Sports
Thursday, March 2, 1995 Page 7
Nebraska softball shining early in the polls
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
When the first regular-season USA Today/
National Softball Coaches’ Association poll
came out Wednesday, it had an unfamiliar name
on it.
Nebraska, which hasn’t appeared in the top
25 since 1990, checked in at No. 8 after an 8-0
start.
The Comhuskers are off to their best start in
school history and were rewarded with the first
ranking in coach Rhonda Revelle’s three years
at Nebraska.
Revelle said Nebraska already had met one
of its goals for the season by making the top 25.
“I’m real proud of this team,” she said. “One
of the team’s goals was to get themselves ranked
some time during the year. To get ranked this
early and that high was quite an honor.”
The biggest honor, Revelle said, was that the
other coaches voted die Huskers so high.
“I feel very honored that the other coaches
recognized us the way they did,” Revelle said.
“Usually, when a program is absent from the top
25 as long as we’ve been, it doesn’t get thrust
that high in the poll. It takes a while for coaches
to start voting them in, especially that high. To
be at No. 8 in the first poll is an honor.”
Now, the most difficult part of the ranking
may be staying there, Revelle said.
“I would be a fool to say that hasn’t crossed
my mind,” she said. “It’s a weekly poll, so we
could go from eight to 18 to right out of there
pretty quick. But I don’t think we’ll let down,
and we’ll stay focused since this was such a big
goal of ours. We don’t want to get bounced out
of there.”
Five Big Eight teams are ranked. Oklahoma
State, which is 7-5, is ranked No. 11. Missouri,
4-0, is ranked 16th, 6-6 Oklahoma is at No. 18
and 5-1 Kansas checked in at No. 20.
“I wasn’t surprised we were the highest con
sidering we won the Big Eight fall tournament,”
Revelle said. “But with the dominating pro
grams of Oklahoma State and Kansas, I was a
little surprised to see us ranked in front of
them.”
Revelle said the credit for Nebraska’s quick
start, after finishing last season 25-33, should
go to the players.
“Personally, as a coach, it’s business as
usual,” she said. “I give al 1 the credit to the team.
For me, regardless if we’re playing .500, .250 or
.750 ball, I’ll be working with foe same dili
gence. I do take some pride in this, but I’m more
happy for foe girls.”
Ali Viola, a freshman from Novato, Calif.,
was named the Big Eight Softball Player of foe
Week after hitting .526 in the Texas-Arlington/
Pepsi Classic Feb. 17-19 and going 4 for 7
against Creighton Feb. 25. She is hitting .538
for the season.
Junior Stacie Stafford, who has a season
ERA of 0.77, was named foe Big Eight Softball
Pitcher of tjie Week after winning three games
and being named the Most Valuable Player at
foe Texas-Arlington/Pepsi Classic. Stafford also
pitched a complete-game victory against
Creighton Feb. 25.
Travis Heying/DN
Nebraska junior triple and long jumper Nicola Martial has won every indoor and outdoor Big
Eight triple jump competition as a Husker.
Track ‘top gun’ stays grounded
By Tony West
Staff Reporter
Even though Nebraska junior
triple and longjumper Nicola Mar
tial said she had never planned on
being labeled a track star, she might
have no choice.
Martial has won every indoor
and outdoor Big Eight triple jump
competition since coming to Ne
braska in 1992 and is the returning
NCAA outdoor triple jump cham
pion with a school-record leap of
44 feet, 11 3/4 inches.
“Coach (Gary) Pepin says I’m
the ‘top gun fighter,’” Martial said.
But the two-time NCAA triple
jump All-American from Las Ve
gas, Nev., said being considered
one of the best in the nation was not
always the best position.
“Knowing that you’re the top
gun and expected to win nationals
is nice, but it’s also scary,” Martial
said. “I liked it when I was not
known that well and the one sneak
ing up behind people.”
See NICOLA on 8
Wildcats’ comeback
spells Nebraska loss
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Too
much Belvis Noland.
Too much Elliot Hatcher. Too little
poise in the final moments and too
little defense.
Those were the factors, Nebraska
coach Danny Nee said, that led to
Kansas State’s 75-73 comeback vic
tory over Nebraska Wednesday night
before a crowd of 9,600 at the
Bramlage Coliseum.
“We’re just struggling,” Nee said.
“We’re struggling with our offense.
We’re struggling with our defense.
And I think K-State did a really nice
job of just hanging around.”
The Comhuskers fell to 17-11 and
4-9 in the Big Eight, while Kansas
State, hoping to avoid a last-place
finish in the league, improved to 12
13 and 3-10. The Wildcats also
snapped a six-game losing streak and
won only their third game since Dec.
30.
“I don’t really know what hap
pened,” said Nebraska junior guard
Erick Strickland, who scored 10 of his
15 points after halftime. “We just
didn’t execute, I guess.”
Nebraska was carried in the first
halfby guard Jaron Boone, who scored
11 of the Huskers’ first 15 points,
made all four 3-pointers he shot in the
first half and finished the game with
26 points.
But Boone’s showing wasn’t
enough to offset the play of Noland.
