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OLSEN FIELDthebattalion

INSIDER 2.14.14

Inside: Letters to the editor, men’s and women’s basketball, Diamond Darlings, singing Valentines and more.

BAT_2-14-13_A1-A16.indd 1 2/13/14 11:21 PM

I think these allegations are ridiculous, the timing of this trial is childish, and the fact that all of this is being done ‘in

the dark’ is just plain stupid. I supported Reid one year ago during the campaign process, and have stood by everything he’s done since then. In my opinion, he is the only SBP during my four years at TAMU to achieve success through his term, remain active, stay acces-sible to students, and actually DO something.

I don’t mean to offend anyone or point to any of you individually, because I don’t know what goes on during SGA meetings. However, my distrust of the student senate (which I believe accurately reflects the opinion of the student body) is at an all-time high. Moving forward with this investigation would prove to

all that as a whole, the student senate is motivated by selfish desires and petty disagreements. It would be a total shit-show.

Personally, I am so thankful I chose to serve the College of Education and Human Development outside of the scope of student government. The message you are sending, especially over the past year, is not one that I support. Again, I mean no personal disrespect to either of you three. I would like to reiterate the fact that I do not know where you stand on all this. I just feel you need to know where I do. It’s beside Reid Joseph.

Katherine Elmer, senior kinesiology major

Senators, as rep-resentatives of the College of

Education and Human Development, I’d like you to hear my opin-ion on Reid Joseph’s upcoming impeach-ment trial. I am one of your constituents, and feel that my voice should be heard.

2 15insider

Undefeated A&M settles in for Aggie Classic

Coming off an 8-3 romp over the Sam Houston State Bearkats on Wednesday, the No. 8 Texas

A&M softball team returns home to the Aggie Softball Complex this weekend to host the Aggie Classic.

The Aggies look to add to their unbeaten start to the season and increase their record to 7-0 in Friday’s double-header against the Oregon State Beavers and McNeese State Cowgirls at 3 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., re-spectively.

The Aggie Classic will continue on Saturday as the Aggies are slated for a rematch of Friday’s games against the Beavers and Cowgirls.

Oregon State comes into the weekend sporting a 3-3 record after returning nine letter winners from last season’s seventh-place finish in the Pac-12. The Beavers are led by freshman Kylie Padilla, who leads the OSU offense after hitting 0.471 last weekend — including three doubles, two triples and a home run.

McNeese State enters the pair of weekend match-ups coming off a 3-2 weekend at the South Alabama Mardi Gras Tournament. The Cowgirls return eight starters from last year’s Southland Conference regular season team and boast two players hitting more than 0.400 this season.

A&M will close out its weekend with a 12:15 p.m. opening pitch Sunday against the Tulsa Golden Hurri-canes. The Hurricanes come into this weekend’s tour-nament coming off a 4-1 record at the FAU Kick-Off Classic and a pitching staff that yields only two earned runs this season.

The Aggies lead all three of this weekend’s oppo-nents in all-time head to head games. A&M is 6-2 all-time against the Beavers with the last meeting in 2010 ending in a 6-4 victory for the Aggies. The Aggies lead the all-time ledger against McNeese State 24-4 and own a 11-2 all-time edge over Tulsa, with the last meeting coming by way of an Aggie win in 2012.

Following this weekend’s tournament, the Ag-gies will hit the road for the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral Springs, Calif., where they will play No. 22 Arizona and San Diego on Thursday and No. 23 California and No. 8 Nebraska on Friday. A&M will close out the weekend Saturday with games against Cal State and Northridge.

Clay KoepkeThe Battalion

softball

voices

Aggies stride into season with Valentine’s weekend series at Olsen

Baseball season is back. The Aggies return to the diamond with a three-

game weekend series at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park against the Northeastern Huskies.

“Hey, we know it’s Valentine’s Day,” said head coach Rob Childress. “Bring your sweetheart out, buy them a hot dog and some Blue Bell and just have a great night. I know we’re looking forward to the fans, and most importantly, the stu-dents who sit above the first base dugout that make this atmosphere what it is.”

The first pitch will be thrown at 6:35 p.m. Friday with junior right-handed pitcher Daniel Mengden expected to get the start on the mound for the Aggies. Mengden finished the 2013 season with an 8-4 record and a 2.11 ERA and will face Northeastern’s probable starter, Nick Berger.

“It’s a great feeling,” Mengden said. “Coach [Childress] trusts me with the job and I am honored to have it. Now I’m ready to just go out there and have fun

with the guys.”This weekend’s series will mark the

first-ever meeting between the two pro-grams and the Aggies first-ever game against a member of the Colonial Athletic Conference.

Texas A&M enters the season returning 17 letterwinners — including seven posi-tional starters — from last year’s squad that advanced to the NCAA Championship. The Aggies return two All-SEC Second Team performers in outfielder Krey Brat-sen and pitcher Daniel Mengden, who are joined by SEC All-Defensive team selec-tion Cole Lankford.

The Huskies enter the 2014 campaign coming off a 31-26 record and fifth overall finish in the CAA. After ousting the No. 3, No. 6 and No. 1 seeds in the CAA Tour-nament, the Huskies fell to the No. 2 seed William & Mary in the CAA semifinals.

