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kUPENDULUM
May 1, 1997
Baseball Crowned Co-Champions of SAC
Chrissy Taylor
Pendulum Reporter
The rain never let up in the
Food Lion South Atlantic Confer
ence Tournament, so on Sunday
Elon and Carson-Newman were
named co-champions of the tour
nament.
“We are very proud of our
guys,” Head Coach Mike Kennedy
said. “We accomplished all our
goals for the season (to win SAC
title and 30 games) and we are co
champions of the tournament.”
The Fightin’ Christians started
the tournament with a 13-4 win
over Mars Hill. Six Elon players
had homeruns in this game, includ
ing Kevin Bedard’s grand slam.
In the second game the team
defeated Catawba 4-2, who had
home field advantage.
After this game, Elon had to
face the No. 2 seeded Carson-
Newman. The Fightin’ Christians
suffered a tough 7-8 loss in a 10-
inning game, but they came back to
defeat Presbyterian 8-5 to make it
through the losers bracket into the
championship game.
The game was rained out and
Elon was crowned co-champions
with Carson-Newman.
“Our goal for the tournament
was to go out and play the best
possible,” Kennedy said. “Whoever
is hot usually wins the in a tourna
ment.”
Six Elon players were named to
the All-Tournament Team includ
ing Scott Clark, ScottBrendle, Mike
Dieke, Kevin Bedard, Jeff Wilson
and T.J. Donovan.
The Fightin’ Christians finished
off their season 32-14. They were
16-4 in the SAC.
Mike Dieke had an outstanding
' season for the team. He had three
homeruns in the tournament,
which added to his other 12 for
the regular season.
Dieke hit .380 with 52 RBIs
and he went 19-for-21 in stolen
bases.
T.J. Donovan completed the
season with an 8-2 pitching record,
58 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.86.
Jeff Wilson, who threw a
solid eight innings in the Mars
Hill game of the tournament, fin
ished with a 7-3 record, 77
strikeouts and an ERA of 2.82.
Now that the tournament is
over, Elon has to wait until May
11 to find out if it will get one of
the 24 bids into the national tour
nament.
The teams to look out for in
Elon’s region are Delta State,
Texas A&M at Kingsville, North
Alabama and Central Oklahoma.
The first step for the team is
getting in.
Golf Loses Lead on Back
Nine of SAC Tournament
Bob Grimmie
Asst. Sports Editor
With nine holes remaining on
the final day of competition, the
men’s golf team was carrying a
four stroke lead.
However, after a rash of poor
shots it became apparent that the
South Atlantic Conference tourna
ment would not be Elon’s time to
shine.
Elon finished behind Presby
terian and Catawba in the eight
team tournament.
“We just blew up on the back
side,” said Head Coach Bill
Momingstar. “Nobody played well
for us on the back nine, we just
couldn’t hold on.”
“There’s nothing we can do
about it now except learn from our
mistakes,” said sophomore Jeff
Ennis.
Three Elon players received
individual honors for their play this
season.
Junior Knox Milligan was
named First Team All-SAC, while
senior Brad Lawrence and Ennis
were both named Second Team All-
SAC.
Following their tournament per
formance, the men were given the
fourth seed in the District Three
North bracket of the regional tour
nament,
Elon is hosting the tournament
this year which will begin with a
practice round and reception on Sun
day and concludes with
Wednesday’s final round. Stoney
Creek golf course in Stoney Creek
will be the host sight.
“This is a big one coming up,”
Momingstar said. “This is the re
gion, this gets you to the national
tournament.”
The top seven teams in the re
gional tournament are given bids to
play in the Division II national tour
nament in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Fightin’ Christians fell two
strokes shy of qualifying for last
year’s national tournament. This
year, playing bn a course in which
the team has a great deal of expe
rience, Elon is looking to avenge
last year’s narrow loss.
“I think it helps our confi
dence,” Momingstar said. “They
have a much better lay out of the
course.”
“I think it’ll be a big factor,”
Ennis said.
“The greens at Stoney Creek
are a lot more undulating and
tough than the greens down there
(in the South Bracket). I think the
teams from the south will stmggle
the most. They’ve got good play
ers on those teams, it’s just a dif
ferent style course,” he said.
Despite the breakdown in the
conference tournament, the men
are confident going into the
regionals,
“We got our eyes set on na
tionals,” Ennis said. “We want to
get there. We just gotta get it
together at one time.”
“I think they reali
is a golden opportunity
Momingstar said.
“This part is out of our control,”
Kennedy said. “We have done
everything that we can.”
“Because of our pitching I
think we have a good chance,”
Kennedy said. The team
doesn’t have a particular strategy to
follow.
“You make decisions through
out games,” Kennedy said. “If you
pitch well and play good defense
you always have a chance.”
#
Andrew Brickey/ The Pendulum
Mike Kennedy was named Coach of the Year for his first year as head
coach. He lead the team to a 32-14 overall record and a co-champion-
ship of the SAC tournament.
THIS WEEK IN
ILON ATHLETICS
May 2-3 W. Div. II Tcnnis Regional Tour
nament- Powell Center
B/04/!
Free Admission to both Events
May 5-7 Golf Regional Tournament
Stoney Creek, NC
f
\n^ II port the Fightin’ Christiani