Tacha wins
title; men
finish 5th
From Staff Reports
Nebraska junior Rachelle Tacha
won the individual title at the Marilynn
Smith-Sunflower Invitational Tuesday
in Lawrence, Kan.
Tacha, from Manhattan, Kan., fired
a final-day score of 77 to finish with a
three-day total of 230, three strokes
ahead of Texas A&M’s JamieHullett.
NU’s Shirin Homecker shot a 238,
good for seventh place.
Hie Comhuskers placed second in
the 14-team tournament, six strokes
behind Tfexas A&M. Nebraska was two
shots back after Monday’s second
round, but the Huskers were beaten
313-317 on Tuesday by the Aggies.
Hanne Nyquist (242) finished 12th;
Melissa Becker (245) was 18th; Eliza
beth Bahensky (256) placed 43rd;
Denise Woodard (257) was 46th and
Gretchen Doerr (263) finished 55th.
In Memphis, Tenn., the Nebraska
men’s golf team fired a final-round 298
to finish the three-day Kroger Intercol
legiate fifth out of 18 teams.
Individually, sophomores Steve
Friesen and Scott Gutschewski tied for
10th at 220, nine shots behind cham
pion Chad Wellhausen of Mississippi
State. Friesen, a Lincoln High School
graduate, shot rounds of73,73 and 74
to lead the Huskers*
Josh Madden (221) was 13th;
Jacques Paiement (230) finished 47th
and Trent Morrison (235) was 69th.
I-;
NU I-backs
bid for time
BACKS from page 7
week’s depth chart. ~
NU Coach Tom Osborne said
Benning will be the first back off the
bench Saturday in the first half, and
Evans will relieve Green first in the
second half.
Benning, a senior from Omaha,
started last Saturday and ran for 135
yards and three touchdowns in his fifth
career start.
Evans, a 5-9,210-pound true fresh
man from Wichita, Kan., replaced
Benning and ran for 105 yards and two
scores against Baylor. The week before
he gained 168 yards and sewed two
touchdowns against Kansas State.
For the season Green leads the team
with 387 yards, averaging 5.5 yards per
attempt with three touchdowns. De
spite playing in only three games,
Evans is second with 347 yards, five
touchdowns and an 8.7 yards-per-at
tempt average. Benning averages 5.7
yards per attempt with 281 yards and
four touchdowns.
“Every back back there is good,”
Green said. “They all have the same
intensity on the field, and whoever is
out there is going to do the job and get
it done right.”
Note:
NoT t split end Brendan Holbein
missed practice Tuesday with a groin
injury. Osborne said he expects
Holbein to practice today.
■
-
*
NU hopes intensity
translates into wins
-:—__ -•
By David Wilson
Staff Reporter
The end of fall practice Sunday
marked a new beginning for the Ne
braska baseball team.
The Comhuskers, who finished
27-27-1 and at the bottom of the Big
Eight Conference last season,/]
wrapped up the Red-White World
Series at Buck Beltzer field on Sun
day.
“If you ask any of the players,”
Coach John Sanders said, ‘Uhey
would admit there is a lot more in
tensity this year. When you have
that, it’s contagious.
“Does that translate into wins?
That’s the mission here.”
The teams, selected by pitchers
Pat Driscoll and Jonas Armenta,
played three three-game series, in
which players were evaluated by
coaches.
“It was real competitive,” Assis
tant Coach Mike Anderson said.
“That’s what we’re looking for. It
was real encouraging.”
The Red Team won two series
and six out of nine games—includ
ing a three-game sweep in the first
series.
The three highest-rated players,
Anderson said, were junior Todd
Sears, freshman Ken Harvey and
senior Francis Collins, who led the
Huskers last season with a .424 av
erage.
The top two pitchers in the se
ries, Anderson said, were seniors
Driscoll and Steve Fish. The duo
combined for 11 of NU’s 27 wins
last season.
Despite losing six seniors from
last season, including starting out
••
There is a, lot more
intensity this year.”
Jom Sanders
NU baseball coach
fielders Matt Meyer and Mel Mot
ley* the Huskers return five starters
to t)ieir lineup.
Nebraska will open the season
Feb. 18 at Buck Beltzer Field
against the University of Nebraska
at Kearney.
The teams will play on new ar
tificial turf, which is expected to be
installed within the next month,
Sanders said.
In the last month of the 1997
season, the Huskers will play three
game series on the road against
Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Texas
Tech and at home against Oklahoma
State and Texas.
“The Big Eight was an outstand
ing conference,” Sanders said.
“This year, you bring in the four
Texas schools and you have a pre
mier baseball conference. We’re
talking a very elite conference. It
will be a real challenge.”
The NCAA allows baseball
teams to practice 22 weeks out of
the year, which can be used at any
time. Nebraska practiced outdoors
for five weeks in the the decent Sep
tember and October weather.
“(Southern teams) always have
an early start on things,” Sanders
said. “We’re inside more than we
want to be, but we can still focus on
individual skill developments.”
&9*ovelJdea
118 N. 14th St • Lincoln, NE 68508 • (402) 475-TOME
HOURS: Mon-Sat 10am - 6pm Thurs 10am - 9pm Sun 1pm - 5pm
Hogan scores
for Huskers /
HOGAN from page 7
Hogan said, she gains confidence.
“I gained a lot of playing time last
year,” she said. “So I had the confi
dence already, but I feel like I can let it
show more.
“I feel comfortable with my team.
They’re such great people. There are
no fights. I could hang out with them
all. day, everyday.”
In the summer of 1995, Hogan
played on the West Region under-19
team. College-level competition is
clearly more intense, she said.
“The main difference is that On club
teams, you’re playing against your best
friend,” Hogan said. “In college, you
don’t know you’re opponent It’s more
serious.
“Here, you hate them and just want
to beat them into the ground.”
With six games remaining, the un
beaten Huskers appear ready to make
their first NCAA Tournament appear
ance in school history:
If the Huskers win out for the rest
of the season and capture the Big 12
title next month in St. Louis, they could
be in a position to play host to as many
as three tournament games. The NCAA
Final Four will be played in Santa
Clara, Calif., Dec. 6 through 8.
At this point of the season, Hogan
said, finishing the regular season with
out a loss is not unthinkable.
“I’m not going to make any prom
ises,” Hogan said. “We never had a
serious conversation about it. But I
believe we can if we keep playing the
way we have”
i-1
USA Today
t<x>» a
7 i
OU victory
pleases Blake
OUfrontpage 7^
overtime.
“There’s such a small margin be
tween winning and losing,” Blake said.
“I knew this team was young.”
Kansas beat the Sooners 52-24 on
Oct. 5 in Norman, Okla. Despite KU’s
sound win, Jayhawk Coach Glen Ma
\ son said he found no surprise in
Oklahoma’s victory over Texas (3-3
k and 2-1). The Longhorns were ranked
f No. 25 beforejthe game.
“I told my coaches last Sunday that
1 Oklahoma was going to jump up and
bite someone within the next two
\ weeks,” Mason said.
Texas Coach John Mackovic said
> OU’s offensive-linemen rotation
caused trouble for the Longhorns.
“They ware us down,” Mackovic
* said. “They came right at us, and we
didn’t get off the block. They could
► have very easily been 2-2 or 3-1 be- f
fore this game.”
t The Sooners will attempt to win
their second straight game Saturday
l against Baylor in Waco, Texas.
“We’re getting ready for a good
Oklahoma football team,” Baylor
Coach Chuck Reedy said. “We knew
that before they beat Tfexas.”
