Read Then Recycle
March 26,1998
Sports
Page 11
Blazer batters start season with wins; Florida trip sees CSB smother foes
By Eric Brever Editorial Staff Writer
The beach is usually the location of choice when college students head for warm weather in the springtime. However, on their season-opening trip to Florida over spring break, the only sand the CSB softball team saw was on the diamond. But they had their fun there, as the Blazers piled up impressive stats beginning their season with a 9-1-1 record and wins over several nationally respected teams.
"This was more than I had hoped for," said coach Dennis Johnson, who needs only eight more wins to reach his 300th career victory. "We had a fun time."
Despite being their first chance to play outdoors, the Blazers were very successful, recording only one loss in 11 games over five days. According to Johnson, the main concern for the team was the transition to the dirt and grass from the confines of the Clemens
Fieldhouse. CSB seemed to have no problem trading in tennis shoes for spikes, posting a team batting average of .333 and a team fielding percentage of .948.
However, the stats don't reflect the entire tour. Although sickness and a broken nose sidelined CSB players, the Blazers were still able to knock off some very good competition. While CSB defeated respected teams such as Tufts University and Bowdoin College, perhaps more impressive was sophomore Angie Erickson's performance in throwing a no-hitter against Wheaton College en route to an 8-0 Blazer rout. Tufts, in Massachusetts, is one of the top four teams in the New England region, and Wheaton. also in Massachusetts, finishea third in NCAA Division III last season.
The blemishes on the Blazers' record came in a tie with Keene State College of New Hampshire and a loss to Rhode Island College. Keene State, which had been a Division II school up until this year, stalemated CSB 8-8. The following day Rhode Island dealt
Spectrum nearing completion
Fieldhouse opening expected April 1
SJU baseball players gear up for Florida in PHOTO BY DAVE BUSCH
the McNeely Spectrum.
By Lor Lee
v Staff Writer
Anyone who was at St. John's over the summer will recall waking up to bright sun in the eyes, the sound of birds singing, and the smell of construction in the air. Since the beginning of the school year the construction crew has been pounding away at an enormous structure—the new St. John's fieldhouse next to the Palaestra, which is nearing completion. The "McNeely Spectrum" will be open to the public in early April.
"The Spectrum was built because we felt that there was a complete need for more athletic r~ space," said Jim Smith, SJU athletic director. Original designs for the Palaestra called for a field-house; however, the plans fell through and only the Palaestra as we know it was built. Ever since, there has been a longing for an indoor facility, especially because the former indoor track in the Palaestra was built on the mile system. Soon after, the standard switched to the metric system, leaving the track virtually useless.
The McNeely Spectrum is a 300 x 210-foot athletic facility with a 200-meter six-lane track, with eight lanes on the straightaways. It also can hold five tennis ' courts, two collegiate-sized basketball courts, two high school sized basketball courts and two baseball infields. It is 55 feet high
on one end and a little over 30 feet high on the other.
Compared to the other field-houses around the state, the Spectrum rates among the best. "I haven't seen every facility in the state, but just from the ones I've seen, ours ranks very high overall. And the indoor track facility is one of the top facilities around," boasted Smith.
"Hopefully, the Spectrum will be open on April 1 to the public. And the official dedication will be held on April 17," explained Smith. The construction crew is still hanging up nets and curtains. There is also a strong possibility that bleachers will be available for future indoor track meets.
The Palaestra has seen its own share of changes as well. Besides the new top-oi-the-line fitness center, the gym has also gotten a facelift. A hardwood maple floor replaces the rubber-like tartan floor. Sometime soon the basketball court or the gym will also be given a name.
Also, at the beginning of the year a new climbing wall was approved for installation in the Palaestra, but eight months later nothing has been done. Financial problems have sidetracked the project as it probably won't happen this year. The latest proposal is to have two racquetball courts be used to house the new climbing wall. This probably will not affect racquetball players since there are presently six courts available.
the Blazers a narrow 2-1 loss, scoring both runs on the few errors CSB committed over the trip. In the next seven games, though, the Blazers outscored their opponents 55-3.
"We had some unfortunate circumstances... which slowed us those first four games, with a loss and a tie," said Johnson. "But we got everyone back and we started Firing."