Skipper Neil McPhee, who is in his 29th and final season as the Huskies head coach, leads a Northeastern squad that re-turns four of its top five hitters from 2013.

Saturday’s game features the probable pitching matchup of A&M senior Parker

Ray going toe-to-toe against Huskies sophomore James Mulry, who earned 2013 CAA All-Rookie Team honors his freshman year. Last season, Ray appeared in 10 SEC games, including four starts, ranking No. 5 in the SEC with a 1.73 ERA.

A&M will close out its opening week-end Sunday with sophomore right-handed pitcher Grayson Long on the hill. Long appeared in 12 games, including 10 starts as a freshman last season en route to a 4-2 record and 3.52 ERA. Long will face off against Huskies senior Chris Carmain.

A&M junior shortstop Blake Allemand said the Aggies are ready to hit the dia-mond after the long offseason.

“We’re all excited to get out there,” Al-lemand said. “We’ve been practicing for what, eight months now? We’re excited to get out there, but we’re just trying to treat it like another day.”

Following this weekend’s series against Northeastern, the Aggies will continue their opening eight-game home stand Tuesday when they host Stephen F. Austin at Olsen Field.

Clay KoepkeThe Battalion

baseballTanner Garza — THE BATTALION

A&M opens its season against Northwestern this weekend to kick off an eight-game home stand.

I have been a student senator in the 65th and 66th sessions. I know all there is to know about the impeachment of the Student Body President, Reid Joseph. The fact that people can sit here and say that Richmond Howard, a guy not currently in senate, can control 21 people in one hour to sign a peti-tion is actually unreal. I’m not here to argue the validity of Reid’s impeachment. Reid has made mistakes. Mistakes that he person-

ally admitted to in front of me and apolo-gized for. That’s not why I’m writing this. I’m writing this for Richmond. The article put out the morning of the 13th proved to me that nice guys really do finish last. Rich-mond Howard and his entire campaign team worked their butts off trying to abide by every campaign rule and tried to show this university that SGA can change. The mali-cious people that started these rumors about Richmond and then the ignorant people that blindly believed them show the sad, sad state of affairs that this Student Government has become.

Richmond humbly removed himself from the race about 1 AM on February the 13th. He did not do this because he is weak. He did not do this because he couldn’t take the heat. He did this because the second our

campaign team had to spend our time fight-ing lies and focusing on the pettiness that is this impeachment instead of the original purpose behind our campaign, to better SGA with Richmond at the helm, we knew it was not worth it. Richmond Howard is a man of integrity. Anybody that says other-wise can try to take it up with him or me. But you will lose. At the end of all of this, I don’t care what you will say about me. I do care that the truth is at least told. Whether you believe it or not, again, I guess it is up to you.

Gracie Wood, senior political science major and campaign manager for

Richmond Howard

Letter to the editor: Richmond Howard is a man of integrity and has been unfairly treated

From Danish Khan, biochemistry graduate studentAs an international graduate student, I have been observing both the pro- and anti-SBP voices on campus, without prejudice. It seems clear to me that this whole impeachment business is more symbolic than based on substantive facts. Failure to file weekly reports or a monthly accounts report hardly makes for a compelling case against the SBP. Instead of reprimanding the SBP for his supposed dereliction of duty, the strong insistence and emphasis on impeachment only, gives way to the belief that there are ulterior motives at play. This ugly spat certainly does not make us look any better.

Yes. I am Richmond Howard’s head cam-paign manager. Does

this automatically discredit everything I say after this? Well, I guess that’s up to you.

Letter to the editor: Senators, I stand beside Reid Joseph

MAILCALL

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of Texas A&M University, The Battalion or its staff.

MAILCALL GUESTCOLUMNSMake your opinion known by submitting Mail Call or guest columns to The Battalion. Mail call must be fewer than 200 words and include the author’s name, classification, major and phone number. Staff and faculty must include title. Guest columns must be fewer than 700 words. All submissions should focus on issues not personalities, become property of The Battalion and are subject to editing for style, clarity and space concerns. Anonymous letters will be read, but not printed. The Battalion will print only one letter per author per month. No mail call will appear in The Battalion’s print or online editions before it is verified.

Direct all correspondence to: Editor in chief of The Battalion

(979) 845-3315 | mailcall@thebatt.com

EDITOR’SNOTE

BAT_2-14-13_A15-A2.indd 1 2/13/14 11:51 PM

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14 3

VALENTINES WITH FLAIRWomen’s chorus delivers musical

telegrams around town

The A&M Women’s Chorus helped spread the love around campus Thursday and Friday in its

35th year delivering singing valentines. The chorus delivered the musical telegrams as well

as candy, cards and carnations to Aggies on and off campus in Bryan-College Station.

Christine Cummins, junior psychology major, has been a member of the Women’s Chorus for two years.

“I think it’s great that we’re able to reach out to the campus and the community and provide them with a unique experience for somebody,” Cummins said.

Cummins said the reactions she receives from the recipients of the telegrams are always heart-warming.

“They’re usually really happy so it’s nice to be a part of bringing happiness to their day,” Cummins said.

