SPORTS
Nebraskan
Friday, April 29,1994
NU baseball team unsure of regional spot
By Trevor Parks
Staff Reporter
As the Nebraska baseball season winds down,
■■■■HUD the Comhuskers find them
selves in a predicament
similar to last year.
They’re trying to figure
out a way— any way— to
get into the NCAA
Rcgionals.
“It’s a tough call,” Ne
braska coach John Sanders
said of the regional selec
— tion process. It s hard lo
Sanders know or evaluate.”
Last year, the Huskers thought they h^d the
solution. After starting slowly with a 12-15
record, they came on strong and won 23 of their
last 31 games to finish the year 35-23.
But that wasn’t enough, as the Huskers
failed to qual ify for the rcgionals for the eighth
consecutive season.
This season, the Huskers again started 12-15
and have won 16 of their last 20 to climb to 28
19.
“We were playing well late (last season), and
we were disappointed that we didn’t get in,”
Sanders said. “There’s no sure bet ofgetting in,
other than winning the (Big Eight) tourna
ment.”
Winning the conference tournament could
be difficult this season, Sanders said.
At fourth place, the Huskers are among five
Big Eight teams vying for the two or three
regional tournament spots likely to go to con
ference teams, Sanders said.
Kansas coach Dave Bingham said he wasn’t
sure about the Jayhawks’ or the Huskers’
chances.
Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Kansas, Ne
braska and Missouri arc all playing well, he
said, and each has a chance to do some damage
in the tournament.
-«
There’s no sure bet of getting in, other than winning the (Big
Eight) tournament. -Sanders
Nebraska baseball coach
“This year’s toumamcn t should be outstand
ing,” Bingham said. “IflowaState hits like they
did against us, that would make six good teams
in there, so it will be tough.”
Bingham said the Big Eight tournament and
the rest of the regular season would determine
who and how many teams from the Big Eight
qualified for rcgionals.
The 30-13 Jayhawks are looking for a return
trip to rcgionals and the College World Scries.
Although the Jayhawks put a dent in the
Huskers’ regional chances with three straight
wins over the weekend, Nebraska rebounded by
w w
winning two straight against Missouri.
Despite the Huskers’ losses to Kansas,
Bingham said, the Huskcrsshould havca chance
at making regionals.
“Nebraska has a fine team,” he said. “They
will be fine.”
But only if the Huskers perform well in the
Big Eight tournament, Sanders said. The Husk
ers’ shot at regionals could come down to their
play in Oklahoma City, May 19-22.
“1 think it will" Sanders said. “We can’t
look beyond our next game. The latest streak in
our next eight games will tell.”
Jay Calderon*
Nebraska catcher David Crain reacts after getting hit in the throat with a wild pitch in the
first game of the Huskers’ doubleheader with Missouri Wednesday afternoon.
Husker catcher does
all he can for team
Crain gets dirty,
gives best effort
to help NU win
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Editor
While Nebraska catcher David
Crain was taking a break from warm
ing up pitchers Saturday, a Huskcr
hitter popped a foul ball toward the
bullpen.
I 1 Crain, who was
standing in full
catching gear out
side the gate of the
pen, turned and
sprinted full speed
and all but dove
headlong into a
icncc 10 make a
'-—-* play on the ball.
Crain “i wanjC(j l0 gCl
in but since I couldn't, I still wanted to
have some fun,” Crain said. “Every
time I come out to the ballyard, I want
to play hard and have fun.”
Crain’s aggressive play is evident
every time he steps up to or crouches
behind the plate.
Crain has been hit by a pitch 11
times, giving him the team’s third
best on-base percentage at.397. That’s
despite his .205 batting average.
“I’m not the most talented player,
but I can find a way to get on base,”
Crain said. “If I can move up a runner
or get something started by getting
hit, then I’ll gladly do it.”
Sunday against Kansas, the junior
from Laguna Beach, Calif., also glad
ly got dirty behind the plate.
