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Husker baseball team to face Shockers
Nebraska catcher Jeff Lesniewicz attempts a play at the plate last Wednesday against
Nebraska-Kearney. The runner was safe, but the Cornhuskers won the game 19-5.
Team’s first road competition
to be a challenge, coach says
By Peter Theoharis
Staff Reporter
Coach John Sanders is taking his
7-0 baseball team on its first road test
today and the Comhuskers are look
ing to escape without getting shocked.
Nebraska plays the Wichita Stale
Shockers in a nine-inning game at 3
p.m. today.
Last Saturday and Sunday, the
Huskcrs played Western Illinois, which
was their first Division I opponent.
The Huskcrs took a four-game sweep,
but now they face their first ranked
opponent.
Last year, the Shockers advanced
to the finals of the College World
Series, but lost to national champion
Louisiana State University.
Wichita Stale, which is ranked first
and second in two separate baseball
polls, should be tough again as the
Shockers return quality players from
last year’s team, Sanders said.
“(Wichita State) has got a lot of
people back,” he said. “They arc cer
tainly a team with a great deal of
experience and they arc a team that
will be ready to play.”
One of the Shocker’s best return
ing players from last year is Kennie
Stccnstra. The junior right-hander
posted a 17-0 record with a 2.17 ERA
last season.
Sanders said he hoped Wichita State
coach Gene Stephenson would de
cide to start Stccnstra.
“We want to see their best,” he
said.
“We look at this as a challenge and
not as a threat. We arc looking to play
awfully hard and go in with that alti
tude, and we’ll look to gel after it,” he
said.
Stephenson said the Huskcrs would
give the Shockers a good test.
“We always have good games with
Nebraska early in the season,” Stephen
son said. “Nebraska has always been
a quick starter.
“We arc looking to build and get
belter every time out,” he said.
The team realizes it will lose some
games, Stephenson said.
“Any team can beat us on a any
given day,” he said. “But it’s not one
given game that we are alter, it swhat
we do in the entire season.”
Stephenson said he was pleased
with his team’s returning talent, in
cluding sophomore right-handed pitch
ers Jamie Bluma (3-2, 1.60 ERA, 7
saves) and Darren Dreifort (9-2,2.41). 4
Dreifortalso is the designated hit
ter with a .324 average last season.
-44
We look at this as a
challenge and not as a
threat. We are looking
to play awfully hard
and go in with that
attitude, and we’ll look
to get after it....
Sanders
Nebraska baseball coach
??
Rctuming-position players include
catcher Doug Mirabclli (.351,13 home
runs, 85 RBI), shortstop Chris Wim
mer (.401, 4 HR, 68 RBI, 54 stolen
bases), outfielder Todd Dreifort (.337,
8 HR, 56 RBI) and first baseman
Jason White (.337,13 HR, 65 RBI).
Sanders said he hoped to offset the
Wichita State lineup with a mixture
of pitching and an offense that would
lake advantage of the chances it was
given.
“We haven’t settled on who is
starting,” Sanders said. “We will
probably split that up. More than likely
we’ll see Mike Zajcski and Josh Bul
lock. We’re playing opportunity of
fense right now.”
Sanders said the major area con
cerning him was defense.
“We arc not playing like we want
to defensively,” Sanders said. “We
need to work on that and we will.”
The Huskcrs must play a good
defensive game to dispel the Shock
ers, who had five players — Mira
bel li.Stecnstra, Wimmcr, Bluma and
Darren Dreifort — invited to the
Olympic trials in November.
This total was more than any other
school.
“We have a lot of those players
who know what it lakes to achieve
success,” Stephenson said.
Jumper soars within new culture
By Thomas Clouse
Senior Editor
Petar Malesev loves 10 fly.
Malesev, a Nebraska men’s track
team high-jumper from Novi Sad,
Yugoslavia, said “flying” is one of
the main reasons he loves his event.
“I love the joy you feel when you
clear the bar — the joy of flying,”
Malesev said.
His personal-best jump of 7-2 1/2
last Saturday at the Big Eight Indoor
Championships in Lawrence, Kan.,
was good enough for the silver medal
and a provisional mark for the NCAA
championships, but it wasn't good
enough for Malesev.
