Feb. 23, 2011

 

It was a perfect weekend in Aggieland as we won three baseball games, four softball games, and a women’s basketball game. Away from home, it was near perfect as our No. 17 men’s basketball team beat Oklahoma State in Stillwater, and our men’s golf team finished second in Hawaii. Our No. 10 men’s tennis team went 1-2 against some tough competition at the ITA National Indoors.

This is the time of year when our winter sports overlap with our spring sports. It’s a challenge to schedule each of the home events without conflict, and we realize many of our fans must pick and choose which events to come to when many have similar start times. On behalf of our student-athletes and coaches, I thank the 12th Man for making the choice to attend when your schedule and our schedule allows.

Some of you have written me concerned with attendance at men’s basketball games. We’ve had three sellouts this season as more than 132,000 fans have attended our 15 home games. In Big 12 games at Reed we average 86 percent capacity, which ranks 5th in the Big 12.

The second half of conference play usually dictates a team’s postseason placement. Did you know our men’s basketball team is 16-4 over the last half of the Big 12 schedule during the last three seasons with Coach Mark Turgeon? We have finished with 6-2 records over the last eight league games the past two years. We are 4-0 entering tonight’s game against Oklahoma. We also have a four-game winning streak in Big 12 play. Prior to Mark being our coach, a four-game conference winning streak had happened only three times in school history.

The bottom line is we have room for more fans to attend, and I hope the 12th Man fills the stands for our final two home games. I’m proud to say we have never turned away a student with a valid sports card from attending our basketball games.

Tonight is Family Night presented by KBTX and Old Army Spirit Company. We are offering half-price tickets as we host Oklahoma at 6:30 p.m. Click here to purchase.

The game will be televised by FSN in Texas and Oklahoma. Due to NBA games, Direct TV will show the game on channel 677 while Dish Network will use channel 451. Cable viewers in the San Antonio Spurs area will see the game on FSN Southwest, while other cable viewers should tune to the FSN Plus channel.

The final chance to see our men’s basketball team at Reed Arena will be next Saturday, March 5 when we host Texas Tech at 12:45 p.m. It will be senior day.

This Saturday, our team will be at Baylor for an 8 p.m. start on ESPNU.

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Last night our No. 5 women’s basketball team had a terrific, 84-60, win over Texas Tech at Reed Arena. Senior Danielle Adams scored 30 points and junior Tyra White scored 20 points.

We continue to be ranked No. 5 nationally this week, and our 23-3 overall record continues to set a new standard for women’s basketball at Texas A&M. Our strength of schedule is ranked as high as No. 5 in the country to go with our RPI of No. 5.

Coach Gary Blair and our team have a few extra days to prepare for Sunday’s State Farm Lone Star Showdown in the state capital. Game time is 2 p.m. and it will be televised by FSN. I’m proud to say we have enjoyed much success in recent years over our friends from the state capital in women’s basketball. We’ve won nine straight and 11 of the last 12 in the series.

We still have space available for the bus trip to the state capital. The cost is $35 for non-Maroon Club members and includes a game ticket, transportation, and a bus snack. To sign-up call 979-846-3024.

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The weather could not have been better for the start of baseball and softball last weekend.

Coach Rob Childress and our No. 8 baseball team swept LeMoyne in three games by a combined score of 27-3. We had terrific starting pitching performances by John Stilson, Michael Wacha, and Ross Hales. Our bullpen provided relief exactly as prescribed by Coach Childress. Each game our starting pitcher went six innings, and a relief pitcher stepped in one inning at a time.

Offensively, Matt Juengel led the way with two home runs, and seven RBI’s as part of his .455 batting average. Tyler Naquin added three triples and a double as he had four RBIs.

Last night, we beat Prairie View A&M by the score of 11-1. Our offense continues to click as Matt Juengel added four RBI’s to his season total. Meanwhile, Dylan Mendoza pitched six innings before three teammates relieved him.

This weekend, we welcome Gonzaga to Olsen Field for three games. The series starts Friday at 6:35 p.m. The game on Saturday will be at 2:05 p.m. and Sunday’s game will be at 12:05 p.m.

Back by popular demand is the Take Me Out to the Ballgame promotion on all Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday games where kids get in free with a paying adult.

Click here for more information on purchasing season tickets.

Single game tickets for all games are available now by clicking here.

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Across the street from Olsen Field, our No. 21 softball team was working hard wining all four of our games in the Aggie Classic presented by Holiday Inn.

Rhiannon Kliesing led the way for us with a .600 batting average in six games, going 9-for-15 with three doubles, three home runs, five runs, and 12 RBI. Meanwhile, pitcher Lindsey Sisk had a 1.40 ERA with three wins in three complete games, including one shutout. She struck out 21 batters in 25.2 innings.

Last night, we shutout Texas State, 6-0. We have won eight straight games as part of our 9-3 record.

Coach Jo Evans will take our team to California this weekend to participate in the Cathedral City Classic. We face Washington and Long Beach State on Friday, and Ohio State and Georgia on Saturday. The tournament concludes on Sunday as we face Northwestern.

