NU, Creighton split victories; Seaton collapses
By Nick Hytrek
Staff Reporter_
OMAHA — The Nebraska baseball team
could keep Creighton’s bats quiet for only so
long Wednesday as the Comhuskers split a
doubleheader with the Bluejays.
Nebraska held Creighton, batting .364 as a
team, to three runs on eight hits in a 5-3 first
game win. The second game was almost the
complete opposite, as Creighton scored 14 runs
on 18 hits, including five home runs, in a 14-3
Bluejay victory.
Nebraska jumped to a quick lead in the first
game with an unearned run in the second in
ning. Husker starter John Izumi was in control
until the fourth inning when the Bluejays scored
an three of their runs,
Trey Rutledge, 5-4, relieved Izumi, got the
final out of the inning and went the rest of the
way for the win. Rutledge gave up two hits and
struck out six batters in 5 1/3 innings.
“I established my curve ball today,” Rut
ledge said. “That’s something I’ve been trying
to do lately. I got out ahead in the counts a lot. ‘
When I’m out ahead, I’m more effective.”
Nebraska tied the game in the fifth inning.
Brian McAm walked and Shawn Buchanan hit
his seventh home run of the year.
The Huskers took the lead for good in the
sixth. Jeff Rhein singled to left, went to second
on a sacrifice by Dale Hagy and advanced to
third on a wild pitch. After Brian Amtzen
walked, Tim Seaton'singled in Rhein and moved
Amtzen to third. Amtzen scored on a sacrifice
fly by Eddie Anderson.
Husker pitchers could do little to stop
Creighton in the second game, however, as the
Bluejays hit three home runs in the first inning
to take a 5-0 lead on losing pitcher Todd
Mosser, 2-1.
^Nebraska will play tins' weekend against
Iowa State at Buck Beltzer Field in double
headers Friday and Saturday.
The Huskers could be without the services
of second baseman Seaton, who collapsed
between games Wednesday. Creighton team
doctor Lee Bevilacqua said that Seaton suf
fered an oxygen loss and was incoherent much
of the way to the hospital.
Bevilacqua said Seaton drifted in and out of
coherency while at the hospital, me doctor
said Seaton would remain hospitalized over
night for tests.
First game
Nebraska.010 022 000 — 5 8 0
At Creighton_000 300 000 — 3 6 1
WP—Rulledge (5-4). LP—Benes (8-3). N—Izumi,
Rutledge (4) and Arntzen. C—Benes. O’Brien (6),
Puffer (6) and Martindale. 2B—N Vosik. C Martindale,
Langer. 3B-—C McCafferty. HR—N Buchanan. C
McCafferty. SB—C Jones
Second game
Nebraska.010 010 1 — 3 5 3
At Creighton .... 521 204 x — 14 18 0
WP—Maloney (2-4). LP—Mosser (2-1). N—Mos
ser, Nollette (2), Matranga (6) and Amtzen. C—
Maloney, O'Conner (6) and Martindale 2B—N
Buchanan, Vosik. C Judge 3B—C Martindale HR—C
Hinton, McCafferty, Martindale 2, Langer SB—C
Jones.
Domino effect may
topple NU sports
Sports Illustrated is coming out
with an off-season story about the
struggles of the Nebraska football
team, pointing out the cracks in the
program.
Two Comhusker men’s basket
ball players are driving around in
wonderful vehicles with question
able financing. Initial investiga
tions almost kept one of them from
playing in the NCAA tournament.
The investigation is continuing.
This is not a good way to end the
year.
And by Nebraska standards,
1990-91 wasn’t that great on the
courts and playing fields, either.
We may be seeing the decline
of the greatest overall athletic
department in the nation.
• Bob Devaney first coached the
football team to prominence, then
as athletic director funneled the
football surpluses into the minor
sports. He hired good coaches, gave
them enough money, then left them
alone.
