NelSaskan SpOrtS P,T
Friday, April 29,1988 JL
Drake Relays to test Husker track teams
By Kyle Schurman
Staff Reporter
A severe lest will await the Nebraska track
team whenitsends 19menand 17 women to the
Drake Relays this weekend in Des Moines,
Iowa.
Nebraska coach Gary Pepin said the relays
will be a strong test for the Comhuskers be
cause many of the top athletes in the country
compete in them. No team scoring will be kept
at the competition.
“The (Drake Relays) is one of the premiere
relay events in the country,” Pepin said. “The
competition will be very good. Our athletes are
really looking forward to competing this week
end.”
Nebraska assistant coach Jay Dirksen said
the competition at the Drake Relays will be the
best that the Huskers have faced all year.
“(The competition is) pretty stiff in most
cases,” Dirksen said. “The athletes are of a
much better quality than at the Kansas Relays
and equal to if not better than at the Texas
Relays. In every area the athlete will be se
verely tested.”
Dirksen said more than 100 teams will
complete at Drake. He said most schools only
send their top athletes because the qualifying
standards are difficult to attain and because of
the stiff competition. Dirksen said Nebraska
will have more athletes than most schools at the
relays.
“This is the kind of meet that the teams only
send their best people,” Dirksen said. “The
entries that we have there will be competitive.”
Dirksen said that Drake limits the number of
competitors for each running event, and one
Husker, Juliet Prowse, who has already at
tained a NCAA qualifying mark in the 1,500
meter run, did not have a fast enough time to
compete at Drake in the 1,500.
Nebraska’s Dale Burrage will try to win the
“triple crown” of the Midwest relays, Kansas,
Texas and Drake, in the 400 hurdles. Burrage
has already won the 400 hurdles at Kansas and
Texas, and he could become the first Husker
male to win the triple crown since 1947. One
Husker woman and four Nebraska men have
won the triple crown.
Dirksen said the Husker women will be led
by Sharon Powell in the 800, Michelle Milling
in the 400 and Linetta Wilson in the 400
hurdles.
“Up and down the line we’ll have quality
performers,” Dirksen said.
Dirksen said Nebraska will be competitive
in the relay events as well. He said the Nebraska
men’s 400 and 800 relay teams, who won at the
Kansas Relays last weekend, will see some of
their toughest competition of the year.
“They’re going to see some teams from the
South who are at least of equal ability,’ he said.
Although teams from across the United
States will be at Drake, Dirksen said, Nebraska
won’t be able to get a preview of the type of
competition it will see at the NCAA Champion
ships.
“The focus is on the relay (events) at Drake,
so it won’t give too much of an indication to the
NCAA meet overall,” he said.
The Huskers will also participate in the
Nebraska Intercollegiate meet Sunday at the Ed
Weir Track. The Intercollegiate was resched
uled from April 9, when it was postponed
because of cold weather.
Dirksen said the Huskers who go to Drake
will not participate in the Intercollegiate, which
is for all collegiate track athletes in the state. He
said Nebraska will run a “number of athletes.”
Teams from Doane, Concordia, Kearney
State, Midland Lutheran, and Nebraska
Wesleyan will join the Huskers on Sunday at
the Intercollegiate.
Northwest Missouri State’s Steve Char dives to avoid a tag by Nebraska’s Jeff Taylor.
Huskers to play No. 1-ranked OS U,
hopes to gain ground on Cowboys
By Steve Sipple
Senior Reporter
Forget Oklahoma State’s No. 1
ranking and its seven straight con
ference championships. Nebraska’s
baseball team has other things
in mind entering its weekend
series, ,♦*
“It’s a secies where we can gain
ground in the Big Eight,” Nebraska
coach John Sanders said. “U’s not
really a peak in the season — the
whol^Big Eight season isapeakand
this game falls in the Big Eight.
They’re X2-0 and we’re 7-5. We
want ic gain ground on them.”
The Comhuskers will get that
chance when they play Oklahoma
State in a four-game series starting
Saturday at Buck Beltzer Field. The
teams will play doubleheaders be
ginning at noon Saturday and 12:30
Sunday.
Oklahoma State, which has a 44
2 record, has been ranked No. 1 all
season in the Collegiate Baseball/
ESPN national Top 30. Nebraska,
40-13 overall, is fourth in the Big
Eight entering the weekend series.
Oklahoma is second at 9-3 and
Missouri is third at 10-6.
“We’ll take the series game by
game,” Sanders said. “We’re just
interested in going out and playing
as well as we can play and hope
some good things happen ”
Sanders said good things have
been happening lately to Nebraska
at Buck Bcltzer Field. The Huskers’
doubleheader sweep of Northern
Iowa Wednesday increased their
home win streak to 23 games.
Oklahoma State coach Gary
Ward said the Huskers’ home field
will help to make it difficult for his
team to remain unbeaten in the
conference.
“I think staying undefeated is
highly unlikely,” Ward said. “The
nature of baseball makes that un
likely because you can’t control
variables. There’s bad calls, there’s
line drives — just too many things
you can’t control.”
Ward said he always looks for
ward to bringing his team to Lin
coln.
“it’s always an enjoyable place
to playWard said. “They always
have outstanding crowds. They’ve
filled it (Buck Beltzer Field) the last
two times we’ve been there.”
Ward said that for the most part,
the pressure is off the BigEight’siop
four teams. He said the field for the
Big Eight Tournament May 18-22 in
Oklahoma City is virtually set. The
top four regular season teams qual
ify for the conference tourna
ment.
“I don ’t know howsignificaiuthe
order is,” Ward said. “I think you’ll
have a lot of relaxed coaches and
players right now.”
