FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-12-01

This Week In Armstrong Atlantic State Athletics

Monday, February 26
No Events Scheduled

Tuesday, February 27
No Events Scheduled

Wednesday, February 28
• Baseball vs. Queens (N.Y.), 2:00 p.m.
• Men's and Women's Tennis at Francis Marion, 2:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 1
• Baseball vs. Northwest Missouri State, 2:00 p.m.
• Men's Basketball vs. USC Spartanburg (1st Round, PBC Tournament), 5:00 p.m.

Friday, March 2
• Baseball vs. Queens (N.Y.), 2:00 p.m.
• Men's Basketball at Peach Belt Conference Tournament (Greenwood, S.C.)
• Softball at UNF Osprey Invitational (Jacksonville, Fla.)
• Golf at Wolverine Invitational (Hunter Golf Course, Savannah, Ga.)

Saturday, March 3
• Men's and Women's Tennis vs. Flagler (@ The Landings), 1:00 p.m.
• Baseball vs. Northwest Missouri State, 2:00 p.m.
• Golf at Wolverine Invitational (Hunter Golf Course, Savannah, Ga.)
• Softball at UNF Osprey Invitational (Jacksonville, Fla.)
• Men's Basketball at Peach Belt Conference Tournament (Greenwood, S.C.)

Sunday, March 4
• Golf at Wolverine Invitational (Hunter Golf Course, Savannah, Ga.)
• Softball at UNF Osprey Invitational (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Men's Basketball (23-6 Overall, 15-1 PBC, No. 4 South Atlantic Region)

The Armstrong Atlantic State men's basketball team split two games on the week, completing its regular season schedule at 23-6, 15-1 in the Peach Belt Conference.

The Pirates held Augusta State to just 17.6 percent in the second half of Wednesday's game, winning their 16^th straight game, 58-45. Robert Campbell led the Pirates with 16 points as four AASU seniors – Campbell, Greg Favors, Cyrille Mainnemarre and Tavares Brown – each played in their final home game as a Pirate.

On Saturday, the Pirates' luck finally ran out as Clayton College & State defeated the Pirates, 85-77, in overtime to snap AASU's 16-game winning streak and also prevent the Pirates from becoming just the second team to finish the Peach Belt Conference season undefeated. Campbell again led the Pirates with 26 points, while Greg Favors recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Coach Mills' squad now faces USC Spartanburg in the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference tournament on Thurs., March 1 at 5:00 p.m. in Greenwood, S.C.

Women's Basketball (10-16 Overall, 5-11 PBC)

Coach Hodge's Lady Pirates split two games on the week, defeating Augusta State, 66-61, but losing at Clayton College & State, 61-58, to finish the season with a 10-16 overall record and a 5-11 record in the Peach Belt Conference.

AASU held off an Augusta State comeback on in the last four minutes of Wednesday's game against the Lady Jaguars to pick up their second straight conference victory. Sophomore forward Zandrique Cason recorded her first double-double since Jan. 14 with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Lori Green added her second double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

On Saturday, Nicole Joffrion's tying three-point try with two seconds remaining missed, giving Clayton State a season-ending 61-58 win over AASU. Cason again led the Lady Pirates with 16 points and nine rebounds, finishing the year as the PBC's leading rebounder with 10.4 rebounds per game, while senior Michelle Hubbard finished with 11 points on the evening in her final game as a Lady Pirate.

Softball (2-0, No. 4 NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll)

The AASU softball team opened the 2001 season successfully with a doubleheader sweep of Mount Olive, 13-1 and 11-0, on Saturday afternoon at Pirate Field.

AASU wasted no time in opening the 2001 season right, scoring six first-inning runs off of Mount Olive starter Melanie West, including home runs by junior Annie Sells and senior Nicole Weirauch. Sells allowed just one hit and one unearned run in five innings for the victory, striking out seven. In the second game, the Pirates scored six runs in the third inning and five runs in the fourth for the 11-0 victory. Senior Julie King allowed just two hits, striking out eight in five innings for her first win of the season. Sells led the Lady Pirates offensively in the doubleheader by going 5-for-6 with five RBI, while McCracken went 4-for-6 with six RBI.

This week the Lady Pirates travel to Jacksonville, Fla, for the UNF invitational from Mar. 2-4.

Baseball (10-5 Overall, 5-4 PBC)

Head coach Joe Roberts' baseball squad lost a doubleheader to Francis Marion on Saturday, 5-4 and 4-2, but rebounded to take Sunday's game, 6-5.

In the first game on Saturday, the Patriots led the Pirates, 4-1, but AASU rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 4-all. Francis Marion then loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning and scored the winning run on a Chris Boaen error.

The Patriots took a quick 3-0 lead in game number two, but the Pirates closed the gap to 3-2. Francis Marion added an insurance run in the top of the fifth and AASU then had two chances to tie as they loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth inning but could not score, then had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh but Kemp induced Matt Easterwood into a game-ending double play.

Junior second baseman Trevor Rurak's squeeze bunt drove home Matt Easterwood with the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Sunday's game, salvaging a game in the three-game series with the Patriots.

AASU begins action in the 2001 Savannah Invitational this week. The Pirates will host Queens (N.Y.) on Wed., Feb. 28 and Fri., March 2 at 2:00 p.m., then host Northwest Missouri State on Thurs., March 1 and Sat., March 3 at 2:00 p.m.

Men's and Women's Tennis (Women: 6-2, 5-1 PBC; Men: 5-1, 4-0 PBC, No. 7 DII)

The AASU men's and women's tennis teams swept Augusta State on Monday, then split matches at Valdosta State on Friday and Saturday with the AASU women defeating Valdosta State,

7-2, but losing to No. 3 West Florida, 5-4, and the No. 7-ranked men defeating No. 3 West Florida, 6-3, but losing to No. 5 Valdosta State, 8-1.

Both tennis squads travel to Florence, S.C., on Wed., Feb. 28, to take on Francis Marion in Peach Belt Conference action at 2:00 p.m., then the Pirates host NAIA-power Flagler College on Sat., March 3 in a 1:00 p.m. match that will be played at The Landings in Savannah.

Golf

The first season of the revival of men's golf at AASU enters its spring schedule with an appearance at the Wolverine Invitational on Friday through Sunday, March 2-4, at the Hunter Army Golf Course in Savannah.

The tournament, which features several NCAA Division I programs, will be the first of the spring season for the Pirates and will also be fifth of the overall season. The Pirates, playing with five freshmen and ranking second in Golfstat's rankings for strongest freshman classes playing in DII, have four tournaments this spring before the Peach Belt Conference Championships in April.

- Pirates -