Garnes’ Subpar Play Earns Courtside Seat

On Monday, SDSU’s Kieishsha Garnes was named All-Western Athletic Conference for the second consecutive year, but where was she Thursday against Brigham Young for perhaps the Aztecs’ biggest game this season?

She was on the end of Coach Beth Burns’ bench watching the Aztecs lose, 67-66.

In 21 minutes, Garnes scored but six points and had six turnovers. She played a little better in the Aztecs’ 77-61 loss to Utah, scoring 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 32 minutes of play, but Burns still happy with Garnes’ play over the weekend.

“People ask me if she’s hurt or sick, but Kieishsha just didn’t play well,” Burns said. “She just wasn’t playing.”

So Burns replaced her star with freshman Christina Murguia from Castle Park.

“If she’s not playing, I have to give somebody else a chance not to play,” Burns said.

Murguia scored six points against BYU and 12 against Utah.

“It wasn’t even so much her numbers, she just played so fearlessly,” Burns said.

Freshman center Michelle Suman also earned praise. Suman scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds Thursday. She scored 10 points Saturday.

“She was everywhere,” Burns said. “She’s just carried us on the road this year.”

If SDSU is going to do anything in the WAC tournament, which begins Thursday in Salt Lake City, Burns said Garnes must reappear. The fourth-seeded Aztecs open against Wyoming at 1. If they win, they would play top-seeded Creighton in Friday’s semifinals.

“We may be able to get by without her Thursday, but we’ll definitely need her Friday,” Burns said.

Lost in the flood: The UC San Diego baseball field has been under water so much lately that gulls have replaced ball players. The rains have wiped out seven UCSD games and moved another dozen practices.

Despite all this, Coach Lyle Yates has the Tritons off to their best start ever--11-0-1. They defeated Claremont on Tuesday, 17-4.

How has Yates been able to keep his team sharp during the deluge?

Yates has been conducting most of his practices in the UCSD parking lot.

“It’s becoming one of my favorite practice sites,” Yates said.

Yates has also made it a favorite of the players by turning the parking lot into an over-the-line field. The team even held their first over-the-line tournament last week.

For a ball, Yates uses an “Incrediball,” a synthetic ball that doesn’t break and doesn’t travel as far as a baseball.

So far, Yates has been pleased with the results of over-the-line.

“We did it just to change things up,” he said. “I’m just glad we haven’t had anyone run into any light poles yet.”

With the rain ending this week, Yates said he has some mixed emotions.

“With the way we’ve been playing ball, I may schedule some practices in the parking lot once the field dries,” he said.

The sunny weather may also cut down on Yates’ television viewing.

“I’ve become addicted to the Weather Channel,” Yates said. “I watch it every morning after I shower.”

Water-logged bats?: After a limited fall practice schedule because of new NCAA regulations, Jim Dietz, San Diego State baseball coach, was hoping to get his team as many games as possible before the team starts its Western Athletic Conference season March 20 against Brigham Young.

But the rain has taken care of that. SDSU has been rained out of eight games, only two of them have been made up.

The lack of live pitching has hurt the hitting for SDSU. Despite playing a weak schedule, the Aztecs were hitting only .276 through Monday. Junior college transfer Richey Juarez, a pitcher/designated hitter, leads the team with 11 hits in 23 at bats. John Wagner, a senior transfer from BYU, is next at .364 (12 for 33).

Meanwhile, the Aztec pitchers have been taking advantage of hitters’ poor timing to get 145 strikeouts in 149 innings. Short reliever Benjie Grigsby, a transfer from Lassen Community College, is 4-0 with two saves and a 0.81 ERA. He has 35 strike outs in only 22 1/3 innings.

Wolverines lost weekend: After going 1-7 on their Florida trip, Michigan was hoping for better luck in Las Vegas, where they were scheduled to play SDSU and UNLV in doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday.

But a rare storm in Las Vegas caused both games to be rained out. The Wolverines should have stayed in Ann Arbor, where the temperatures have been in the 70s lately.

Noriega hits top of charts: University of San Diego’s Jose Luis Noriega is the No. 1 men’s singles player in college tennis, according to the Volvo Tennis Collegiate rankings.

After his 12-0 record in February and his victory at the National Indoors, Noriega jumped from seventh to first. USD sophomore Frederik Axsater, who was unranked in the fall rankings, is 58th in singles. The Torero team is rated 21st after not being ranked in the fall.

The USD women have moved from 18th to a three-way with Miami and William & Mary for 15th. The Toreros’ No. 1 doubles team of Julie McKeon and Laura Richards are 26th. McKeon, unranked in the fall, is 15th in singles. Richards is 20th, up from 18th.