NU splits with OU, OSU
Defense is sloppy but Huskers get timely hitting -
By Brandon Schulte
Staff writer
Despite being out-hit every game
and committing seven errors along the
way, the Nebraska softball team was
able to come away with a pair of splits
with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
On Saturday, NU defeated No. 11
OU in the first game 4-2, and dropped
the second game 10-1 in five innings.
On Sunday, a late rally by the
Comhuskers wasn’t enough as they
dropped the first game 6-5, but
rebounded in the second, winning 3-2.
With the splits, Nebraska moved to 20
13 overall, and 4-4 in the conference.
Time and time again, NU failed to
drive in runners that were in scoring
position.
“We’re well over halfway through
the year, and were not getting a lot of
key hits with runners on,” Coach
Rhonda Revelle said. “I think we’re all
bracing too much.”
Conversely, on defense, Revelle
said the team didn’t “come out and
defend our turf.”
In game one against OSU, NU
gave up five runs (four unearned) on
four hits, of which only one was hit
into the outfield, and three errors
through two innings.
The play led Revelle to call an
impromptu team meeting at the
mound during the inning to give a
“fiery pep talk.”
OSU added a run in the fifth to
make the score 6-0 before NU mount
ed a five-run rally in the seventh, and
had the tying run on second but Kelly
Pinkepank grounded out to end the
threat.
Finally, the last NU hitter in the
last game of the weekend came up
with a big hit to break a 2-2 tie. Ginger
Taylor slapped a grounder into left,
which scored Pinkepank to top OSU
_ _ MIKE WARREN/DN
NEBRASKA CATCHER Ellen Middleton guards the plate and tags out a sliding
Oklahoma player during Saturday’s game. Nebraska lost to OU but managed
to split this weekend, winning on Sunday against Oklahoma State.
Nebraska 5 3
Oklahoma State 6 2
3-2. Taylor knew the season could be
riding on her at bat.
“The win was almost do or die,”
Taylor said. “This game was for our
regional placement. We needed to find
a way to win.”
While Taylor came up with a key
hit to win the game, the first two
Husker runs were walked in by
Cowgirl pitchers.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,”
OSU Coach Sandy Fischer said.
“Basically, we feel that we beat our
selves. You have to give NU credit for
chipping away at the lead but we had
opportunities that we didn’t capitalize
on.”
Big 12 Conference leader
Oklahoma ended Nebraska s 19 game
heme-winning steak with a 10-1 shel
lacking in game two of Saturday’s
doubleheader.
However, in the first game
Nebraska started out hot, with Jennifer
Lizama leading off the game with a
home run. Three other runs followed
in the inning and NU hung on behind
the pitching of All-American Jenny
Voss to win 4-2.
Though, Nebraska was able only
to get a split, Revelle said, the impor
tance of the split can’t be understated.
“How we perform in our region is
critical,” Revelle said. “With more
than four losses we probably can’t win
the Big 12 outright. We also need a
Top 4 finish to receive a post-season
berth. We didn’t want to jeopardize
our streak of postseason appearances.”
NU rallies to beat OU in tennis
By Jake Bleed
Staffwriter
Weird forces were at work at the
Woods Tennis complex this weekend.
The No. 66 Nebraska women’s ten
nis team lost to No. 57 Oklahoma State
on Saturday 5-4, and won against No.
56 Oklahoma 5-4 on Sunday. Both
matches were finally decided by a
comeback sweep of all three doubles
matches.
Sunday’s victory over Oklahoma
will strengthen the Huskers’ case for
gaining acceptance to the NCAA tour
nament at the end of the season.
Saturday’s match against Oklahoma
State started promising for NU. No. 1
singles Sandra Noetzel set the pace for
the Huskers, dispatching OSU’s Maria
Nebraska
Oklahoma
5
4
Galoustova 6-0, 6-3. Gina Pelazini,
Danica Hardy and Amy Frisch followed
up with singles victories, giving the
Huskers a 4-2 lead going into the dou
bles. But the Cowgirls came back,
sweeping all three doubles matches and
stealing the victory.
Just as Saturday’s match started
promising, Sunday’s against Oklahoma
began on a bad note. Despite singles
victories by Noetzel and No. 2 singles
Katarina Balan, NU finished singles
play down 4-2.
Coach Scott Jacobson met with the
team before doubles play began.
“I said ‘Listen, there’s no reason
why what happened to us yesterday can
not happen to Oklahoma today,”’
Jacobson said
For only the second time this sea
son, Jacobson changed the doubles
teams, trading Gina Pelazini from the
No 3 team with the No. 1 team’s Indali
Ijomah.
The change apparently worked The
No. 1 team of Noetzel and Pelazini beat
OSU’s Raluca Gheorge and Danielle
Knipp 8-4. The No. 3 team of Amy
Frisch and Ijomah followed suit, beating
Kristen Guilford and Viviana Mracnova
8-4. Katarina Balan and Danica Hardy
in the No. 2 team, however, fell behind
early in their match.
“We looked around, everyone was
winning and we were like ‘OK, no pres
sure,’” Hardy said.
