SPORTS
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
The University Star - Page 11
BASEBALL: Harrington takes team to Waco for second time CONTINUED from page 12
wants us to play ... helped me figure some things out and made me more comfortable,” Randell said. Perhaps Sunday’s biggest story was pitcher Justin Fiske’s second start of the season, whose six innings of scoreless baseball led to eight strikeouts. The senior has only recently started on the mound after closing a year ago, and Harrington thinks the role might stick. “His best work was in the fifth and sixth (innings), so he got better as the game went along,” Harrington said. “He’s a good strike-thrower for our Sunday games, and that’s what it
comes down to.” While the Bobcats may be protecting their home field with a 7-0 record, they cannot rest on their laurels, as they play the Baylor Bears in Waco for the second time this season. Their last game against Baylor ended in heartbreak, after the Bobcats led through six innings but allowed nine runs over the final two. Harrington said he believes Tuesday’s 6:30 p.m. rematch with the Bears will not show that the last game with Baylor is weighing heavily on players’ minds. “I don’t question whether these guys will be ready,” Harrington said of his team. “They normally are.”
“G
etting redshirted for a year and learning how Coach wants us to play ... helped me figure some things out and made me more comfortable.”
—Laurn Randell sophomore centerfielder
Cotton Miller/Star photo ON THE RUN: First baseman David Wood watches as right fielder Aaron Garza runs under a fly ball during the Bobcats’ 7-0 victory Sunday over Texas Southern at Bobcat Field.
Basketball’s second fall to the Mavs ends season on low note By Nathan Brooks The University Star
Texas State men’s basketball finished its first season under Coach Doug Davalos with a 93-84 loss to Texas-Arlington Saturday at Texas Hall. In frustratingly familiar fashion, the Bobcats fell behind by doubledigits early and were unable to recover despite several rallies. “When we made a run it was because we were scoring a little,” Davalos said. “Defense leads to offense for us, but offense also leads to defense. When you’re always playing
transition defense, when you miss a lot of shots, that means we never get set on defense.” Sophomore forward Dylan Moseley single-handedly sparked the Bobcats’ final rally of the game, cutting a late 10-point deficit to just three points with only one minute and 47 seconds left in regulation. Moseley was fouled on a threepoint attempt and connected on all three free throws with 2:26 remaining. After a Bobcat defensive stop, he drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to 85-81. Texas-Arlington guard Cardell Hunter turned the ball over on
the Mavericks’ next possession and fouled Moseley out of frustration, sending the sophomore back to the line with only 1:47 left on the clock. This time, Moseley made his first free throw but missed on the second attempt, cutting the deficit to 85-82. That was the closest the Bobcats would get after Mavericks guard Ro’ger Guignard capped an 8-2 run in the final minutes, scoring six points in the final 49 seconds of regulation to seal the win. The Mavericks opened the game on a 17-5 run before Texas
State cut the deficit to 23-22 at the nine-minute mark of the first half. UTA responded with a 12-0 run over the next four minutes, capitalizing on the Bobcats’ cold spell from the floor. Eventually Texas-Arlington took a 46-38 lead into the locker room at halftime. All five Mavericks starters scored in double figures, led by Guignard with 19 points, in addition to six assists and five rebounds. Texas-Arlington forward Tommy Moffitt added 17 points and 11 rebounds. “They have as good of offensive talent as there is in the league,” Davalos said. “They always have
five scorers on the floor.” Sophomore guard Brandon Bush led the Bobcats with 25 points in addition to seven rebounds. Moseley scored 12 points and pulled down five rebounds. Junior forward Chris Agwumaro continued his strong finish to the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds. Texas State was plagued by defensive struggles once again, allowing an opponent to score over 90 points for the fourth time in their final six games. However, the 93 points allowed Saturday was an improvement
over the 110 points the Bobcats surrendered in their first meeting with UTA Feb. 2. The Mavericks finished the game shooting 50.8 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent from three-point range. Texas State shot just 37 percent from the floor, including 25.7 percent from beyond the arc. “We had good looks but we again shot under 40 percent from the field,” Davalos said. “It may sound simplistic, but they hit more open shots. Then we gave up too many second shots and didn’t convert turnovers into points.”
