Sports
Freshmen talent offers glimpse of next season
to
cr _________________
tire looks promising for the Nebraska
am following its 4-2 win over Texas
mday.
ka coach Ron Wollorlh said next
nuld be anodic, strong year for the
liter seeing a nucleus of inexperi
yers contribute to the win over the
:(H>d wc got to use a lot of kids,”
said. “You got kind of a glimpse of
ian Kristin Davidson proved able on
ml at ihc plate. Davidson made two
i ihe run from her center field starting
nd went onc-for-two at the plate,
len pinch-runners Joy Rishel and
man also had productive outings.
.c. Mo.c ncr iMh base of the season while
Ki man completed two steals. This increased
Kill man s team-leading stolen base mark to
K'liman, finding herself at the plate for the
second time this season, claimed her first hit in
the second inning.
I think you got to see w hat we re gonna do
I? f uture. . That’s our funning game,”
Wolforth said. !o me it’s pretty impressive
because we can put a lot ot pressure on the
defense.
Nebraska has already established a running
game .is Rishcl and Killnian, along with junior
starting right lielder Jill Rishel have combined
tor 51 of the Huskers' record-setting 7() stolen
bases this season.
Wolforth said that Killman, Davidson and
the Rishels should make for an exciting season
next year.
“ Those four kids. ... I’m really looking
lorward to next year,” he said. “You have two
kids that have stoic over 15 bases so far that arc
freshmen and that’s pretty encouraging.”
Wolforth, whose Huskers suffered a dou
bleheadcr ioss 4-1 and 5-0 to conference rival
Kansas Friday night followed by a 3-2 loss to
1 exas A & M on Saturday, said he was pleased
with the win Sunday.
Anytime it'sa“W” against Texas A&M
I II take it,” he said. “Those have been hard to
come by over the years.”
Freshman pitcher Marie Bowie picked up
her second save of the season after relieving
Stephanie Skcgas in the seventh inning.
With runners on second and third, two outs
and the count at 2-2, Bowie threw a perfect
changc-up pitch that left Texas A&M batter
Tory Parks standing.
“It’s a pressure situation,” Bowie said,
“but I don’t really see it as pressure because I
know I can probably get myself out of it.’’
The Aggies jumped into the game quickly
by scoring two runs off two hits in the first
inning off Husker pitcher Stephanie Skcgas.
But Nebraska met the challenge by produc
ing four runs off of three hits in the bottom of
the inning.
The Rishcls, Kidman and Lori Cook scored
for the Huskcrs with third baseman Ruth
Chatwin, Cook, catcher Katy Wolda and short
stop Jennifer Biallis ad credited with RBIs.
“After the first inning I thought ‘here we go
again.’’’ Wolforth said. “I’m real happy with
the way we bounced back,”
The lOth-rankcd Huskcrs are now seeking
their sixth-straight Big Eight Conference Tour
nament title. The team heads into this week
end's tournament in Oklahoma City, Okia.,
with a 31-26 and 7-3 record.
I Freshman quarterback
leads Whites to victory
I By Steve Sipple
Staff Reporter
Nebraska freshman quarter
back Mike Grant knew he could
play big-time college football.
The Comhusker coaches alsc
realized he had that ability.
“Now, the fans know I’m ca
pable,” Grant said Saturday after
25,006 fans at Memorial Stadium
watched him rush 19 times for 157
yards to lead the Whites past the
Reds, 40-28, in Nebraska’s 40th
annual intrasquad spring game.
The game, played between
second- and third-team players on
the Whites and first- and fourth
teamers on the Reds, marks the
end of the Huskers’ spring football
practice season.
And Grant, who stands 6-fect-2
and weighs 205 pounds, finished
the spring with a flurry. He led the
Whites to their first spring game
victory since 1981, when they won
22-21.
I He did it in part by engineering
two, third-quarter touchdown
drives against the Reds’ No. 1
defense. After the teams battled to
a 21-21 halftime tie, Grant led the
Huskers on a nine-play, 67-yard
drive that ended with 1-back
Andre MeDuffy’s two-yard touch
down burst Phil Mendoza's extra
point made it 28-21.
