1996_04 The Daily Collegian April 1996

              10
THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Wednesday, April 24,1996
Sports Editor: Brian R. Fisher
Telephone: (209) 27SV5733
;-
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SCORES
Baseball
Santa Clara
Fresno State
9
10
1        SCHEDULE    • 1
Today's Games
• Women's Tennis vs. New Mexico
@ Fresno State Tennis Courts, 11
a.m.
Tomorrow's Games
• Women's Tennis—Western Athletic
Conference Championships—@
Fresno State Tennis Courts, AH day.
Friday. April 26
• Women's Tennis—Western Athletic
Conference Championships—@
Fresno State Tennis Courts, All day.
• #30 Golf—BYU Cougar Classic—
@ Provo, Utah, All day.
• #3 Softball @ Colorado State, 1
p.m.
• Baseball @ Sacramento State, 2
p.m.
• Track and Field—Cal/Nevada
Championships—@ University of
California Berkeley, All day.
Fresno State softball player
captures second WAC
Pitcher of the Week honors
For the second time this season,
sophomore left-hander Kim Peck
was named the Western Athletic
Conference Pitcher of the Week on
Monday afternoon.
Peck, who was named the WAC
Pitcher of the Week on February 26.
picked up her second win against the
No. 1 team in the nation when she
gave up just one run to lead the
Bulldogs to a 2-1 win on the road
over the Arizona Wildcats.
At Arizona, Peck made a relief
appearance in ihe second inning of
the first game and pitched 4.1
, innings and gave up just one run.
Combined in die two games.
Peck gave up 12 hits, two runs—
both earned—walked three and
struck out three in 11.1 innings for a
1.26ERA.     \
Having beat then No. 1 ranked
UCLA at home Feb. 28, Peck is 8-2
in h«r last 11 starts for a 0.65 ERA
in 6S.0 timings with SI hits. 40
runs—six earned—13 walks, 29
strikeouts and three shutouts.
Peck leads the Fresno State
pitching staff with a 0.70 ERA and is
10-2 with four shutouts in 80.1
—Sports Information
~
"Sugar Bear"
and Bulldog
baseball, what
more is there?
By Matt Croce
Sports Writer .
As you stroll into Fresno State's
beautifully manicured Beiden
Field, walk east to the third base
side and head up the steps. When
you hit Section M, walk up to row
11 and sit down. Watch, observe,
and listen as it is here that sits the
true meaning of Bulldog Pride.
Commentary
Paul Martinez—77k Daily Collegian
First baseman Pete Hennecke sparked the game winning raily, knocking in the tying runs in the .
bottom of the ninth. He went three for five with three RBI.
Bulldogs beat Santa Clara
on Roberts9 ninth inning hit
By David Johnson
Sports Writer
When Noel Roberts came to the
ballpark this afternoon for batting
practice, he probably had no idea
that he would end up at the bottom
of a dogpile near second base.
But in the bottom of the ninth
inning, the reserve second baseman
found himself in that predicament
after he hit an RBI double to score
the winning run in the Fresno State
baseball teams' 10-9 win over the
Santa- Clara Broncos last night at
Beiden Field.
"[Mike McDonald (0-4)] was
struggling to find the plate. I knew
he didn't want to walk me and load
U up, so I figured he'd come with a
fastball. With a 2-2 count I was just
trying to put the ball in play," Rob¬
erts said.
The victory was the Bulldogs'
largest come-from-behind win this
season. They scored three runs in
the bottom of the ninth to finally
overcome a lead that had reached
7-1 in the third.
After winning two-of-three
games against 11th-ranked Cal
State Northridge last weekend,
Fresno State (28-17,14-10) is look¬
ing for a repeat of the Western Ath¬
letic Conference title. Their post¬
season hopes do not lie in the hands
of the Matadors, who lead the
'Dogs by two games in the WAC
West.
"Northridge. has to obviously
lose, but if we can win these last
seven games, we have a shot at a
regional bid no matter what," Rob¬
erts said. "Especially after beating
a team like this who's gonna be in
the hunt."
The Bulldogs jumped ahead
early on the first bf centerfielder
Josh Kaitfors' two home runs on the
night.
"It was just one of those days I
guess," Kaitfors said. "I was hitting
the ball real well during batting
practice. It seemed like the wind
was blowing out real good, and a
lot of 'em went out."