The result was success, with top
20 teams in gymnastics, softball,
wrestling, volleyball, swimming and
diving, track and field, etc. — just
about everything but the high-pro
file sport of men’s basketball, and
that team finally hit the top 20 this
season.
Nebraska had arguably the best
overall athletic p^pgram in the
country, especially if sports like
lacrosse, field hockey and skiing
are discounted, since only a minor
minority of schools field teams or
can field teams in these sports.
But Nebraska began to slip in
1990-91. The Husker teams were
still hugely successful, but most
teams were a notch short of 1989
90.
The football team went 9-3 —
great for most teams, but mediocre
for the Comhuskers.
The men’s gymnastics team
finished seventh in the nation, but
that’s still the worst finish in a
dozen years.
The women’s gymnastics did
not return to the NCAA champion
Paul
Domeier
ships.
The football junior varsity was
discontinued.
The volleyball team made the
Final Four but didn’t match the
previous year by one game.
A wrestling squad with national
championship-caliber talent saw
injuries tear apart the season.
The track and field teams are
having trouble outrunning the
weather and qualifying athletes for
the NCAA meet.
The baseball team is continuing
its downward slide.
The brightest spot and biggest
surprise was the men’s basketball
team, which was one of the top 10
teams in the country according to
the NCAA seeding committee.
The team lost in the first round
of the NCAA tournament, though,
and internal difficulties, recruiting
near-misses and talk of Coach Danny
Nee ’ s departure have left the H usk
ers vulnerable.
But the biggest threats to the
athletic department are yet to come,
and won’t come from on-field
opposition.
New NCAA regulations trying
to reduce the importance of col
lege sports have Nebraska athletic
officials scrambling to keep the
competitive advantage for this part
of the country.
When conference realignment
resurfaces in a few years, and it
will, the Big Eight will be divided
every-man-for-himself. •
Nebraska has no control over
these difficulties. A few looming
problems will be internal, though,
and the m iddle of this decade could
be a time to point fingers.
One possibility came to light
again with those car deals for Tony
Top return man relishes move to split end
By Chris Hopfensperger
Senior Reporter
Tyrone Hughes gels his kicks out
of reluming them.
Hughes, who moved to split end
this spring after two years at wing
back, has stayed the Comhuskers’ top
return man.
Hughes said the role gives him a
chance to display some of his talents
that aren’t used in the Huskers’ run
oriented offense.
“We don’t get a lot of passes,” he
said. “So I have to depend on that as
far as getting statistics.”
In Saturday’s Red-White game,
Hughes returned two punts for 20
yards and six kickoffs for 156 yards.
The longest went 43 yards to the Red
team’s 46-yard line. But he wasn’t
happy with those numbers.
“There was always like two or
three guys there at the end,” Hughes
said. “Today I averaged like the 30-,
35-yard line. During the season I want
to average the 40- or 45-yard line.”
NebraskacoachTom Osborne said
the special teams during the spring
game were a combination of players^
from the four units.
- Reduced practice time in the spring
because of new NCAA regulations
cut into the amount of work the Husk
ers could do on the kicking game, but
Osborne said some teams don’t even
punt or kick off in the spring.
Hughes said the Huskers would
begin to concentrate on the kicking
game in the fall because of its impor
tance to the team.
“I think a lot of people overlook
that,” he said. “At any point in time a
return can turn a game around.” "
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound junior
from New Orleans racked up impres
sive numbers last fall.
In the second game of the season,
Hughes had three kickoffs for 136
yards to help the Huskers rout North
ern Illinois 60-14.
Hughes was voted the Big Eight
offensive player of the week after
tying an NCAA record against Kan
sas Slate. His 247 yards on punt and
kickoff returns tied the record set by
Brigham Young’s Golden Richards
against North Texas State in 1971.
He returned three kickoffs for 153
yards, including a 99-yard return fora
touchdown.
This fall Hughes may be able to
put some more numbers in the book.
