Spring Sports Round-Up

The win was the first for TSU in nine career meetings with Rice and the second for a SWAC champion in an opening round game of an NCAA Regional. A year ago, SWAC champion Southern knocked off Southern Mississippi in a first round matchup.

The Tigers couldn't sustain the momentum of that big victory however, dropping a 12-1 decision to eventual region champ, Texas A&M, before being eliminated by Rice, 7-1, Saturday.

But the outcome didn't dim what was certainly the biggest victory in TSU and perhaps SWAC history.

To get the historic win, the Tigers had to overcome lightning and rain which halted play on two occasions during the contest for a combined total of more than three hours. Perhaps a bigger obstacle was getting by Rice ace right-hander Phillip Humber, an all-American pitcher who went to the New York Mets with the third overall pick of Monday's Major League Draft.

Coachman's blast off Humber gave TSU the 4-3 lead. The Tigers then had to wait out a two-hour rain delay. When play resumed, Rice loaded the bases off TSU pitcher Brandon Stricklen in the ninth inning before he retired the Owls on a groundout to second.

"I always tell my kids that we don't have everything that Rice or Houston has," said TSU coach Candy Robinson. "But we do have determination and the drive to give that 110 percent and win."

TSU finishes with a 19-35 record.

D-1 Track & Field
A group of over 20 black college athletes will be vying for national honors when the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships gets under way Wednesday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

The University of Texas at Austin serves as the host.

Student-athletes qualified for the championships by reaching the automatic and provisional standards established for each event.

Howard hurdler David Oliver (110-meter hurdles) and Hampton sprinter Jerome Mathis (200 meters) are among the favorites to earn all-American status.

Oliver's best time of 13.55 places him fifth among qualifiers in the hurdles. Oliver earned all-American designation last year with a fourth place finish in the event, running a then-best 13.6.

Mathis blazed to a time of 20.48 last year to earn second place in the 200-meter final. His time of 20.32 this season is the sixth best amongst qualifiers.

On the women's side, Texas Southern junior Tremedia Brice is ranked the highest, qualifying seventh in 11.30 in the 100 meters.

B-CC bows out early
MEAC baseball champion Bethune-Cookman went out early in the double-elimination NCAA Regional tournament in Tallahassee.

The Wildcats fell 10-1 to the top-seeded host Seminoles on Friday and then suffered a 4-1 defeat to #2 Oklahoma State on Saturday.

B-CC finished the season with a 27-28 record.

© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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