Olivea Fernandes, junior human resources major, received a singing valentine while at work. Despite her surprise, she said she had a good idea as to the sender.

“I could take a really good guess,” Fernandes said. “It’s probably my best friend.”

Fernandes said singing valentines are a good way for someone to show they care.

“This is so creative and awesome, I love it,” Fer-nandes said.

Laura Star, freshman business administration ma-jor, received her musical telegram while in history class. Star said she assumed it was from her boyfriend of a few months.

“It was really unexpected, really sweet, and the singers were great and I really enjoyed it,” Star said.

Fernandes said the, “You Are My Sunshine,” tune sung to her by the Women’s Chorus was nice to listen to.

“They were very lovely ladies, I really liked it,” Fernandes said. “It was enjoyable.”

Cummins said she loves to deliver singing valen-tines because of the memories she gets to take part in.

“Last year, there were a couple of girls who actu-ally sang for a proposal and that was a lot of fun,” Cummins said. “It wasn’t planned or anything like that, but there were people at the Century Tree and [the chorus girls] saw them and sang songs for them.”

Cummins said giving a singing valentine to a loved one is a nice alternative to the standard Valentine’s Day gift.

“People are usually really surprised,” Cummins said. “It’s a unique way to say, ‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’ to someone. So if you go into class, people are usually like ‘Oh my god, I had no idea that you were going to do that.’ They’re usually really happy. It’s a cool, fun surprise for them.”

Katie CanalesSpecial to The Battalion

Holly Hague, freshman biomedical engineering major, Rachel Henry, junior marketing major, and Shirley Engelke, freshman general studies major, deliver a singing valentine to Laura Star, freshman business administration major, Thursday afternoon in the Chemistry Building.

David Cohen — THE BATTALION

New Olsen Field scoreboard is ‘cherry on top’ of A&M facilities

Measuring 1,358 square feet, Texas A&M’s new baseball video scoreboard is the

largest in the SEC and one of the five largest video boards in all of college baseball.

The screen’s installation was expedited when the University announced its renovation plans for the Student Recreation Center. Once construction begins on the Rec, the trucks that carry the mobile video board would no longer be able to get to their location over the left field wall.

The plans to install a permanent video board

were announced on Oct. 14, 2013. Exactly four months later, the finishing touches have been put on the newest addition to Olsen Field as the brick pillars on the side of the board were being laid at the end of Thursday’s practice.

Junior pitcher and opening day starter Dan-iel Mengden said he is excited to play in such a beautiful park.

“It’s great,” Mengden said. “We’re blessed to have all this stuff we have here at this new fa-cility. The scoreboard and everything we have is wonderful. It’s like a cathedral. It’s one of the nicest parks in the country and we’re honored to have it.”

Although Mengden called Olsen Field a “cathedral,” head coach Rob Childress still thinks his players don’t quite recognize the magnitude of the addition.

“I think they’re excited about it,” said Chil-dress. “I don’t think they fully understand what an improvement it will be for the atmosphere at the game until we actually start playing games.”

Junior infielder Blake Allemand gave glow-ing reviews on the board.

“Oh I love it, it’s awesome,” said Allemand. “I’ve heard it’s one of the biggest ones in the country. Thank you to everyone who made the donations to give it to us. We’re all blessed

to have it.”John Bethancout, Class of 1976, and Debbie

Bethancourt, Class of 1974, who also donated $2 million to the Memorial Student Center renovation and expansion project, were the first to donate to Blue Bell Park at Olsen Field’s scoreboard effort. Childress thanked them for their donation.

“I’m very thankful for the Bethancourts for their gift to allow us to have one of the best video boards in the country, as far as college facilities go,” said Childress. “It’s kind of the cherry on top of this wonderful facility. It fin-ishes everything.”

Tyler StaffordThe Battalion

baseball

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Long-tenured head coach mines pitching talent, directs players’ mindsets

Entering his ninth season as Texas A&M’s head baseball coach and his second in

the Southeastern Conference, Rob Childress earned an opportunity to represent Texas A&M — and the United States — in a dif-ferent capacity.

In January, Childress was named the pitch-ing coach for the U.S. Baseball Collegiate Na-tional Team that will compete this summer in China, Japan, Cuba and Holland. Childress will join junior pitcher Daniel Mengden and three close coaching friends on the team — Dave Van Horn from Arkansas, Ray Birming-ham from New Mexico and Steve Rodriguez from Pepperdine.

“I get the chance to work with three great friends and three of the best in the business,” Childress said. “It is going to be a lot of fun to work with some of the best collegiate talent in the country. To represent the United States is just a very humbling opportunity.”

In his first eight seasons at Texas A&M, Childress led the Aggies to a school-record

seven consecutive NCAA Tournament ap-pearances, including three NCAA Regional Championships and a Super Regional Cham-pionship. He compiled an overall record of 323-182-2 and has won two conference championships. Childress was named Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year in 2011 after leading his team to a 47-22 record and a trip to Omaha for the College World Series.

“[These eight years] have gone extremely fast,” Childress said. “Time flies when you are having fun. I feel blessed to be at Texas A&M and have all the resources given by the athletic department. We have got the best stadium, the best academic support, the best strength pro-gram and the best fan support in the country.”

