April 24,2003
The Blue Banner
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Sports
Bulldogs take two of three against Radford
Jennifer Bacon
Sports Reporter
The UNCA baseball team came
out on top of a Big South Confer
ence three-game series against
RadfordUniversityonApr. 12and
13.
“I’m really pleased to win another
conference series,” said Head
Coach Matt Myers in an interview
on UNCA’s Web site. “Radford
has had some big wins this year and
this is a big series for us to win.”
The game, originally scheduled
for Friday night, but was post
poned. Thursday’s rain and snow
left the field too wet for play. The
teams played a doubleheader on
Saturday and play a single game on
Sunday at McCormick Field down-
Starting pitcher, junior Aaron
Rembert helped lead the Bulldogs
to a 7-1 victory in the first game,
j Rembert pitched the first seven
innings, striking out four and walk
ing one while allowing only one
run on nine hits. Seniors Seth
Denton and Brad Beck pitched the
last two innings for the Bulldogs.
Senior infielder Daniel Pruitt
I blasted two homeruns with three
I RBI’s to help with the win, and
sophomore Grant Rembert drove
in three runs.
Others who contributed runs for
the Bulldogs were centerfielder Jake
McConiga with one, designated
hitter Drew Sandri with
one, second baseman
Robert Rudder with one,
and Rembert, who played
right field, with two.
Radford scored their
only run of the game when
pitcher and designated
hitter Mark Fleisher hit a
homerun to right field in
the second inning.
In the second game on
Saturday, UNCA fell to
Radford 7-3.
The Bulldogs shot ahead '
in the first inning with a lead of 3-
0. McConiga scored after a stolen
base and an RBI courtesy of Grant
Rembert. Sandri hit a homerun to
right field allowing Rembert and
himself to score.
Radford answered back in the sec
ond inning with three runs, and
scored four more times by the end
of the game.
Senior Judson Ballard pitched the
entire game for UNCA. Sandri and
junior left fielder Steve Sherman
had two hits finishing up Saturday’s
doubleheader.
On Sunday, the Bulldogs easily
handled Radford in a 15-4 win.
The highlight of the game came in
the third inning when the ‘Dogs
sent eleven batters to the plate and
came out with seven runs
Behind only 1-0 in the
third inning, center
fielder Ben Padgett hit
his first homerun of the
year to left field tying the
game 1-1.
Hitting the next pitch
over the right-field wall
fora2-l UNCAleadwas
Grant Rembert.
Radford’s pitcher then
walked Sandri and first
baseman Bill Carley.
Third baseman Josh Coyle was then
hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Catcher Nick Jaksa and Rudder
were walked forcing in two runs for
the Bulldogs bringing the lead to 4-
1.
Bringing in a relief pitcher didn’t
help Radford. With the bases loaded
and two outs, McConiga hit a pitch
to center field that drove in three
At the end of the third inning,
with only four hits and one-man
left on base, the score was 7-1.
The Bulldogs secured their win in
UNCA 7
RADFORD 1
UNCA 3
RADFORD 7
UNCA 15
RADFORD 4
the seventh
nine with
ditional
Third baseman
scored in the sixth
mning, -making
After bemg hit
by a pitch, pmch
hitter
Robe
scored the first
of the
enth, and then
Sandri followed
unearned
Pinch-hitting
for McConiga
right fielder
Charles Pipp
who had a
double
ght field
Todd Coggi
The Bulldogs 
TARA BARONE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
•e second in the Big South Conference standings behind Winthrop.
followed with a
left field bringing another
two runners home. Scoring run
ners were shortstop Scott Stotlar,
Burnich, Pippitt, and Rudder.
Rounding out the Bulldog’s 15
runs was designated hitter Andrew
Alexander. Alexander hit a solo
homerun in the eighth inning mak
ing the score at the top of the ninth
15-1.
Radford scored three runs in the
final inning of the game making the
final score 15-4.
“We got some clutch hits today,”
said Coach Myers. “We really swung
the bats well and once again got
contributions from everyone in the
Starting pitcher Steven Cook
pitched seven strong innings, al
lowing only eight hits, while strik
ing out one and walking one. The
one run he allowed was unearned.
