‘Small ball’ helps Husker offense over weekend
ByDaneStickney
Senior editor
The Nebraska baseball team’s
offense starts out with Coach Dave Van
Horn’s “small ball.”
Last weekend, small ball exploded
for 28 runs as NU went 3-0 in the 2000
Arlington Morning News Invitational.
A typical small-ball inning starts
off with a walk or a bunt for base hit,
then a stolen base or sacrifice bunt, Van
Horn said.
Eventually, the theory goes, a
Comhusker hitter will get a big hit or
die defense will make a mistake.
That style of offense fits NU (4-2)
nicely because the pitchers don’t allow
many runs, and die offense has no real
power hitter, Van Horn said, now that
Ken Harvey left for professional base
ball.
“We have a lot of speed, some very
selective hitters and a lot of guys who
can handle die bat well,” he said.
The Husker offense was out-hit in
its first three games this season, but
Van Horn said the hitters still looked
good.
“We hit a lot of balls hard, but
they’re right at people,” he said.
“Things just weren’t falling our way.”
But last weekend, the Husker line
Sport Clubs
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plus 25+ other clubs to choose from. For more
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On the Road
Big XII champions, NU Men’s Rugby will
travel to Denver, CO this weekend competing
in the Mile High Tournament hosted by Metro
State University.
For more information regarding any of the
UNL Sport Clubs events - Please contact the
Office of Campus Recreation 472-3467
At Home this Weekend
NU Water Polo will host the 2000 Invitational
Triangular Saturday at Mabel Lee Hall Pool.
Results
Men’s Rugby - The NU club was crowned the
first ever Big XII Champion in Norman, OK
over the weekend of Feb. 11th - 13th. NU
defeated OU 35-7 shut out OSU 35-0 and KU
20-0. "
Eight members were named to the BIG XII
team- Justin Clark, Mike Meysenberg, Jared
Holliilger, Matt Peters, Mark Coe all of
Omaha, Jim Fitzpatrick of Riverside, CA,
Scott Calahan of Sidney, NE and Bill Garvey
Jr. of Sioux. City, NE.
up hit well, as Justin Cowan and John
Cole sparked the offensive explosion.
Cowan, a senior catcher, was six for
13 with two home runs and 10 runs bat
ted in over the three-game tournament.
“We were really able to put pressure
on the defense,” Cowan said. “The
middle of the lineup saw better pitches,
and we just teed off on them.”
The key to the Huskers’ small ball
success last weekend was selective hit
/ting and strong base running, Cowan
said.
Cole, a sophomore second base
man and preseason All-American, was
also six for 13 with four RBIs and four
runs scored.
“It all started with small ball,” Cole
said. “We started off bunting, and our
confidence grew. Then the sticks just
came alive.”
The Huskers’ 3-1 win against
Texas-Arlington was a prime example,
as the Huskers broke a 1-1 tie in the
seventh inning by exploiting UTA’s
mistakes.
After Nebraska backup catcher
Aaron Gozart singled to lead off the
inning, UTA committed back-to-back
errors on bunts by NU outfielders
Jamal Strong and Adam Shabala.
” We ’re a hard
nosed, in-your
face team.
John Cole
second baseman
After a forced qut at home, Shabala
scored on a sacrifice fly from Cole. On
the next play, Strong stole third, and
Brandt Vlieger, Nebraska’s third base
man, intentionally got caught in a run
down, which allowed Strong to score,
giving the Huskers a 3-1 lead.
Van Horn said the team did a good
job of putting the pressure on opposing
defenses.
“Most of our big innings started
with bunts,” he said. “The drag bunts
and sac bunts were so good that they
led to errors and really made them pay
for their mistakes.”
That type of play is representative
of the team ’s attitude, Cole said.
“We’re a hard-nosed, in-your-face
team,” he said. “We’re going to play to
the last inning and do the little things
we need to do to win.”7*
McKewon: NU has
lost reliability in play
HUSKERS from page 16
watching senior guards Nicole Kubik
and Brooke Schwartz make foolish
plays and fouls they didn’t make last
year.