During his tenure, Childress has produced All-American pitchers from his staff in Mi-chael Wacha, who now pitches for the St. Louis Cardinals and was named MVP of the National League Championship Series in 2013; Tyler Naquin; and Ross Stripling. In each of his seven seasons in the Big 12, Chil-dress’ pitching staff ranked either first or sec-ond in earned run average.

“[Childress] really gets you into the mind-set of being a competitor,” said junior pitcher Daniel Mengden. “He teaches you to be a leader.”

The Aggies ranked No. 7 in the SEC and No. 50 in the nation with a 3.43 ERA dur-ing their first season in the conference, but Childress said he is confident he can bring the team to a competitive position within the conference.

“I expect a lot more than we got last year,” Childress said. “Everybody thinks it’s an of-fensive league, but the SEC is an extremely in-credible pitching league as well. Our pitching staff matches up with any in the conference. It’s going to be another 30-game grind and only the strong will survive.”

In the locker room, Childress has garnered the status of a tough but caring coach, ready to put in the effort to ensure success.

“[Childress] is a different coach,” Mengden said. “He’s really hard on us but we all love him. He teaches the game the right way and he’s really understanding of all of us.”

Michael Ayo The Battalion

Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

Head coach Rob Childress was named in January to the U.S. Baseball

Collegiate National Team as a pitching coach.

Provided by Aggie Athletics

13reedinsider

Freshman forward Davonte Fitzgerald will miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury against LSU on Wednesday.

Freshman Davonte Fitzgerald will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a

knee injury late in the first half Wednesday of the men’s basketball team’s 83-73 victory over LSU, head coach Billy Kennedy announced Thursday. The 6-foot-7 forward, named SEC

Freshman of the Week on Jan. 20, started his rookie campaign averaging 7.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest while adding 17 blocked shots.

Clay Koepke, sports editor

Fitzgerald out for season

BAT_2-14-13_A13-A4.indd 1 2/13/14 8:07 PM

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the battalion

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thebattalion 2.14.2014 page12

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5secinsider

AROUND THE HORN SEC PREVIEW2014

2013 was great for the Commodores, finishing 54-12 and setting a SEC-record 26-3 in league play to earn the SEC regular season crown. Junior pitcher Tyler Beede was 14-1 last season and is rated as the No. 5 MLB draft prospect by Baseball America.

Not only did Georgia fail to make the SEC tournament and NCAA postseason for the third time in five years, the Bulldogs also lost seven seniors from last season. Over the summer, former Kent State head coach Scott Stricklin was hired as the Bulldogs skipper.

Led by dual-threat A.J. Reed, Kentucky looks to bounce back from its 11-19 record in SEC play last season. Reed was the Friday night starting pitcher and regularly bat-ted third or fourth for the Wildcats in 2013.

Picked to win the SEC East and conference tournament by SEC coaches before the season began, the Game-cocks return seven position starters and nine pitchers from their 2013 Super Regional team. The Gamecocks have 11 CWS appearances in their history, including six in the past 12 years.

Florida returns 18 letter-winners to its 2014 squad and signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, according to Baseball America. Karsten Whitson, 2010 first round pick and 2011 Freshman Pitcher of the Year, returns healthy after missing much of the last two seasons due to injury.

After a disappointing 2013 campaign (23-29, 10-20 SEC), Tennessee returns three talented sophomores in 2014. Pitcher Drake Owenby, infielder A.J. Simcox and outfielder Christin Stewart were named first team Per-fect Game All-Americans over the summer.

Missouri lost its best hitter in Dane Opel to graduation and returns just four players who had a batting average higher than .250 in 2013. The Tigers were picked to fin-ish last in the SEC East by league coaches.

After advancing to the 2013 CWS Championship and losing to UCLA, the Bulldogs enter the 2014 season ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Preseason Poll. MSU opens on a 16-game home stand and will be led by a foursome of seniors.

Ole Miss will miss the production of 2013 Johnny Bench Award-winner Stuart Turner behind the plate, but Will Allen will look to fill his shoes. Baseball America rated the Rebels recruiting class No. 8 in the nation.

The Tigers are ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Preseason rankings and No. 2 in the USA Today Preseason Poll — LSU’s highest preseason ranking since 2010. The Tigers are led by junior pitcher Aaron Nola and sophomore shortstop Alex Bregman, both of whom were preseason first-team All-Americans.

In 2013, Arkansas set a school record by having 11 play-ers taken in the MLB Draft. The loss of talent explains the Razorback’s drop from No. 18 at the end of last season to unranked this preseason.

The Crimson Tide were chosen by SEC coaches to finish in a tie with A&M for third place in the SEC West. The Tide will return 21 players — including five positional starters and four starting pitchers — from their 2013 NCAA Regional squad.

Sunny Golloway was named Auburn’s 17th coach in the offseason after spending eight seasons at Oklahoma. The Tigers have the most experienced roster in the con-ference with an SEC-leading 11 seniors on the squad.

The SEC flexes its muscles with another strong preseason showing, putting eight of its 14 teams in the top-25 rankings. The conference has had a team play in the CWS finals for six straight years. Led by No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 6 LSU and No. 10 Vanderbilt, the SEC could be poised to have an-other team compete for a national championship.