The Bulldogs next face Birming-
ham-Southern College at home in
a three game series Apr. 25-27.
A day in the life of
a student-athlete
{?.
TARA BARONE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Sophomore Natasha Lucki, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, practices with the tennis team earlier this year.
Ashleigh Austin
Sports Reporter
Barring the cold weather, Brazil
ian Natasha Lucki doesn’t find ten
nis in Asheville too daunting. She is
separated from her family. She
misses her favorite Brazilian foods.
But it’s hard to get a complaint
from this young tennis star, the
number one seed on the UNCA
Women’s Tennis Team.
“I love it here. I was at Winthrop
University last year and I trans
ferred here,” said Lucki. “The
coaches are very cool. They are awe
some. I love them. My coach (Chase
Hodges) is always trying to moti
vate me and make me feel as com
fortable as I can be. Coach (Hodges)
wants me to do the best that I can,
but also to play for ftin.”
After a year at Winthrop, Natasha
is clear on the difi^erences in the two
programs. “UNCA is different be
cause of the type of players.
Winthrop has more scholarships
than UNCA so they have much
more pressure to win and to win the
conference and keep their scholar
ships,” said Lucki.
“Here at UNCA, I don’t feel pres
sure. ” Natasha does put pressure on
herself. “I think that I have to win
every match since I have been play
ing tennis for more than 10 years.
“I am playing some of my old
teammates,” said Lucki, who re
cently lost a match to someone from
her old school. Her positive atti
tude prevails, though. “No, I didn’t
win. It was a good match.”
She’s made some friends who
attend matches in support. She en
joys hanging out with senior Ashley
Jones, captain of the tennis team
and one of her three roommates.
“I love them. They are very nice
and we usually hang out around
campus because we can’t get into
bars since we’re not 21,” said Lucki.
“We like hanging out in the room
or at a guy friend’s house usually.”
Most of her free time is reserved
for her boyfriend.
“He is great. I am always with him
between classes. All my free time, I
try to be with him,” said Lucki.
In many ways Natasha’s day be
gins routinely and parallels any other
college student’s. She calls her par
ents every week and went home for
Christmas. What’s not ordinary is
that her parents are thousands of
miles from UNCA.
“My dad came last year, but they
don’t get to come too often because
it’s too expensive to get here. I
won’t go home again until next
Christmas,” said Lucki.
She wakes up at 7:30 a.m. After
her morning classes begin at 8:00
a.m., she eats lunch in the cafeteria.
“I come back to my room and rest
a little bit (after lunch),” said Lucki.
“The rest of the afternoon is spent
preparing for and attending a two-
hour practice every day.”
After practice she showers, goes
to dinner and then studies for her
sports medicine, chemistry, health
and fitness or Language 102 classes.
Natashaholdsa3.4GPAandhopes
to go to graduate school to be a
physical therapist.
“During the week, I don’t get too
much sleep, so on the weekends I
try to sleep as much as I can,” said
Lucki. “I don’t work now. I want to
stay here and work this summer to
make some money. I will get a job
on campus in the gym or some
thing because that is where I have to
work. I can’t work off-campus since
I’m an international student.”
“When I graduate, if I don’t find
a job, then I have to go back to
Brazil, but I can stay if I go to
graduate school,” said Lucki.
“I have an uncle who lives in Jack
sonville, and a friend who goes to
University of Central Florida,” said
Lucki. “I want to go to Florida,
maybe Jacksonville. It’s warmer
there. It’s cold here. I am not used
to the cold weather because Brazil is
really hot.”
“If I graduate and get a job then
my employer will write a letter to
the government and they can give
me permission to stay on a work
permit.”
The weeks during tennis season
become quite routine, according to
Natasha. She follows everyday pat
terns and hangs around campus on
the weekends. As a hard-working
athlete, Natasha devotes most of
her day to tennis. With the season
done, her focus will turn to finding
a job for the summertime and play
ing some tennis now and then.
Opinion
continued from page 4
the electricity of the game will be It’s not too late to get into hockey playoffs a try. They’re not as well
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watching the quest for the Cup. through the channels give the NHL year. Take advantage of them.
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