NelJraskan I
Monday, April 29,1991
Up in the air i
Leader unknown for passing offense \
By Chris Hopfensperger
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska football team pre
viewed its new offense spattered with
passes and a youthful defense in Sat
urday’s annual Red-White Game to
end spring practice.
The Reds defeated the Whiles 43
21 in front of23,102 people at Memo
rial Stadium. The Cornhuskers’ next
action will be in Memorial Stadium,
Sept. 7 against Utah State.
Nebraska’s starting cast, however,
remains to be set.
Four players — Mike Grant, Tom
Haase, Mickey Joseph and Keithcn
McCant — continue to vie for the
starting role at quarterback.
Coach Tom Osborne, who watched
the game from the pressbox, said Haase
had the best scrimmage, but the posi
tion would not be set until the fall.
“There’s no decision being made,”
he said. “I think we have four guys
who can play pretty well in a ball
game right now.”
The composition of Nebraska’s
offense depends on the quarterback,
Osborne said.
With Joseph at quarterback, the
Huskers may call the same number of
pass plays but throw less because of
his ability to pull the ball down and
run, Osborne said.
“We’re going to throw the football
more and not because of anyone’s
insistence,” he said.
The absence of senior Lcodis Flow
ers from the last week of spring foot
ball opened the 1-back door to sopho
more Derek Brown, senior George
Achola and rcdshirl freshman Calvin
Jones.
Brown opened the show with a 44
yard touchdown romp on the seventh
play of the game, putting the Red
squad up 7-0. He finished the day
with 131 yards and a touchdown on
12 attempts.
McCant, who completed five ol
10 passes for 65 yards, directed the
second drive. The senior from Grand
Prarie, Texas, completed four of his
first five passes, leading the team to
the 1-yard line.
McCant finished off the drive with
a 1 -yard run to even the score.
“Keithen has had a good spring,”
Osborne said. “Today there were two
or three things mentally that maybe
he could have done a little better.”
Osborne said Haase led Nebraska’s
army of field generals.
The first of eight quarterbacks to
see action, Haase rushed for 65 yards
and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
He completed 10 of 16 attempts for
162 yards, a touchdown and no inter
ceptions.
Osborne said it was the first spring
game he could remember without a
turnover by cither squad.
“We did have two or three passes
that could have been picked (off)/’ |
Osborne said. “We threw to the wrong
people. They just didn’t catch the
ball.”
Fullback Lance Lewis had the day ’s
only fumble, but it was recovered in ,,
the end /one by tackle Ray Reifen
rath for a touchdown.
The day did not go off without any
problems. Osborne said most of his
concerns leaned toward the defense.
Defensive coordinator Charlie
McBride agreed.
“We’re the least prepared we’ve
ever been at the end of the spring
ball,” McBride said. “Usually by the
end of the spring I have a feeling, but
I don’t have any feeling about whether
we’re going to be good or not.
“It’s scary.”
Offensively, the two teams com
bined for 853 yards.
McBride said the defense was hurt
by the NCAA cutbacks in the number
of days of spring practice and the
number of days in pads.
I
Shaun Sartin/Daily Nebraskan
Tom Haase, first-string quarterback at the end of the spring,
struggles to break free from Ed Stewart. Haase completed 10
of 16 passes for 162 yards and ran for 65 yards Saturday.
Ktley rimperley Daiiy fcebrawKan
Nebraska Shae Sloan tries to apply the taowhile leaping
over Stefanie Killian at second base in Sunday morn
ing’s game. Killian was safe.
Late run saves day
By John Adkisson
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska softball team’s
last home performance of the year
was one run from being a sad swan
song.
The Huskers, after being upset
by Oklahoma earlier in the day,
eked out a late run to knock off
Kansas 1 -OSunday at the Nebraska
Softball Complex.
Nebraska moved its record to
21 -16 and secured the fifth seed in
the six-team BigEighl tournament,
which will start Thursday in Okla
homa City, Okla.
“A win is a win is a win,” Ne
braska coach Ron Wol forth said.
“I’m just happy we’re going into
ihc tournament with a win.”
Nebraska battled No. 18 Kansas
through six scoreless innings be
hind the pitching of junior Marie
Bowie. Though six innings, Bowie
gave up four hits while stranding
six Kansas runners.
“She put us on her shoulders
and carried us,” Wolforth said.
In the top of seventh, Ann Halsne
led off with a single down the left
field line. Pinch runner Jennifer
Stevens stole second and a two-out
double by KharaTrcnka brought in
the only run.
Senior pitcher Stephanie Skegas
retired Kansas in order in the sev
enth. _
See SOFTBALL on 10
Husker women take fourth
By Jeff Singer
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska women’s tennis team
earned fourth place behind the strength
of its doubles teams at the Big Eight
championships Saturday and Sunday
in Oklahoma City, Okla.
All three doubles units earned third
place fin ishes to help secure the Com -
huskers’ final position.
“Our doubles teams did a really
good job,” said Bob Hampton, who
has resigned after one season as
Nebraska’s coach. “All fall we worked
on our doubles, and it finally paid off
this weekend.”
