Friday, April 25, 1986
Daily Nebraskan
Page 7
ports
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Ply ball
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H I ( r -d6 f )
Andrea HoyDaily Nebraskan
Jerry Mlinar looks to pass while Micah Heibel (48) and Jeff Anderson (66) provide protection
from Kent Wells (75).
H y s ke irscrirnimiageSaty ir d a j
Injuries might change look of annual red-white game
Analysis by Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
Nebraska's spring football sea
son ends Saturday with the annual
red-white intrasquad scrimmage in
Memorial Stadium.
This year's game, however, may
look much different than it has in
past years, mainly due to the injury
problem which plagued the Corn
huskers throughout the past weeks.
I-backs Ken Clark, Doug DuBose
and Keith Jones will miss Satur
day's scrim mage because of knee
injuries. John Kelley and Jeff
Wheeler, who both practiced Wed
nesday, will be held out for precau
tionary reasons.
Quarterbacks. Sophomore
Steve Taylor will play for the red
team. McCathorn Clayton, Nebras
ka's starter last season, will head
the white team, backed by Clete
Blakeman and Wendell Wooten. The
whites appear to have the advan
tage in depth, but Mike Preston,
who backed Taylor on the freshman
team last fall, and Jerry Mlinar
should use this game to prove what
they can do.
Running backs. Not much is
left here. Dave Clare will play for the
Reds, while Kay Nelson will handle
the Iback chores for the Whites.
The fullback position has not been
affected heavily by injuries. Ken
Kaelin and converted I back
Tyreese Knox will throw the lead
blocks for Clare, with Micah Heibel
and Sam Schmidt handling that job
for the White team. It may be a goal
for both teams to finish the game
with no more injuries to the running
backs.
. Receivers. Receivers on
both teams will be doing their best
to make their signal-callers look
good. The Red team will have the
services of Jason Gamble and Robb
Schnitzler at split end. Gamble
started for Nebraska as a freshman
No. 1 tennis team singles
says Nebraska could win Bi
By Kristi Reetz
Staff Reporter
Nebraska could win the Big Eight
tournament, said the No. 1 singles
player on the Nebraska men's tennis
team. The tournament will be Thursday
and Friday in Oklahoma City.
Craig Johnson, a senior, will proba
bly play his last competitive tennis
match.
"Since we've done pretty well this
two seasons ago before he suffered a
knee injury that caused him to red
shirt last fall. Tony Avant, Tim
McCoy and Gary Washington will
also challenge at split end for the
Reds. On the White team, Hendley
Hawkins and Rod Smith will play at
split end, as will Chip Bahe and
Lorenzo Hicks. At wingback, the
Red team will again have the edge,
claiming first-teamers Dana Brin
son and Von Sheppard, last year's
starter; Pernell Gatson, returning
after a hardship season last fall, will
start for the Whites, with Nelson
and Jamie Worden playing backup,
Nebraska's intense quarterback bat
tle will be made clear Saturday with
the help of the receivers.
Offensive line. Both offensive
lines have size, speed, strength and
talent. For the Red team, Mark
Cooper and Jeff Sellentin will be at
the "center" of the coaches' atten
tion, as they try to replace gradu
ated all-Big Eight center Bill Lewis.
John Nichols also will vie for those
honors on the White team. Kevin
Lightner, John McCormick, Stan
Parker and Tom Welter will round,
out the Red front line, with Tom
Banderas and Todd Millikan han
dling the tight end duties. The
White offensive line will have more
depth than the Red line, with two
players sharing the second-team
spot on the depth chart in every
position. Players who should be
prominent for the White team
include Mark Diaz, Ron Galois, Mike
oefler, Brad Johnson and Andy
Keeler.
Defensive ends. The ends for
the Red team include Broderick
Thomas and Brad Tyrer on the left
side and Tony Holloway and Jeff
Jamrog on the right. Each player
shares the top depth chart spot at
his respective position and should
receive close scrutiny from the
coaches. The White team's ends will
include Randall Jobman, Bump
year, the team is going with a lot of
confidence," Johnson said. The
Huskers are tied with Kansas as the
second seed going into the tourna
ment, behind Oklahoma State.
Johnson said the Huskers could have
their best year.
"The highest we've finished (in the
Big Eight) is third, so we have a good
charce to better that," he said.
Johnson is also, a member of the No.
1 doubles team, with freshman Robert
Novacek and Steve Stanard.
Defensive interior line. The
offensive linemen will have their
wrk cut out for them, with both
teams having players who are part of
Nebraska's strongest, fastest defen
sive line ever. Lee Jones, Danny
Noonan and Chris Spachman will
get the starting nods for the Red
team, with Danny Groskurth and
Lawrence Pete providing help from
the sidelines. The White interior in
eludes Kurt Skradis and Kent Wells
at left tackle, Dave Bryan and Sean
Putnam at middle guard and Tim
Heyes and Tim Rother at right
tackle, The White team has the def
inite advantage in depth, but the
Reds have an edge in the starting
three.
Linebackers. The Red team
will start Steve Forch on the weak
side and either LeRoy Eienne or
Kevin Parsons on the strongside. The
White team will have Blake Henning
and Brad Ferguson on the weakside
while Steve DeShazer, Brian Miller'
and Doug Welniak will close the
gaps on the strongside.
