Net>raskan
Wednesday, April 3,1991
Huskers, Lady Jays
split doubleheader
By John Adkisson
Staff Reporter__
OMAHA—It took all she had, but
Nebraska softball pitcher Stephanie
Skegas strong-armed her team into a
doublehcader split with Creighton
Tuesday.
After the Comhuskers had lost the
first game 4-1, Skegas recorded her
seventh victory of the year and Ne
braska won the nightcap 5-1 before
200 fans at Seymour Smith Field.
The Huskers moved their season
record to 10-8 with the split, and kept
a 23-22 edge in the all-time series
with the Lady Jays.
“We got one, but we could have
easily had the sweep,” said Nebraska
coach Ron Wolforth.
Skegas toyed with disaster all
evening long, allowing Creighton
baserunners in all but two innings.
Three times, however, she recorded
the final out of the inning with a Lady
Jay standing on third base.
“I was a little disappointed that she
didn’t close the door like she could
have,” Wolforth said. “As a pitcher,
you’ve got to protest those leads.”
Skegas missed an opportunity for
her sixth shutout of the year in the
final inning. With one out in the sev
enth, she gave up an RBI double to
Creighton’s Tracy Rice.
The Huskers were helped offen
sively by third baseman Ann Halsne,
who hit a towering solo home run in
the second inning to give Nebraska a
1-0 lead.
Wolforth said he was pleased with
Halsne, whose deep shot to left was
Nebraska’s first home run this sea
son.
“She’s coming around, just like a
lot of our hitters, but it’s none too
soon,” Wolforth said.
From there Nebraska never looked
back, scoring single runs in the fourth
and fifth innings and adding two in
the sixth.
In the fourth, the Huskers’ Misti
Guenther singled to left and moved to
second on a sacrifice bunt. After Amy
Erlenbusch reached on an error and
Halsne walked to load the bases,
Guenther scored on a sacrifice fly by
Denise McMillian.
Cris Vucurevic singled with one
out in the fifth. Michelle Cuddeford
bunted her to second and Guenther
walked. Guenther took off for second
and was in caught in a run-down, but
Vucurevic scored during the mn-down.
Nebraska scored two quiet runs in
the sixth. Shae Sloan walked, Jen
nifer Stevens reached on error, Halsne
flew out and McMillian singled but
Sloan couldn’t score. Marie Bowie
bounced out for the second out. But
then Kristin Davidson walked and
Vucurevic walked for the final two
See HUSKERS on 8
49ers lose key members
as Plan B free agents
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Plan
B free agency is doing to the San
Francisco 49ers what so many other
teams could not, breaking up major
parts of the player ensemble formed
during a decade of success.
Joe Montana is still around to run
the offense that helped the49ers reach
the playoffs in each of the past eight
seasons, including four Super Bowl
wins. Montana can still throw to Jerry
Rice and John Taylor.
But he lost a key member of his
supporting cast when running back
Roger Craig, left unprotected, bolted
to the Los Angeles Raiders as a Plan
B free agent. Craig, 30', signed a two
year deal Monday night.
The former Nebraska running back
rejoins former 49ers defensive star
Ronnie Lott, a 10-year veteran who
was left unprotected despite another
Pro Bowl season in 1990. Lott, 31,
signed with the Raiders a week ago.
The San Francisco defense lost a
second starter Monday, when line
backer Matt Millen, 3j, signed with
the Washington Redskins to be closer
to his hometown of Hokendauqua,
Pa.
“It looks to me like the 49ers are a
team in a transition,” Craig’s agent,
Jim Steiner, said. “It was in Roger’s
best interests to move on.”
Craig is the only player in NFL
history to top 1,000 yards in both
rushing and receiving in a single sea
son. He led the 49ers in rushing from
1985-89, breaking the 1,000-yard mark
three times.
Last season, he missed five games
with a knee injury and rushed for only
439 yards in 141 attempts and caught
only 25 passes.
“I don’t think we’re going to enter
the season with any different expec
tations,” said San Francisco coach
George Seifert, who has guided the
team to a Super Bowl win and an NFC
championship game appearance in
the two seasons since succeeding Bill
Walsh.
The club also is anticipating the
retirement or departure of linebacker
Keena Tun^r, comerback Eric Wright
and wide receiver Mike Wilson, who,
with Lott and Montana, were the five
49ers to play on all four of San Fran
cisco’s Super Bowl teams.
The 49ers signed eight Plan B free
agents, the most since the implemen
tation of the plan three years ago. In
each of the previous two seasons, the
49ers had signed six.
