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ewcomers to spell relief
for NU pitching standout
RELIEF from page 7
is too much for one pitcher to carry.
“I can keep doing it - and it’s not
that I don’t want to - but it’s a lot of
wear and tear on your arm,” Voss
said.
“Sometimes I can go out and win
when I’m not at my best, but why do
it if I don’t have to? I could do it
physically and mentally, but I don’t
really want to if it’s not necessary.”
If Christie McCoy and Lori
Tschannen have their way, it won’t
be necessary.
Tschannen, a freshman left-han
der from Walnut Creek, Calif., and
McCoy - who joined the Huskers
last year after transferring from
» College of San Mateo in California -
* hope to provide some relief for Voss
this season.
“Lori has been good in a real
positive way,” McCoy said. “She is
very strong and very knowledge
able, and I would love to get more
innings in. Whether they give me a
couple or 20, I’ll do the best with
what I can. I think Jenny will enjoy
that.”
So will NU Coach Rhonda
Revelle. The addition of the left
handed Tschannen particularly
pleases the sixth-year coach.
. This season marks the first time
since 1984 that the Huskers have had
a pitching staff comprised of both
right- and left-handers.
“I am excited because it gives us
two different looks,” Revelle said.
“Both ways are effective and it is
very helpful to have a left-hander.
Lori can throw into the hands of a
right-handed batter.”
The pitching staff will have its
hands full this weekend when the
Huskers (4-3) travel to Columbus,
Ga., for the NFCA Leadoff Classic.
Seven of the NFCA/USA Today’s
Top 10 will compete in the four-day
tournament. NU plays Auburn at
4:00 p.m. and No. 2 Washington at 6
p.m. today.
Voss, who faced over half of the
20 teams in the tournament last sea
son, thinks the Huskers could catch
some teams off guard with their
pitching depth.
“A lot of times teams will only
focus on that known ‘ace’ who
everyone else focuses on,” Voss said.
Nebraska holds an even greater
advantage than it may appear, Voss
said, because the three pitchers are a
close-knit unit.
“When I’m in the dugout and
someone else is pitching, I’m with
them all the way on every pitch,”
Voss said. “It’s us three together, not
each one of us apart. I told them I
needed them to help me, and they
need me to help them.”
Nebraska track teams to defend
conference indoor championships
■ The Husker men look
for their fifth straight title,
while the NU women vie
for their 19th straight.
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
Conference bragging rights are on
the line this weekend as the Nebraska
track team travels to Ames, Iowa, to
defend its throne as Big 12 indoor
track champions.
A win for the Cornhusker
women’s team would mean a 19th
straight indoor conference champi
onship.
The Husker men have won four
straight indoor titles and are favored to
win their fifth over Baylor and Texas.
NU’s strength lies with its depth,
Husker Coach Gary Pepin said.
Nebraska has three competitors in
the top five in the conference in both
the 35-pound weight throw and the
shot put.
Anchoring the Huskers in the
weight throw is two-time conference
champion Scott Warren.
Warren, a senior, holds the fourth
longest throw in die nation this season
at 67 feet and 3 XA inches.
The 1997 All-American said he
believes NU has the depth in the field
events to overcome the strengths of
the sprinting schools of the South.
“Baylor is loaded at the sprints,
from the 55 (meter dash) to the 800
(meters),” Warren said. “But that’s it.
We should be able to score major
points in the field events.”
Joining Warren in the throws is
junior Joe Erdkamp, who also has an
NCAA provisional mark in the weight
throw (64-3), and sophomore Jack
Melson.
Melson’s mark of 59-9 in the shot
put last weekend put him in contention
for an individual championship. His
strength will likely help the Huskers
rack up enough team points to win the
meet, Warren said.
“Coach (Marie Colligan) has said
that 100 points will definitely win the
meet, and we’re probably the only
team that can reach that level” Warren
said.
The NU women will have a tough
time defending their crown, as another
deep group of sprinters from Texas
will be looking for revenge.
The Longhorns had bad luck at
last year’s conference championships
as their 4 x 100 fell down and another
sprinter tripped over a pole that fell
onto the track from the pole-vault pit.
“(Texas has) a lot of sprinters, and
we don’t have the depth in the field
events that we had last year,” NU
sophomore Carrie Braness said.
Braness, a 1997 All-American in
the high jump, is currently third in the
conference with a provisional mark of
5-9% and will also compete in the
pentathlon.
Former Husker star Erstad
agrees to $7.5 million deal
1st basemen to give $200,000 to Little League
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - First
baseman Darin Erstad, the first overall
selection in die 1995 free-agent draft,
has agreed to a $7.5 million, four-year
contract with the Anaheim Angels.
The 23-year-old former
Comhusker hit .299 with 34 doubles,
four triples, 16 homers, 99 runs
scored, 77 RBIs and 23 stolen bases in
139 games last season - his first full
year in the big leagues.
“Darin epitomizes the hard-work
ing, dedicated athlete,” Anaheim
General Manager Bill Bavasi said
after the deal was announced. “He
knows one style of play. We look for
ward to his contributions as our cur
rent nucleus of young players develop
together.”
Erstad, who made $175,000 last
season, gets $500,000 in 1998,
$800,000 in 1999, $2.5 million in
2000 and $3.45 million in 2001.
In addition to the four-year con
tract, Erstad’s agent, Jeff Moorad, said
his client wilLbe donating $200,000
during the term of the contract toward
the development and upgrading of
Little League facilities in the
Southern California area.
Erstad also will establish a perpet
ual scholarship at his former high
school, Jamestown High in
Jamestown, N.D.
Husker swimmers in third
From Staff Reports
NU diver Danny Bergman and the
Comhusker 400-meter relay team led
the Nebraska men’s swim team to a
third-place finish after the first day of
competition at the Big 12
Championships in College Station,
Texas, Thursday.
The Huskers racked up 187.5
points, while defending champion
Texas scored 257 points. Host school
Texas A&M is in second with 201.
Bergman, a junior from Alpine,
Utah, surpassed the Big T2 record of
537.50 points with a score of563.37 in
the one-meter dive.
In the 400-meter relay, Texas was
disqualified in the preliminaries to open
the door for the Huskers. The
Longhorns owned the thhd-lastest time
in the event
David Foster, Valeijis Kalmikovs,
Adam Pine and Mark Bennett com
prised the relay team which won with a
time of 3 minutes, 16.17 seconds.
NU’s DeForge
excited for last
game at home
WOMEN from page 7
ness, I don’t have to prepare for her
after this week.”
The Cyclones have had little
problem handling Big 12 competi
tion this year. ISU is the only team to
defeat conference champion and
fifth-ranked Texas Tech this season.
I SU has found success in a bal
anced attack, with four of its starters
averaging more than 13 points per
game. But Fennelly said he expects a
challenge in Lincoln.
“I’ve told people this week that I
thought this would be the toughest
game on our schedule,” Fennelly
said. “It’s the last game of the con
ference season, it’s their senior night,
and ite a game that will impact the
conference standings.
“But it’s great for the kids
because this is the kind of game that
will simulate a Big 12 or an NCAA
Tournament game for them.”
Note:
NU center Charlie Rogers is
listed as probable for Saturday
after being sidelined for three
weeks with a stress reaction in her
leg. Guard Brooke Schwartz is
listed as questionable because of
an injured calf.
