Freshman Hale takes
mound vs. Oklahoma
-—-1
By David Wilson
Staff writer
Granted, this year’s Oklahoma base
ball team may be a little younger than
previous Sooner squads, but Nebraska
pitcher Steve Hale knows that in
Norman, Okla., some things never
change.
“They’ve always been an offensive
team,” said Hale, who grew up 30 min
utes from the OU campus. “That’s what
I’ve always heard.”
A native ofYukon, Okla., Hale will
make his first Big 12 Conference start
Saturday as the Comhuskers (8-5) trav
el to Norman for a three-game series
with the Sooners (10-6).
Through 16 games, OU has posted
a .324 batting average. But Hale, who
has allowed opponents to hit .225 this
year, isn’t intimidated.
“It will probably be pretty tough,
but it would be nice to go down there
and sweep them,” Hale said |
Hale, a true freshman, began the
year for NU coming out of the bullpen,
but has since worked his way into the
Huskers’ three-man starting rotation.
In 21 2/3 innings, Hale owns a
team-low 2.49 eamed-run average and
has struck out a team-high 26 batters.
His early success, Nebraska Pitching
Coach Rob Childress said, made the
decision to try Hale as a starter a no
brainer.
“He was just so consistent every
time he got the ball,” Childress said.
“He was throwing strikes and getting
people out. More than anything, he
earned the start and has done well since
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he’s been in the rotation.”
For the right-handed Hale, the tran
sition from high school to college ball
hasn’t been too difficult - with the
exception of a few mistakes.
“It was a little hard at first,” Hale
said. “If you make a mistake, in high
school, you can get by with it - here
they’ll hammer it”
Along with Hale, left-hander Scott
Fries and righty Shane Komine will also
make starts on the mound this weekend
against the Sooners.
Komine, also a true freshman, has
21 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.
“Those guys aren’t freshmen any
more,” Childress said of Hale and
Komine. “Throughout the fall and the
last four weeks, they’re as game-ready
and as conference-ready as any junior
or senior.”
While NU will start three pitchers
with no Big 12 experience, Oklahoma
likely will send at least one veteran, ace
Jared Hoerman, to die mound vs. NU.
Hoerman (4-0), a senior, owns a
1.10 ERA and has struck out 43 batters
in 32 2/3 innings.
“I know their No. 1 is as good as
anybody’s in the league,” Childress said.
“He’s going to be tough to beat, but I
feel good.”
And Childress isn’t worried about
his staff’s lack of experience.
Neither is Hale.
“Right now, I’ve been throwing
well,” Hale said. “I just need to keep
doing that and give my team a chance to
win. It makes it easy to go out there and
pitch when you have a good defense
behind you, and you know your offense
can score runs for you.”
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I Lavy, Klassen highlight field for NU track team
By Josh Camenzind
Staff writer
The Nebraska track and field
team will be sending eight athletes
to Indianapolis this weekend for the
NCAA Indoor Championships.
The men will be sending two
competitors, high jumper Shane
Lavy and 3 5-pound weight thrower
Joe Erdkamp. The women who qual
ified are Dalhia Ingram in the triple
jump, shot putter Becky Beachler
and the 4x400 meter relay team.
The relay team consists of
Lesley Owusu, Cheryl Harmon,
Seneik Saavedra and Stella Klassen
- who also is competing in the 800
meter run, in which she is ranked
No 10
“I’m hoping that they (the 4x400
team) are going to be in a high scor
ing position,” Pepin said. “They are
a group that is going to continue to
run better and better, and each per
son has improved a lot this year. I am
hoping they will place high in the
meet”
Beachler will be competing in
the shot put in which she is ranked
13th in the nation. Erdkamp will be.
throwing the 35-pound weight, in
which he is also ranked 13d1.
Lavy will be contending for the
title in the high jump, in which he is
currently ranked third in die nation.
“Shane is in a position to win,
but he must have a good meet to do
that” Pepin said.
Overall, Pepin is pleased with
those who have qualified and anx
ious to see how they do.
“If you can duplicate your quali
fying performance, you have a
chance to score.”
Gymnasts travel to BYU
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
When they arrive in Provo, Utah,
tomorrow for a double dual with
Brigham Young, one Nebraska gym
nastics team will look like a well-oiled
machine, while the other will look like
an infirmary unit
The healthy and deep No. 7 NU
women will be riding high on a five
meet win streak, while die hobbling
No. 9 men will be trying to recover
from a nasty hangover they suffered
after a brutal loss to No. 6 Oklahoma
last week.
The mayhem of the double dual
with the Cougars (No. 24 men and No.
