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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 1997)
Missouri shows weather can’t hamper results Baseball wasn’t meant to be played in 30-degree temperatures. But teams in the north don’t have much of a choice. Nebraska and Missouri braved the elements on Saturday at Buck Beltzer Field in an attempt to play ball. Of course, southern schools have been playing and practicing outside since January. It’s not a coincidence that Wichita State is the northernmost ranked team. Not one school above the Mason-Dixon Line ranks among the nation’s Top 25. “They definitely have an advan tage,” MU Coach Tim Jamieson said of the teams in the south. “They get to be outside preparing for their season. They can spread their games out over a long period of time and they play more games at home. It’s a big-time advantage for the southern schools.” Despite the jump-start the south teams have had, Jamieson has done a good job keeping the Tigers competi tive in a southern dominated sport. After losing two of three to the Comhuskers, the Tigers fell to 6-3 in the Big 12 Conference. Baylor took two of three from Texas last weekend to take sole possession of the conferen£eJead at 7-2. The ether northern schools in the con^rence, with the exception of KapsasC rank last in the league. ‘T think it will take time before we know ifthere is a balance in the league,”. Jamieson said. Jamieson said his team, along with most northern schools, has become accustomed tanfeying in cold weather. “Our gtl^s are used to it,” Jamieson said. “Things we get ner vous about are pulled muscles — not performance as much as poten tial for injuries.” When will the insanity of playing in bone-chilling temperatures stop? NU Ooach John Sanders said ear lier this season that the NCAA is re viewing the possibility of pushing the season start into March or April. If it passes, the change could go into effect within a few years, Sandras said. Jamison also likes the idea of bumping opening day back. “We could be playing in April, May and Aide instead of February, March and April,” Jamieson said. “We play 10 games in the month of February. That’s ridiculous.” , Missouri, which began die sea son ranked in the Top 25 after win ning die final regular season Big Eight tide last year, played its first 13 games on the road this year and has played just four home games. ‘We’re not playing good base ball this year,” Jamieson said. “We just haven’t been able to consis tendy play good.” But his squad is still the best team above the Mason-Dixon Line. Wilson is a sophomore news editorial major and a Daily Ne braskan staff reporter. Daniel Luedert/DN BRIAN HUNT slides into home as Missouri’s Ryan Jamison awaits the ball. Hunt scored as NU won 10-6 Sunday. Huskers snap skid By David Wilson Staff Reporter The losing streak is over. Powered by 45 hits, Nebraska won twp of thtW^arnes agpinst "Missouri this jp^eha at Buck Beltzer Field. The Comhuskers snapped a 13-game losing skid and earned their first two conference wins of the season. NU improved to 7-14 overall and 2-6 in the conference after a 10 6 win against the Tigers on Sunday in front of 185 fans. Missouri fell to 10-12 and 6-3. On Saturday, the Huskers downed Missouri 12-3 in the first game of a doubleheader before los ing the nightcap 13-7. “We’ve battled through a lot here,” NU Coach John Sanders said. “We’ve stuck together. We’ve hung together and no one has fallen apart. The wheels have not come off — they’ve wobbled.” The Huskers jumped out to a 1 0 lead in the first inning Sunday when designated hitter Craig Moore singled home first baseman Todd Sears. Tiger staff ace Jeremy Callier left the game after one in ning because of soreness in his el 4 Daniel Luedert/DN GABE GARCIA slides into third around MU’S Griffin Moore on Saturday. bow. “When your No. 1 pitcher goes down in the first inning — we were scrambling from that point on,” MU Coach Tim Jamieson said. “He’s had some elbow problems. It’s too early to take a chance on it.” Missouri designated hitter Mike Rallo responded in the second with a 390-foot home run to left-center that scored two. The Tigers finished the weekend with seven home runs — including three by shortstop Griffin Moore. “They’ve got some bangers,” Please see WINS on 7 Tbumament continues to surprise Three Big 12 teams still alive in the NCAA Tbumament. From The Associated Press With two rounds