See 49ERS on 8
M A
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Steel MeKee/Deily Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Gary Tackett, a .283 hitter this season, takes batting practice Tuesday in
preparation for today’s doubleheader.
Nebraska, Creighton to play
By Nick Hytrek
Staff Reporter
There will be no hard feelings
when Nebraska and Creighton meet
today in a 4 p.m. baseball double
header at Buck Beltzer Field.
Creighton, 20-6 entering a game
Tuesday, is ranked No. 12 by Base
ball America and won three out of
four games against Nebraska last
season.
In a 16-12 loss to the Bluejays
last season, two separate incidents
resulted in three Nebraska players
and one from Creighton being
ejected.
Sophomore catcher Sean McK
enna, who was thrown out of that
game for charging the mound after
being hit by a pitch, said the inci
dent is all but forgotten.
“It’s over with,” he said. “I’m
just going to concentrate on my
game.”
Husker coach John Sanders said
he thinks what happened last year
won’t be on his players’ minds.
“I don’t think it will affect us,”
he said. “There are no hard feel
ings, at least not on our side.”
Creighton Coach Jim Hendry
said he doesn’t think it will be a
factor.
“That was a separate issue,” he
said. “John and I get along fine. I
don’t expect it to carry over from
last year.”
The Huskers, 14-10, have lost
their last five games, so Nebraska
will focus on its own game instead
of worrying about a Creighton team
that is hitting .388, Sanders said.
“We’ll play our normal game,”
he said. “We’re going to pitch from
our strengths. We need to control
ourselves.”
Sanders said it is important for
the players to come out and play
See CREIGHTON on 8
NCAA season ends in disappointment; rewind requested
I, now regrettably, taped Monday night’s
national championship game.
I made sure I didn’t record over Nebraska’s
last win of 1991, against Kansas, and I made
sure I taped over the Comhuskers’ last loss,
against Xavier.
I desperately hoped Kansas would beat Duke
in the NCAA final I was taping.
Somehow, I reasoned, capturing the Jay
hawks’ national championship on video right
after the Huskers’ victory over Kansas would
remind me of what could have been for Ne
braska this year.
Unfortunately, that tape will always have a
disappointing ending.
But maybe that’s fitting. Kansas’ loss was a
disappointing ending to this year’s NCAA
tournament.
The upstart Jayhawks surprised everyone
but Big Eight fans when they passed Indiana,
Arkansas and North Carolina on their way to
the national championship game.
Todd
Cooper
But their loss shouldn’t have surprised any
one. Not because Duke was a better team, and
not because Dick “Duke” Vitale said the Blue
Devils would win, but because the Jayhawks
had played similarly poorly in two previous
crucial games.
Monday night’s loss paralleled Kansas’ two
other critical losses — both to Nebraska. Both
on my tape.
I rewound to sec the first loss, when Kansas
visited Lincoln in March to close out Big Eight
Conference play. The Jayhawks were looking
for an outright Big Eight title, but Nebraska
beat them. Kansas committed 26 turnovers in
the game while missing 10 free throws in the
last six minutes of play to lose, 85-75.
Not ignoring Nebraska’s defense, as I re
wound and played it back, I saw that easy shots
(free throws) beat Kansas that day.
Not ignoring Duke’s defense, as I played
the national championship game back, I saw
that easy shots (layups) beat Kansas on Mon
day.
The Jayhawks missed nine layups and 12
other shots from within 10 feet to lose the
national championship.
I fast-forwarded past that first Husker game
to a section of that tape of Kansas losing Big
Eight tournament title hopes to Nebraska March
9. The story of that game was foul trouble.
Mike Maddox and Mark Randall exited the
game early. Alonzo Jamison, in foul trouble
the entire game, was virtually non-existent.
I looked at Monday night’s game again.
And agntn, I saw Maddox in foul trouble. And
Jamison — the player the Jayhawks rallied
behind to beat Indiana, Arkansas and North
Carolina — was seemingly not even on the
tape, finishing with two points on one of 10
shooting from the field.
Although I don’t have it on tape, I saw
disappointment in the faces of the Jayhawk
players as they boarded their bus after Kansas’
first title loss,
After their second loss, I saw Mark Randal!
and Patrick Ritchey in the lobby of our hotel,
obviously downtrodden from the loss.
Monday night, I didn’t have to see the
Jayhawks to realize their disappointment.
And I didn’t have to see any Nebraska
players to realize their disappointment at what
might have been. I know they rewind and
watch the tape of their wins over Kansas, and
possibly their loss to Xavier, again and again.
Nebraska was the only team to beat Kansas
twice this year. The Huskers were comparable
See NCAA on 8