Texas State suffers 21-point loss to Texas-Arlington at home By Gabe Mendoza The University Star Texas-Arlington took a two-point lead even before Friday’s opening tip-off, rarely missing a beat the rest of the way while sending the Bobcats to their fifth conference loss in the regular season finale at Strahan Coliseum. The 81-60 loss to the Mavericks came in a game that was seemingly doomed from the start, as a late change in Coach Suzanne Fox’s starting lineup led to a rare pre-game technical foul on Texas State. Two Terra Wallace free throws later, the Bobcats were fighting an uphill battle before the game even began. The teams started out evenly matched, trading early baskets before the Mavericks showed the explosiveness that allowed them to go a perfect 16-0 for the year in Southland Conference play. Led by the reigning Conference Player of the Year in Wallace, UTA went on a 30-8 run to build a doubledigit it would not relinquish the rest of the way. “Part of the (disappointAustin Byrd/Star Photo ment) for us was that I didn’t think we played with a lot of CUTTING THROUGH THE SOUTHLAND: Junior guard Brooke Degrate cuts energy or emotion in that first through the defense for a bucket during Friday’s loss to Texas-Arlington at Stra- half,” Fox said. “I thought we han Coliseum. The Bobcats enter the Southland Conference Tournament as the were really flat, especially on No. 3 seed and will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. the defensive end, and they
were just scoring at will.” Texas-Arlington scored extensively in the first half, culminating with a 50-23 lead at the midway point. The 50 points marked the most given up in a half by the Bobcats all season. The Mavericks shot a blistering 57 percent from the floor on their way to the 27-point cushion. The Bobcats came out energized in the second half and used a pair of Ashley Riley field goals from the top of the key to ignite the offense. Texas State would claw to within 19 points with less than 12 minutes to play in an effort to stay alive in the ballgame. “I thought that in the second half we responded and played with more energy and effort than we had in the first half,” Fox said. “I think the kids defensively picked it up, intensity-wise, and that made a difference.” Unfortunately for Texas State, the firsthalf deficit was too much to overcome and the Bobcats dropped their second-straight home decision after an impressive 10-1 start at Strahan Coliseum. Junior Joyce Ekworomadu led the team with 12 points, and was one of four Bobcats in double figures. Freshman Victoria Davis added a career-high 10 points to go with seven rebounds. On a night for the seniors, Riley, Elyse Wright and Erica Putnam made their last game on the home floor a meaningful one. Putnam recorded her seventh double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while Wright added five points in her final home game. Riley scored 10 points in 19 minutes of action. The pre-game ceremony honoring the seniors set the tone for a night that was full of emotion. “There’s that feeling there, especially
with me being here all four years. It’s just one of those things, like, ‘man, it’s already here,’” Riley said. “I can’t believe that all four years have just rolled past me. It’s like I blinked and it’s here.” There will be little time to dwell on the loss, as Fox must now prepare her squad for the Southland Conference Tournament in Houston this week.
Game Notes Washington Out Guard Janesha Washington will not travel with Texas State for the post season and is no longer with the team, according to Texas State media relations. Coach Suzanne Fox said only that Washington left the team for “personal reasons.” Washington was averaging 9.2 points a game, third best on the team and was a vital part of the rotation off the bench. Her field goal percentage of 52 percent led the Southland Conference. Washington was also shooting 73 percent from the free throw line and 33 percent from three-point range. Conference Honors Junior Joyce Ekworomadu was named to the All Southland Conference second team for the second consecutive year Monday. Ekworomadu finished 11th in the league in scoring with an average of 13.3 points per game. Erica Putnam received an honorable mention for her season and Brooke DeGrate was selected as the conference’s Newcomer of the Year. DeGrate, a junior transfer from South Plains College, averaged seven points a game during the regular season, and led the Bobcats in assists (72) and steals (66).
