Sports
Thursday, February 29, 1996 Page 7
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Todd Walkenhorst
Huskers, Jays
need to meet
in the spring
It’s the end of February on the
campus of the University of Ne
braska-Lincoln, so three things arc
certain.
— The basketball team has
plummeted into its annual season
ending free fall.
— Spring football is just around
the corner.
— It’s cold outside, so it must
be time for baseball at the Buck.
Many people probably were not
aware that the debut of the
Cornhuskcr baseball team at Buck
Beltzcr Stadium already has been
postponed. Many people probably
couldn’t even imagine Wednesday
— when the temperature was 10
degrees — that there should have
been a baseball game.
It wasn’t just any baseball game
that was canceled. This was the pre
miere rivalry in the state, a bitter in
state clash with the Bluejays of
^reignion.
A two-game home-and-homc
series that would have determined
state bragging rights for the next
year was called off. Tuesday, the
Huskcrs were supposed to play the
Bluejays in Omaha, but believe it
or not, it was cold in the Big “0”
too, forcing that game to be post
poned as well.
Granted, baseball at Nebraska is
not exactly a revenue-generating
sport, but it does have a loyal fan
following.
The bad blood and tense rela
tionship between the Jays and the
Huskers should produce some of
the most anticipated battles of the
season. So it would be nice if the
games were scheduled when you
did not have to fear getting your
tongue stuck to the metal bleach
ers.
Why not play this game later in*,
the season? After the Huskcrs play
their conference schedule and the
Bluejays play their Missouri Valley
schedule, put a climax at the end of
the regular season with the battle
of 1-80.
instead, we are stuck with post
ponement after postponement un
til one day these two games get .
played — probably on the same
weekday — and many fans won’t
have a chance to see it happen.
As it stands now, the Huskers are
slated to play Wayne State on May
5. I’m sure that will draw quite a
crowd. At least it will be a little
warmer.
Cold weather always will be a
factor for northern schools when it
comes to baseball, but it’s time for
a series of this magnitude to be
scheduled later in the season, when
the players won’t be able to see their
own breath.
Postponement may have been
the best thing that could have hap
pened to this series for the sake of
the fans. At least these games now
will be played at a later date, like in
the spring.
Walkeakorst it a senior broadcasting
and advertising major and a Daily Ne
braskan staff reporter.
7 *
Husker hopes shattered by CU
By Trevor Parks
j Senior Reporter
BOULDER, Colo. — The Ne
braska basketball team’s shooting was
so bad in the second half Wednesday
night against Colorado that it broke
the backboard — literally.
I With 1:07
remaining in
_;hhecToeo?s
~Event Cen
ter, Mikki Moore and Terrance
Badgett went up for a offensive re
bound. Badgett pulled down on the
rim, shattering the backboard and
sending broken glass onto the play
ers’ heads.
! Moore and Badgett ran to the train
ing room with blood streaming down
their arms, ending the night for the pair
v — m
of Cornhuskcrs.
It also ended the game.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee agreed
to call off the remainder of the con
test before a stunned crowd of 4,047,
handing Nebraska its ninth straight
loss, 78-64.
Badgett required five stitches to his
right shoulder and Moore needed two
under his right eye and two in his right
shoulder. Colorado’s Dennis Giffin
suffered a minor cut on his left hand.
The missed dunk ended a horren
dous second half of shooting in which
Nebraska shot 30.8 percent from the
field and made 2 of 12 3-point at
tempts. Overall, Nebraska shot a sea
son-low 35.8 percent.
The loss dropped the Huskers to
15-13 overall and into a last-place tie
with the" Buffaloes at 3-10 in the Big
Eight. The nine-game skid, which
leaves Nebraska with an 0-7 mark in
February, is the longest losing streak
since the Huskers dropped nine
straight in 1963-64.
“It can’t get any lower,” Nee said.
“I thought we were competing in the
first half. We just went through a hell
of a drought in the second half.”
For much of the game Wednesday,
it looked as if Nebraska might end its
streak. The Huskers led 36-30 at the
halftime, but after Colorado trimmed
the lead to 54-51, the Huskers went
cold.
After tying the game at 54, the
Buffs went on a 20-5 run to take con
trol. Colorado was led by junior
Martice Moore, who made 10 field
goals cn route to scoring a game-high
30 points. Freshman Chaunccy
Billups added 21 points for the Buffa
loes, which improved to 9-16.
