1996_03 The Daily Collegian March 1996

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Friday, March 15,1996
Sports
Sports Editor: Brian R. Fisher
Telephone: (209) 278-5733
Bulldogs gear up for
WAC opener at home
BULLDOG
SCORES
Baseball
(Pepsi Johnny Quik Classic)
Game 5(Red Division)—
Nebraska 1
Fresno State 4
Other scores: Blue Division-
Oregon Stale 5, New Mexico 4; Blue
Division—Creighton 14. Pacific 5;
Red Division—St. Johns 2. Portland
State 0
SCHEDULE
Today's Games
• Baseball—Pepsi Johnny Quik
Classic vs. Oregon State @ Beiden
Field, 7 p.m.
Other Classic Games: Game I—
New Mexico vs. St. John's 10 a.m.;
Game 2— Nebraska vs. Creighton I
p.m.: Game 3—Portland Stale vs.
Pacific 4 p.m.   '
• Men's Tennis @ the Blue and Grey
Tournament, time TBA
• Women's Tennis @ USD Tourna¬
ment, all day
• Softball vs. Southern Utah @
Softball Stadium, 5 p.m.
Tomorrow's Games
• Softball vs. Utah @ Softball
Stadium, 1 p.m.
•Baseball—Pepsi Johnny Quik
Classic @ Beiden Field, all
day.Game schedule: Seventh place
game 10 a.m.; Fifth place game 1
p.m.; Third place game 4 p.m.;
Championship game 7 p.m.
• Track and Field @ Cal Poly San
Luis Obispo, all day.
Sunday. March 17
• Softball vs. Yale Bulldogs @
Softball Stadium, 1 p.m.
SPORTS SHORTS
Men's tennis team blanks
Michigan 6-0 in Blue-Gray,
runs streak to four
The ninth-ranked Bulldog men's
tennis team won its fourth straight
match yesterday afternoon, defeating
2Sth-ranked Michigan. 6-0, in the
first round of'lhe Blue-Gray
Tournament.
Fresno State (13-3) won two
doubles matches (the third was
suspended) to take a 2-0 lead.
The Bulldogs didn' t let up ir.
singles, winning Five singles
matches (one suspended) for the
victory.
Of Fresno State's 16 matches so
far this season, 12 have been against
Top-25 teams. The Bulldogs have
won nine of them—eight on the
road.
The Bulldogs are going to play
another Top-25 team—18th ranked
North Carolina—in a tournament
quarterfinal match at 10 a.m. today.
Ryan McKee — The Daily Collegian
Bulldog outfielder Chad Brown takes one of the four hit-by-
pitches for the team in yesterday's 4-1 win over Nebraska
Huskers lose
beanball war
By David Johnson
Staff Writer
The philosophy: Winning begets
winning. The results: A five-game
win streak, and possibility to defend
the Pepsi/Johnny Qu|k Classic title.
The Fresno State baseball team
(12-14), in the hands of sophomore
pitcher Mike Powell and the steady
Derek Feramisco, defeated the Ne¬
braska Cornhuskers (5-13) 4-1 last
night in the third round of the Clas¬
sic.
"You get that good feeling again
when you start to win," Head Coach
Bob Bennett said. "Tonight we
didn't hit exceptionally well, but we
hit well enough to get runs in, and
we played well defensively. Some
of that is due to the winning."
The winner last night was starter
Mike Powell (2-4). Powell threw
his first complete game of the sea¬
son and it was a gem. Powell threw
a two-hitter with five strikeouts,
"He really had composure and
good stuff. He kept the ball down
and was in good command," said
Bennett.
Powell struggled early on in the
season, as did the entire baMclub,
but the general feeling, and the phi¬
losophy of Bennett, has pervaded
the clubhouse. -\
"I think the team^comlng
around fine. We're doirig great, and
starting to get great performances.
Powell had a great performance
[last night], that was awesome,"
said left fielder Derek Feramisco.
Powell no-hit the 'Huskers until
the third inning, and the Bulldogs,
who were deemed visitors because
of the tournament schedule, took
advantage in the top. 'Husker
starter Seth Williams (0-1) walked
Matt Curtis with two outs and
Feramisco plated him with an RBI
double. First baseman Pete
Hennecke, back from a head injury,
followed suit and plated Feramisco
with a single. Again in the fifth,
Hennecke came through with his
second RBI on the evening, putting
the Bulldogs ahead three to one.
In the early part of the season
this lead would not have been safe
with this ballclub, but the Bulldogs
put the 'Huskers away.
With Josh Kaitfors on third base
and one out, 'Husker reliever
Patrick Driscoll opted to walk Matt
Curtis in order to try to get out of
the inning with a double play. That
brought up Feramisco, who batted
three-for-five on the night with two
RBI.
