Wednesday’s baseball games
rained out, not rescheduled
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska baseball team’s games with
Kansas State scheduled for Wednesday were
canceled because of rain.
The Comhuskers, 27-18, were supposed to
resume Tuesday night’s suspended game at 3
p.m. Wednesday, before playing Wednesday’s
regularly scheduled game.
The Huskers trailed the Wildcats 6-0 in the
i
top of the fifth inning when the game was
suspended. But the game will not count as a
loss on Nebraska’s record because it did not go
the required five complete innings.
The games cannot be made up because Big
Eight rules do not allow conference games to
be rescheduled.
c Nebraska will continue conference play
this weekend with a three-game series at Kan
sas.
i
Baseball’s opening day finds
smaller crowds, angrier fans
From The Associated Press
Something was missing Wednesday dur
ing the first big day of the baseball season
— fans.
Even with free tickets in some places,
crowds were much smaller than usual for
opening day, just as many teams feared,
following the 232-day strike.
Only 24,091 fans showed up in Atlanta,
where the Braves sold out most of their
games last season, and there were just 24,170
in Kansas City, where grandstand seats
were free. Milwaukee drew its worst open
ing-day crowd since 1973, and though the
New York Yankees had 50,000, that was
about 6,500 fewer than last year.
Many fans were booing and carrying
protest signs — and worse.
Chicago White Sox outfielder Mike
Devereaux had a beer dumped on him late
in the game at Milwaukee. In Kansas City,
a fan caught a foul ball, threw it back on the
field and was cheered.
“That was just my way of saying, ‘Hey,
here’s one back at you,”’ Bryan Kuhn said
after the toss. “I figured with all the money
both sides whine about losing during the
strike, they probably needed it more than I
do.”
Overall, attendance at six afternoon open
ers was down In five parks, cdripafed with
last year.
“After 81/2 months, it’s somethingthat’s
going to happen,” said Brewers owner Bud
Selig, the acting commissioner who called
off last season’s World Series. “We got a lot
of work ahead of us. It’ll take some time,
and we’re not underestimating that.”
In Cincinnati, a plane circled Riverfront
Stadium pulling a banner that read: “Own
ers & Players: To hell with all of you.”
“It doesn’t really feel like opening day,”
admitted Reds fan Virg Nortman, 76.
The major-league season started Tues
day night in Miami, where the Los Angeles
Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins. It was the
latest opening day in baseball history, and
followeda spring training shortened to three
weeks.
The cut-down spring took its toll, espe
cially on pitchers who did not have plenty
of time to prepare for the season.
Kevin Appier of the Kansas City Royals
had a no-hitter in progress through 6 2/3
innings against Baltimore, but was pulled
to save his arm. The Orioles got a hit in the
eighth inning against reliever Rusty
Meacham.
New Royals manager Bob Boone was
booed when he took out Appier. There has
been only one opening-day no-hitter, in
history, by Bob Feller in 1940.
“Obviously, I’d like a chance to finish
the game and get a no-hitter,” Appier said.
“But to throw that many more pitches is a
risk and you really can’t do that. I under
stand whore he’s coming from. That’s the
farthest I’ve taken one, but I understand
why I was taken out.”
Men’s tennis team fought hard,
couldn’t pull off championship
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska men’s team had a shot to win
at the Big Eight Championships last weekend.
But like all season, the Comhuskers just
didn’t have what it took to win, Coach Kerry
McDermott said.
The Huskers lost their first match 4-2 to
Oklahoma State and came back with a 4-0 win
over Missouri at the Big Eight Championships
in Oklahoma City.
Kansas won the conference title.
McDermott said the Oklahoma State match
went the same way as most matches all season.
“We competed really well, especially in
singles, and we were right there,” he said. “We
just didn’t compete hard enough at one or two
spots. We played better than we did in the dual
against them, but we still could have beat
them.”
McDermott said there was no doubt in his
mind that his team would finish its season with
a win over Missouri.
“We knew we were going to win against
Missouri,” he said. “We were a little bit down
after losing to Oklahoma State. But knowing it
was the last match of the season and that it was
Missouri, we knew we’d win.”
McDermott will lose only Andy Davis and
Rick Stempson off of this year’s 6-14 Husker
team but will add Roshan Fernando from Lake
Oswego, Ore., to the roster.
Fernando was a scmifinalist in Oregon’s 4
A class and was ranked sixth in the Pacific
Northwest.
“We think we’ve got a good one,”
McDermott said. “He’s got the potential to be
a very good player for us. He visited here a few
weeks ago and really liked the school. With
everyone but Andy and Rick coming back, we
think we’ve got a good nucleus to build a solid
program and be back where we want to be.”
McDermott said the Huskers wanted to be
in the top 50 in the country and the top half of
the Big Eight.
But for that to happen, McDermott said, the
team would need to raise its level of competi
tiveness.
“As a team, I didn’t feel like we showed that
competitive spirit when we were down,”
McDermott said. “We had a lot of 4-3 losses.
It came down to the other team having a greater
desire to win. We started doing a better job of
it once the Big Eight started, but not good
enough.
“When we were competitive and playing
hard, we were right there in it with everyone
else.”
Walker
Continued from Page 12
learning how to play well,” Walker said.
In addition to working on skills, the Husk
ers lined up quality opposition for spring exhi
bition games. Nebraska will play Duke and
Notre Dame, both figured to be pre-season top
five picks.
“We competed with them pretty well,”
Walker said. “It exposes our players to the
highest level of play and forces them to play at
their best.”
Nebraska’s young starting squad that in
cludes nine freshmen and two sophomores will
be helped by off-season signings.
The Huskers signed two transfer students
earlier this month. Kari Uppinghouse and Lynne
Officer will both transfer as sophomores^
Uppinghouse played her freshman year at
George Mason and sat out last season.
Officer, a Millard North graduate, played
last year at Tulsa and started as a freshman.
Officer will be able to play next year because
Tulsa waived the rule that states that a player
must sit out one year after transferring.
Walker said he believed both players would
have an immediate impact on the team.
“Uppinghouse we’re pretty excited about,”
Walker said. “Just an excellent player and a
high-school All-American.
“We feel good because she looked at
Clemson, Creighton and Notre Dame.”
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