1994_04 The Daily Collegian April 1994

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SPORTS
Page 6
Monday, April 18,1994
Pi
The Magic's
gone in L.A.
The Los Angeles Lakers are
dead—officially.
The Lakers, for so me ay years
the renowned juggernaut of the
NBA, have no more heart to
continue their reign. Magic
Johnson as much said so -when
he declined to return as the Lak¬
ers' coach for next season.
Johnson, who was a domi¬
nant player for over a decade
along with Boston Celtic Larry
Bird, came in when the league
needed him most In many ways
he helped turn around the league.
His presence alone would
turn his teammates into selfless
individuals with a burning de¬
sire to "win the next game, noth¬
ing more and nothing less.
But the work ethic and tire¬
less hustle which Magic used to
put his stamp on Laker basket¬
ball dosen't work in today's
world of big-money contracts
and guaranteed salaries.
Johnson said that a lack of
discipline and enthusiasm
among the team was a big rea¬
son why he won't come back as
L.A.'s skipper next season.
Los Angeles had reached the
playoffs for 17 consecutive sea¬
sons before bowing out of the
postseason race with a loss to
Portland on Friday night
"I found out a lot about this
team, a lot about individuals,"
Johnson said upon releasing his
steppi ng-down statement. "And
you can see why we are where
we are.*" -\_y
Back when Magic was run¬
ning the show, a miscue by say,
Byron Scott or A.C. Green sim¬
ply wouldn't be tolerated. Now
the Lakers have talent that
mostly has gone to hell in a
handbasket.
That notion is further under¬
lined when.people like Elden ]'
Campbell and Vlade Di vac seem
to just coast along from game to
game, occasionally showing
brilliance but little else, which is
exactly the state that the Lakers
are in right now.
What they are doing is rest-
iig on reputation, living off the
nam: of L.A. Lakers alone, get¬
ting a bit too comfortable with
their feet propped up.
As long as Johnson had tb*yI
desire, he could have instantly
turned the Lakers into a 50-plus
game-winning team. In a sense.
Magic is the Lakers. In a way,
See MAGIC, page 7
Bulldogs rally for weekend sweep
FSU scores two in
the seventh in¬
ning to beat San
Jose State 3-2 and
complete a four-
game weekend
sweep
By Robbie Miner
THECOLLEGIAN
SanJose State pitcher Dena Pitts
cooled off the sizzling Fresno State
bats for the first five innings of
Sunday's softball matchup, but
when it mattered most, the Bulldog
bats came alive.
After being held to just an in¬
field single for the first five innings
of yesterday's second game of a
doubleheader with the Spartans at
Bulldog Diamond, FSU (33-10)
rallied for one run in the sixth and
two more in the bottom of the sev¬
enth to win 3-2.
NCAA career RBI leader Kim.
Maher started the comeback with a
two-out triple in the sixth inning.
The hit was only the third of the
game for FSU and the first to get
out ofthe ipfield. Pitts settled down
and retired WAC homerun leader
Michelle Bolt to end the threat, but
FSU put their rally caps on again to
start the seventh.
No. 6 hitter Jenifer Henry started
the comeback with a single into left
field. Erika Blanco then moved
Henry into scoring position with a
successful bunt to set the stage for
Randi Berg.
With 1,958 Red Wave fans
cheering her on, the freshman
showed the composure of a senior,
lining a hit down the first base line
Freshman Laura Berg gets high-fives from her FSU
homerun yesterday In a 9-0 win over San Joss Stats.
Jeremy Cloud/The Collegian
after hitting an lnslde-ths*park
to plate the tying run.   As SJSU
right fielder Holly Brink hobbled •
the ball, Berg advanced into scor¬
ing position herself without hesita¬
tion. ^
"I think the crowd really fired
them up today," said FSU coach
Margie Wright The seaof red that
filled the stands was the largest at
Bulldog Diamond this year and the
fifth largest in stadium history.
