Staff and wire reports
BASEBALL
Former A&M pitcher makes Indians' roster: GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Zach Jackson will open the season as the final pitcher on the Cleveland Indians' staff.
The left-hander was told Monday by manager Eric Wedge that he will be with the team when Cleveland opens the season in Texas against the Rangers on April 6.
"I'm excited, actually close to speechless right now," said Jackson, who was one of four players acquired by Cleveland in the July trade that sent CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers.
"We had discussions this morning and we're going with Zach," Wedge said, adding that veteran right-handers Matt Herges and Vinny Chulk will be sent to Triple-A Columbus.
"Zach is a guy who is going to help us and I think sooner than later. He's had a very good camp."
Jackson began spring training in a competition for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, but Wedge liked the way the 25-year-old worked in relief. In six outings over 18 1-3 innings, he had a 6.87 ERA, but had a good walks-to-strikeouts ratio of four to 11.
"He gives us a little length," Wedge said, referring to the fact Jackson could work in long relief. Herges and Chulk are more accustomed to working shorter bursts out of the bullpen.
Jackson was a starter throughout his career until Milwaukee used him out of the bullpen in last season. He came on in relief two games for the Brewers and 14 times in 22 outings at Triple-A Nashville before being dealt to Cleveland.
He started nine games for the Indians after the trade, going 2-3 with a 5.60 ERA.
"Whatever I can do to help the team is fine with me," Jackson said. "I started getting acclimated to relief last year and I'm glad I did. As a player, you want to play every day. As a starter, you sit around for four or five days and have time to think about what you may have done wrong. In relief, you get right back in there. I like that."
In 19 career games, Jackson is 4-5 with a 5.49 ERA.
Wedge said that Herges would stay with the ballclub through the remainder of the exhibition season. Infielders Tony Graffanino, Wilson Valdez and Andy Marte along with catcher Damaso Espino also will be with the team until being sent down before the regular-season opener.
FOOTBALL
Aggie Youth Experience set for Saturday: The Texas A&M football team will conduct an Aggie Football Youth Experience on Saturday at Kyle Field for boys and girls ages 8 to 13 who have not yet entered ninth grade.
There will be no charge to participate, but the program will be limited to the first 500 to register.
Parents, guardians or youth coaches can access a registration form online at AggieAthletics.com. Click on football and then click on the Aggie Youth Experience display on the left side of the page. There are some forms that need to be filled out and faxed back to 979-862-4136 or by e-mail attachment to jharrison@athletics.tamu.edu.
Check-in begins in the lobby of the Bright Football Complex at 11 a.m. Saturday. The youngsters and their parents, guardians or coaches will be able to watch the Aggies' practice on Kyle Field. The practice will conclude at approximately 12:30 p.m. and the Youth Experience will begin at 12:45 p.m. and will last about 45 minutes.
The Aggie Youth Experience segments will focus on fundamentals such as form tackling, ball skills, running and blocking.
Youngsters are asked to wear tennis shoes or rubber-soled shoes.
GOLF
Aggie Pavan tied for third at UT tournament: AUSTIN -- Texas A&M junior Andrea Pavan fired consecutive even-par 71s on Monday and is tied for third at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate at the University of Texas Golf Club.
Pavan trails leader Tom Glissmeyer of Southern California (69-70--139) by three strokes going into Tuesday's final round. Oklahoma State's Kevin Tway (71-70--141) is in second and OSU's Morgan Hoffman (72-70=142) is tied with Pavan.
The 20th-ranked Aggies are tied for ninth in the team standings after shooting 301-306--607.
Third-ranked Oklahoma State leads by 15 strokes with a 569 total. No. 2 Southern California is second (584), followed by No. 17 Arkansas (590) and No. 15 Texas (595). The Aggies are tied with UNLV and Baylor.
"Andrea really played well today," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "This is a tricky course that requires you to be disciplined and put the ball in the right position. You will have bad shots and bad holes out here but he maintained his composure and was patient. The rest of the team wasn't very patient. They tried to force it and make things happen, and you can't do that on this course. We'll try to play with more poise tomorrow and see if we can move up a bit."
The other A&M scores were Bronson Burgoon (77-78--155) tied for 59th, Nacho Elvira (78-79--157) and Conrad Shindler (79-78--157) tied for 73rd, and Geoff Shaw (75-83--158) in 81st.
SOFTBALL
Aggies reschedule Baylor, Kansas games: The Texas A&M softball team has rescheduled its postponed games with Baylor and Kansas for late April.
The Aggies take on Baylor in Waco on April 28 at 6:30 p.m. A&M will travel to Kansas for a doubleheader beginning at noon on April 30. Weather forced the cancellation of both of A&M's contests on the road last week.
The Aggies will play host to Texas at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
EQUESTRIAN
Western riders earn top seed at nationals: Texas A&M received the top seed in the team competition and had the top-seeded riders in two individual disciplines when the qualifiers to the 2009 Varsity Equestrian National Championships were announced Monday.
A&M's 11-1 western record was rewarded in both the team and individual seedings. For the third time in the four years of seeding the national championship tournament, the Aggies will enter as the No. 1 seed in the western bracket. A&M won the title in 2007.
The top four western teams, which earned first-round byes, are A&M, TCU (2), Georgia (3) and Oklahoma State (4). Big 12 teams Kansas State and Baylor earned the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds, respectively. The Aggies will face the winner of the Auburn-New Mexico State match in the quarterfinals.
On the hunter seat side, the Aggies earned the No. 5 seed after posting a record of 9-4 this season. The Aggies will face Delaware State in the first round, with the winner advancing to take on Baylor in the quarterfinals.
Defending horsemanship national champion Caroline Gunn of A&M will take the top seed into the eight-woman bracket. Tara Christiansen's 11-1 reining season earned the No. 1 seed in the individual reining tournament.
The Aggies will compete at the national championships April 16-18 at the Heart O'Texas Coliseum in Waco.
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