22 women) will start at 8 p.m. on
Saturday. The men’s meet will also fea
ture No. 7 Michigan State.
NU Women’s Coach Dan Kendig
said competition for the six spots in
every event had been intense, as it had
all season, thanks to the team’s lack of
major injuries.
“We’re as healthy as we’d like and
expect to be,” Kendig said. ‘We’ve got
seven, eight, nine people who can get
the job done in each event”
Junior All-American Heather
Brink, who missed two weeks of meets
in a row thanks to a sore ankle, will fol
low up her return to competition last
Sunday at the Master’s Classic and
compete in every event except the
floor exercise. Junior Nicole
Wilkinson is the only definite Husker
to compete in the all-around.
Meanwhile, the men are looking to
get back on their feet after crashing
hard last weekend at OU after rolling
to a 7-0 start
Defense shuts down Texas Tech
DEFENSE from page7
he was presented with the Big 12
player-of-the-year award.
Hamilton also received a lot of
scoring help. Freshman Louis
Truscott had a season-high 12
points, Larry Florence chipped in
11 and Belcher added 10.
By the time the rout was over,
1,500 people remained in the
Kemper Arena.
It was a win that pleased Nee,
especially since a loss would have
spelled doom for the Huskers’
NCAA Tournament chances.
“I think this will help us with
getting a tournament bid,” Nee said.
“We deserve to play in the NCAA
Tournament.”
NU wrestlers
ready for OSU
at Big 12 meet
MEET from page7
man. Although Veriag is not expected
to earn the top seed in today Is seeding
meeting, he is not looking at his seed as
a setback.
“I’m going to go out there and
wrestle as good as I can,” Vering said. “I
expect to win all of my matches.”
Neumann predicted Thursday 157
pounder Bryan Snyder and heavy
weight J.R. Plienis would earn top
seeds for the tournament - something
that serves simply as a confidence
booster.
“It’s nice to be the No. 1 seed for
confidence reasons,” Plienis said. ‘But
my weight class is pretty balanced.
Anything can happen.” -
Neumann and the Huskers agree
they would like to return to Lincoln as
conference champs. In order to do that,
NU must upset favored OSU - some
thing Neumann said “is possible if die
guys wrestle like they have all year.”
Notes: Questions remained con
cerning the 165-pound weight class
following Thursday’s practice.
Freshman starter Josh Henson injured
his Achilles tendon, and Neumann said
he was unsure if he would compete. If
not, Zac Dominquez will wrestle in his
spot.
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NU battles another
ranked foe in Kansas
■ The men’s tennis team
to battle KU, while the
women’s team is at home.
By Jake Bleed
Staffwriter
The storm hasn’t quite passed for
Nebraska men’s tennis. Saturday’s
match against Kansas will be the
Huskers’ fourth against a ranked oppo
nent in five matches, a series that NU
hasn’t quite dominated.
Saturday’s match will give
Nebraska, at 4-5 overall and 1-2 in die
Big 12 Conference, the chance to even
both their overall and Big 12 records.
Kansas (6-1 overall) will go into
Saturday’s match on a five-match win
ning streak. The Jayhawks have a repu
tation for hosting a loud match.
“They like to get a little rowdy,”
Coach Kerry McDermott said. “That’s
OK, though; we like it, too.”
No. 1 singles player, Dinko Verzi,
has his work cut out for him. KU’s No.
- 1, Luis Uribe, is ranked No. 9 in the
nation and will be looking to take his
100* career victory against NU.
The status ofNo. 5 JuanHamdam is
still questionable. Hamdam threw out
his shoulder Feb. 21 against Texas Tech.
The match has been scheduled for 1
p.m. to 6 p.m. in Lawrence.
Nebraska women’s tennis will
return to Lincoln this weekend, playing
host to Wichita State and Montana at the
Woods tennis complex.
NU will ride into this weekend’s
matches after almost taking No. 6 Texas
in the Lone Star state.
“The kids are feeling pretty confi
dent,” Coach Scott Jacobson said.
The Huskers will meet Wichita
State(l-4) on Friday at 5 pan. WSU has
struggled this season, but Jacobson said
they were usually able to field a strong
squad.
Montana, on the other hand, will
arrive in Lincoln after having romped 3
0 over Gonzaga, Eastern Washington
and Portland State.
“We’re going to have to be ready to
play this weekend,” Jacobson said.
Riva Wig is still out, leaving the
Huskers with the minimum six players
in playing condition. Jacobson said he
liked being able to give everyone play
ing time but was worried about a poten
tial injury.
Adding to Jacobson^ worries, new
national rankings are due out sometime
next week. Jacobson said he was unsure
ofhowNU would fare.