• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1985-04-25_Vol49_No27_06

6 Western Carolinian April 25, 1985 Sports Baseball Cats Slide into Playoffs Despite dropping three games and the Southern Conference south division championship to Davidson last weekend, the Western Carolina baseball team has its sights set on the conference tournament championship and the NCAA tournament bid that goes with it. The SC tournament is slated for this weekend, April 26-28, in Boone, NC. The opening game will match south division winner Davidson against north division runner-up Marshall at 11:00 am on Friday, followed by WCU against north division champ and tournament host Appalachian State at approximately 2:00 pm. In the double-elimination format, the losers of Friday's games will play at 9:00 am Saturday, while the winners will meet at about noon. The final game on Saturday, set for 3:00 pm, will pit the winner of the 9:00 game against the loser of the noon game, with the championship game scheduled for noon Sunday. A second game, if necessary, will follow immediately- Western will have a chance to avenge last year's tournament loss to Appalachian. The Cats carried a 5-2 lead into the eighth inning of that game, which was played at WCU, but ASU scored seven runs in the inning and held on to post a 9-5 victory. According to Western coach Jack Leggett, that loss may help to fire his team up. "We're looking forward to playing Appalachian in the tournament. Last year's loss just gives us more incentive to win this year." The two teams split a doubleheader in Cullowhee earlier this season, with ASU winning the opener 12- 6 and Western bouncing back 7-5 in the second game. Appalachian, 35-11 overall and 14-3 in the conference, goes into the tournament as the heavy favorite. The Mountaineers lead the SC in hitting (.331 average) and pitching (4.11 ERA) in addition to having the home field advantage. Leggett agrees with that assessment. "It seems like all four teams are playing their best ball of the season going into the tournament. Pitching is the key in a tournament like this, and Appalachian has the most pitching depth. They have to be the favorites. But Marshall's strong point all season has been their pitching, and Davidson's has improved vastly. They can't be overlooked." Marshall (22-16, 10-8) has won 15 of their last 20 games, and ranks third in SC pitching with a 5.17ERA. Davidson(20-14, 11-5) has been the surprise of the conference, bouncing back from a 1-5 conference start to post ten straight south division victories. The Wildcats boast the SC's top hitter in Bill Masse (.451) and are second as a team (.317). As for the Catamounts, the sweep by Davidson ended a six- game conference winning streak and a seven-game streak overall. WCU ace Scott Gay, who was 14- 0 in the conference over the last two seasons, took a hard-luck 3-2 loss in the opener, as two of the Wildcat runs were unearned. WCU then blew a 9-7 lead in the second game, giving up two runs in the seventh inning and one in the eighth for a 10-9 loss. In the finale, the Cats managed only one run on ten hits while dropping a 4- 1 decision. Earlier in the week, WCU got outstanding pitching in a doubleheader sweep of Wofford on Wednesday. Jeff Holshouser blanked the Terriers 10-0 on four hits in the first game, while Gary Shamp threw six and a third innings of no-hit ball before settling for a two-hitter, as the Cats took the nightcap 11-0. On Thursday, Western won a 15-13 slugfest at Carson-Newman behind Pat Riley's two home runs and Robbie Gordon's second grand slam of the season. Despite the three losses at Davidson, Leggett is still optimistic. "We had momentum going into the weekend. By my thinking, momentum is not just wins and losses, but how you're playing, and we're playing well right now. We could have won all three games, but Davidson just played a little bit better than we did." Statistically, Mike Carson (.365) and David Hyatt (.364) continue to pace the Cats in hitting. Carson is also tops in doubles (19) and slugging percentage (.606). Jim Eldredge, who is expected back for the tournament after missing 14 games with an ankle injury, continues to lead the team with 8 home runs and 46 runs batted in. John Milewski and Scott Gay are still atop the pitching stats. Milewski has appeared in a school-recor 20 games this season in posting his 4-1 record and team- leading 2.45 ERA. Gay (9-2, 3.21 ERA) tops the team in wins (9), starts (12), complete games (5), innings pitched (84) and strikeouts (86). Louis Cooper, AH American Defenseive End, will probably go early in the NFL draft on April 30. Sports Shorts photo by Mark Haskett Reds Take Lead in NL West By JEFF CHAPMAN Sports Writer Major League Baseball: The Seattle Mariners, after starting 6- 0, have lost five of their last six games to slip into a three-way tie with the Oakland A's and the California Angles in the American League West division. The A's and Angels have come back from 0-2 starts to win seven of their last ten. Inthe American League East, there is only a two and a half game spread between the divisional leaders, the Detroit Tigers and the last place Cleveland Indians. The AL's worst record presently belongs to the Minnesota Twins, losers of nine in a row after winning their first two. The New York Mets and Cincinatti Reds are leading the National League East and West, respectively. The Houston Astros, winners of three straight, have pulled to within one game of the Reds in the West. National League Player of the Week Dennis Eckersly pitched two shutouts in leading the Chicago Cubs to their current second place standing in the NL East. The American League's Player of the Week was Shortstop Julio Franco of the Cleveland Indians who went 8 for 17 to increase his league-leading batting average to .486. Netters Try for Crown in Southern Conference Tournament Western Carolina's tennis team opens the last week of the 1985 season with hopes of ending the week with the school's best finish ever in the Southern Conference Tournament. Before opening play in the conference tournament, WCU's netters faced Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, Monday and will face The Citadel in Greenville Wednesday. Before opening play in the conference tournament, WCU's netters faced Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee Monday and will face The Citadel in Greenville Wednesday. The Southern Conference Championship Tournament will be played at Furman University in Greenville beginning Thursday and will run through Saturday. The Catamounts hopes of bettering last season's sixth place finish rests heavily on the shoulders of Tad Grattan and Fernando By JEFF CHAPMAN Sports Writer Kelly. Grattan, WCU's No. 1 singles player, has the second best record in the conference to date with a 15- 4 record. The St. Petersburg, Florida sophomore finished third in the No. 1 singles in last season's tournament in Johnson City, Tennessee. Kelly, a sophomore from the Dominican Republic, owns the second best record among the league's No. 2 singles player (13- 5). He finished fifth in last year's tournament playing No. 3 singles. Another hopeful for the Catamounts is No. 4 singles player Ed Jagger who owns an 11-8, record. In action last week, WCU lost a pair of matches to conference opponents. Furman won 7-2 Thursday in Greenville despite wins by Grattan and Kelly in the singles. Davidson came to Cullowhee Saturday and took home an 8-1 win as Western's only, victory came in the No. 2 singles with Kelly. Track and Field team looks to Championships Western Carolina University will be looking for its highest finish ever and harbors hopes of challenging Appalachian State for the Southern Conference Track and Field Championship when the league's nine teams gather in Boone this weekend for the 62nd annual meet. Coach Don Mil wood thinks his team can better last season's fourth place finish with continued strong performances from his relay teams and individuals such as Phil Roberts, Earl Bates, Ricky Schell, Charles Weddington, Steve Foster and Nelson Dixon. 'This team has the best chance that WCU has ever had of finishing in the top three in the conference meet," said Milwood, the Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year for 1985. "The key to our success will be depth....getting a lot of third, fourth and fifth place finishes....and staying injury free," he added. The meet gets underway at 10:00 a.m. Friday with the 10,000 meters run and will conclude late Saturday afternoon with the 1600 meters relay. In between, championships in 18 other events will be determined. Appalachian State is the defending champion as the Mountaineers rolled up 201|/2 points last April in Huntington, West Virginia. Virginia Military Institute finished second last year with 127 points followed by East Tennessee State (82), WCU (78), The Citadel (61), Marshall (48 Vi), Furman (20) and Davidson (2). WCU's relay teams rank in the top three among conference schools this spring. Bates is the defending 400 meters champion while Roberts has the best time in the 3,000 meters steeplechase and third best time in the 10,000 meters. Schell has the best clocking in the 100 meters while Foster and Dixon are tied with the second best long jump distance. Weddington has the second best shot put. photo by Mark Haskett The National Football League will hold its annual college draft on Tuesday, April 30. Top prospects include Offensive Tackle Bill Fralic of Pittsburgh, a three-time All-American; Ethan Horton. North Carolina's star running back; and wide receiver Ed Brown of the University of Miami. The Buffalo Bills, who own the first pick, have already signed Virginia Tech defensive end Bruce Smith, the 1984 Outland Trophy winner. Western Carolina's Louis Cooper is expected to be a choice in the early rounds Thomas Hearns suffered a broken right hand in his bout with "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler... Michael Jordan and Houston's Akeem Olajuwan, who led their teams to the playoffs, were unanimous choices to the NBA's All-Rookie team Jimmy Abbott, a one-handed pitcher at Flint Central High School in Flint, Michigan, threw a no-hitter in a 4-0 win over Schwartz Creek last week the defending champion Soviet Union crushedTeam USA 11-1 in the first game of the World Hockey Championships last Wednesday in Prague, Chechoslovokia Doug Dieken, a fourteen year veteran offensive tackle with the Cleveland Browns has announced his retirement Statistical leaders for the 1984-85 NBA regular season include: Scoring -Bernard King, New York Knicks (32.9 points per game); Assists-Isaiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons (13.9 per game); Rebounding - Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers( 13.1 per game); the Los Angeles Lakers as a team his 54.5% of their field goals to lead the league while the Milwaukee Bucks boasted the NBA's best defense, holding opponents to 104 points per game Future North Carolina Tar Heel Jeff Lebo, a guard from Carlisle PA, and forward Kevin Madden of Staunton, VA, were named to the USA Today's 1985 High School All-America basketball team. Player of the Year Danny Ferry, a center from Hyattsville, MD, has signed with Duke....This year's Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, May 4 at Churchill Downs Masters Champion Bernard Langer won for the second week in a row, capturing the Sea Pines Heritage Classic at Hilton Head Island, S.C. Langer defeated Bobby Wadkins on the first hole of their sudden death playoff after both golfers had finished play with scores of 273 (11 under par) Defending Champion Ivan Lend! scored a 6-4, 6-2 victory over John McEnroe in the finals of the Suntory Cup Tournament in Tokyo This Week's Trivia: In October 1916, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland College 220 to 0 in a college football game, the largest margin of victory ever recorded in a sporting event. HAPPY HOUR Between 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm Monday - Thursday 10% Off OFFER ENDS APRIL 30TH [SYLVA PACKAGE STORE CURB SERVICE COLDEST BEER FREE ICE 25$ Off With College I.D. After Happy Hour Hours 9:00 am-11:00 pm Monday - thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 om Friday - Saturday 14 Asheville Hwy. SYLVA

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University’s student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1985-04-25
  • Date digitized: 2019-02-28
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 15"
  • Pages: 8 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1985-04-25_Vol49_No27
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library