The pair rallied to win 8-5, stealing
the victory for NU.
Husker men will return home for NCAAs
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
The demons that haunted the No. 5
Nebraska men’s gymnastics team at last
year’s NCAA West Regional were
nowhere to be found Saturday night in
Provo, Utah.
Instead, the Huskers scared them
away with the 1-2 punch of all
arounders Jason Hardabura and Derek
Leiter to win the regional competition
and advance to the NCAA
Championships in Lincoln on April 22
24.
Last year, Nebraska went into the
regional meet in Norman, Okla., as the
No. 2 team in the nation and the top seed
in the region, only to come up empty as
a team, finishing fourth.
In 1999, NU blew away the rest of
the field, outscoring No. 11 Brigham
Young 229.425-228.475..No. 12
Stanford, at 226.9, came in third place to
round out the teams that qualified for
the NCAAs.
No. 7 Oklahoma (226.1), at fourth
place and No. 13 California (220.6), the
two-time defending national champion,
at fifth place, were left out of the
NCAAs. NU, BYU and Stanford will
join East Region qualifiers No. 1
Michigan, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4
Penn State in the finals.
But Hardabura, the No. 1 all
arounder in the nation, with the strength
of his fourth score of 58 or higher this
year (58.075) and his eighth all-around
title, made sure the Huskers didn’t have
to worry about deja vu.
“We’re excited about how we per
formed tonight,” Coach Francis Allen
said. “Jason was pulling us along.”
But don’t tell Hardabura that. Leiter,
last year’s fifth-place finisher in the
individual all-around at the NCAA
Championships, showed why he is the
nation’s best vaulter by winning the
event with a 9.85. His second-place all
around score of 57.6 was the third time
he has scored 57.6 or better this season.
“Winning the all-around was
important for me, but I’m just a spoke in
the wheel of six guys,” Hardabura said.
Senior Jim Koziol, whose season
has been plagued with injuries, scored a
season-high 56.45 in the all-around.
Koziol is up for die 1999 Nissan Award
for the most outstanding senior gymnast
in the nation.
“Jim’s one tough kid,” Allen said
earlier this season before Koziol’s final
regular-season home meet. “If he didn’t
have so many injuries, I think he defi
nitely could’ve contended for the
national championship.”
NU qualified for the NCAA
Championships for the first time since
1995, and for the 18th time in Allen’s
career.
The last time the Championships
were in Lincoln, 1994, the Huskers won
the national championship and Dennis
Harrison captured the individual crown.
That happened to be the last time the
Huskers won their regional champi
onship.
Huskers get nine NCAA
marks at Sierra meet
By Josh Camenzind
Staff writer
The trip to the Sierra Providence
Invitational proved worthwhile for the
Nebraska track and field team. The
men and women combined for nine
NCAA provisional marks in the meet
Saturday.
The women were led by Melissa
Price, who broke the meet record in
the hammer throw with a heave of 191
feet, 4 inches. Price was the only
women’s first place finisher at the
meet forNU, and is also ranked fifth in
the country in the hammer throw. Erin
Wibbels finished second in the ham
mer, with a throw of 188-5, also good
for an NCAA provisional mark.
NU received a second-place finish
in the javelin when third-ranked
Cassie Morelock threw 161-2. Jessica
Thompson cleared 5-10 lA in the high
jump for a third-place finish, and her
first provisional marie of the season.
Second place was kind to Dahlia
Ingram, as she placed there in both the
triple and long jumps with marks of
42-5 and 21-4, respectively. Both
jumps were provisional marks for the
All-American junior.
The men’s finishes were sparked
by high jumpers Shane Lavy and
Shaun Kologinczak. Lavy finished
first with a jump of 7-1 V*, while
Kologinczak jumped 6-10 % for a
third-place finish. Joe Erdkamp quali
fied provisionally in the discus with a
throw of 186-8.
Steve Warren failed to break his
own school record in men’s javelin for
the first time this season, as he fin
ished sixth with a throw of 218-8.
Teammate Cory Lehman continued
his rise, beating Warren and securing
fourth place with a toss of224-0.
Vince Brown ran a 10.85 in the
100-meter dash for a 11th place finish.
Jack Melson threw 57-5 in the shot for
a sixth-place finish, and Dave Riggert
got ninth in the hammer throw with a
toss of 182-5.
California will be the next destina
tion for the team as it heads to Walnut
for the Mt. Sac Relays on April 16-18.
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NEBRASKA
Spirit Squad Try-outs
Mascot,
Yell Squad &
Dance Team
Try-outs
April 15-17
in Mable Lee Hall
Registration &
First Cuts on April 15
@ 5:00 pm
*For more
information
call Trace or
Beth
@ 472-0775
HuskerVision
is hiring students
Attention broadcasting students, here is your opportunity to work in the athletic
department on the HuskerVision staff. You are invited to attend an information
and application meeting on Wednesday, April 14 at 12:30 pm and 5:30 pm in
Avery Hall, Room 213. Freshmen and sophomores are particularly encouraged
to apply. Experience is not necessary.
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