Sports
William l a..
Nebraska outfielder Jed Dalton swings at a pitch against Kansas Monday. The 18-8 Corn
huskers will play Creighton in one nine-inning game today at 5:30 p.m. at Buck Beltzer Field.
Huskers’ run of
Division I games
starts with Jays
Fan support needed at games, coach says
By Peter Theoharis
Staff Reporter
Nebraska baseball coach John
Sanders will welcome Creighton today
as more than an intrastate rival.
Sanders said he was happy to get
the Comhuskers into action against
Division I opponents on days other
than Friday through Sunday, the usual
days of Big Eight contests.
Nebraska and the Bluejays are
scheduled for a nine-inning contest to
begin at 5:30 p.m. at Buck Bclt/.cr
Field.
“It is good to have mid-week Divi
sion I games,” Sanders said. “I wish
we could have them every week.”
Sanders said playing baseball in
this region of the country made it
difficult to schedule games against
major baseball programs during the
week. Besides Creighton, the closest
schools are members of the B ig Eight
and Wichita State.
Creighton and Nebraska both played
in the Pepsi/Johnny Quick Classic in
Fresno, Calif., March 16-21, but did
not play each other.
The 18-8 and 3-1 Huskcrs arc
scheduled to start Mike Zajcski, Sand
ers said. In his last start, Zajcski set
the all-time Nebraska mark for strike
outs.
The Huskcrs continue play Friday
when they host Evansville fora four
game series.
Sanders said he hoped the major
college competition would raise fan
interest.
“This is a good opportunity to get
a run of Division I games, with four
on the weekend,” Sanders said. “We’d
like to see a lot of student and fan
support.”
Wednesday’s game will be a first
of sorts for one member of the Blue
jays.
Coach Todd Wcnbcrg makes his
first head-coaching appearance against
the Huskcrs, after replacing Jim
Hendry. Wenbcrg was an assistant
coach at Creighton for seven years.
Hendry led the Bluejays to a tic for
third place at the 1991 College World
Series in Omaha. Creighton compiled
a 51-22 record last season, while fin
ishing second in the Missouri Valley
Conference to NCAA runner-up
Wichita State.
After the season, Hendry left
Creighton to move to the professional
ranks when he received a job with the
National League expansion Florida
Marlins.
Nebraska leads the all-time series
against Creighton with a 37-23-1 edge.
The two clubs split their four-game
series last season.
All-Time: Nebraska leads 37-23-1 . —
Last season: The two teams split four games.
Nebraska won 8-7 and 5-3. Creighton
won 6-5 and 14-3. ..
This season: The two teams meet only twice.
Tonight at 5:30 p.m. in Lincoln and
April 15th at Omaha.
Softball team seeks repair
for seasons ‘ugly’fielding
Coach says players must prove ability
By Susie Arth
Staff Reporter
Nebraska softball coach Ron
Wolforth will be looking for defen
sive intensity and consistency when
his team faces Drake Wednesday at
the Nebraska Softball Complex.
The two teams are scheduled to
play a double-header at 3 p.m.
Wolforth said the Comhuskers’
fielding had been “tremendously ugly”
throughout the season, but he hoped
to see improvement against Drake.
Wolforth said the Huskers spent
the off-season working on hitting
because fielding had been strong in
the past. This season, he said, hitting
had improved but defense and pitch
ing were the worst he had seen in
years.
“We don’t have a technique prob
lem,” he said. “We don’t have to do
anything different, we just have to do
everything better.”
Wolforth said it was crucial that
the seniors started to show consistent
leadership and set examples for the
rest of the team.
“Senior leadership is more impor
tant than coaching on a day-to-day
basis,” he said. “It will be contagious
if the seniors start showing intensity
and effort.”
Pitching, he said, had also caused
problems for his 6-14 team.
One reason for the poor pitching,
Wolforth said, was the loss of Stepha
nie Wright to a knee injury during the
preseason. Wright was the team’s
projected number one pitcher.
Wright’s injury, Wolforth said, had
forced the team to use a two-pitcher
rotation, and the team’s earned run
average had increased from about one
in past seasons to more than three this
season.
Two freshmen, Emily Mannon and
Lisa Shandy, he said, had been forced
into bigger roles than they would have
had without the injury to Wright.
Once they gel on track, he said,
everything would start to improve.
“When the pitching comes around,”
he said, “the defense will feed off it.”
Wolforth said the team needed to
See SOFTBALL on 8
In-person view of NCAAs
sheds new light on tourney
This season’s NCAA Men’s
Basketball Tournament has me
thinking.
Usually I just sit in front of my
television and absorb the action,
not bothering to use any of my gray
cells, but this year it’s all different.
From the way I view first-round
games and officiating, and even
fill out my picks, things have
changed.
First of all, the first round is
great.
When watching the first round
on television, all you get to see is
the games the network executives
want you to sec. You usually don’t
get to sit and watch all four games
at one site.
I had that opportunity this year.
The Daily Nebraskan was gra
cious enough to allow me to go to
Cincinnati to cover the Comhuskers,
so I was able to sec all the first
round games.
And 1 wasn’t disappointed.
North Carolina and Miami, Ohio,
went down to the wire.
Alabama and Stanford traded
leads throughout their game.
Ohio State and Mississippi Valley
Slate didn’t provide much excite
ment, but Buckeye star Lawrence
Funderburke did.
Connecticut and Nebraska —
well, the Connecticut mascot —
put on quite a show.
But getting to watch these games
Nick ”
Hytrek
in person made the 13-hour drive
worthwhile.
I’ll probably never gel to see
North Carolina or Ohio State play
again. Or watch collegiate stars
such as Ohio State All-American
Jimmy Jackson and Connecticut’s
Chris Smith.
And you can’t beat the atmos
phere.
You don’t experience the ex
citement of the small crowd of
Mississippi Valley Slate fans when
their team took a 4-0 lead over top
seeded Ohio State by watching it
on television. Only by being there
can you get the feel for what the
NCAA Tournament is all about.
If you go nuts just watching
March Madness on television, go
to a game sometime and you’ll
love it even more.
This season I also learned to go
with my gut instincts instead of
trying to think through my tourna
ment picks when filling out the
brackets. If you spend more than
10 seconds making a decision,
you’re going to be wrong.
I learned to always pick a Big
East team over a Big Eight team.
Never pick Big Eight teams to
make it to the Final Four, no matter
how hot they’re playing or easy
you think their bracket is.
Never assume a team such as
South Florida can beat Georgetown
just because you thought South
See HYTREK on 8