The No. 1 doubles tandem of Nancy
Tyggum and Rachel Collins surprised
the tournament’s top-seeded team from
Kansas with a 6-3, 7-6 win to earn
third place.
“Rachel and I played very well,”
said Tyggum, a senior. “Beating
Kansas as the No. 1 seed was defi
nitely one of mine and Rachel’s big
gest wins.”
The other doubles wins were No. 2
Iidiko Guba and Ann Flannery, who
won 6-0, 6-2 in the final round, and
No. 3 Tina CoulreLsis and Heidi Junius,
who won 6-2,6-3.
CoulreLsis said she wasn’t all that
satisfied by finishing third at No. 3
doubles.
“I look at third place as OK,”
CoulreLsis said. “But when Heidi and
I are on, we can beat anyone.”
Overall, Nebraska ended the tour
ney with 73 points, 57 behind repeal
ing champion Oklahoma State.
“After we got some big first-round
wins, we could’ve iakc»ovcr second
place,” Hampton said. “But we had
some key ihrcc-set losses that kept us
in fourth.”
The singles rcsu Its wcren ’ t as good
for Nebraska as were the doubles.
The lone third-place finisher was
Collins at No. 4 singles.
Meghan Quinn was fourth at No. 6
singles, Guba fifth at No. 1, Tyggum
sixth at No. 3, Flannery seventh at
No. 2 and Coutretsis seventh at No. 5.
Even though the Huskcrs didn’t
bring home any performance titles,
they did gain an important award.
Tyggum was awarded the conference’s
sportsmanship award for the player
who best represents the sport on and
off the court.
“It was a real honor to get that
award,” Tyggum said. “I think it
represents the team as well as the
university well.”
Loach: NU tennis team has
‘average’ season, tournament
v_^
By Jeff Singer
Staff Reporter
Nebraska men’s tennis coach Kerry
McDermott said his squad’s “par”
fourth-place finish at the Big Eight
championships was typical.
“Just like our season, the tourna
ment was average,” McDermott said.
“We didn’t have any highlights or
any big downfalls.”
Nebraska’s singles finishes serve
as an example for the tournament
Thursday and Friday in Oklahoma
City, Okla. No Huskcr won an indi
vidual title, and no one finished last.
Joey Salerno earned the best finish
for any Husker, second place at No. 4
singles.
Anthony Kotarac finished third at
No. 6, Steve Barley fourth at No. 2,
Scott Randolph fourth at No. 3, Mat
thias Mueller sixth at No. 1 and Karl
Falkland sixth at No. 5.
McDermott said Mueller’s surpris
ing sixth place might keep him from
receiving an NCAA tourney bid.
“He’s got a slim chance of making
the NCAAs,” McDermott said. “His
perfo. n.ancc at the tournament sure
didn’t help out his chances.”
McDermott said Salerno’s second
place was good, as was Kotarac’s
third place. Kotarac had Nebraska’s
lone victory during Friday’s second
. day of competition.
Mueller and Randolph finished
fourth in No. 1 doubles, while Salerno
and Kotarac ended up fifth at No. 2
and Barley and David Moyer finished
in seventh and last place at No. 3.
Overall, the Huskers ended with
58 points, one ahead of Colorado for
fourth place, but 36 behind confer
ence champ Oklahoma State. The
Cowboys finished with 95 points, two
ahead of Kansas, to help them repeat
as Big Eight champions.
McDermott said the Nebraska fin
ish isn’t as bad as some might think.
“We achieved our tournament goal
and finished in fourth,” McDermott
said. “It was a satisfying end to our
season.”
McDermott said the main reason
his team wasn’t in the running for the
conference crown was because of a
lack of team unity.
“Tennis is as much an individual
sport as a team sport,” McDermott
said. “Our main problem this year
was that we didn T act as a team when
we needed to.”
He said this will lead to some
changes for future Nebraska tennis
teams.
“This is the first time in my 11
years that the team didn’t make any
type of improvement,” McDermott
said. We re going to be making some
changes to improve our unity and
work ethic.”
Rain halts play;
NU, KSU tied
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska baseball team
was well on its way to the sec
ond of its needed three wins
over Kansas Slate before rain
halted play Sunday in Manhat
tan, Kan.
The Comhuskers split a dou
blchcadcr with the Wildcats on
Saturday and led Kansas State
9-3 in the First game Sunday
when the game was halted with
no outs and runners on first and
third in the lop of the sixth.
The game will resume today
at 2 p.m., with the Final game of
the series to follow. The Husk
ers need a sweep today to re
main in contention for the Big
Eight tournament.
Nebraska took the lead with
a grand slam from Jeff Rhein
and a three-run home run from
Shawn Buchanan. Josh Bullock
was pitching for the Huskers.
Nebraska had a similar power
outburst on the way to an 18-7
victory in the first game Satur
day. The Huskers got four home
runs in that game, including the
First homers of the year for Vince
DiGrandi and Eddie Anderson.
~SeeBASEBALLonTo