#6

#10

#21

#4 #12

BAT_2-14-13_A5-A12.indd 1 2/13/14 9:52 PM

In the spring of 2011, The Battalion ran a preview for the 2011 baseball season with the headline, “Hope Springs Eternal.”

That season, like many before it, baseball was a call for hope. The once-promising 2011 football

season had come and gone with nothing more than a receiver-turned-quarterback at the helm.

Each year, no matter the football team’s success, late February marks the beginning of a new season in Aggieland as fans are tired of the frigid offseason and transition into the Aggie baseball season.

In 2010, the A&M baseball team answered the call and rode a magical wave through the regular season and into the postseason, eventually landing in the College World Series for the fifth time in school history.

Under the direction of coach Rob Childress, the Aggies have won 77 games in two seasons since that run to Omaha. A&M has also departed the Big 12 for the loaded SEC, renovated Olsen Field into a baseball cathedral and will introduce the largest scoreboard in college baseball this year.

Much has changed since that 2011 team took the field on opening day, but on Friday the magic returns to Olsen Field with another new cast vying for the same goal — Omaha or bust.

The Aggies are led by the return of first baseman Cole Lankford, center fielder Krey Bratsen and short-stop Blake Allemand to compliment a one-two-three pitching combo of Daniel Mengden, Parker Ray and Jason Jester.

Young talent will once again play an important role

as freshmen Nick Banks and Ryne Birk, the second-best outfielder and shortstop, respectively, in the baseball-rich state of Texas, are expected to see signifi-cant playing time.

Covering the 2011 team was one of my favorite assignments of college. When the team departed for Omaha, I followed, taking my place in the press box at TD Ameritrade Park with 24,000 sunflower seed-chewing fans.

With the nation watching on ESPN, the Aggies were too wide-eyed that summer and could not muster a win against California or eventual champion South Carolina and were bounced.

After they were bounced from the World Series by South Carolina, A&M players and coaches returned to the dugout for one last look at the scene. They had a feeling they’d be back, eventually.

That Aggie team was special and produced talent like St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha, who had himself quite a season in 2013.

But 2011 and 2014 have their similarities. In Wacha and fellow studs Ross Stripling and John

Stilson, Childress had a lethal arsenal of pitchers and has assembled a similar pitching combination for the current season, though it’s hard to compare anyone to Wacha, the 2013 NLCS MVP.

Bratsen may be the lone survivor still at A&M from that 2011 team, when he started as a freshman, but the speed of the young Banks and Birk is reminiscent of standout Tyler Naquin who led the team in virtually every offensive category en route to Omaha.

Both teams have a similar look, a similar feel, but we will not know the direction of this season’s Aggie baseball team for some time. They will use 18 non-con-ference games to gel and find their own identity before entering the SEC gauntlet.

The Aggies will face six teams within the confer-ence that enter the season ranked inside the Top 25 nationally. The SEC has as many as eight ranked teams, depending on the ranking service. A&M ranks as high as No. 19 in the polls.

Realistically, the Aggies have a serious shot at hosting a regional for a third time since they last traveled to the CWS. Should they win their regional and advance to a three-game Super Regional, their chance at repeating the 2011 season is as good as ever.

Friday will be the first taste of this year’s team at Blue Bell Park at Olsen Field as they temporarily erase the minds of football crazed, Manziel-loving Aggies in place of the paced chaos that ensues beyond the train tracks of campus.

Not unlike Punxsutawney Phil, the Aggies will emerge from the holes of the dugout and signal the start of spring in Aggieland. After all, hope springs eternal for this year’s Aggie baseball team in hope that their season lasts well into the summer like the great teams before them.

6olseninsider

Sean LesterSports reporter@s_lester14

THAT TIME OF THE YEARSEAN LESTER: 2014 could be a throwback to 2011, and that means we all win

Tanner Garza — THE BATTALION

11reedinsider

Aggies follow LSU win with Vandy road date

The Texas A&M men’s bas-ketball team (14-10, 5-6 SEC)

will tip off against the Vanderbilt Commodores (13-9, 5-5 SEC) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.

Texas A&M is coming off an 83-73 upset win against LSU on Wednesday. Junior guard Jamal Jones led the Aggies in scoring with 19-points and made a game-high five shots from three-point range. Jones leads A&M in scoring and averages 15.5 points per game in conference play.

Head coach Billy Kennedy said his team is coming together and playing its best basketball at this point in the season.

“It’s good to come off of a win,” Kennedy said. “We won two of our last three and played well in all of them. Hopefully we’ll continue to play well.”

In the previous matchup be-tween Vanderbilt and A&M, the Commodores defeated the Aggies 66-55 on Jan. 25 in Reed Arena. Vanderbilt forward James Siakam posted a 22-point, 10-rebound per-formance and blocked four shots.

“[Siakam] rebounded the ball and made a lot of nice plays,” Ken-nedy said. “They hurt us defen-sively and we’ve got to do a better job of protecting the paint against Vanderbilt.”

Junior forward Kourtney Rob-erson gave the Aggies a double-double, scoring 14 points and grab-bing 10 rebounds.