Secondary. Again, the White
team will have the upper hand
depth-wise. The Red team will start
John Custard at one comerback,
while Charles Fryaf and Cleo Miller
will help at the other spot. The
White team corners will be Tom
Nelson and either Kurt McCallum or
Marvin Sanders. The monster posi
tion will be filled by either Chris
Can or Brian Washington for the
Red team, while Gary Schneider or
Jeff Tomjack will start for the Whi
tes.The safety for the Reds will be
Bryan Siebler, while Pittsburgh
transfer Dante Wiley will play for
the White team.
Kicking. John Kroeker will
punt for the Red team, and Dale
Klein will place kick. The White
team will have the punting abilities
of Craig Schnitzler and place kick
ing will be done by Chris Drennan.
player
98
Sjoholm.
Johnson couldn't participate in the
last three Big Eight matches because of
an ankle injury.
"I tore some ligaments in my ankle a
couple of weeks ago during a match, so
I haven't played for about a week and
a half," Johnson said. "Because of that,
the Big Eight tournament will be sort of
an experiment for me, but since I'm a
senior I really want to play."
" See TENNIS on 8
By Jeff Apel
Senior Reporter
Creighton's 5-4 victory over Nel raska
Thursday at Buck Beltzer Fiel 1 left
Cornhusker coach John Sanders fu ni ng.
Sanders was left searching for an
swers as to why his squad dropped its
fourth game in seven days.
He said it was a combination of the
defensive breakdowns and a lack of
discipline at the plate.
"I'm sure we will have some people
ask themselves what happened," San
ders said following the contest. "I'm
sure we will be able to answer that
question."
Sanders said he refused to comment
on an infield fly rule call in the bottom
of the eighth inning, killing a potential
Husker rally.
With one out and the bases loaded in
the inning, Nebraska shortstop Bruce
Wobken lofted a short fly ball into left
field.
Wobken was called out by home
plate umpire Dallas Parks because of
the rule. But as Creighton's shortstop
Elvis Dominguez and left fielder Gary
Selvera were pursuing the baseball, it
1 a
r
r
Creighton Blue Jay Eddie Ortega (1 1 ) slides past Cornhusker
relief pitcher Kip Gross (24) for the go-ahead run during
Nebraska's game with Creighton Thursday at Buck Beltzer
Field. The Blue Jays won the game 5-4.
Huskers, Titans clash
By Todd Aron
Staff Reporter
Nebraska's baseball team travels to
Oklahoma City, Okla. for one game
tonight and one Saturday against Oral
Roberts. Both games start at 7 p.m. and
are scheduled for nine innings.
Going into Thursday's action, the
Titans had compiled a 35-1 1 record and
were riding a five-game winning streak.
The strength of Oral Roberts is its
power hitting and its two talented left
handed pitchers. With little speed on
the base paths, Oral Roberts coach
Larry Cochell employs Earl Weaver's
strategy of playing for the big inning
and the three-run homer.
The catalysts behind the offensive
strategy are Pete Schmidt, Adam Casil
las and Craig Colbert. Schmidt, the
designated hitter, leads the team in
hitting with a .411 average and in RBIs
with 58. He also is second on the team
in homers with 11. Third baseman Col
bert has hit a team-leading 12 home
runs, is second with 57 RBIs and is
hitting .367. Left-fielder Casillas boasts
a .387 average, second only to Schmidt's
.411.
dropped into shallow left field, allow
ing Mark Kister to score from third
base for Nebraska's final run.
i
John Franklin was thrown out trying
to advance to third from second for the
final out.
Sanders protested the call to parks
and umpires John Sousaand Joe Stanek,
Sr. Sanders said that he declined to
point at that call as the reason for the
Cornhuskers loss.
"I will not use anything as an ex
cuse," he said.
Creighton jumped out to a 1-0 lead in
the top of the first inning, but the
Huskers responded with two runs in
their half of the inning to take a 2-1
lead.
The lead then changed hands three
times over the course of the next six
innings until the eighth inning Creigh
ton reliever Jeff Kopyta retired in the
bottom of the ninth inning.
Hendry said he couldn't comment on
the eighth inning call because of the
angle he saw the play.
"He (Parks ) did call it (infield fly
rule) right away," he said. "That's
baseball."
I I I
v
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Dan DulaneyDaily Nebraskan
Oral Roberts' leading base stealer is
center fielder Steve Hecht. Hecht has
14 stolen bases in 20 attempts. During
April he hit more than .400, raising his
average from a sub-. 200 mark to .303.
Oral Roberts line-up also includes
two pre-season Ail-Americans in right
fielder Bob Zepcic and first baseman
Mike Schambough. Schambough is hit
ting .358 with four home runs and 47
RBIs. Zepcic is in the midst of a slump
and is hitting .284 with eight homers
with 38 RBIs.
The team's two left-handers are the
probable starters against Nebraska in
the two-games series. Greg Oram will
be on the mound tonight; he is 9-2 with
a 3.99 ERA. For Saturday's contest Tim
McCoy will start for the Titans. McCoy
picked up his 10th win of the season
against two losses Tuesday night
against Wichita State. McCoy's earned
run average is 3.63.
Right-hander Garry Clark is the top
relief pitcher. He has a 1-1 record with
two saves and a 2.33 ERA.
After the Oral Roberts series, Nebras
ka travels to Minneapolis for two games
with the Minnesota Gophers on Monday.