DRC Notebook/all sports Baz gets NCAA Post grad

OldTimer · March 8, 2006

College notebook: UNT’s Bazaldua earns NCAA scholarship

Kicker first to receive honor for Mean Green

03:16 AM CST on Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Former North Texas kicker Nick Bazaldua harbors dreams of continuing his career in the professional ranks, but he will have a backup plan for the next year because of his performance in the classroom.

Bazaldua found out Monday that he earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. The former DeSoto standout is the first UNT athlete to receive one of the $7,500 grants.

“Right now my focus is on kicking,” Bazaldua said. “Eventually I want to go back to school to get my MBA.”

Bazaldua will complete his bachelor’s degree in finance at UNT in August.

Only four Division I football players and 11 Division I athletes overall earned one of the postgraduate scholarships this year.

Bazaldua posted the highest GPA among UNT football players in each of his four seasons on the team and carries a 3.87 GPA.

The senior has been just as successful on the field for the Mean Green, where he became the leading scorer in both UNT and Sun Belt Conference history with 247 career points. He also finished with a school-record 121 extra points. He ranks second in field goals made with 42.

Bazaldua was a first-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection following the 2004 season and was an honorable mention pick in 2005.

A few NFL teams have offered Bazaldua a chance to workout before the upcoming NFL Draft. He will attend a tryout with the Tennessee Titans on March 31 and then attend a Dallas Cowboys tryout on April 14.

“Hopefully when the time comes I will start to get some more calls for workouts,” Bazaldua said.

—Brett Vito

unt Briefs

Basketball

Villarreal begins to evaluate men’s, women’s programs

UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said Tuesday that he is in the process of evaluating both the men’s and women’s basketball programs.

Villarreal plans to discuss the direction of both the men’s team with coach Johnny Jones and the women’s team with coach Tina Slinker. Villarreal said he has yet to make a decision on any course of action he might take.

The UNT women had one of their best seasons in recent years, but finished on a disappointing note with a loss to Arkansas State in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. UNT won the Sun Belt Conference West Division title and posted a 19-9 record.

The UNT men finished 14-14 for the second straight season after dropping their opening game in the conference tournament to Arkansas-Little Rock.

Women’s basketball

Western’s loss could be UNT’s gain in WNIT

Middle Tennessee knocked off Western Kentucky in the finals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Tuesday.

The Lady Raiders might have helped extend UNT’s season in the process.

MTSU earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament with the win, while ending WKU’s 13-game winning streak. While the Lady Toppers lost out on the Sun Belt’s automatic NCAA bid, they could receive an NCAA bid because of their 24-6 record and several solid non-conference wins.

If both MTSU and WKU receive NCAA bids, it could open up more spots in the WNIT for the Mean Green, who won the Sun Belt West Division title and have a 19-9 record on the season.

UNT signee picks up state title with Waxahachie

Torrian Timms will bring a championship pedigree to North Texas next season when she begins her career with the Mean Green.

Timms played for Waxahachie, which rallied from a six-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to knock off Kerrville Tivy 52-48 in the Class 4A state title game last week.

The 6-0 forward scored eight points in the title game while playing along side one of the top players in the state. Texas signee Niqky Hughes led Waxahachie with 21 points.

Timms averaged 9.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for the season and is rated No. 48 among the top 100 seniors in the state by TexasHoops.com.

Football

Meager could miss spring game because of injury

UNT sophomore quarterback Daniel Meager could miss the Mean Green’s spring game with a shoulder injury.

Meager sat out UNT’s final practice Tuesday before Thursday night’s game.

The sophomore started every game of his redshirt freshman season and finished with 941 passing yards on the season.

Meager is in the middle of a battle to retain his starting job with several other players, including sophomore Matt Phillips and junior college transfer Woody Wilson.

Wilson adapts to UNT system quickly in spring

Former Coffeyville Community College standout Woody Wilson said he has settled right in with UNT’s offense during spring practice.

Wilson credited UNT’s coaches with helping him adapt quickly to playing quarterback in the Mean Green’s system, which will have a few new wrinkles next season.

UNT has worked on the zone read option throughout spring practice. Wilson didn’t run the zone read at Coffeyville, but gained experience with the play in high school.

Wilson was an honorable mention All-Jayhawk Conference selection last season and is expected to compete for the starting quarterback job.

Softball

UNT on roll entering tough stretch of schedule today

UNT will enter one of the toughest stretches of the season on a roll.