CSB was motivated by the pitching duo of Erickson and junior Angie Fischer, who led the pitching staff to a combined ERA of .740. Erickson finished 6-0-1 with an ERA of .194, which translates to two tenths of a run a game. The CSB batting corps was fed by sophomores Mary Welle and Carrie Holly, who batted .514 and .394 respectively, and junior Nikki Dold, who batted .472.
"We had outstanding pitching," said Johnson. "The two Angies leading the staff gave us a good one-two punch."
The Blazers even enjoyed the comfort of community support during the trip, as several parents and St. Joseph residents went to Fort Myers to watch CSB play sev-
eral games. The SJU baseball team also made a short trip to cheer on the Blazers. However, when CSB tried to return the favor, five inch-
¦See Softball Page 12
Softball players use the cages in preparation for their Florida trip.
PHOTO BY JOSH EVANS
SJU baseball scores big; wins come up short
Jays' return from tough Florida trip ready for Ml AC season
By Jim Berg Staff Writer
SJU baseball began its season last week by scoring 65 runs in its first six games at Fort Myers, Fla. The hot weather wasn't enough to heat up SIU pitchers, though, as they coula manage only two wins.
Aside from 18-1 and 12-1 wins over Eureka College, the Johnnies' pitching was lagging behind the hitting all week.
"The pitching was shaky at times, but the younger pitcHers gained experience," stated sophomore pitcher Dave Kreft. "Coming back to the colder weather environment will hopefully heat the young arms up."
The other Johnnie games resulted in losses to Aurora College, 13-9, MacMurray College, 16-10, and two losses to Fontbonne
College, 19-12 and 9-4. Averaging over 10 runs a game, SJIPs offense was there all week.
"We are going to be able to score runs." said Coach Jerry Haugen of his team's offense. "[However], pitching and outfield play needs to oe concentrated on."
The lackluster performance of ' the pitchers and outfielders could almost be expected. Construction on the new fieldhouse has given the team limited practice time. When they were allowed to practice, they were forced to do so on the basketball courts without batting cages and other equipment. The team was unable to take batting practice and pitchers couldn't pitch to live batters.
In addition, the team had no scrimmages or games under its belt. Normally, the team would have had games at the Metrodome
prior to their trip down south.
"We played games against four teams wno had already played 10 or 12 games," explained Haugen. Haugen expects the pitching and fielding to come around as the team gets more practice and games in.
Haugen's expectations are fair considering the team's good mix of experienced and young players. Although losing two key All-MIAC performers from last year, two All-MIAC recipients will be returning. Senior Matt Ode, who broke SJU's career homerun record last year, will return, as well as junior pitcher Joel Swenson.
The MIAC race is expected to be close this year with defending champs St. Thomas, St. Olaf, Concordia, St. Mary's, and SJU all contending for the championship.
¦See Baseball Page 12
The Record
SCOREBOARD
CSB Basketball (25-2) March 13: Mount Union 67, CSB 63 SJU Baseball (2-4)
March 15: Eureka 1-1, SJU 18-12
March 16: MacMurray 16, SJU 10
March 16: Aurora 13, SJU 9
March 17: Fontbonne 19-9, SJU 12-4
March 19: Central vs. SJU, rain
March 20: UW-Stevens Point vs. SJU, rain
CSB Tennis (5-2)
March 13: at St. Thomas 4, CSB 5 March 17: Dennison 2, CSB 7
CSB Softball (9-1-1)
March 15: St. Joseph 1, CSB 6 March 15: Keene St. 8, CSB 8 March 16: Rhode Island 2, CSB 1 March 16: Elms 0, CSB 8 March 17: Hilbert 1, CSB 11 March 17: Teikyo Post 0, CSB 5 March 19: Wheaton 0, CSB 8 March 19: Roger Williams 1, CSB 9 March 20: Wesleyan 0, CSB 9 March 20: Tufts 0, CSB 2 March 21: Bowdoin 1, CSB 11
SJU Tennis (3-2) March 13: at St. Thomas 8, SJU 1
Quote of the week:
'I thought that's all my job was—to drive the bus and make sandwiches."
—SJU swimming coach Pat Haws, on his job duties.
