldog relievers to see ac¬
tion  in more than 10 games this
season.
He's appeared in 16 games, 14
as a reliever, and compiled a 6-1 •
record and a 2.88 ERA in 59 1/3
innings while striking out 42 bat¬
ters and walked only 10.
In his two starts, against Si
Mary's and San Diego State, he
has gone the distance to win both,
allowing two earned runs.
"(Fernandez) comes in and usu¬
ally does the job everytime,"
Soderstrom* said. "He changes
speeds with the knuckleball." he
throws and he's got a good fastball
and that helps him.
"When he comes in, it's nice to
have someone you know will get
See Fernandez/page 7    jaretfFernandez is 6-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 16 appearances.