Wednesday, April 22, 1987
Daily Nebraskan
Pago 9
Stoats
Pitcher credits coaches
for increased confidence
By David Mussman
Staff Reportsr
DoKr.a Deardorff is pitching bet
ter than ever. Just ask Nebraska
scftball coach Hon Wolforth.
In her third year on the Ccrn
husker team, Deardorff said the tal
ent she knew she had in her first
two seasons is finally starting to
show.
"I always knew I had the poten
tial to play well, even in ray fresh
man and sophomore years," Desr
dorff said.
Deardorff attributes much of her
improved playing to the team atti
tude that came with the change of
coaching staffs.
Wolforth agreed that Deardorff is
having her best season with the
Huskers. All three pitchers are doing
well, and Deardorff has come through
when he needed her to play well, he
said.
Deardorff said Wolforth's coach
ing style has allowed her to become
more comfortable as a pitcher for
the Huskers. Despite feeling uncom
fortable in her first two seasons,
however, Deardorff still managed to
amass a 32-10 record, placing her
fourth on the all-time Nebraska list
for career victories. She had an
earned run average of 0.85, a .762
winning percentage and 233 strike
outs, placing her within four of the
fourth-place spot on the all-time
strikeout list.
But all the credit for her success
goes to her improved pitching, Dear
dorff said. She takes a lot cf confi
Taylor up on himself;
won't dwell on past
By The Associated Press
A more confident Steve Taylor says
he learned last season not to get down
on himself when things aren't going
right.
"That's one problem I do have,"
Nebraska quarterback Taylor said.
"When things aren't going right, I
really do accept a lot of the blame."
Taylor, getting ready for his junior
season, said he feels better prepared to
handle it now when things don't go
right.
"One thing I do feel is very confi
dent," Taylor said. "I'm relaxed. I have
nothing to prove. I just want to keep
playing well and be the best player I
can be."
4I feel it's my job
to move the ball
and score points.
If we don't score
points, I feel it's
my fault.
Taylor
Taylor missed the scrimmage last
Saturday at Memorial Stadium because
of an injury to his right foot from the
previous Saturday's scrimmage. But
Taylor said he will play Saturday when
the Huskers wrap up spring practice
with the 1:30 p.m. Red-White game.
Taylor said while watching the team
workout last weekend that the injury
didn't keep him from accomplishing
his goals for spring practice.
"When I came into spring, I really
wanted to concentrate on being con
sistent, and leadership," he said. "I've
been doing very well on consistency.
Overall I've accomplished my goals."
With a year's experience as a starter,
Taylor said, he feels much more com
fortable about his situation than a year
ago.
"I'm going into my junior year," he
said. "I feel confident I'm on a good
team. I'm a good player, and I want to
dence from knowing sh2 haa a
strong defense behind her.
"Defensively we're very sound,"
Deardorff said. "I don't feel I have to
pitch that well because I have a
greet defense behind me."
Dssrdorff
Deardorff said she believes that
great defense, along with a great
deal cf hitting power and overall
talent, will lead the team to the
College World Series. After last
year's disappointing disqualification
from the playoffs for recruiting vio
lations, the hunger fora good finish
is greater than ever for returning
team members, she said.
Deardorff, with an 11-4 record
and 2.4 ERA so far this season, said
she hopes her pitching consistency
will help to achieve part of that
goal.
"When I'm pitching I think that
I'm pretty consistent," Deardorff
said. "I get over my mistakes easily
and I don't dwell on what has hap
pened." get better. I don't feel as much pres
sure as I did last year. There's always
going to be a little bit of pressure, but I
really feel confident about myself and
about our team."
Taylor ended his sophomore season
as the most valuable player in Nebras
ka's 30-1 5 Sugar Bowl victory over Loui
siana State. He ended the game with
1 10 yards passing and 63 rushing after
being replaced by Clete Blakeman for a
series in the second quarter when the
NU offense was sputtering.
Taylor said the Sugar Bowl helped
him to realize that it's counter-productive
to get down on himself.
"A lot of it is not my fault," Taylor
said. "But as a quarterback, I feel it's
my job to move the ball and score
points. If we don't score points, I feel
it's my fault.
"Now I'm looking at it that I can't do
everything. All I can do is quarterback
and be a leader."