complete in the NCAA tournament, the Pacific-10 Conference and the selection commit tee are nearly perfect. Four of die tournament’s final 16 teams are from the Pac 10, with one in each of the tournament’s four regions. And all four of the selection committee’s top seeds have advanced to the regional semifinals. Stanford became the fourth Pac 10 team to reach the Sweet 16, beating third-seed Wake Forest 72-66 Sunday in the West Region. The Cardinal will be joined in the regional semifinals by Arizona, UCLA and California, which all advanced on Saturday. “For a long time, a lot of people have been down on the Pac 10 and said we couldn’t win big games,” Stanford’s Brevin Knight said. “And we’re showing we deserve the num ber of teams we got in.” Minnesota completed the sweep by the top seeds Sunday, ripping Temple 76-57 in the Midwest Region at Kan sas City and joined other top seeds North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky in the next round. The Sweet 16 has a Big 12 flavor as well. The Jayhawks, — with a win over Purdue — Iowa State — on the strength of a win over Cincinnati — and No. 10-seed Texas with a 82-81 win over 15th-seeded Coppin State at Pittsburgh on Sunday have all ad vanced. In other action Sunday, Louisville held off New Mexico 64-63 in the East Region, Providence shocked Duke 98 87 and No. 14-seed Tennessee-Chat tanooga became just the second 14th seed ever to make the final 16 with a 75-63 win over Illinois in the South east. In the West Region, Clemson beat Tulsa 65-59 and No. 2-seed Utah de feated North Carolina Charlotte 77-58. On Saturday, St. Joseph’s, Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina, California, UCLA, the Cyclones and Kentucky all picked up wins to advance. Seniors go out in style with win over PSU By Gregg Madsen Staff Reporter With tears in their eyes, two Ne braska women’s gymnasts waved goodbye to the crowd at the Bob Devaney Sports Center for the last time meet in Line niors Shelly Bi and Kim Del — two of the s u c c e s Comhuske nasts in schc tory — guided braska to a 195.675 194.725 victory over Penn State. Bartlett and DeHaan agreed that defeating the Nittany Lions — whom the Huskers trailed heading into the final rotation — was much easier than saying goodbye. “It hurt my heart,” Bartlett said. “I mean, I love this team so much and you just love the sport.” Through the tears, both athletes went out in style. Bartlett broke her own school record in the all-around with a 39.5. The Spokane, Wash., native won the vault with a 9.9 and tied her school record in the uneven bars at 9.95. DeHaan finished third chi the bars (9.9) and fifth in the floor exercise (9.875). NU Coach Dan Kendig said the Huskers’ win shows what DeHaan and Bartlett have brought to the program. “They’ve meant so much,” he said. “But you know, it’s part of progress. You have to take that and maintain what they’ve worked on for four years.” For a brief while, it looked as if their careers may have ended with a loss. After counting two falls on the uneven bars and a mediocre beam per formance, the eighth-ranked Huskers trailed Penn State 146.775-146.175 heading into the final rotation. Penn State Coach Steve Shephard said his team could have pulled off the upset with a good performance on the balance beam. “I thought we were in a real good position at that point,” Shephard said. “I think they just let the pressure get to them a little bit.” NU—which was on the floor exer cise — prevented the upset with a school-record score of 49.5, while Penn State struggled to a 47.95 on the beam. Bartlett and sophomore Amie Dillman tied for third, both scoring career-best 9.925s. But the floor per formance of the day went to sopho more Misty Oxford, who tied the school-record with a 9.95. “What a floor day,” Kendig said. “A couple of the girls gave me goose bumps out there.” Oxford, who is recovering from the flu, said she used a new floor routine to tie the record set by DeHaan in 1995. “I was nervous to do it,” said Ox ford who competing in the all-around for the first time this year scored a 38.6. “But even when you’re sick you still have that adrenaline.” Freshman Nicole Wilkinson had a career day of her own, also. Wilkinson, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was second on the beam (9.875) and tied Nebraska freshman Heather Brink for second on the vault (9.85). She also set a personal best in the all-around at 39.2.