Bobcat softball loses two in weekend series against Lions By Carl Harper The University Star The Bobcats won one of three games for a second straight series, falling twice to Southeastern Louisiana over the weekend at home. Texas State, now at 10-11 overall and 2-4 in Southland Conference play, scored nine runs in the second inning on its lone win from the weekend, a 12-1 drubbing in game two Saturday. The win was sandwiched by two onerun losses: 1-0 in game one and 5-4 in the series finale Sunday. Senior Amy Krueger doubled down the left field line to score Ryan Kos and Jill Kloesel in the second inning of Saturday’s win, to make the score 4-0 in favor of Texas State. “I’m seeing the
ball pretty well right now so I’m confident at the plate,” Krueger said. “It’s good that all of our team is hitting and starting to put it together.” Later in the inning, centerfielder Jetta Weinheimer singled to left with the bases loaded, which led to the second pitching change of the day for the Lions. Jenna Yoder started the game for Southeastern Louisiana but left after two-thirds of an inning, giving up three runs on four hits. Nicole Shoenberger took over for Yoder until Jessica Sander relieved her in the second inning following an RBI single from Weinheimer. First baseman Leah Boatright led the team in its win with two RBIs, giving the team a quick 3-0 lead on a single in the first
inning. “It felt really good to come through and to be swinging well with good contact right now,” Boatright said. Texas State performed with patience during the game on its way to 10 walks, a school record. “The thing we wanted to do was to swing at pitches in the zone that we could hit hard and try to work on pitches away in the zone,” Coach Ricci Woodard said. “Obviously they were having trouble throwing strikes and so the kids did a good job with that deal.” SLU’s Arica Rodriguez knocked out her SLC-leading sixth homerun in the fifth inning to spoil the shutout for the Bobcats. Ragan Blake pitched for
Texas State, allowing no runs on two hits and two strikeouts. Blake relieved Sarah Lancour in the eighth inning of game one Saturday, after the starter had pitched seven scoreless frames with eight strikeouts. Lancour and Rachel Ray of the Lions pitched well in a tight duel, combining to allow five hits with three walks and 14 strikeouts. Rebecca De la Garza sealed the one-run win for the Lions after hitting a solo homerun in the ninth. “Lancour did a great job,” Woodard said. “The only reason why I pulled her out was because she had thrown 120 pitches already and we were getting back to the top of their line up. We decided to make the change to give them a different look.”
Southeastern Louisiana battled Texas State for the rubber match Sunday, improving to 14-8 on the season. Lancour pitched well again in game three until she left in the sixth inning after giving up a single to Rodriguez and an error that was charged to Ali McCormack at third base. With the score at 1-1, Texas State pitcher Elizabeth Dennis entered the game with two on and gave up an RBI single to Michelle Lemons on her first pitch. Two more RBI singles put SLU up 5-1 in the sixth. The Bobcats made the game interesting in the bottom of the seventh, as pinch hitter Chelsea Giroux grounded into a fielders’ choice that scored Haley Koop from third base. With two outs and Kruger standing on second
base, freshman Lacey Duncan slammed her first career homerun on a 2-2 pitch to left field, bringing the Bobcats within one run. Ray was able to get Boatright to pop out to left field to close out the series. “It was a really good series,” Lions coach Pete Langlois said. “Texas State is good. They were picked high in the conference. We’re still trying to find our way. We’ve been picked down at the bottom so we are working hard at getting recognized and getting some momentum in the conference.” Ray raised her record to 7-1, pitching seven innings and allowing four runs off six hits and six strikeouts. Lancour pitched five and one-third innings, giving up four runs to fall to 2-6.
RUGBY: Team expects difficulty against west coast teams CONTINUED from page 12
down.” The team can still look forward to a trip to Colorado Easter weekend. By finishing second in the state tournament, the Renegades qualified for the Western Playoffs, hosted by the University of Northern Colorado. The team goes in ranked No. 14 in
the nation in Division II. “We got a shot to compete,” Mutschler said. “The west coast teams are going to be pretty difficult, but it should be fun.” The team now turns to the alumni association to help raise money for the trip. The Renegades got off to a sluggish start Saturday against North Texas and were tied 5-5 at halftime. Coach James Sum-
mers addressed his team at halftime and was able to get his team going. “I told them they need to catch the ball in the air, especially on a windy day like this,” Summers said. “Also, they were not tackling well at all.” Mullen, a rising star according to Summers, got the scoring started in the second half with a breakaway sprint down
the middle of the field. Charlie Faglie then scored to make the game 17-5 and the rout was on. When Will Burns scored, the Renegades went up 42-5. North Texas’ only points of the second half came on a drop kick, a very rare scoring method in college rugby. “That is usually something you see in international rugby and not here at the college lev-
el,” Summers said. “That was the first one I have seen in a couple of years.” Ironically, a successful drop kick at the end of Sunday’s game would have given the Renegades a one-point victory and the state championship trophy. The play is seen more often in Europe than the U.S. “We were not really in a position for (a drop kick) and it
wasn’t set up,” Courtney said. “Had it been set up, we would have thought about it.” The Renegades still have a chance to get the last laugh against Angelo State in Colorado. After losing to North Texas earlier this year, Texas State dominated UNT Saturday in the state semifinals, and will look to execute that same type of revenge at the Western Playoffs.