NU jumps on PSU early
By Gregg Madsen
Staff Reporter
Sunday’s men’s gymnastics meet
between Nebraska and Penn State was
over before it started.
NU Coach Francis Allen said the
Comhuskers’ performance on the first
rotation of the afternoon sealed the
Nittany Lions’ fate.
“We waxed ‘em,” Allen said. “Our
first three or four floor routine spots
put them away.”
Penn State, which opened the meet
on the pommel horse, counted two
falls and fell behind the Huskers
38.625-37.975.
Fourth-ranked Nebraska, which
opened on the floor exercise, never looked
back and easily dispatched the sixth-ranked
Nittany lions 230.9-228.45.
The Huskers, who play host to the
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Cham
pionships March 28-29, have scored a 230
or above in each of their last three meets.
Penn State Coach Randy Jepson
said he was impressed with Nebraska’s
dominance.
“They’re a very solid team,”
Jepson said. ‘Top to bottom every year
they’re the same way. I think they are
beatable, but they were sharp today.”
Jepson said PSU — which has been
decimated by injuries and sickness in the
past month — did show improvement.
“I was encouraged because even
the kids who had been sick were able
to get back in there and compete
again,” he said. “We didn’t perform
temnc, out it s Detter man wnat we ve
been doing, so I’m encouraged.”
NU again used a solid team effort
to pull off the win — Nebraska’s third
straight against a Top 10 team.
Sophomore Marshall Nelson con
tinued his dominance, winning the
pommel horse (9.75), the vault
(9.825), the parallel bars (9.775) and
the high bar (9.75). Nelson finished
second on the floor exercise with a 9.7.
Competing in the all-around for his first
time as a Husker, sophomore J.D. Reive
won the six-event competition with a
57.725—the highest Nebraska all-around
score this season. Pom State freshman
Mike Dutka was second at 57.05.
Reive was second on the pommel
horse (9.725) and the parallel bars
(9.65), and third on the vault with a
career-high 9.775.
Allen said Reive’s contribution to
the team goes far beyond his all
around total.
“This is going to build a lot of con
fidence in himself,” Allen said. “But,
it’s a two-way confidence. The team
gets more confidence in him and then
he feeds off of that.”
Seniors Ted Harris and Ryan
McEwen, competing in their final
regular-season meet at home, had
strong performances.
McEwen won the floor exercise
with a 9.725, apd Harris was second
on the still rings with a 9.725.
“It’s kind of like this is one of our
last opportunities to compete well,”
Harris said. “We all wanted to take
advantage of that.”
Three qualify for meet
From Staff Reports
Three Nebraska divers qualified for
the NCAA Championships at the
NCAA Zone D Diving Champion
ships at College Station, Texas.
Freshman Bert Locklin and sopho
more Danny Bergman qualified on the
men’s side.
Locklin finished third on the one
meter and sixth on the three meter to
finish a combined fourth. Bergman fin
ished a combined six overall after a
sixth-place finish on the one meter and
a fourth-place finish on the three meter.
Sophomore T.D. Rowe, who quali
fied for the NCAAs last season, fin
ished sixth. Rowe struggled placing
11th on the one meter, but earned the
sixth spot with a fourth-place finish on
the one meter.
Rowe will compete with the
Cornhusker women’s team^at the
NCAA Championships this tfljsekend
at Indianapolis. Ttie men’s competi
tion is March 27 through 29 in Mint
neapolis. \
Also in the platform competition
Saturday night, Nebraska’s Kevin Gre
gory was fifth with a total of 1406.85
points. Mark Naftanel of Texas A&M
won the competition with a score of
588.70.
Bears beat Huskera
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska men’s tennis team
lost to Baylor 5-2 in a Big 12 Confer
ence meet.
Winners for the Comhuskers (5-6)
were No. 2 singles player Dinko Verzi
and No. 3 singles player Markus
Bergerheim. Verzi defeated Baylor’s
Aaron Ramos 6-4,6-0 and Bergerheim
won 6-1,3-6,6-2 over Joey Michalsky.