In Wednesday’s matchup with LSU, freshman forward Davonte Fitzgerald went down with a left knee injury. Kennedy confirmed Thursday that Fitzgerald will

miss the remainder of the season. Fitzgerald recorded a career high 20-points against Mississippi State and earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Jan 20.

Four Vanderbilt players aver-age double-digit scoring in Rod Odom, Eric McClellan, Kyle Full-er and Damian Jones.

Odom leads the team, averaging 15.2 points per game. He won SEC Player of the Week honors Mon-day for his career-high 26-point performance on Feb. 5 against Tennessee.

Fuller ranks second in the SEC in assists, averaging 4.4 assists per game, trailing only Texas A&M sophomore guard Alex Caruso, who averages 4.6 assists per game.

Vanderbilt was on a four-game win streak before it was upset Feb. 8 on its home floor by Arkansas. Arkansas guard Michael Qualls hit a three-point shot with three seconds left in the game to give the Razor-backs the win.

When the Aggies arrive at Me-morial Gym, they will be playing the same game in a very different setting. Memorial Gym — con-structed in 1952 with a maximum capacity of 14,300 — differs from all other programs by having an end-of-the-floor bench setup. This means that players and coaches sit by the goals rather than on the side-lines, making it tough for oppos-ing coaches to call plays and make substitutions.

A&M has struggled on the road this season, going 1-5 in conference games when playing away from Reed Arena. Following Saturday’s game against the Commodores, the Aggies will head back to Reed Arena to host Alabama on Feb. 20.

Conner DarlandThe Battalion

m. basketball

Heran Guan — THE BATTALION

A&M clips Georgia in OT, overcomes 16-point hole

The No. 14 Texas A&M wom-en’s basketball team triumphed

over the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday night inside Reed Arena. A&M battled back from a 16-point deficit to beat Georgia for the sec-ond time this season.

The comeback marked A&M’s largest since 2003 and the win im-proved the Aggies’ home record to 12-1 on the season.

“The last three times we’ve blown them out,” said sophomore forward Courtney Williams. “We just took them for granted, really.”

The Aggies (19-6, 9-2 SEC) came out cold in the first half, shoot-ing 6-of-25 from the field. Georgia capitalized on the struggling A&M offense and quickly jumped out to

a double-digit lead. The Bulldogs took a 12-point lead into halftime, 29-17.

A&M put together a 15-0 run in the second half that put the Aggies ahead 38-35 halfway through the period.

“I knew we had a run in us com-ing out of halftime,” Williams said.

Georgia was able to regain a six-point lead with six minutes remain-ing in the game and held the lead until less than a minute remained. Sophomore guard Courtney Walk-er put A&M within two with 44 seconds remaining, as the Aggies trailed 62-60.

On the ensuing possession, A&M forced a turnover and quickly called a timeout. Following the timeout, Jordan Jones converted a layup that tied the game and sent the contest into overtime. In overtime, A&M

was able to convert 8-of-10 free throws to win the game 78-73.

Walker led the team with 25 points.

“I’m just glad we were able to stay together as a team and get the comeback,” Walker said.

Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair said he was frustrated with his team’s slow start but loved the fight his team showed in battling through adversity.

“I love my fight on the team, they let me get after them pretty good at the half,” Blair said. “We’re finding ways [to win], we’ll take nothing for granted.”

Next, the Aggies will play the first of two consecutive road games Sunday at noon in Tuscaloosa, Ala., against the Crimson Tide.

Patrick CrankThe Battalion

w. basketball

Sophomore guard Courtney Walker led A&M with 25 points in its overtime win Thursday.

BAT_2-14-13_A11-A6.indd 1 2/13/14 11:51 PM

CAMP DAYCAMP DAYTuesday, February 18

9:30 am - 3:30 pmMSC Respect Lounge - by Starbucks

Camps will be interviewing for summer counselors, program staff

and interns.

RPTS Career & Internship FairRPTS Career & Internship FairWednesday, February 19

10 am - 3 pmAgriLife Center - next to AGLS

Network with park, youth recreation, hospitality, event and tourism employers!

Sponsored by the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, the RPTS Aggie REPS, AgriLife Extension and the TAMU Career Center.

All Majors welcome at both events!

7gamedayinsider

DIAMOND DARLINGS IN FULL SWING

Group anchors behind-the-scenes

Olsen Field support system

By the time Aggie baseball players hit the field Friday, the Diamond Dar-

lings will already be in full swing, selling programs, working alongside the mar-keting team, assisting fans with any ques-tions, and as “bat girls” for the home and visiting dugouts.

Diamond Darlings — one of the old-est organizations led by women in Texas A&M — was founded in 1972 by Wil-lowdean Chandler, wife of former Texas A&M baseball coach Tom Chandler, with the goal of supporting Aggie base-ball.

“Diamond Darlings was the first women’s organization to be started here at A&M, so being a part of something that brought women together as a distin-guished group is an honor of its own,” said Bree Smith, senior health major.

The organization takes on responsi-

bilities beyond cheering for the Aggies. Once the baseball players hit the field, the 20 members of the Diamond Darlings are in full swing.

