/
Cornhuskers
see Drake wins
as 'insurance’
By Trevor Parks
Staff Reporter
After a rough four innings Thursday night,
the Nebraska softball team decided to play.
The Cornhuskers trailed Drake 4-1 after four
innings—four innings when Nebraska stranded
seven baserunners, committed three errors and
had numerous fielding problems.
Then everything changed.
The 37-17 Huskers rallied for a 6-4 win in
that first game and kept their momentum going
to crush the Bulldogs 12-0 in the second half of
the doubleheader in front of a crowd of more
than 150 at the NU Softball Complex.
Drake conceded the second game after 3 1/2
innings.
In the first game, however, the spark wasn’t
there, Husker coach Rhonda Revelle.
“We got a slow start, and then it was like
something changed in the dugout,” Revelle said.
“Everything changed when they changed their
minds.
“A bunch of people really tried to light a fire,
and it was all them. I give them a lot of credit.”
In the bottom of the fifth, Ali Viola lit the fire
after hitting a home run to center field with one
out. Then Angela Blackwood doubled to right.
Sarah Sinclair entered the game to run for
Blackwood and scored on an error by Drake
center fielder Jenny Ehlert.
See SWEEP on 8
Hardball is back
amidst the jeers
and ump lock-out
MIAMI (AP)—Baseball returned Tuesday
night with a big crowd, a few boos and a pow
erful performance by Raul Mondesi.
Last season’s National League Rookie of the
Year homered twice, doubled and drove in four
runs to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the
Florida Marlins 8-7,endingthe splintered spat’s
record 257-day layoff.
Although there were a few thousand empty
seats on openingnight, the crowd of42,125 was
announced as a sellout. The first game since the
strike, however, was still surrounded by another
labor problem—locked-out umpires picketed
outside, while replacement umps worked with
out any arguments.
The Marlins rallied from an 8-2 deficit, scor
ing four times in the ninth inning before Rudy
Seanez struck out rookie Charles Johnson to
end the game.
The fans greeted the players with a mixed
reception.
See DODGERS on 8
Rained out
Travis Heying/DN
Nebraska center fielder Mel Motley is forced out at second base as Kansas State shortstop Heath Schesser completes
the second-inning double play.
Foul weather suspends baseball game
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska baseball team’s game with
Kansas State was suspended in the top of the
fifth inning because of rain at Buck Beltzer
Stadium Tuesday night.
The Comhuskers, 9-11 in the Big Eight
and 27-18 overall, trailed the Wildcats 6-0
with two outs in the fifth when the game was
suspended.
Rain delayed the game for 10 minutes in
the bottom of the fourth inning, and players
covered the field with tarpaulins until a break
in the storm.
Play resumed but so did the rain, and the
game was suspended after a half-hour delay.
A loss to the Wildcats would drop the
Huskers into fifth place in the conference
standings behind Kansas State.
The Wildcats, 9-11 and 23-18, sent nine
batters to the plate in the top of the first
inning, and the first five Kansas State hitters
scored to take a 5-0 lead.
Nebraska starter Bob Courter, who en
tered the game with a 3-0 record and a 5.13
ERA, allowed five hits, walked five and hit
one batter in 4 1/3 innings of work.
Matt Koeman shut down the Huskers
through four innings, allowing only one hit
in four innings. The 6-foot-4 junior right
hander from Grand Junction, Colo., entered
the game with a 4-2 record and a 5.60 ERA.
The Wildcats had one run in with two outs
and runners on first and second base and first
baseman Brad Harker at the plate when the
game was called.
The game is scheduled to resume Wednes
day at 3 p.m., followed by the second game
of the series.
Priorities%force Husker baseball coach to pitch pros
Baseball is back.
Major-league players threw out
the opening pitch Tuesday to open
their 144-game season.
Like New Year’s Day or the first
day of spring, Opening Day is a time
to look forward to a new beginning.
Phil Harrison dreamed of being a
part of Opening Day.
He hoped to open his season
pitching in San Diego for the
Atlanta Braves.
After a career of solid pitching,
inexplicable releases and shattered
dreams, Harrison spent Opening
Day in Lincoln coaching Nebraska
pitchers.
For Harrison, Opening Day was a
time to reflect on an old dream and
pursue a new one.
He had a career minor-league
record of 54-37 with an ERA under
3.86. He pitched in the Cubs’ and
Expos’ organizations.
He pitched in Venezuela and
Mexico, where he was almost killed
twice for being an American. His
career ended with a bottle of Corona
in his hand on a rooftop in Mexico.
Alter long rides in a Volkswagen
taxi and a beat-up bus, Harrison was
back in the states and professional
baseball was behind him.
He returned to Nebraska to earn
his degree and coach for the
Huskers.
He thought his dream of playing
in the majors was dead, and he
accepted it.
But Braves scout Brian
Kohlscheen kept the dream alive.
He offered Harrison a minor-league
contract and a chance to pitch as a
replacement player in the majors.
Harrison left the stability of
Lincoln to pursue his dream again.
But Harrison’s chance lasted only
12 innings with the Braves. He
combined on a no-hitter. He struck
out 10 and walked just one batter.
He scattered nine hits and picked off
four base runners. He had a 3.00
ERA.
He was released.
“I knew the consequences going
into spring training,” Harrison said.
“They had every intention of signing
former Braves before signing
Jeff Grlesch
anybody else.”
Harrison’s dream was taken, but
he knew things could be worse.
The day before he was released,
a Braves replacement player and
Harrison’s new friend, Dave
Shotkoski, was shot and killed.
“I saw his locker empty the next
day after he got killed, and I just lost
it,” Harrison said. “Dave was a
wonderful human-being. He made
the whole experience seem more
realistic.
“Once he got killed, it made me
stop and think: Here’s a guy who
quits his job at Coca-Cola in
Chicago for a chance to play in the
majors. For most of these guys,
being in the big leagues is an end
all, be all. And he loses his life.
“After I got released, I was still
trying to deal with Dave’s death. It
made me realize that I really need to
get my priorities straight. There is
more to life than playing in the
majors.”
After Harrison was released, he
was offered $6,000 a month to pitch
in Mexico. He turned it down.
“I could make ten grand a month
in Mexico and be miserable because
the life is terrible,” Harrison said. “I
wanted to be in the big leagues, not
the Mexican leagues.
“Baseball’s been my life. I’ve
done everything in baseball that you
could possibly do to get to the
majors, but it just wasn’t meant to
be.” '
Nebraska coach John Sanders
gave Harrison until April 15 to
return to the Huskers or sign a
professional contract.
Harrison returned to Lincoln
April 11 and began coaching April
13 against Creighton.
1 m glad I m back. I am tired of
being defeated. I want a chance to
win,” Harrison said. “I’m at a place
where there’s no reason I should
fail. It makes me feel secure and
more in control of my life.”
Harrison is trying to put profes
sional baseball behind him again
and concentrate on his future.
He wants his degree. He wants to
learn to be a better coach. He wants
to pursue a new dream—to coach
in the majors.
“I’m learning to be a coach.
There’s still a lot I have to learn,”
Harrison said. “I’ve had a lot of
offers to coach, even with the Cubs,
but I didn’t feel like I was ready.
“I feel like I’m back in control of
my life again, and I accept every
thing that has happened to me as
part of my fate.
“Now, my fate and my dream is
to coach.”
Grlesck b a senior aews-editorlal major
aid a Dally Nebraskan senior reporter and
columnist.