But Ward said the weekend se
lies will be indicative of what it will
take to be successful in the Big
Eight
“Regardless of the outcome, it
will leave an understanding of what
it takes to win the Big Eight regular
season title and the tourr ament,” he
said.
Sanders said Nebraska will use
two left-handed and two right
handed pitchers against the Cow
boys. Left-hander Pat Leinen and
right-hander Rocky Johnson will
start Saturday's games, he said.
Leinen has a 6-2 record with a
4.11 earned run average. Johnson is
1-3 with a 4.45 ERA this season.
On Sunday, John Lepley, a left
hander, will start the first game and
right-hander Phil Goguen the sec
ond. Lepley is 7-2 this year with a
4.41 ERA and Goguen is 2-0 with a
4.88 ERA.
Goguen, who struggled early in
the season, has earned his way back
into the rotation with two straight
strong oudngs, Sanders said.
Ward said he is undecided what
his exact pitching rotation will be.
He said right-handers Pat Hope,
Tim Pugh and Tom Keffiiry and left
hander Mike Gardclla will be the
likely starters, buthe didn’tknow in
what order.
All University of Ncbraska-Lin
coln students with identification
cards will be admitted free to each of
the weekend games.
NU softball team attempts
second-place Big 8 finish
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
A final review of the Big Eight will
occur this weekend for the Nebraska
softball team.
The No. 11-ranked Comhuskers
will face Missouri at 10a.m. Saturday
and Kansas at 4 p.m. Sunday at the
Nebraska Softball Complex.
Nebraska coach Ron Wolforth
said the 29-15 Huskers must win three
of the four games to secure a second
place conference finish. Oklahoma
State, the conference leader, finished
its Big Eight schedule with a 10-0
record while Nebraska is 4-2.
“We are No. 2 in the Big Ei^ht race
and it is important that we get the
second seed in the tournament so we
can get to Oklahoma S tate, ” Wolforth
said. “Getting the second seed is a
better place for us to be.”
Wolforth said this weekend’s
games are also important because
Nebraska needs to win them in order
to have a chance at a return trip to the
College World Series.
Wolforth said Kansas, which split
a pair of games with Nebraska earlier
this season, is capable of giving the
Huskers trouble.
"Kansas is not a top-30 team, but
they arc a good solid team and very
young,” Wolforth said. ‘They are not
quite there but arc very capable of
winning a game and giving us
trouble.
“If they’re in a game until the sixth
or seventh inning they are going to
hang on and we’re going to have a
tough time beating them.
Kansas’ coach Kalum Haack said
the Jayhawks’ 2-0 defeat of Nebraska
in April gave his team a boost and let
them know they can play with the
Huskers.
Haack said although the 32-26
Jayhawks aren’t looking past Ne
braska — they are more concerned
about Iowa Stale. Kansas faces the
Cyclones at 2 p.m. on Saturday and
Sunday.
“Statistically speaking, we must
win against Iowa State because we
want to finish third in the confer
ence,” said Haack, a former Nebraska
assistant coach.
Haack said the Jayhawks must
have good pitching and play strong
defense to beat Nebraska. The Jay
hawks’ pitching staff is led by Roanna
Brazier and Reenie Powell. Brazier, a
sophomore, has compiled a 20-14
record and a .94 earned run average
while Powell has a 10-9 record and a
2.36 ERA.
Haack said Kansas must also keep
Nebraska runners off the bases. He
said if the Huskers have a runner in
scoring position, Kansas will inten
tionally walk shortstop Jane Kremer,
who is hitting .375 and has 35 runners
batted in.
“We want to make somebody who
isn’t the clutch player make the play,”
Haack said. “We want to make one of
their other players come through. We
don’t want to Jet their game player
have a chance at winning the game.”
Wolforth said Missouri’s 37-14
record overall and 2-4 mark in confer
ence play is deceiving because the
Tigers haven’t faced any top-20
teams. He said the record has given
Missouri confidence which it lacked
last season while winning only 13
games.
“They haven’t played anybody
tough, but that has helped to get their
confidence level up,” Wolforth said.
“Their kids believe in themselves,
and in softball it is incredibly impor
tant to have a mental attitude in
making a team.”
Wolforth said he isn’t as worried
about the Huskers’ opponents as he is
about the Huskers.
“I am more concerned about us in
getting good swings at the plate,”
Wolforth said. “We play every game
against ourselves.”
Chatwin boosts Huskers
to win second game
By Mike Kluck
Stiff Reporter
OMAHA — A chewing out ses
sion by Nebraska coach Ron
Wolforth after a 2-1 loss to
Creighton, 30-15, propelled the
Comhuskers to a 3-1 victory in the
second game.
Wolforth said he is not accus
tomed to chewing out or yelling but
thought it was needed after the 29-15
Husker’s first game performance at
Dill Field.
“I was irritable with the efforts in
the first game," Wolforth said.
Wolforth said he was pleased with
the effort of catcher Ruth Chatwin in
the second game.
Chatwin, a junior from Mel
bourne, Australia, was 0-4 hitting in
the first game but was 3-4 in the
second game while scoring twice and
baiting in the winning run.
“In the first game we didn’t take
care of business,” Chatwin said. “In
the second game we knew we had to
have G and D (guts and determina
tion) if we’re going to make it.”
Chatwin said she saw a turning
point in the second game when the
Huskers scored more than one extra
run to win the game. She said she was
also motivated by having her parents
here from Melbourne to sec the game.
“My dad saw me play two years
ago. but this is the first time they have
both been here together,” Chatwin
said. “Having them both here has put
me on a high.”
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