During the drive, Grant had
runs of 12 and 31 yards.
When the Whites got the ball
back later in the quarter. Grant
went to work again. He raced for
runs of 35, 15, 15 and 5 yards as
the Whites moved to the Reds’ 14.
He capped the drive with a 14
yard touchdown run around left
end to give the Whiles a 34-21
advantage. This time, Mendoza’s
extra point failed.
By that time, Grant had rushed
nine times for 111 yards.
• he key to the white’s third
quarter offensive surge, Grant
said, was defensive fatigue.
“All of our first-half passing
wore down the linemen,” said
Grant, who led last fall’s Husker
junior varsity to a 5-0 record. “I
think all that drop-back passing
opened things up for the run. You
can’t cut a tree down with one
blow.”
In the first half. Grant and Jerrv
Dunlap combined to complete
three of 13 passes for 39 yards with
three interceptions, including two
by Dunlap.
The whites’ final score came
on another MeDuffy plunge, this
one coining from one yard out with
37 seconds left. The two-point
conversion try failed. MeDuffy
also scored in the first quarter. His
three touchdowns tied him with
three others for most points in the
spring game -- Tony Davis (1973),
Steve Taylor (1986) and Terry
Rodgers (1987).
inc Keas oniy seconu-naii
score came when quarterback
Mickey Joseph found split end
Morgan Gregory streaking down
the sideline on a 39-yard touch
down pass with 1:08 left in the
third quarter.
Grant, who along with Dunlap
is sharing second-team duties
behind starter Gerry Gdowski and
Joseph, said he wasn’t completely
satisfied with his play Saturday.
He said he needs to fine-tune
the “mechanics” of his game.
“I was doing it mostly by abil
ity instead of by the book,” Grant
said.
And of the Huskers’ quarter
back battle, he said nothing has
changed much.
“I still got two great athletes in
front of me,” he said. “I'm sure
that when my time comes coach
(Tom) Osborne will give me a fair
shot.”
Grant said he would prefer not
redshirting, but that he would sit
out the season if he won’t see
much playing time.
Osborne was impressed with
Grant, who’s from Valrico, Fla.
“Mike played well today,”
Osborne said. “He ran well and
threw well.” But Gdowski,
Osborne said, will enter fall prac
tice No. 1 on the depth chart.
Gdowski, a junior from Fre
mont, completed 4 of 9 passes for
45 yards, including one intercep
tion. He rushed five times for 23
yards.
Joseph, who teamed with
Gdowski in leading the Reds most
of the day, hit 3 of 10 passes for 49
yards and had two passes picked
off. He rushed eight times for 55
yards.
“Gdowski played well today
except his one interception,”
Osborne said. “Mickey had some
big plays and some bad plays. ”
Eight interceptions, three lost
fumbles and 16 penalties marred
the scrimmage and were a source
of concern, Osborne said. But he
said that the Huskers also showed
positive signs.
“I think we found some good
players,” he said. “And I think
we’ll have a good football team.
We’re capable of being very
good.”
The Huskers had some serious
injuries occur Saturday. Outside
linebacker Dan Svehla suffered a
broken leg; backup kicker Tom
Janky and backup I-back Troy
Uhlir suffered tom knee liga
ments; backup I-back Scott Bald
win dislocated his right elbow; and '
back-up wingback Lance Bobolz
separated his left shoulder.
Nebraska’s No. 1 1-back, Ken
Clark, played early Saturday be
fore sitting out the final three quar
ters with a sore ankle. Clark rushed
eight times for 38 yards.
Javelin throwers
make Huskers
a national power
By Paul Domeier
Staff Reporter
A pair of newcomers has turned
the Nebraska javelin squad into a
national power.
Friday at the Drake Relays Huskcr
freshman Roddy James set a school
record and qualified for the NCAAs
with a throw of 227 feet, bettering the
old record of 223 feet, 7 inches.
James, a native of Montrose, Scot
land, said the weather “kind of
helped” him as he set the national
record.