With one out and the winning
run on second, Jo Pi ni got an infield
hit and leadoff batter Laura Berg
drew an intentional walk to load
the bases for FSU's hottest hitter,
Robyn Yorke.
Yorke, who had been hitting at
a .461 clip over her last 28 games
and was 10 for 15 in thojweekend
series, grounded the ball sharply to
second baseman Valeri Quintero,
whose throw to the plate was late as
Berg slid under the tag.*'
"I feel really good hitting right
now," said Yorke. "When I make
the ball bounce I have a lot of
success and I've been doing that a
lot lately."
"We weren't really disciplined
until that sixth inning, but late in
the game we did a good job just
making contact and getting the ball
in play," said Wright.
See SWEEP, page 7
FSU's 13 runs not enough in slug-fest
By Chris Cocoles
THECOLLEGIAN
After falling into a deep ravine
Sunday, the Fresno State baseball
team made the steady climb back to
the summit, only to fall from the
cliff again.
The Bulldogs rallied from a 12-
1 deficit to tie Sacramento State
before falling 21-13 in the rubber
game ofa three-game series in Sac¬
ramento.
FSU (20-21 overall) fell to 7-8
in the Western Athletic Confer¬
ence with Sunday's loss after split¬
ting the first two games with the
Hornets: losing 4-^ on Friday and
then scratching out a 7-2 win Satur¬
day. /
^ The Hornets (7-8 WAQ stung
the Bulldogs for eight runs in the
second inning and four in the third
for a comfortable 11 -run cushion.
But FSU struck back in the sixth.
Kyle Fjelstad and Kevin Gunther
each hit two-run home runs in the
inning to shave the lead to 12 5
After the Bulldogs loaded the
bases with two outs, Javier Renteria
reached on an error by Sac State
third baseman Derek Brown and
two runs scored to make it 12-7.
RBI singles by Joe Freitas and
Bryan Judice cut the lead to 12-9.
Sac State added a run in the bottom
of the inning, but Fresno State
chipped away again in the sev¬
enth.
Mitt Curtis tut a two-run homer
that made it 13-11. and the Bull¬
dogs tjed the game in the e ighth on
a ground out and a passed ball. •
In the bottom of the eighth,
pitcher James Borges allowed a
lead-off double and was replaced
by Scott Warembourg.
After an intentional walk and
two outs, the Hornets scored the
go-ahead run against Warembourg
and tacked on seven more before
FSU, who used five pitchers in the
inning, recorded the third out
On Saturday, Gunther delivered
the big hit in the eighth inning to
break a 2-2 tie.
Renteria and Judice singled with
two outs to keep the Bulldog rally
alive, and Gunther hit a Jason
Beeman fastball just over the cen¬
ter field fence to give FSU a 5-2
lead.
The Bulldogs added two more
runs in the ninth, and Tommy Mi¬
nor pitched a complete game that
improved his overall record to 7-4.
Fellow senior Jared Fernandez
put up similar numbers to Minor's
in Friday's game.
Fernandez took a 3-2 lead into
the Sac State ninth but Stive
Thobe, the eventual winning
pitcher, hit a home run to tie the
game at three.
The Hornets won the game in
the 10th when Warembourg and
Chad Cattaneo combined to walk
Jason Kirtland with the bases
loaded, but it was Thobe's ninth-
inning blast that set the tone for the.
rest of the weekend.
Thobe watched his borne run
ball sail well over the fence, then
began a slow trot around the bases.
Fernandez exchanged words with
Thobe but nothing materialized
until Saturday.
On Saturday, Minor threw be¬
hind Thobe and was warned by the
umpires. Sac State assistant coach
Tim Gloyd Was ejected from the
game.
Both Fresno State coach Bob
Bennett and Hornets coach John
Smith were ejected from Sunday's
game, along with pitchers Victor
Mercado and Tony Enard of FSU
and Paco Garcia of Sacramento for
attempting to throw at batters.
The Bulldogs travel to St, Mary's
today at 2:30 p.m. for a make-up
game before playing at Santa Clara
on Tuesday.
■-..'.
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