“Being chosen to be a part of this orga-nization has been such a privilege so far,” said Hannah Stayart, senior kinesiology major. “The passion these ladies have for baseball and volunteering their time and efforts creates an awesome atmosphere at Blue Bell Park.”

Outside of Olsen, the Diamond Dar-lings volunteer by participating in the Big Event, running equipment drives for the local Boys and Girls club and promoting involvement in their main philanthropy — the Cypress ECG project, which pro-vides heart screenings to student athletes.

“We help raise awareness about ECG testing and sudden cardiac arrest, espe-cially in young athletes, along with fi-nancially giving back to them to help pay for discounted testing that they allow for

students,” member Shelbie Futrell said. A&M baseball games are full of tradi-

tions that the Diamond Darlings take part in and help create.

“The Diamond Darlings traditions go hand-in-hand with the unique traditions here at Olsen,” Futrell said. “Section 203-ers are a student section that you will find at no other college baseball stadium. It is hard to describe without being there, but they enjoy yelling little phrases like ‘Tea Pot’ to the Diamond Darlings who are bat girls, in hope that we will ‘act’ as if we were the little tea pot — like the nursery rhyme.”

Diamond Darling veterans like Smith said understanding the atmosphere of the games is easier to explain through experi-ence rather than through words.

“The only thing I think describes an Olsen Friday night game would be the quote, ‘From the outside looking in you can’t understand it, from the inside look-

ing out you can’t explain it,’” Smith said. “I know its pretty cliche, but when you think of school traditions you think most-ly of what you do at football games. This is different. Aggie baseball brings a whole new level of tradition to Texas A&M that can’t be explained on paper.”

The excitement of the season has the group eager to be back under the stadium lights of Blue Bell Park. With the first Aggie baseball game Friday, the journey for the 2014 Diamond Darlings has just begun.

“As a first year Diamond Darling, I am so blessed to be able to share and create memories with the amazing other 19 girls in this student organization,” said Lindsey Bohl, freshman computer engineering major. “They are truly such a kind-heart-ed and unique group of women. With the season starting, I am super anxious to see what great accomplishments the Aggie baseball team has in store for us this year.”

Samantha LattaThe Battalion

PROVIDED

The 2014 Diamond Darlings assist with gameday operations and help promote school spirit.

Q:thebattasks

What are you most excited about for baseball season?

“Baseball butts. I haven’t been to a baseball game here

yet, I’m going to go, so I’m kind of excited to what the atmosphere is like and how students react to baseball

games compared to football games.”

Safire Rodriquez,sophomore engineering technology major

Photo feature by Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION

“It’s baseball season, why wouldn’t I be

excited? And I used to play baseball so its always something to look forward to when

baseball season comes around.”

John Friedrich, sophomore agricultural economics major

“The student section is a lot of fun, we’re

pretty good and games are always

entertaining.”Brian Liefer, sophomore

petroleum engineering major

10

BAT_2-14-13_A7-A10.indd 1 2/13/14 8:45 PM

Armed with a deadly fastball and a killer mustache, junior pitcher Daniel Mengden hopes to repeat

the success of his sophomore season as the anchor of Texas A&M’s pitching rotation in 2014.

After missing a month and a half last fall with surgery on his right middle finger, Mengden said he is 100 percent healthy

going into this season.Mengden exhibited his versatility in

the 2013 season, starting more games at designated hitter than he did on the mound. However, Mengden said this season he has switched his focus entirely on pitching.

“This year, the coaches got together in the fall and decided I just need to pitch,” Mengden said. “I hung up the bat. I am totally focused on pitching.”

In 2013, Mengden threw 110.2 in-nings, most on the team, and posted a 2.11 ERA.

Senior catcher Troy Stein is the man who is responsible for attacking opposing hitters with Mengden.

“He makes my job really easy,” Stein said. “He’s a guy that I feel completely comfortable with. I can sit back there and he does all the work for me. The hard thing about catching is having guys that maybe aren’t accurate all the time, but Daniel is a stud. He’s a power guy that can throw in the mid-90s, but he’s also got a lot of finesse. He competes on the mound and he’ll put it exactly where he wants it, he’s got that much talent. So catching him is really fun. I almost just get to sit back and watch.”

Mengden is a self-described fastball pitcher but said he has been working on building his repertoire of pitches.

“I throw a four-seam fastball, a curve-ball, slider and change-up,” Mengden said. “I’ve really been working on the change-up and curveball, because I’ve mainly been a fastball or slider guy. Coach Childress is really good at teaching the change-up and I’ve been working on that for the last three years because I didn’t have one at all coming into college.”

Stein agreed with Mendgen and noted how good he considered Mengden’s fast-ball to be.

“He’s got a special fastball,” Stein said. “He’s a guy that is going to throw 75 per-cent fastballs and he’s going to dare you to hit it. He’s going to throw it over the plate and make you hit it. I don’t know what it is, or what it is about him, why people can’t hit it, but that just seems to be his pitch. People have a hard time hit-ting it.”

Although Mengden has the ability to throw in the mid-90s, he said he admired Greg Maddux as a kid because of his abil-

ity to pitch effectively without elite ve-locity.