“I was kind of satisfied with the
height," he said. “But I know I can
jun ‘letter than that.”
freshman high jumper has been
hampered by an injury he suffered
two-months earlier in the season.
“I lore ligaments in my right ankle
and I still suffer from that," he said.
The 19-year-old still docs not have
full range of movement and the ankle
swells after every competition.
Malesev has been told by team train
ers that his ankle won’t completely
heal unless he doesn’t practice for a
month.
He said he hoped his ankle im
proves so he can nave a chance to be
on the 1992 Yugoslavian Olympic
team.
“If I would have stayed in Yugo
slavia, I would have been the best in
the country,” Malescv said. “I would
have been the cream of the crop and I
would have got a chance to travel and
compete all over Europe.”
He came to Nebraska to increase
his options, he said.
“I didn’t want to travel with the
national team because I would not be
able to attend university,” Malescv
said.
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I love the joy you feel
when you clear the bar
- the joy of flying.
Malesev
Nebraska high jumper
-99 -
In Yugoslavia, the academic stan
dards arc much more difficult, which
allows only a select few to attend the
universities, he said.
“There arc also no classes in the
universities,” Malesev said. “The
students buy the books and they are
expected to complete thcassignments
by a certain time.
“I’m not that self-disciplined, he
said.
In Yugoslavia, all sports are in
clubs and arc not a pari of the school
systems, he said.
“It’s very hard to go practice and
go to school at the same time,” Maicscv
said.
But all European countries have
the same system, he said.
“With this system, athletes reach
better results at a younger age be
cause there is more competition,” he
said.
Although the Big Eight Champi
onship meet was the climax of the
indoor season, Maicscv said he wasn’t
too impressed.
“I heard it would be a great meet,
but compared to big meets in Europe,
it’s not as big,” he said.
Malesev said he considered him
self as an ordinary Nebraska recruit.
“When I was recruited, it wasn’t a
big deal,” he said. “But right after I
left, the civil war started.
“I would like to stay here because
of the economic situation over there,”
Malesev said.
Also, Y ugoslavia doesn ’ t ha ve any
indoor tracks, he said.
“Our tracks were made of clay and
we had poor weight lifting facilities,”
he said.
But even with Nebraska’s athletic
program, he said he had trouble ad
See MALESEV on 8
n
Sprinter not satisfied
after run of success
By John Gardner
Staff Reporter
Nebraska sprinter Shanclle Por
ter doesn’t seem to be satisfied
with being a Big Eight Champion.
Porter, a sophomore at Nebraska,
won her second-straight 400-me
ter run title this past weekend at the
Anschutz Sports Pavilion in Law
rence, Kan.
Apparently, though, it’s not
enough.
‘‘I guess V m kind of proud of the
fact that I’m Big Eight champion,”
Porter said. “But if I just slay at that
level, there won’t be much to shoot
for.”
The Anschutz track is larger
than most indoor tracks, at 252
meters, so limes arc converted on a
seven-tcnths-of-a-second scale.
What this means is times are
supposedly seven-tenths belter than
what they should be.
Porter said this pul a damper,
somewhat, on her victory.
‘‘I’m not proud of what I did at
this meet because of the track we
ran on,” she said.
The NCAA Championships are
coming up in two weeks, and Por
ler said she looked more towards
this meet during the season. Right
now, her lime of 54.02 seconds
stands as a provisional qualifying
mark, so she’ll have to wail and see
if she makes the NCAA meet.
Porter also anchored the win
ning 1,600 relay team, which won
in 3 minutes, 43.86 seconds.
As a freshman last season, Por
ter captured the indoor 400 title,
winning in a time of 54.15. Much
like this season, she wasn’t satis
fied.
“Last year, Ximena Restrepo
(Nebraska sprinter) didn’t run the
race, so it was kind of a fluke that
I won,” Porter said.
Restrepo came back for the
outdoor season and eventually won
the 400 at the NCAA meet in a
school record time of 52.12. In the
Big Eight outdoor meet, Porter came
in a close second to Restrepo,
coming across the line in 53.26.
Porter gained All-America status
by running a leg on Nebraska’s
1,600 relay team that won the 1991
NCAA outdoor title in a school
record lime of 3:29.87.
See PORTER on 8
