DATE: Saturday, April 19, 1997              TAG: 9704190883

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE:    STEVE CARLSON

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

COLLEGE ROUNDUP

BASEBALL

Norfolk State beats

St. Aug's to advance

in CIAA tournament

NORFOLK - Antoine Jackson's bases-loaded squeeze bunt in extra innings to boost Norfolk State to a 3-2 victory over St. Augustine's in game nine of the CIAA baseball championships at Marty Miller Field Friday.

Jackson's bunt broke a 2-2 tie. The top-seeded Spartans (30-17-1) advanced to the winners bracket. They will play the winner of the St. Augustine's-Bowie State game today at 1 p.m.

Leftfielder Shawn Bradley doubled to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning. St. Augustine pitcher Corey McMillian intentionally walked the next two batters. Jackson's bunt then hugged the third-base line, scoring Bradley for the win.

Tomarcus Grantham took the win, allowing two earned runs on four hits with 11 strikeouts and four walks.

In first-round action Thursday, the Spartans defeated Shaw 4-1. Former Western Branch standout Matt Hemmis took the win, allowing five hits with three walks and six strikeouts to improve to 6-2. Omari Venable and Angel Tejada each went 2 for 3.

In other CIAA games Friday:

Bowie State 11, Virginia State 0: Tom Groom went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Cory Harwood went 3 for 3 and pitched six innings.

Shaw 17, St. Paul's 3: Haywood Hollingsworth took the win in five innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Shaw's William Johnson went 3 for 5.

Bowie State 9, Shaw 8: Marlon Jones earned the win in three innings of relief. He allowed four hits with three runs, two earned, three walks and one strikeout.

FOOTBALL

Newcomers' parade today

at Va. Tech spring game

Spring football is not the favorite part of the college football calendar for athletes, but there is an upside to the rite of spring - it ends eventually, with a game.

Virginia Tech's is today at 2 p.m. when the first-team offense takes on the first-team defense in the Maroon-White game at Tech's Lane Stadium. The second units will also square off in the game that will feature quarters shortened to eight minutes.

The game offers Tech fans their first glimpse at new quarterback Al Clark, who could be leading the Hokies on the field while his predecessor, Jim Druckenmiller, is simultaneously hearing his name called in the first round of today's NFL draft. Clark, a rising junior, was Druckenmiller's understudy the past two seasons and feels he's ready to move into the starring role.

The Hokies feature a load of new faces with only four starters on offense, five on defense and both kickers back from last season's Big East champions and Orange Bowl team. Clark will be the most scrutinized newcomer.

``It's going to take some time getting the offense together,'' Clark said. ``I think we've come a long way from Day 1 until now.''

Injuries to front-line players have been minimal, although backup tailback Shyrone Stith from Chesapeake will not play today because of an ankle problem. The Hokies have a big hole at tight end after front-runner Pedro Edison was dismissed from the team.

``We've had too many minus yardage plays on offense, too many sacks, too many tackles behind the line of scrimmage,'' Beamer said. ``It's really tough to be good offensively when you have minus yardage plays in there.''

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