Sports
UT Coach Garrido
impressed with
Nebraska pitching
By Adam Hunker
Senior staff writer
Texas Baseball Coach Augie Garrido had
a long talk with his team following the ninth
ranked Longhorns' 12-8 loss to No. 30
Nebraska on Saturday afternoon at Buck
Beltzer Field.
The UT squad stood in right field sur
rounding Garrido, some players looked down,
others looked at their coach and still others
caught fleeting glimpses of what was happen
ing on the other side of the field, where a small
mob of reporters and NU fans were gathered
around the dugout.
There was a new kid on the block in Big
12 Conference baseball and in a three-game
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Matt Miller/DN
HUSKER FIRST BASEMAN Ken Harvey is
congratulated by his teammates after he
hit a two-run homer in the third inning.
Harvey scored six runs in the three-game
homestand.
I
Nebraska women claim
6th straight Big 12 title
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Nebraska
Women's Gymnastics Coach Dan Kendig
was feelmg a little nervous before the Big
12 Championships on Saturday night.
One would wonder why. His team was
going into the championships on a nine
meet winning streak. And his gymnasts
even had a stellar warm-up session.
That was exactly Kendig’s concern.
“I was scared after they had such a
great warm-up,” Kendig said. “For some
reason, you get worried that they’ll not fol
low that up in the real thing.”
But Kendig had nothing to worry
about, indeed, plenty or drama did untold
for Kendig s team, but none of it had to do
with whether or not the No. 8 Huskers
would win.
The real drama would be if NU set the
school and Big 12 record for best perfor
mance ever and win its mnth straight meet,
in which a Husker gymnast would become
the 10th straight to win the all-around.
And in the final act, NU hit clutch rou
tines in the uneven bars to set the school
record at 196.75. The Huskers captured
their sixth consecutive Big 12 title, their
seventh in the 1990s.
No. 16 Iowa State fell second at
195.65. No. 18 Oklahoma finished third at
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^MSttMilIErTDN
LONGHORN CATCHER Sam Anderson tags out Jamal Strong at hom^darly in the game
Sunday at Buck Beltzer Stadium. The 30th-ranked Huskers swept the ninth ranked
Longhorns, including a 12-8 win Sunday.
NU sweeps UT
for 1st in Big 12
■ Husker pitcher Jay Sirianni
redeems himself Sunday with
complete-game victory.
By David Wilson
Staff writer
The name scribbled in black at the bot
tom of the primarily red-inked lineup card
in the Comhusker dugout Sunday may have
looked like a mistake.
It wasn't.
Making his second start in as many
days, Nebraska left-hander Jay Sirianni
worked a complete game Sunday as the
30th-ranked Huskers completed a three
game sweep of No. 9 Texas.
Sirianm’s fourth win of the season and
second career complete game followed a
short outing Saturday, in which he was
yanked in the first inning after surrendering
a grand slam.
But he had no trouble getting started
Sunday, throwing four scoreless innings en
route to a 12-8 victory before a Buck
Beltzer Field record crowd of 3,387 fans.
With the win, the Huskers maintained their
hold on first place in the Big 12 Conference
at 8-1 and 20-6 overall.
“It’s easier to forget about a bad outing
when you win as a team,” Sirianni said. “I
was just fortunate enough to get the ball
again.”
Nebraska Coach Dave Van Horn said he
made the decision to start Sirianni again
Sunday just hours after the Huskers’ come
from-behind 9-8 victory Saturday after
noon.
From there, Van Horn said, it was up to
Mnanni.
“It was Jay’s call,” Van Horn said. “We
talked to Jay at breakfast and he said,
‘Coach, I want to go.’ I knew mentally he
could do it. When he’s on, he’s one of our
best pitchers.”
NU Pitching Coach Rob Childress
inked Sirianni’s name into the empty hole at
the bottom of the lineup during batting
practice.
The decision, first baseman Ken
Harvey said, was fully backed by the play
ers.
“1 knew he
was going to Nebraska 12
come out with TCVAC O
everything he had * c®
because he does- —
n t want to let us gee our yyeb page
down, like we for more sports
don’t want to let neWsat:dai
h.m down,” , yneb.com
Harvey said. “It
was huge for him -—
to battle through nine innings and get a
‘W.’”
With the help of a Harvey homer - his
12th of the season - the Huskers broke a
scoreless game with three runs in the third,
and then added another three in the fourth to
take a 6-0 lead.
Texas battled back, scoring in each of
the final five innings, but the Longhorn’s
effort couldn’t outmatch the .Huskers’
offensive output.
UT did manage to close the gap to 10-6
in the top of the seventh - when Childress
suggested Van Horn pull Sirianni for right
hander Chad Wiles.
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