You can hear all of our softball games this season at AggieAthletics.com. Many games can also be heard over-the-air on local radio station KZNE 1150 AM.

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It’s a busy week for Big 12 Championships.

Good luck to our indoor track and field teams and our swimming and diving teams as we compete in Big 12 Championships in Lincoln, Neb., and over in the state capital, respectively.

Our men’s track and field team enters the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships ranked No. 4 nationally, while our women’s track and field team is ranked No. 5 in the country.

Coach Pat Henry and our women’s team have won the last four Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships, while our men’s team has finished third each of the last two years.

Gabby Mayo has achieved double event titles the past two years for us at the Big 12 meet, winning both the 60 meters and 60 hurdles. In the process, Gabby has earned high-point honors at the conference meet in both seasons.

Jessica Beard is the three-time defending champion and can sweep the conference indoor titles in the 400m. A fourth indoor title in the 400 would make Jessica the first female to claim four event titles in the same event during a Big 12 Indoor Championship.

Our 4 x400 relay team is undefeated this season and has an eight-meet indoor winning streak which started at last year’s Big 12 meet. Last year, we snapped a 12-year winning streak by Baylor and on the way to winning the NCAA title.

After this weekend, our coaching staff and team will focus on the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships being hosted at our Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on March 11-12. Let’s have a full house at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium as we compete for a national championship on our home track.

It will mark the second time for us to host the event in the last three years. Tickets for the NCAAs are available by clicking here.

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Meanwhile, our No. 18 men’s and No. 10 women’s swimming and diving teams have been training for the Big 12 Championships which start today in the state capital. The championship meet concludes on Saturday night.

Our women’s team is the defending Big 12 Champion and has won three of the last four Big 12 Championships.

You can follow the meet by clicking here.

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Our No. 1-ranked equestrian team returns to action this weekend with a pair of shows on the road. On Saturday, we are at Kansas State before heading to Oklahoma State for a show on Sunday. The regular season will conclude in late March with a show at Fresno State.

We are 8-0 and the unanimous No. 1 team in the latest national poll.

Texas A&M and the Brazos County Expo Complex will serve as the host for the Big 12 Championships on April 1-2.

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Coach Bobby Kleinecke and our women’s tennis team enjoyed a week off from competition. The schedule resumes Thursday as we host Fresno State at 6 p.m. This Saturday, we will host Washington at 1 p.m.

We have won three of our last four matches, including the last two at the Mitchell Tennis Center.

Meanwhile, our No. 14 men’s tennis team faced some tough competition last weekend at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle. As the No. 9-seed, we went 1-2 with a win over No. 13-seeded Texas Tech and losses to No. 8-seeded Illinois and No. 16-seeded Washington.

Tonight our men’s team is in Fort Worth to face TCU for a 6 p.m. match.

Our team returns home for a double header on Sunday with LSU at 1 p.m. and Texas-Arlington at 6 p.m.

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The results being posted by our No. 8-ranked men’s golf team continue to be impressive. After terrific fall play, our team started the spring schedule with a second place finish at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate tournament in Hawaii. Congratulations to senior John Hurley, who finished in a three-way tie for first place and tied a career best with a 10-under 206 (69-70-67). John played as an individual and lost on the second playoff hole.

Our team scoring was paced by junior Jordan Russell who finished at 8-under, two shots back of the lead and in a tie for fourth place with teammate Conrad Schindler.

This weekend we will play in Palm Desert, Calif., in the Wyoming Desert Classic.

Our women’s golf team finished third yesterday at the Central District Invitational in Parrish, Fla. We finished ahead of eight teams ranked higher than us. Katerina Ruzickova led our team as she tied for fifth overall with a 1-over 217. Sarah Zwartynski finished a shot back at 2-over.

This Sunday we start play in the AllState Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate in New Orleans.

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I hope you will mark your calendar for our annual Maroon and White Spring Football event which will be Saturday, April 16. We will share more details about the day’s schedule in the coming weeks.

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Yesterday was a terrific event inside the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium as approximately 2,500 second graders were on campus to receive a free bicycle helmet as part of Hard Hats for Little Heads.

 

Aggie Athletes Involved and Texas ENT & Allergy led the way along with College Station Medical Center, Texas Medical Association, Wells Fargo, AgriLIFE Extension, MSC Bookstore, and the Kiwanis Club to host the event which encourages child safety.

For the third year in a row, we were able to present a bicycle helmet to all Bryan ISD, College Station ISD and Navasota ISD second graders. Several of our athletes from sports like equestrian, softball, baseball, as well as football, joined City Mayors from Bryan, College Station and Navasota, and various community supporters in making the presentations.


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It was the first time for many of these students to visit the Texas A&M campus. One young person was so excited after a receiving a helmet that he said, “This is the best day of my life!”

Statistics say an average of 250 children in the United States under the age of 14 die each year because of a bicycle crash, while 300,000 children are treated in emergency rooms for severe head injuries.

I’m proud of Aggie Athletes Involved for being leaders through giving back to our community which has given so much to support us.

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Gig’em!