His white uniform was covered
from neck to ankle with dust—some
from dropping to his knees to block
balls behind home plate, the rest from
diving into first base on a play in
which he was thrown out by at least
five feet.
- it
I am a grind-it-out
player. I am always a
gamer. When I play, I
go hard and get dirty
— that ’s the only way
I know to play.
— Crain
NU catcher
-ft -
“I ain a grind-it-out player,” Crain
said. “1 am always a gamer. I give it
100 percent every time I gel in. When
I play, I go hard and get dirty—that’s
the only way I know to play.”
Crain said he got dirty to help his
team win.
"That’s just how I have always
been,” Crain said. “I just want to find
a way to win. I’ll do whatever it takes
to help the team.”
But when Nebraska doesn’t win,
Crain said, he takes it in stride. That
was evident after the Huskers’ third
straight loss to Kansas on Sunday.
While his teammates moped
around the field and did their manda
tory field work after the game, Crain
merrily went about hischores at home
plate.
Crain raked, pushed, sculpted and
crowned the dirt around home plate.
He wassimply getting ready for the
next chance to get dirty and try to win,
he said.
“Sometimes you go to the ballyard
and don’t play very well and win,”
Crain said. “Sometimes you go to the
ballyard and give it everything you
have and just can’t get the job done.
“As long as you play as hard as you
can, then you did all you could. Los
ing is just a part of baseball, and you
can always come out and win one next
time.”
Track teams to compete with the best at Drake Relays
By Trevor Parks
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska men’s and women’s
track and field teams should benefit
from this weekend’s Drake Relays,
one oi me most
prestigious meets
in the nation, Ne
braska coach Gary
Pepin said.
Pepin said the
high level of tal
ent at the meet
would test the
l.UIUUUSKCrs.
Pepin “You always
hope if the competition is better, you
respondpositively and not negatively,"
Pepin said.
But Pepin said his team shouldn’t
have any problem getting ready lor
the meet.
“Wedon’t talk about it too much,”
Pepin said, “If you can’t get fired up
fora meet like this, then you can’t get
ready for anything.”
Both the Husker men and women
have had success in the past at the
Drake Relays.
The women have had 29 first-place
finishes, the most by any school in the
history of the meet. Eighteen of the
first-place marks were individual
titles, while the other 11 titles came in
relay events.
The men have had 57 first-place
finishes, ranking fourth in the history
of the meet. Included in that arc 39
individual titles and 18 relay champi
onships. Illinois has the most, with
120 first-place finishes.
Pepin said he hoped the success the
Huskers had had at the Relays would
continue this year.
“It’s a sign of a program that does
well,” Pepin said. “We hope to win a
few more.”
Pepin said the Huskers would, at
least, begin the Relays in better shape
than they had been in during the out
door season.
Sophomore sprinter-hurdler Isaac
Carson and sprinter Rod Marshall are
expected to return to the lineup this
week.
Middle distance runner Kevin
Miillerand pole vaul ter John Nichols
also have improved, Pepin said, but
they probably won’t participate this
weekend.
On the women’s side, senior All
American Theresa Stelling, who was
- it
If you can’t get fired up for a meet like this, then
you can’t get ready for anything.
— Pepin
Nil track and field coach
slowed by a sore back, is expected to
return to action soon. Sprin ter Shanclle
Porter will miss the meet because of
a foot injury that has kept her out of
action during the outdoor season.
Pepin said a crowd of 20,000 was
expected for the 85th annual running
of the Relays, which start at 8 a.m.
Friday and Saturday.
More than 60 teams will have ath
w w
letcs competing at the meet. Olympic
gold medalist Carl Lewis will run in
the special invitational 100-mcter
dash.
“It’s a fun weekend,” Pepin said.
“They have a whole lot of social ac
tivities planned. Everything in the
community this weekend surrounds
the Relays.”