THURSDAY, APRIL 18 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2019 STUDENT MEDIA
Megan Cusick — THE BATTALION
Junior shortstop Braden Shewmake currently leads the Aggies with 52 hits and 32 RBI.
Kaylee Cogbill — THE BATTALION
Senior third baseman Riley Sartain leads the A&M softball team with six home runs.
Taking on the Tigers A&M softball team heads to Mizzou, hoping to bounce back in SEC play By Hannah Underwood @hannahbunderwoo Looking to bounce back after a series sweep by Florida last weekend, Texas A&M softball will travel to the University of Missouri for a three-game SEC series starting on Thursday. The Aggies are 25-18 on the season and 3-12 in conference play, after dropping their last three games against the Gators at home last weekend. Missouri (24-18, 7-8 SEC) is the first unranked SEC opponent A&M has faced so far
this season. Head coach Jo Evans said that doesn’t matter since the Tigers still pose a threat. “We’re always looking to win,” Evans said. “They have seven wins in conference. They’ve had some good wins against some good teams. We need to do the things that we do well. We need to be more consistent defensively. We need more consistency on the mound.” Junior pitcher Kendall Potts has taken double shifts on the mound the last four weekends. She said getting days off during the week helps her recover from the long weekends. ”I’d definitely say [my recovery] has gotten better since the first weekend,” Potts said. SOFTBALL ON PG. 3
Next stop: South Carolina Baseball to take on Gamecocks in Columbia on second leg of road trip By Alex Miller @AlexMill20 Consistency — it’s what Texas A&M is currently searching for on the diamond. The No. 7 Aggies are still trying to put all of their pieces together ahead of this weekend’s road series against struggling South Carolina (22-15, 4-11 SEC). It’s part of a road stretch spanning eight of nine games for A&M over the next two weeks. Despite a 2-2 outing last week, the Aggies rose three spots in Monday’s poll to No. 7, their highest ranking of the season, after taking the series over Auburn. A&M wasn’t able to maintain immediate momentum though, dropping Tuesday’s game to Houston, 4-1. In the loss to the Cougars, A&M mustered just two hits against Houston’s mid-week
staff. It’s part of a lingering struggle to keep the Aggie bats hot. “We just need to be consistent up and down the lineup,” A&M head coach Rob Childress said. “We’ve got to have more than one or two guys going in order to be consistent. Until we do, the opportunities that we do have that are so minimal, we’ve got to be able to capitalize on those.” The remedy? Second baseman Bryce Blaum said it’s sticking to the Aggies’ approach. He pointed toward A&M’s sweep over Kentucky earlier this season as evidence that the Aggies can be big at the plate. A&M scored 31 runs on 43 hits over the weekend. “When we’re committed one through nine, we’re very good as a unit,” Blaum said. “As we saw against Kentucky, that was probably the most committed we had been all season.” Although A&M is still searching for answers, South Carolina might be searching BASEBALL ON PG. 4
AGGIE MUSTER TO BE HELD MONDAY
Megan Cusick — THE BATTALION
The shark-themed MSC Birthday was held in Rudder Plaza and included free food, prizes and photos with Reveille.
Celebrating students and service Memorial Student Center hosts party in honor of 68th birthday By Meagan Sheffield @mshef350 Rudder Plaza became a beach on Wednesday to celebrate the Memorial Student Center’s 68th birthday. University Center and Special Events
hosted the shark sighting-themed party from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Anyone with a Texas A&M UIN was able to participate and receive a free T-shirt and goody bag. The event offered yard games for prizes, free samples from several vendor booths and a photo opportunity with Reveille. The MSC opened in 1951 to fill the need for a student union. As the number of students increased and technolo-
gy improved, the MSC was renovated from 1971 to 1974, and again from 1989 to 1991 and 2009 to 2012. University Center and Special Events communications coordinator Kelly Jo Eblen said the birthday party became an annual event after the MSC was remodeled and rededicated in 2012. Eblen said the marketing team picks MSC ON PG. 4
Texas A&M will hold its Campus Muster Ceremony on Monday at 7 p.m. in Reed Arena. The annual Aggie Muster is held in honor of Aggies who have died in the past year. Since more than 1,600 people are honored at Aggie Muster each year, each separate ceremony has a different list of names read out. The Campus Muster will honor current students from the College Station campus, former students who were serving on active military duty during the past year, university faculty and staff who passed away in 2019 — including those who retired or relocated in the last four years, former students with an immediate family member who was enrolled when they died and members of the class of 1969 who have passed away in the last year. The Worldwide Roll Call — in which the Association of Former Students reads the name of every Aggie who has died in the past year beginning at 3 p.m. and ending after 5 p.m. — will be held on April 21. There will be more than 300 Muster ceremonies worldwide this year. While A&M made the decision to move the 2019 campus ceremony from the usual April 21 date, A&M clubs celebrating off campus are encouraged to host Muster on the day that works best for their area.
CENTURY SQUARE ANNOUNCES FREE PARKING On Wednesday, Century Square shopping center announced that its parking garage, located behind Star Cinema Grill, will be free for visitors to use. Previously, parking in the garage was only validated for those visiting Star Cinema Grill. Although garage parking will now be free year-round, street parking and valet parking rates will remain the same, with Sunday street parking being free of charge.
Woodward heading back to Baton Rouge Reports indicate A&M athletic director will leave for LSU job By Angel Franco @angelmadison_
Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
Athletic Director Scott Woodward is reported to be making a move to LSU after spending over three years with Texas A&M Athletics.
Texas A&M may be looking for a new athletic director. According to several reports, Scott Woodward will be leaving College Station and heading to Baton Rouge to join his alma mater, LSU. At 4:25 p.m. on Wednesday, TexAgs executive editor Billy Liucci reported that Woodward would become the next athletic director for the Tigers. “Per multiple sources in the know, Scott Woodward has signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ and will be LSU’s next AD, probably to be announced tomorrow or Friday,”
Liucci wrote on TexAgs.com on Wednesday. Two weeks ago, Woodward hired Buzz Williams from Virginia Tech to become the next men’s basketball coach at A&M. Williams is the latest in a series of high-profile hires orchestrated by Woodward. “As we began our search, it quickly reaffirmed to us what we all know — the A&M brand is powerful, as the depth and breadth of the candidate pool was incredible,” Woodward said in a statement at the time. “We kept our focus on finding an elite basketball coach, a developer of talent, a tremendous recruiter, a tireless worker and someone who fits Texas A&M. Buzz Williams is all that and more.” Woodward’s biggest hire was in December of 2017 when he hired Jimbo Fisher away from Florida State
to be the Aggies’ new head football coach. Fisher’s 10-year, $75 million, fully guaranteed deal with A&M was the largest contract in college football history. Woodward was hired by A&M in January 2016 from the University of Washington. During his introductory press conference three years ago, Woodward said he was going to bring A&M to college sports prominence while also helping students excel in academics. “Texas A&M is an outstanding university and athletics program competing in what is arguably the best conference in college sports,” Woodward said. “I can promise the Aggie faithful that we will compete for championships across the board and we will do so with integrity, class and a commitment to our student-athletes.”