“When [Maddux] got to his later ages he was [throwing] 86 [miles per hour] and had five different pitches,” Meng-den said. “It’s not really about how hard you throw, it’s about where you put it. So it just goes to show you don’t have to throw 95-99 [miles per hour] to be a good pitcher.”

Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 45 eligible college prospect for the MLB draft in 2014, Mengden may have to decide at the end of the year whether he will return to A&M for his senior sea-son. Head coach Rob Childress said he is not concerned with that right now and just wants success from Mengden.

“That’s something we’ll talk about after the season,” Childress said. “Hope-fully he goes out and wins 15 games and goes in the first round. It’s hard to go bet-ter than the first round, so that would be my hope.”

Mengden will have the guidance of his teammates when the time comes to make a decision on the draft. Stein considered going to the MLB after last season but chose to return for his senior season in large part due to the relationships he has made with players and coaches.

“I think it’s different for everybody, but for me personally, and I think for a lot of guys on this team, you build friendships here,” Stein said. “You build relationships that are going to last a lifetime. Obvious-ly, life-changing money can affect your decisions and that’s something you’ll have to deal with when you get there, but for the most part I think a lot of guys choose to come here after high school even after getting drafted and stay for their senior years just because of the relationships they build with not only the players, but the coaches as well.”

As for this season, Mengden expects

9playerinsider

Mustached Mengden bulls into 2014 behind his fastball

Photos by Jenna Rabel — THE BATTALION

to be the opening day starter in Friday’s season debut. Childress has named him the Friday starter, but said that it is not set in stone.

“I consider him our Friday starter this week,” Childress said. “He’s earned the opportunity to lead us into the season this weekend Friday night at home. We’ll go week-to-week, but I would expect that rotation to be pretty constant moving forward as long as they all perform well.”

When he does take the mound this season, Mengden will hear a song from the sound track of a Hollywood block-buster.

“My walkup song is ‘We Own It’ by Wiz Khalifa,” Mengden said. “You might have heard it in the latest Fast and Furi-ous movie. They play it at the end of the movie.”

Mengden remains focused on expec-tations for this season and said his team wants to win the SEC and take a shot at the National Championship.

“We have a lot of talent, and if we put it all together we could make a pretty good run,” Mengden said.

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and other family mem-bers, senior catcher Troy Stein has

always held A&M close to heart. Growing up in Castroville, Texas, as

a four-year letter-winner at Medina Val-ley High School, Stein compiled various awards during his high school career, in-cluding first-team all-state his senior season.

Stein said he was sure of his future at Texas A&M after watching family mem-bers join the Aggie family.

“I knew I wanted to play baseball and this seemed like a good fit,” said Stein. “With the coaching staff that they had — Coach Childress, Coach Seely and Coach Sawyers — it just seemed like a place I just wanted to be.”

Joining the team in as a recruited fresh-man walk-on, Stein considered himself fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from his older teammates.

“I’ve been lucky enough to come in as a freshman and learn a lot of good things from a few seniors, and after that being able to step up and play the role,” Stein said.

Teammates and coaches rave about Stein’s leadership and work ethic. Senior

relief pitcher Jason Jester said Stein’s work ethic has propelled him into a leadership role on the squad.

“He’s the quarterback of the team be-hind the plate,” Jester said. “He’s the first guy here and the last one to leave. We have a lot of confidence in him, and at the end of the day, no matter what, he’s going to leave it all out there.”

A&M head coach Rob Childress said Stein’s leadership skills shine not just on the baseball field, but off as well.

“He’s just an incredible worker, incred-ible leader, he’s got a strong walk with Christ and he’s a leader in a lot of different areas — not just on the field and in the clubhouse — but also through SCA and discipleship,” Childress said.

Stein said the team’s ultimate goal would be to return to Omaha for the College World Series as Stein did his freshman year, but in order to accomplish that goal each player has a part to play.

“If it’s not your spot, it’s your job to be

selfless and root for your teammates and cheer on whoever is playing,” Stein said. “That just comes with it. Being a good teammate and being able to stick with it and you’re going to get your shot. And when you get your shot, you take advan-tage of it.”

Stein said his plans for the future are still blurry, and due to his determination to stay dedicated to his team, taking the profes-sional step in his baseball career has not been his major focus.

“Obviously, [the draft] comes up when

you’re a junior and senior, but to me this is far more important than professional base-ball,” Stein said. “Putting yourself on the line for your guys that you get to know and get to play with for four years is more special than that.”

Stein said he hopes to carry on his tradi-tion of work ethic and leadership beyond his baseball career. With a major in sports management, he hopes to retain a close proximity with college sports.

“I think there’s a lot to be said about developing kids this age that can be dictated by who they hang out with and what kind of life they live,” Stein said. “Whether it be in the front office or in the weight room or coaching, I would like to stay around col-lege athletes.”

‘Quarterback of the team’ calls shots from behind home plate

Tyler Stafford The Battalion

Elizabeth KamenickySpecial to The Battalion

&CATCH

PITCH

Senior Troy Stein says A&M

baseball is “far more important

than professional baseball.”

Junior Daniel Mengden says he will focus his effort on the mound rather than the batter’s box this season.

BAT_2-14-13_A9-A8.indd 1 2/13/14 10:34 PM