Nebraskan
Tuesday, April 12, 1994
Sports
Page
5
Kansas St. to challenge NU’s winning streak
Baseball record
reminiscent of
last year’s team
By Trevor Parks
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska baseball team has
won five straight games.
The only problem is, just one of
those wins came against a Big Eight
opponent._
lNoncmeicss,
Cornhusker base
ball coach John
Sanders said the
Huskcrs’ recent hot
streak would help
them when they
play at Kansas State
Tuesday at 7 p.m.
and Wednesday at
2 n.m.
Sanders The Huskers’
five-game winning streak started
against Iowa State Wednesday and
included wins over University of Ne
braska at Kearney and a three-game
sweepofOral Roberts University Sun
day.
“If we didn’t play a high quality
opponent at that point, it might have
hurt, but I don’t think it did,” Sanders
said. “Those games may have helped
us.”
Nebraska, which has won seven of
their last eight games, used the week
end wins to improve to 19-16 on the
season.
With the current streak, Nebraska
appears to boon the same track as last
year. The Husken» started off 12-15
and finished the season winning 23 of
31.
This year’s Nebraska team started
out 12-15 before its recent winning
streak.
Sanders said the Huskers picked
the right time to begin a turnaround.
William Lauer/DN
Nebraska’s Jed Dalton slides into the tag of the Oral Roberts’ shortstop Sunday during the Huskers’ win. Dalton was ruled
safe on the play.
“This is a good time to be doing
what were doing,” he said. “If it were
my choice, I would like to play well in
the end and not at the start of the
season.”
The 11-23 Wildcats arc in last
place in the conference with a 2-9
record overall after getting swept by
Missouri over the weekend.
Sanders said Tom Bergan would
pitch Tuesday and Troy Brohawn,
who returned to the mound Friday
against Oral Roberts, would throw on
Wednesday.
Sanders said his learn was starting
to prove that it could have a successful
season.
“We’ve shownweean play,” Sand
ers said. “Our wins arc starting to
reflect that.”
-Sports briefs
Men’s tennis team sweeps Missouri
From Staff Reports Eight.
Thf* HimlfPrti havr* u/rtn twn r»f
T he Nebrask a me n ’ s tc n n is tea m
won its first Big Eight match Mon
day, downing Missouri 7-0 in Co
lumbia, Mo.
The Huskers, 6-13 overall and
1-3 in the Big Eight, won all their
matches in straight sets. Missouri
fell to 6-14 and 0-3 in the Big
their last three. Nebraska shocked
Wichita State, the No. 2 team in the
region, Saturday before losing to
Kansas, the top team in the region,
Sunday.
Nebraska is next in action
against Colorado and Iowa State in
Ames, Iowa, this weekend.
NU women’s tennis team aces K-State
From Stan Reports
The Nebraska women’s tennis
team rebounded from a loss Satur
day to Kansas by beating Kansas
State 9-0 on Sunday.
Nebraska. 8-7 overall and 1-3
in the Big Eight, won all its matches
against Kansas Mate.
The Haskers lost 7-2 to the fifth
ranked Jayhawks on Saturday.
April Yarmus beat Kansas’ Kim
Rogers in No. 3 singles.
In No. 2 doubles, Annie Yang
and Cathy Liptak beat Kansas’ Amy
Trytek and Bianca Kirchhof.
Double bill with Jays gets rained out
From Staff Report*
The Nebraska softball team’s
Monday doublchcadcr against
Creighton was postponed by rain.
Thursday. NU plays the Uni
versity of Missouri-Kansas City.
The two teams will play a
doublchcadcr. with the First game
beginning at 5 p.m.
Juco s biggest big man still eyeing NU
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska men’s basketball
team appears to still be in the race for
one of the nation’s most sought-after
junior college stars.
Ben Davis, a 6-foot-9-inch, 245
pound power forward from Hutchinson
(Kan.) Junior College, is still consid
ering Nebraska along with at least
three other schools, Hutchinson assis
tant coach Phil Anderson said Mon
day.
Anderson said Davis— who was a
high school All-American at Oak Hill
(Va.) Mouth of Wilson Academy in
1991 —visited Lincoln overthe week
end. Davis, who played for Kansas
two years ago, will take official visits
to Arizona, California and Oklahoma
State in the coming weeks, Anderson
said.
The trip to Nebraska was Davis’
first official recruiting visit. Athletes
are limited to five official visits.
“He’ll make his visits, and he won ’ t
sign until after he makes his visits,”
Anderson said.
The spring signing period begins
Thursday and runs until May 15.