But the Broncos (28-17,12-4 in
the West Coast Conference) struck
Please see BASEBALL, Page 11.
Think the city of Fresno needs a
professional baseball team to bring
out the baseball fanatics in the com¬
munity? Think again.
The fans in Section M bleed
baseball. Bulldog baseball. Here the
wisecracks flow almost as fast as
the suds.
Meet perhaps the biggest Dia¬
mond 'Dog fan of them all, a man
fondly known and loved as "Sugar
Bear." He is perhaps the Chris
Berman of Fresno, rattling off witty
quips and hilarious player nick¬
names, some of which shouldn't be
repeated in these pages, faster than
a blink of a large Liz Taylor eye¬
lash, v
A middle-aged man probably in
his early 40's, with Elvis sideburns,
a graying beard and protruding
paunch, perhaps as a result of pro¬
longed stints of "Miller Time" at the
old ballyard. Sugar Bear is surely
the rowdy and charismatic ring¬
leader of the bunch.
See Sugar Bear dancing away on
top of his seat See one of his many
sidekicks, "Smitty", playing catch
fwith a young boy. When the boy's
tbss goes a*stray, knocking over
Please see CROCE, Page 11.
Top NYL pitcher to
join Bulldog rotation
■ Amanda Scott, 27-2
this season for Clovis
High, ignores UCLA,
Arizona to Join 'Dogs
By Matthew Lievre
Sports Writer
You can sty it might be the
equivalent to Greg Maddux, Tom
Glavine, John Smoltz, and Steve
Avery, but with a softball flavor.
The Fresno-State softball team
landed right-handed pitcher
Amanda Scott from Clovis High
School to go along with current
Bulldogs Jennifer Clark, Kim Peck
and Lindsay Parker for the 1996-
97 season.
Clovis, which is in first place in
the Northwest Yosemite League,
boasts a 27-2 record behind Scott's
microscopic earned run average of
.008.
'1 chose Fresno because it has a
really strong program," Scott said.
"I have followed the program ever
since I was young and there is a lot
of community support.
"I also will get to stay at home
and play in front of my friends and
family."
Scott who was also recruited by
Arizona, UCLA and Washington
has no problem coming into a pro¬
gram that is loaded with pitchers.
"I am going to come in and do
the best I can," Scott said. 'They
are all great pitchers and I can't wait
to work with them."
For Head Coach Margie Wright
the rich keep getting richer with the
acquisition of Scott.
"She is going to be an addition
to,three outstanding pitchers,"
, Wright said. "We very well coujd
have the best pitching staff in the
: country again next year, which I
think we are real close to that this
: year. The' addition of Amanda is
definitely a;plus-.•:        .; ».   '*
Lady nettersface
Lobos in season finale
■ Women's tennis team
would break season win
record with win today
By Paige De vers
Sports Writer
The Fresno State women's ten¬
nis team looks to break the school
record for single-season wins today
at 11:00 am. at the Fresno State
Tennis Courts.
New Mexico's Head Coach
Kathy Kolankiewicz, and her 13-
10 Lobos are all that stand in the
way of the Bulldogs goal.
Kolankiewicz's top singles play¬
ers are sophomore Aimee Hites( 14-
8), senior Alicia Meraz (14-7) and
senior Angela Skrbic (13-9). New
Mexico's doubles team's are led by
Meraz and Jill Gutierrez 16-5.
Fresno State Head Coach Irene Har¬
ris thinks the Lobos are a hard team
to beat and are a good match for
the Bulldogs prior to the WAC
Championships.
"They [New Mexico! have ex¬
cellent depth," Harris said.
"They'll be strong until the end."
Fresno State tied their single sea¬
son record of 21 wins set in in 1992
(the team tied the mark again in
1994), in a victory over Loyola
Marymount last Thursday. In the
7-2 win. No. 1 seed Dora Djilianova
improved her season record to 20-
2, and doubles teammates Liz
Marpuri and Laura Townsend won
their 21st match of the season.
Harris, understandably said she
is excited at the opportunity to
break the school record.
Fresno State will host the WAC
Championships beginning from the
25-27. The finals will be on Satur¬
day at 1:30 p.m. The cost of the
three-day tournament is $5 a day or
$10 for the entire tournament.
Fresno will host BYU, San Diego
State, New Mexico, Utah, UTEP,
and Colorado State.