In other results from the meet;
No. 1 Johann Jooste defeated
Nebraska’s Magnus Grahn 6-2, 6-2,
6-1, No. 4 singles player David
Hodge beat Fredrik Reisbeck 7-5, 7
6(9-7), Jaro Turek beat NU’s Todd
Nicholl 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 and James
Mathew beat Andrew Wiese 6-3, 6
2 in No. 6 singles.
The Bears swept all three double
matches. The No. 1 team of Jooste
and Hodge beat Verzi and
Bergerheim 8-5, Ramos and
Michalsky defeated Riesbeck and
Fernando 8-6 in No. 2 singles and
Waas and Mathew beat Grahn and
Wiese 9-8 in No. 3 singles.
The Huskers will next be in action
at Texafr and Texas A&M this week
end. J
Huskers take two from Missouri
WINS from page 6
x
Sanders said. “Tliey’ve got some guys
that can swing the bat.”
But Husker left-hander Kenny
Duebelbeis (1-1), who earned the win
for NU, held the Tigers to just one
more run through the fifth inning as
Nebraska built an 8-3 lead.
“We’re just not playing very good
baseball. We had plenty of opportuni
ties,” Jamieson said. “I don’t know
how many people we left on base, but
if we scored half of them, we would
have won the game.”
Sears, an All-America candidate,
improved his team-high average to
.456 going 9 for 13-and scoring nine
runs in the three-game series.
‘We had big hits throughout the
game,” Sears said. “That’s big for us
A lot of people are trying to play within
themselves. They’re not trying to do
too much. We’re becoming a team.”
Third baseman Cliffton Durham
— who extended his team-long hit
ting streak to eight games Sunday —
said the wins will boost the Huskers’
confidence.
“These wins are huge,” Durham
said. “It’s a chance to get out of the
slump that we were in. We picked up
some wins to get back on the right
track. This gives ms momentum.”
Senior right-hander Spencer Van
Linge threw two innings and allowed
three earned runs, before lefty Brian
Zubor was called on to finish the game
for the Huskers.
Zubor earned the save pitching the
final two innings for Nebraska while
striking out three. But the Tigers didn’t
go down without a scare.
In die bottom of the ninth, a single
by Moore was followed by two con
secutive outs. Missouri trailed 10-6,
Daniel Luedeki/DN
MARSHALL NELSON swings on the high bar on Sunday against Pen State.
NU won the dual 230.9-228.45. ___________
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NU loses
Classic
A one-out single by Oklahoma
State’s Leanne Tyler in the bottom
of the 11th inning pushed the Cow
girls past the Nebraska softball
team in the finals of the Cowgirl
Classic at Stillwater.
NU — which went 3-1 during
the tournament to improve to 7-9
on the year — took a 1-0 lead in
the top of the eighth inning when a
sacrifice bunt by Jenny Smith
scored Kelly Pinkepank.
Nebraska pitcher Christie,,
McCoy tossed five innings of two
hit ball before turning things over
to Jenny Voss, (6-6) who took the
loss.
Also Sunday, NU beat South
west Missouri State 3-1 behind
Voss’ arm and a home run by Smith.
Against Kansas Saturday, McCoy
pitched a three-hit shutout as the
Huskers scored three runs on only
two hits.
NU second baseman Jennifer
Lizama, Smith, Voss and Pinkepank
made the All-Toumament team.
but it wasn’t over.
Two infield hits by the Tigers’ eighth
and ninth hitters loaded the bases with
two outs for leadoff hitter Matt Nivens,
who represented the tying run.
Nivens, who homered twice in
Saturday’s second game, battled Zubor
to a 2-2 count before striking out.
“We’re keeping everybody here
until the final out,” Sanders said.
“(Zubor) has done a good job for us.
He’s really.stepped up.”
Defense also aided the Huskers in
their wins. Nebraska turned four
double plays on Sunday, all of which
included either second baseman Kevin
Harrington or shortstop Bryan Schmidt
in the middle.
“That was a goal of ours this year,”
Sanders said. “We had to play good
ground-ball defense. Our middle play
has been outstanding. That’s huge in
a game like this.”