The combination of hi* move to split
end and the Huskcr’s increased pass
ing attack may give Hughes a new
path to the slat books.
That is not the only benefit of the
move, he said.
“I don’t have to block the line
backer anymore,” he said. “And split
end gets more passes than wingback.”
William Lauer/Daily Nebraskan
The Nebraska men’s basketball team, with members Carl
Hayes (21), Rich Kina (25) and Eric Piatkowski (52) here,
Provided the high point for Cornhusker sports this year,
ut the season ended sourly with the loss to Xavier.
Fanner and Jose Ramps. Nebraska
has been remarkably fortunate
avoiding NCAA sanctions for a
successful athletic department.
Despite great teams and and the
accompanying high odds of impro
prieties, Husker halers have little
but rumors. How long will that
last? Not forever.
And whether or not you think
Sports Illustrated is picking on
Nebraska with the latest football
story, that program is shaky.
The record-setting string of nine
win seasons could end soon, and
that could be disastrous for Nc
braska sports. Looking back at the
old equation, the non-revenue sports
are dependent on a full Memorial
Stadium, happy boosters and nu
merous televised games.
If the football program drops a
notch, everything but men’s bas
ketball drops with it.
This is not a good way to end the
1990-91 year. Even worse, it is not
a good way to start 1991 -92 that
will demonstrate more effects of
aging in the Cornhusker machine.
Domcier is a senior news-editorial
major and the Daily Nebraskan sports
editor.
Guard off team
Ramos
planning
action
By John Adkisson
Staff Reporter
Jose Ramos, who will not return to
the Nebraska men’s basketball team
next season, is planning legal action
against the University of Nebraska
and Coach Danny Nee.
“I’ve been talking to my attorney,
and later I will report on further ac
tion against the university and against
Coach Nee himself,” Ramos said
Wednesday.
Ramos would not comment fur
ther, saying he will schedule a press
conference for May 8. Ramos also
said he is trying to reschedule a meet
ing he was to have with Nee and
Nebraska athletic director Bob Deva
ney.
Nee confirmed Wednesday that
Ramos, who has a year of eligibility
remaining, will not be back in a Com
husker uniform.
“Jose Ramos is not and will not be
on our basketball team,” Nee said.
Last season, Ramos averaged 4.2
points in 17 games for Nebraska in his
first year as a Husker. Before the Big
Eight tournament in March, however,
he was involved in an argument with
Nee and left the team.
Nee said Ramos “let his team
mates down,” and added that he does
not expect Ramos to ever play again
for the Huskers. Nee said Ramos will
remain on scholarship.
Ramos’ removal from the team
occurred prior to last week’s revela
tion of a car loan to Ramos from
Raymond J. Pcery, the former execu
tive director of the Central Interstate
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Com
pact Condition. Pcery was charged
with embezzlement last week.
“(Ramos’) removal had nothing to
do with Pecry,” Nee said.
The departure of seniors Clifford
Scales and Keith Moody and the loss
of Ramos leaves Jamar Johnson, who
sat out the 1990-91 season as a Prop
48 casualty, as the leading point guard
candidate on the Nebraska roster. /
Othnr nninl miorH rvu'cihi I fc\T/
next year are redshirt freshman Mario
McIntosh, walk-on J.F. Hoffman and
ChrisCresswell and Michael Hughes,
natural shooting guards who can play
the point.
Nee also said that the announced
departure of center Kelly Lively for
Denver University Tuesday was “good
for Kelly.”
“It’s something we’ve planned al!
along,” Nee said. “It’s definitely a
win situation for Kelly Lively and
Denver University.”
Lively, a 7-fool center, was listed
as a senior last season but has one
year of eligibility remaining.
Nebraska still has one scholarship
left to give, but Nee said he is not
scrambling to fill it before the season
begins. *4
“We’ve still got our lines in the
water,” he said.