The Mean Green have won five of their last seven games, including a doubleheader sweep of Louisiana-Monroe last week that pushed UNT to 9-8 on the season.

UNT’s record is its best through 17 games in the three years since the program was reinstated.

Maintaining that pace could be tough for the Mean Green. UNT will take on Texas in a doubleheader today and will also face Oklahoma twice in the OU/Worth Tournament over the weekend.

Texas is 24-1 on the season, while Oklahoma is 15-6-1.

Waters continues offensive tear during doubleheader

Susan Waters continued her season-opening tear offensively last week, when UNT swept a doubleheader from Louisiana-Monroe.

The junior third baseman went 3-for-5 with five RBI and a triple in the Mean Green’s wins over the Lady Indians. UNT won the first game 8-0 after Waters hit a three-run triple in the fifth inning.

Waters added two hits and two more RBI in the second game, which UNT won 4-3.

The Sun Belt Conference’s coaches named Waters to their preseason all-conference team. So far, Waters has lived up to expectations. Her .368 batting average and five home runs lead the Mean Green.

Waters ranked No. 11 in the conference in batting average before UNT’s games against ULM.

Muller pushes average over .300mark against UL-Monroe

Sophomore shortstop Katya Muller played a key role in UNT’s doubleheader sweep of Louisiana-Monroe, going 4-for-6 in the series.

Muller went 3-for-3 in the first game and scored two runs before finishing 1-for-3 in the second game.

While Muller only had one hit in the second game, it was a critical one. UNT trailed 3-0 entering the bottom of the sixth inning when outfielder Kadie Platt led off with a double.

Muller followed with a double of her own to help spark a four-run rally that gave the Mean Green a 4-3 win.

Tennis

UNT on slide heading into trip to Florida

UNT has lost six of its last seven heading into a three-match road trip to Florida beginning on Sunday.

The Mean Green won consecutive matches over Idaho and Texas State on Feb. 5 and 11, but have struggled in recent weeks. UNT dropped three straight before edging Louisiana-Monroe at home, 4-3, on Feb. 26.

The Mean Green have lost their last three matches since that win.

UNT will face Florida International at 11 a.m. on Sunday in the first match on the trip before taking on Florida Atlantic on Monday and Stetson on Tuesday.

The Mean Green (4-9) are 0-2 in Sun Belt Conference play.

—Brett Vito

Player of the week

Kristina Fowler claimed a special place in North Texas softball history last week and helped the Mean Green reach a milestone as a team in the process.

The sophomore pitched UNT’s first no-hitter since the program was reinstated three seasons ago in an 8-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe that lasted just five innings, due to the mercy rule.

Fowler struck out five batters and walked two.

What made Fowler’s performance all the more impressive was her no-hitter was just the beginning of what turned out to be a busy day. UNT head coach Kelly Burns brought Fowler back in the second game of the doubleheader in relief and saw her respond by allowing one hit in three more scoreless innings to pick up her second win of the day and improve to 7-3 on the season.

Fowler also contributed a hit during the doubleheader.

For her performance against ULM, Fowler is the Denton Record-Chronicle UNT Player of the Week.

—Brett Vito

good_ken · March 8, 2006

Is it safe to assume that Meager's inured shoulder is the same one he had surgery on?

stebo · March 8, 2006

The sophomore pitched UNT’s first no-hitter since the program was reinstated three seasons ago in an 8-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe that lasted just five innings, due to the mercy rule.

The "mercy rule"???? Since when did Div I sporting events start having a mercy rule? We need that for our football game against Texas next year.

Edited March 8, 2006 by stebo

NT80 · March 8, 2006

The UNT women had one of their best seasons in recent years, but finished on a disappointing note with a loss to Arkansas State in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. UNT won the Sun Belt Conference West Division title and posted a 19-9 record.
The UNT men finished 14-14 for the second straight season after dropping their opening game in the conference tournament to Arkansas-Little Rock.
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A little Spin? The women lost in the quarterfinals but the men dropped their opening game.?. The womens quarterfinals were their "opening game" also!

untgirl04 · March 8, 2006

The "mercy rule"???? Since when did Div I sporting events start having a mercy rule? We need that for our football game against Texas next year.
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All Fast Pitch softball has a "mercy rule." The extent of the rule depends on what level you're playing at, but it's usually 7 or more runs ahead after 5 innings. Since softball usually plays a 7-inning game, this works out pretty well. I may be wrong in this, but I think even collegiate baseball has a mercy rule. I think it's just one of those things unique to those two sports.