In that 11:21 span, the Huskers
converted just 2 of 21 field goal at
tempts, and at one point they missed
12 shots in a row. After the 9:33 mark
of the second half, Nebraska went
without a field goal until Tom Wald
made a 3-pointer with 1:53 left.
Erick Strickland, who led Nebraska
with 15 points, said he was shocked
the Huskers couldn’t make a basket
in the second half.
“We were so wide open on all the
shots we took, but we just didn’t knock
them down,” Strickland said.
Jaron Boone added 13 points for
Nebraska. Moore scored 11 points and
grabbed eight rebounds, Bernard Gar
ner scored 12 points and Tyronn Lue
dished out a career-high nine assists.
Mami Speck/DN
Nebraska pitcher Stacie Stafford leads the Huskers with 23 strikeouts in four appearances this
year and has a 1.75 ERA.
Doctors to check Frazier for blood clots
By Mike Kluck■
Senior Reporter
The worst appears to be over for
former Nebraska quarterback Tommie
Frazier, who was hospitalized this
week with a sinus infection.
Frazier’s mother, Priscilla, said
Wednesday she had spoken to her son
from her home in Bradenton, Fla., and
was planning to fly to Lincoln today
to see him at Bryan Memorial Hospi
tal.
“I plan on giving him a piece of my
mind,” Priscilla Frazier said. “I want
him to stop taking me through this ”
She said her son sounded “groggy”
during their conversation, but he also
showed signs of improvement. He was
dehydrated, she said, had a bad sinus
infection and was worn down.
While Frazier is in the hospital,
doctors will examine his right knee to
make sure no blood clots have formed.
During the 1994 season, in which Ne
braska won the first of two straight
national titles, Tommie Frazier missed
seven games because of blood clots in
his right leg.
He returned to the field on Jan. 1,
1995, and led Nebraska to a 24-17 win
over Miami in the Orange Bowl. This
season, he directed the Comhuskcrs to
another national title with a 62-24 vic
tory over Florida in the Fiesta Bowl
on Jan. 2.
Since the Fiesta Bowl, Frazier, who
is slated to graduate in May with a
degree in business administration, has
been busy trying to fulfill many auto
graph signings and media obligations,
his mother said. He also attended the
NFL combines earlier this month in
Indianapolis.
On Saturday, Frazier attended an
autograph signing at The Book Cen
ter in Norfolk, where he signed 547
posters but was not feeling well, said
Donna Meyer, an employee of The
Book Center.
“He took frequent breaks but was
managing to get by all right,” Meyer
said.
Priscilla Frazier said her son be
came light-headed after the signing
session, but he never passed out. When
he still felt ill Monday, he was admit
ted to the hospital, she said.
NU pitcher
wants more
than wins
By Antone Oseka
Staff Reporter
For Nebraska softball pitcher
Stacie Stafford, happiness doesn’t
come easy.
Stafford, who has pitched the
Comhuskcrs to two of their seven vic
^ toriesjthis season, said she was happy
' with only half of her starts this sea
son.
“I was happy in the Texas-Arling
ton and the Oregon State game,” she
said.
Stafford, a senior from Fair Oaks,
Calif., also pitched in both games of a
doubleheader sweep of Creighton last
Saturday in Omaha. She relieved
Melanie Raimondi in the first game.
In the second half of the doublchcader,
she pitched a complete game, allow
ing three runs.
“I was satisfied,” she said. “I felt
like in the second game I kept my
composure fairly well. As far as the
first game went, I was out of rhythm ”
In 24 innings pitched this season
for the 7-1 Huskers, Stafford has re
corded 23 strikeouts, a 1.75 camcd
run average and has held opposing
hitters to a .207 batting average.
Nebraska coach Rhonda Rcvelle
said she was pleased with Stafford’s
performance against the Bluejays.
“Barring when she came into re
lief,” Rcvelle said, “I thought she
threw really well. It wasn’t her best
game, but it was a very good game.”
Stafford said she knew she could
do better.
“In the second game, there’s just a
couple of innings I’d like to have taken
away,” Stafford said. “Every game’s
got those innings.”
Sometimes games are full of those
innings, she said.
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