Davis, who has two yearsofeligibility
remaining, may not sign until the end
of the signing period, Anderson said.
The Huskers, who return only two
players taller than 6 feet 7 inches, are
reportedly looking at a few other big
men.
Jermaine Thomas, a 6-foot-9-inch,
250-pound forward from John Tyler
(Texas) High School, is reportedly
considering Nebraska.
In addition, the Huskers appear to
be in contention to sign Ray
Poindexter, a 6-foot-11-inch, 230
pound center from Northeast Okla
homa A&M Junior College.
Huskers avoid injury during cold workout
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska football team
roughed it out for two hours in 40
degree temperatures and gusty winds
Monday afternoon at Memorial Sta
dium.
Coach Tom Osborne described the
practice as “reasonably good” but
“pretty cold.”
No one was injured, Osborne said.
Third-string quarterback Matt
Turman returned to practice after
hurting his knee last Wednesday in a
scrimmage. Osborne said Turman
would scrimmage some Wednesday,
but all four quarterbacks would con
tinue to wear green jerseys, which
restrict them from contact.
No. I wingback Abdul Muhammad
did not practice Monday. Muhammad
is nursing sore ribs, which were ag
gravated when he was hit in the stom
ach in a practice earlier this month.
No. 2 left tackle Chris Dishman
was held out of practice with a sore
shoulder.
No longer ballpark weenies, Huskers playing hardball
Big news, Nebraska baseball fans:
The Big Red are undefeated.
The Cornhuskcrs got their season
off to a perfect 3-0 start this weekend
with a sweep of Oral Roberts Univer
sity at Buck Bcltzer Field.
All-American left hander Troy
Brohawn showed why he is one of the
best pitchers in the country by throw
ing a perfect game through six in
nings en route to Nebraska’s 5-3 win
Friday night.
Brohawn looked as if he were in
mid-season form, striking out 12 bat
ters and giving up only two hits in
eight innings of work.
The All-Big Eight designated hit
ter also helped his own cause by col
lecting four hits.
And Brohawn wasn’t the only
Husker swinging a hot bat in the
scries.
Jed Dalton stroked his first home
run of the season in game one and
then went 4-for-4 with four RBIs in an
8-3 win Saturday.
In the three games, the Huskers
rapped 34 hits and batted a blistering
.337 as a team.
And a Nebraska pitching staff that
was supposed to be a question mark
coming into the season posted an im
pressive 2.67 ERA toopen the season.
Huh? What? This wasn’t
Nebraska’s first series of the year?
Sure, the Huskers started in Febru
ary. But the original start ofthe season
— against Oral Roberts in February
— didn’t go so well for the Huskers.
Nebraska had high hopes with a lot
of talent and experience returning,
and Brohawn was supposed to get the
Huskers’ 1994 campaign off to a fly
ing start against the Golden Eagles.
Jeff
Griesch
But the Golden Eagles sunk their
talons into Brohawn early as Kit
Pearson hit a two-run homer off the
left-hander in the first inning to give
ORU an early lead.
Brohawn’s start went from bad to
worse as his left foot snapped almost
inexplicably while running the bases
in the third inning.
Brohawn missed the next 25 games
— and the Huskers stumbled to a 12
14 start — before he finally returned
to the batting order on April 1, against
Big Eight powerhouse Oklahoma
State.
So, Nebraska baseball coach John
Sandersand Brohawn decided tomake
Brohawn’s First start on the mound
against the team that began Nebraska’s
early season troubles.
The Huskcrs went into the scries
16-16, and Sanders told his team to
use the scries with ORU as a fresh
start.
Along with being a new start for
the Huskcrs, it was also a chance at
revenge.
When Pearson homered off
Brohawn to open the season the first
time, the Golden Eagles’ hitter let
Brohawn know what he thought of
him as he rounded the bases.
So when Pearson stepped into the
box in the first inning on Friday,
Brohawn greeted him with a fastball
under the chin. Later in the count,
Brohawn threw a pitch behind
Pearson.
With two strikes on Pearson,
Brohawn brought the good stud to the
plate, and Pearson, who may have
been thinking about the two he just
missed, practically stumbled out of
the box on his heels while waving
weakly at strike three.
This was how the Huskcrs were
supposed to start their season—play
ing “Hardball Huskcr Style,” as the
steaming brand on the baseball media
guide calls it.
The only question is whether
Nebraska’s new season started soon
enough or if it will again be too late to
make a push for rcgionals and the
College World Series.
Grietcb li a jualor acwi-edllorial major
and ti the Dally Nebraikaa asalitaat iporti
editor.