Taikanian
questioned
about tickets
FRESNO, Calif. (AP)—A sus
pected sprats bookie last season re
ceived some of Fresno State Bas
ketball Coach Jerry Tbrkanian’s
game tickets, a Fresno paper re
ported Thursday.
The tickets came from Jose
Elgorriaga Jr., who is the coach’s
personal business agent but not a
university employee, the Fresno
Bee reported.
Athletic department records
show that the bookie got at least
42 tickets and that his brother re
ceived eight from Elgorriaga.
Tarkanian gets 90 tickets to each
home game as part of his contract
and said he gives Elgorriaga four
to six tickets for each game.
Tarkanian said if some tickets
were received by a sprats gambler,
“I certainly don’t want my players
associating with him.”
The Bee previously labeled the
bookie a. “major spots bettor” in
linking him to an investigation of
possible point shaving fay Fresno
State players. However, law en
forcement officials and others now
say he is an active bookmaker, The
Bee said.
University officials and the FBI
are investigating rumors of possible
point shaving, an illegal practice
where players try to keep the mar
gin of victory inside the point
spread. The investigations have
focused on guards Dominick
Young and Chris Herren, and both
have denied any wrongdoing.
The Bee previously reported
that Young was seal with the spats
bookie at a nightclub and that
Herren visited a Fresno pawnbro
ker who is a friend of the bookie.
The Los Angeles Times re
ported that members of a Southern
California bookmaking ring were
told Fresno State playas were fix
ing games. V
Fresno State President John
Welty said he hopes the university’s
investigation will be concluded
soon.
4. _
“To date, we’ve found no sub
stance to the allegations about point
shaving,” Welty said. 4 ..
w: j wmm mmm mmm mmm iiM mb wmm mmm mmm mmm
Matt Mnxn/DN
By David Wilson
Staff Reporter
—;-:-:
Despite losing four of its last five
games in the Bank of America Rain
bow Classic at Honolulu, the Nebraska
baseball team returned home with con
fidence.
The Cornhuskers defeated 10th
ranked Wichita State and Cal State
Northridge before losing to New
Mexico, Washington, Hawaii and
Wichita State.
A 5-2 victory over New Mexico last
Sunday sent the Huskers in a positive
direction, NU coach John .Sanders
said.
Nebraska (16-18 overall and 2-7
in the Big 12 Conference) will play
host to Kansas State (21-9 and 4-8) in
a three-game series beginning in 7
p.m. today at Buck Beltzer Field. 1CSU
has already beaten NU twice this sea
son.
“Old of the tournament, we gained
more consistent play,” Sanders said.
“R was a game a day against outstand
ing competition.” i
The Husker offense scored 41 mns
on SO hits —- including 19 froraqun
ior Todd Sears and senior Francis
Collins. The duo have combined to hit
.399 on die season.
Collins, who finished the tourna
ment going 12-for-28 with nine runs
scored, said NU could have done bet
ter against the tough competition.
“Wo beat the good teams and
played even to the teams that we
should have stepped up to and beaten
easily,” Collins stud. “We’ve been
playing to the other teams’ potentials.
We haven’t been playing to ours.”
After starting the season hitting
.171 —through NU’s first 12 games
— Collins has raised his average to
.367, which ranks second on the team
behind Sears’ .438. *
“I’m feeling more comfortable at
the plate than I was at the beginning
of the year—ever since Minnesota,”
Collins said.
In 26 games since the Hormel
Foods Classic began on Feb. 28 in
Minneapolis, Collins has hit .426 and
had a 14-game hitting streak snapped
last week. But the secret to his sue
cess is simple, he said.
“I have good bat control,” Collins
said, “I just feel like I have to put ft in
play and then use ray speed.” *
As a junior last season, Collins led
the Huskers with a .424 average and
compiled a 38-game hitting streak—
the fifth iongestJn NCAA history —
before being named to the All-Big
Eight second team.
this year, Collins and Sears have
been the two most, consistent bats in
the lineup, Sanders said, and both
have provided support for the players
around them.