"I expected them to come right
at me. It kinda got my fire going
when they walked Curtis; I didn't
thirik they showed me any respect,
so I took it personal," said
Feramisco. He subsequently drilled
a liner up the middle, scoring the
final run of the evening.
The 'Dogs were not out of
trouble, however, as in the eighth
inning Powell lead off the inning
by walking the third baseman Craig
Moore. He followed with two outs,
but gave up an infield hit to Francis
Collins and then walked Josh
Dalton.
With the bases loaded, Bennett
came out for a conference. "I just
told him to refocus. He hadn't lost
his control or his poise; I didn't feel
like he was in any big trouble," said
Bennett. The confidence Bennett
displayed was well founded, as
Powell finished off Mel Motley
with a strikeout.
Six-game home
stand starts tonight
against Southern
Utah
By Matthew Lievre
Sports Writer
After all the plane rides, bus
drives over the grapevine, and in¬
vitational tournaments, the Fresno
State softball team (10-3) will wel¬
come WAC rivals Southern Utah
(7-8) and Utah (11-7) along with
first time opponent the Yale Bull¬
dogs (0-0) to the friendly confines
of Bulldog Diamond this weekend.
Friday's game against Southern
Utah will be under the lights due to
its 5 p.m. starting time, and will also
be the WAC opener for both
schools. The Thunderbirds are led
by freshman utility player Jenny
Hardy (.500; 19 hits) and catcher
Christy Burge (.439; 11 RBIs). The
Bulldogs took three out of four
against the Thunderbirds last year,
with Southern Utah upsetting
Fresno in their last meeting of the
-season, 2-1.
"I think they have a better team,
then they had last year," Head
Coach Margie Wright said. "Hope¬
fully, we have enough players re¬
turning that learned their lesson
from last year. If you want to win
the WAC you have to beat every¬
one, and it doesn't matter what your
perception of that team is, you have
to beat everybody."
Saturday the Bulldogs will en¬
tertain the University of Utah. The
Utes who finished second in the
WAC last season, split their four
and infielder Staci Reynolds, (.288
9 RBI).
"You prepare for Utah like you
would prepare for UCLA." Wright
. said. "If that's a team that wins
consistently in front of you at the
end of the season, then you better
find a way to get ahead of them
early on."
On Sunday Fresno will take on
the Yale Bulldogs in a non confer¬
ence showdown. Yale who is yet
to play a game this season finished
with ^2-5-19 record last season
whicjlwas good enough for third
in thefvy League.
Fresno will enter the weekend
having won six out of seven and
will look to Randi Berg (.395 4
doubles) Nina Lindenberg ^.474 18
hits) and Jenifer Henry<.410 14
RBIs) to keep swinging hot bats for
the Bulldogs.
On the mound look for Jennifer
Clark to keep being consistent as
she was awarded WAC pitcher of
the week. Clark who went 3-1 with
one save while striking out 20 in
26 innings helped the Bulldogs ad¬
vance to the championship game of
the Arizona tournament last week¬
end. 1
Lady netters hit road,
first stop: USD Classic
By Paige Devers
Sports Writer
Fresno State's women's tennis
team, ranked 48th in the nation in
the March 5 Intercollegiate Tennis
Associations Rolex rankings, be¬
gins the University of San Diego
1996 Tennis Classic Tournament
this weekend.
USD will also host SMU (5-4),
Washington (7-4),Ohio State (6-1),
Illinois (6-5), Pacific (2-9) andYale-
(1-0), Fresno State's opponent for
Friday's match.
"I think we'll do well," Head
Coach Irene Harris said. "We beat
them a couple of years ago but they
have a new coach and teams
change."
USD won the tournament last
year under the guidance of its head
coach Sheri Stevens. USD is 4-6
this season and is ranked 27th in the
nation, as well as being the favor¬
ite for the tournament. This tour¬
nament takes place during USD's
spring break annually.
"We've finished fourth in the
past but we've never placed
higher," Harris said.
The March 5 rankings also listed
No. 1 Bulldog player Dora
Djilianova as 35th in the nation,
making her the highest-ranked
player in Fresno State's history.
Only six freshmen are currently
ranked above her. Djilianova is 9-
1 for the season.
No. 4 senior Anne Castro is hav-
ing an outstanding season in
doubles, leading the team with eight
doubles wins and is tied for second
in singles with 14 wins. The Bull¬
dogs are expected to play well in
doubles this weekend.
"This is probably the team's big¬
gest test this season," Harris said.
"All of the teams are good and USD
is ranked high."
If Fresno State beats Yale this
Friday, they will advance to play the
winner of the Illinois-Pacific match
later that day. The tournament fin¬
ishes up on Sunday and the Bull¬
dogs hit the road to face Northwest¬
ern on March 18th.
)