He had to, of course, praise Kubik
and Schwartz after the game, for it
was their play that rescued the
Huskers from defeat late in the game.
But in many games, he’s forced to
wait around for them to do it.
This mood was clear. Sanderford
answered the questions of reporters
but stared at Kubik and Schwartz, sit
ting 15 feet to his right, looking at a
statistic sheet, whispering to each ' .
other, giggling, apparently unaware
that Sanderford was calling them put.
He brought up their names repeatedly.
Neither held much interest in his
words. i
Sanderford went on, explaining be
didn’t yell at.his team after it trailed
34-27 at halftime. He played the logic
game, giving them the Steps on how to
get back in it with rebounding and,
defense. ‘ ‘ - f .1
1 Yelling didn’t wc5rk with these «
Huskers. They crumbled beneath it. *
So noWtSanderford holds the unac
customed job of soothsayer and logi
cian, trying to coax his team to victo
ry. What a strange role it must be for
him. I
4s Sanderford left, he walked
right past the two senior guards,
remarking on theiF jovial attitude.
“They sure do have a lot of ener
gy,” he said. “They only played 15
minutes.”
Kubik and Schwartz laughed.
Kubik slapped Sanderford on the
back. Ah, the old coach. I didn’t think
it was particularly funny.
When asked about die team’s poor
first play, Kubik said NU was tight.
An All-Big 12 player, tight after four
years of basketball, against an OSU
team that started freshman guards?
Hard to believe. But by the way she
and her team played, it seemed clear
enough.
“This game was huge...,” Kubik
said. “If we don’t win it, we risk not
going to the NCAA Tournament.”
So the team was tight. But just 80
seconds later, sitting 15 inches away,
Schwartz offered this analysis of the
situation:
“If (losing) does go through any
of the players on this team’s minds,
they shouldn’t be on our team,”
Schwartz said. “We don’t play not to
lose. We played lb win.”
This is a team that gives situation
al answers - a walking contradiction.
A team that, on and off the court,
seems on separate pages.
A team that, at the end of over
time, had three freshmen on the floor
because Kubik and Melody Peterson
fouled out guarding OSU freshmen.
In fact, Sanderford green-lighted
freshman center Paige Sutton, a play
er who made only six 3-pointers all
season, to shoot at will from beyond
the arc in overtime.
“Someday soon, she’s gonna hit a
big one,” Sanderford said.
Agreed. But why risk it now, with
the season in balance? Only because
another freshman, Isha Kelley, picks
up one of Sutton’s errant tosses and
makes a shot does NU win this game.
And yet Sanderford is willing to stake
NCAA Tourney hopes on it?
Yes. i t
Because reliable is a relative word
for this team: It’s not applicable to any
NU player over the course of 40 min
utes. Schwartz saved the game with
her defensive plays late, but
Sanderford had as much trust in a
freshman as he did in his senior cap
tain. Or lack of trust. Or whatever.
Sanderford thought his team was
ready for Tuesday’s game. Very ready.
Wrong-o. And Saturday against
Kansas State, in another must-win
game, the last home game for the
seniors, he canfriink whatever he
wants, and in reality, there’s no way
for him to know who will show up, or
when in the game they’ll do it.
He admitted as much after the
OSU game. It’s out qf his hands now.
Because the NU women, in the
; season that was supposed to establish
them as a national force for years to
come, pulled up lame. Sanderford’s
partly to blame. So are the seniors. So
are injuries to key players at key
times. So are all those blown chip
shots from Leonhardt.
It comes from more than one
place.
Still, you look for a miraculous
recovery, a late run that delivers a Big
12 Tournament crown and run in the
Big Dance. A fulfilling of expecta
tions. A point where - aha!- it all
comes together.
Might happen. But don’t count on
it. Husker women’s basketball seems
stuck in limbo. It doesn’t know how to
win the big games all the time. But it’s
too good a team, with too many tal
ented players, to find a consistent,
obvious hole to plug.
So the NU women are not a team
as frustrating as die men’s squad.
They’re more so.
Samuel McKewon is a junior
political science major and a Daily
Nebraskan senior editor.