“It was not hot, pot cold, kind of
dull. Just like home,” he said. -H■■
James, who has been throwing the
javelin for six years, said he took up
the sport because it was “either this
or rugby, and I broke a leg at rugby.”
Nebraska’s Nora Rockenbauer
won the women’s javelin at Drake
with a loss of 171 feet, 5 inches.
Earlier in the year she qualified for
the NCAAs by throwing 193 feet, 5
inches. This was the second-best in
Husker history, but far short of her
best of 210 feet.
Rockenbauer, who is from
Budapest, Hungary, is in her first year
at Nebraska. She leads the nation this
year with her NCAA-qualifying
throw.
Mark Kostek, who coaches javelin
along with shot put and discus for
Nebraska, said javelin may be the
strongest throwing event for the
team. Other Huskers who compete in
the javelin include Eric Lcick, Paul
Larkin, and Lynne Frey.
Kostek said James, Lcick, and
Rockenbauer have good chances at
winning the Big Eight. The last jave
lin title for the Nebraska women was
in 1986, and the men haven’t won the
title since 1974.
Tigers take 3 of 4 games
Comhusker hopes for tournament dampened
fy Guenther
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska baseball team’s
opes of qualifying for the Big Eight
ournament were dampened on rain
oaked Buck Beltzer Field Sunday.
'he Comhuskers, 22-25, were
'vcpi m a doublehcader by Missouri
n, and 12-4. Saturday, the Huskers
,P"i a doublehcader with the Tigers,
r()pping the opener 5-2 before sal
vagtng the nightcap 5-3.
in Jnday’s losses leave the Huskers
sixth place in the Big Eight stand
w"h only eight conference
in JVCSRemaining. The top four teams
me Big Eight standings qualify for
the Big Eight tournament May 17-21
Nebraska coach John Sanders said
Sunday’s losses were disappointing
to the Huskers because they went into
the games with a lot of enthusiasm
after coming back and winning the
second game Saturday.
“Our enthusiasm and support has
not varied,” Sanders said. “To have
the games result like that was not
good. . .
“In competitive athletics, you go
through some tough times where you
gel your jaw bioken or your lip blood
ied.”
In the nightcap Sunday, the Tigers
did just that. Missouri collected 15
hits and 10 walks off six different
Nebraska pitchers. Starting pitcher
Dale Kistailis, 3-7, was tagged for the
loss.
“Give them credit,” Sanders said.
“They had struggled coming into the
series and they came into our ball
park and won three of four games.
That’s pretty good.”
In the opener, the Tigers rallied for
three runs in the seventh inning to
overcome a 4-2 deficit.
Huskcr starting pitcher Doug
Tcgtmcier retired the first Tiger bat
ter in the seventh, before hitting cen
ter fielder Brad Womack and walking
Greg King.
Tegtmeicr then threw three balls
to Darnel Hawkins before being re
lieved by Aaron Bilyeu, 0-1, who
ended up taking the loss.
Bilyeu proceeded to strike out
Hawkins on three consecutive
pitches for the second out, before
issuing a walk to John Pitlenger to
load the bases. Missouri’s clean-up
hitter, Tim Hawkins, followed with a
three-run double off the right field
fence, giving Missouri a 5-4 lead.
The Tigers added their final two
runs in the eighth inning off Bilycu
and Joe Purvine. McGraw. Milhaven
also pitched during the game for
Nebraska.
Offensively, Doug Twitty led the
Huskcrs with three hits and a RBI.
Sanders said i f the Huskcrs arc still
going to qualify for the tournament,
they will probably have to win at least
seven of their final eight conference
games.
‘ ‘There’s no question that we have
our work cut out for ourselves,” he
said.
But Sanders said, he is still confi
dent Nebraska can win enough games
to qualify for the tournament and
finish the season with a record a few
games above .500.
“We have 11 games to make a
year of it,” Sanders said. ‘‘And if we
are to do it, we’ll go in with a belter
finish than we have in the past.”
Shaun Sartirv Daily Nabraskan
Nebraska quarterback Gerry Gdowski is crunched
during Saturday’s scrimmage.