“When you have a leadoff guy like
Francis and three-hole guy like Todd,”
Sanders said, “players will relate to
the two. Guys look at them and know
that these are quality hitters and they
feel comfortable when Todd and
Francis are doing well. It’s a confi-i
dence builder for everyone.”
Collins agreed that his teammates.
respond to his success.
“They know they have to contrib
ute too if they want to play,” Collins i
said. “It should bring up their confi-i
dence a little bit. We just try to lead i
«—-"
We’ve been playing
to the other teams’
potentials.”
Fhancis Collins
NU center fielder
by example.”
Sanders will send senior rights
bander Steve Fish to the mound today
igainst the Wildcats. Fish won two
starts in Hawaii and lowered his
jamed-run average to 4.34.
* Senior left-hander Pat Driscoll (2
3), who has thrown at least five in
lings in each of his eight starts, will
ake the hill Saturday at 2 pjn. and
unior lefty Kenny Duebelbeis will
likely get the nod at 1 pjn. Sunday.
“We just have to play toourpoten
;ial — not to theirs,” Collins said of
he Wildcats. “If we do, we’ll beat
hem. We should sweep them.”
I Deadline for sign up is Monday, April 7,1997
Sign up now and inquire for details at Big tied
Keno Sports Bar & Grill! Offer applies for Spring
r — Must be 21--1* igp to enter.
__ neuo^o WtlSasSl
(402)434-7789 jg
http://uww.winkeno.com SPOI
Promotions are subject to change. 9k
■
t
ft———-—-—:—
to worry as much about the rest of our
tournaments this year.”
LabbtRomjue
' , NU men’s golf coach
BySamMcKewon
Staff Reporter '
The Nebraska men’s golf team be
gan its stretch run towards an NCAA
Tournament berth with a third-place
finish at the Dr.
Pepper Intercolle
giate in Pottsboro,
Texas, lastweek
end.
Nl|.;fntfde
a strong move in
the second round
to jump from fifth
to third add Spten
held on to finish
with a 895, fiye
strokes behind Northwestern and 32
strokes behind champion Southern
Methodist.
Comhusker Coach Larry Romjue
said although his team played well,
there is still room for improvement.
“We finished second in the tour
nament last year,” Romjue said. “We
felt like we could have finished sec
ond again, but we made a couple mis
takes.”
Individually, NU was paced by
sophomore Josh Madden and senior
Mikkel Haug, who both finished
eighth in the tournament behind
SMU’s Jamie Stanley, the
tournament's winner.
Haug has been a pleasant surprise
to the team this spring. After not play
ing in the fall, Haug was not expected
to heavily contribute to the team, but
since a sixth-place finish at the Texas
San Antonio Invitational he has
looked strong, Romjue said.
Romjue said Haug has improved
more than any NU golfer over the past
six months.
“He started off playing well this
spring and he has continued to play
well as the year has went on,” Romjue
said. “He’s been able to hold his posi
tion in the lineup and be consistent.”
On the other end of the spectrum
lies sophomore Steve Friesen.
Coming in as the Huskers’ top
golfer after winning two tournaments
in the fall, Friesen has struggled some
what this spring, going without a fop
10 finish in four tournaments.
“Steve hasn’t quite cone around,
but I think he’ll be there when it
counts,” Romjue said. “He’s made a
few too many mistakes with his game
but he’s got the ability to still win tour
naments.”_
NU returns to the fairway on April
7-8 for the Arkansas State Invitational
in Jonesboro, Ark. Included in the 18
team field are ranked teams Iowa
State, Arkansas State and Drake.
Romjue said a strong showing at
Arkansas State will help alleviate
some of the pressure of tournaments
in the future.
“If we do well down in Arkansas,
we don’t have to worry as much about
the rest of the tournaments this year,”
he said. “It takes off some of the pres
sure.”