Taylor said he recently watched a
tape of the Sugar Bowl telecast, which
helped him learn how to accept criticism.
"The announcers were pretty hard
on me the first half," he said.
Taylor said the announcers made
coments about him trying to do too
much and not making correct reads.
Taylor said Coach Tom Osborne
should be credited for handling that
situation well, pulling him out and let
ting him regain his composure.
"I really appreciate the way Coach
Osborne has brought me along," he
said.
Taylor said he wanted to play varsity
early in his freshman season.
"That's why it's good to have a coach
like Coach Osborne, who has been here
for years and knows what happens to a
player who gets thrown in there too
early," Taylor said.
"I wanted to play, but I wasn't ready
to play. It's a good thing I didn't rush
it But things worked out pretty
well. I had a good freshman year and a
good sophomore year, and I've been
doing well in the spring. Things are
slowly picking up. Sooner or later, I'm
going to get there, and when I get there
we're going to be on top."
HnsIieF first baseman drives Iioinme
Love-ly perfectionism, coacii says
By Tim Hartmann
Senior Reporter
First baseman Amy Love, a senior
tri-captain on the Nebraska Softball
team, is the ideal captain, Coach Ron
Wolforth said.
"Amy Love is one of your classic cap
tains, and she is a self-motivated type
of person," Wolforth said. "She very
seldom gets rattled, she's competitive,
and yet is a perfectionist."
An example of Love's drive for per
fection is her response when asked how
she thinks she has played this season.
"There's always room for improve
ment," Love said. "This is my senior
year, and of course I want to do really
well. I'm not satisfied with what I've
done. I want to do better "
Love also strives for perfection off
the field. She has a 3.4 grade point
average in exercise physiology. This
summer she will have an internship
with the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. Last
season Love earned Academic all-Big
Eight Conference honors and was named
to the Big Eight Academic Honor Roll.
This season Love has hit .224 and has
earned six RBI. She leads the team in
sacrifices with nine. Going into this
season, Love had a career batting aver
age of .225, which places her 15th on
the Nebraska career batting charts.
Love also has proven herself defen
sively. She is No. 5 on the Nebraska
all-time fielding charts with a .975
fielding percentage.
j
J
Looking out
Nebraska shortstop Ken Slrak waits to field a grounder hit against the Cornhuskers during
their game against Oral Roberts University Saturday. Nebraska will play Northwest Missouri
State today in preparation for a four-game series against No. 1-ranked Oklahoma State In
Stiilwater, Okla.
Being a captain for two consecutive
years has been a big influence, Love
said.
"Being voted in by your peers means
a lot to me," she said. "They have faith
in me and in my leadership and every
thing else. It's helped me a lot."
Love
Last Saturday, the Cornhuskers swept
Iowa State to raise their record to 28-9
and increase their winning streak to
five games. Love said the team has
played well during the streak but still
needs improvements.
"We have our good games and our
bad games," she said, "but I don't
think we have played as good as we can.
There's plenty of goals win Big
Eights, go to regionals, go to the World
Series. We have to take it one game at a
time to accomplish that. We did that
fova
1
"'
r
for No. 1
last week against Iowa State, but now
that's over. This week we play Missouri
and Kansas, so we'll need to play well
again."
Love went to Robert E. Lee High
School in Houston and spent her first
year of college at Sam Houston State.
When Sam Houston's softball coach,
Wayne Daigle, came to Nebraska, Love
decided to transfer here.
After redshirting one season, Love
started as a sophomore and hit .255.
Last season her average slipped to .1 84,
but Wolforth said before the year began
that he looked for a strong year from
her.
"I predict that she will have a very
good year because I think last year she
put too much pressure on herself, and
this year we are going to let her do what
Amy Love does well," he said.
Daigle resigned last year after sev
eral recruiting violations were un
covered by the NCAA. Love said Dai
gle's departure upset her, but she was
glad she stayed at Nebraska.
"He is a great coach, but we have a
really good team and I wasn't going to
stop playing just because the coach
left," Love said.
Love said the transition from Daigle
to Wolforth, who was an assistant
coach last year, has gone well.
"It has been a pretty smooth transi
tion," she said. "Coach Wolforth has a
lot of the philosophies of Coach Daigle
and some of his own philosophies, and
they have mixed well together."
Doug CarrollDally Nebraskan