The 6-foot-5 senior guard, averaging
less than 12 points per game, scored
Kansas State’s first 13 points and
stayed hot the entire night, finishing
with 31 points.
“We did a pretty good job on the
guy,” Strickland said. “He just hit
shots. It seems like everybody wants
to have a career day against Nebraska.”
Leading 37-34 at the break, the
Huskers built a 56^48 lead 9:02 into
the second half. But Kansas State,
propelled by hot shooting from Noland
and forward Tyrone Davis, scored 17
of the next 20 points and led 65-59
with 6:49 to play.
But Boone said Nebraska did not
relax during the Wildcats’ spurt.
“No, we already learned our lesson
from that,” Boone said. “We just didn’t
do the things it took to win.”
The Huskers battled back to tie the
game at 66 on a 4-foot, one-handed
Boone jumper that banked in with
2:45 to play. The game was tied at 67
and 68 before Noland hit a driving
layup from the right baseline to put
Kansas State up 70-68.
Boone then missed an off-balance
5-footer, and with 34.5 seconds left,
Strickland fouled Hatcher, who made
both free throws to give Kansas State
a 72-68 advantage. Nebraska center
Chris Sallee hit two foul shots to cut
the Wildcat lead to two, but another
pair of Hatcher free throws put the
Wildcats up 74-70 with 25 seconds to
play.
Hamilton Strickland added another
free throw, and Boone nailed a 3
pointer with 0.3 seconds left to end the
scoring.
Nee said he knew the Wildcats,
who shot 58 percent from the field in
the second half, would be tough to
beat if they shot well. In addition to
their hot second half, the Wildcats
committed a season-low eight turn
overs.
New rules could make baseball fun, even despite strike
Dear Acting Commissioner Bud
Selig,
I hear you might use replacement
players to start off the Major League
Baseball season.
I’ve seen highlights on
SportsCenter, and, if you use these
guys, it seems like the talent level is
going to drop dramatically, except
on the Chicago Cubs.
While the Cubs will probably be
better, every other team is going to
be a lot worse, and not many fans
will pay to see these no-names play.
So I have a few suggestions on
how the ballparks can still draw in
the crowds while using the replace
ment players.
Just alter the rules a little.
Here are a few little adjustments
to the rules.
Dropped third strikes: If there is
a dropped third strike, the batter has
to get to first base before the catcher
runs him down from behind and
tackles him.
If the catcher finds it necessary,
he can throw the baseball at the
runner to try to knock him out or at
least slow him down.
Since the pitcher has the angle on
the runner, only pitchers who weigh
more than 230 pounds can try to cut
off the runner.
Also, any time the catcher and
first baseman have the opportunity
to high-low the runner, it is encour
aged.
Fly balls: If there is a pop fly in
the infield, the manager is allowed
to tackle the opposing player who
calls for the catch. This rule will
probably only apply to fly balls in
the infield and shallow outfield.
Most likely, this rule will never
apply to Dodgers’ skipper Tommy
Laisorda.
Free baseballs: Next, every fan is
given a baseball when they walk
through the gates.
When a pitcher is taken out of the
game, he must try to make it to the
dugout while everyone bombs him
with their baseballs. This will
obviously make seats near the
dugouts the most expensive.
Derek Samson
The pitcher will be given a
batting helmet to wear to the dugout,
but he must take his cup out—to
make it more challenging and fun
for the fans. ,
Ground balls: On ground balls,
the batter is called out either by a
successful throw to first base or a
throw that pelts the first-base coach.
The coaches probably have more
experience than the players, so why
not let them take part in the action?
On a potential double-play
ground ball, the hitter has the option
of running to either first or third. If
he makes it successfully to third, he
must wear a blindfold and the ‘Get
tackled and you’re out’ rule applies.
If the catcher drops the ball
during a collision at the plate, or
even a pitch, he is not allowed to
wear his mitt for the rest of die
game.
The fans: There must be one
bean-ball an inning, and if a bench
clearing brawl follows, fans are
welcome to join in.
After all, everyone seems to have
forgotten this is the fans’ game.
Also, I saw that Teamsters said it
would refuse to deliver beer and
other supplies to the 23 ballparks
that its drivers supply.
There is a simple solution to that.
Charge different covers in
different sections (no more than $5)
and set a keg in each section for
“All you can drink.”
Seats behind home plate and the
dugauts will serve Michelob, and
the quality will dwindle down in
each section all the way up to the
upper deck, which will have Falstaff
kegs.
The outfield bleachers will, of
course, be B.Y.O.B.
There will also be grills in each
section so people can bring their
own franks.
During the seventh-inning
stretch, every stadium will have a
30-minute live concert, preferably
featuring the Village People—who
will be at a different stadium every
night. Maybe K.C. and the Sunshine
Band will make an appearance or
two.
You see, Mr. Selig, there is a
solution to every problem.
And since the major-league
players’and owners decided they
would strip the fans of the game, it’s
time to change the game a little to
benefit the fans.
So install these new rules, and I
think stadiums will fill up, no matter
who plays the game.
Isn’t the game played to entertain
the fans, anyway?
Samson Is a Junior news-editorial major
and a Dally Nebraskan senior reporter.