: y
Huskers
loaded
with
injuries
■Van Horn attributes
loss of two key players to
fall to University of
Wisconsin.
a
By Dane Stickney
Senior editor
When Dave Van Horn answered
questions after Tuesday’s loss to the
University of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, he shook his head in
disgust.
Because when Van Horn,
Nebraska’s baseball coach, wants
to make a substitution, his options
are limited because of injuries to
key players.
“I’m shorthanded,” he said.
“Our speed guys are injured, and
that hinders what we can do.”
For those who have watched
Comhusker baseball, it is obvious
that his coaching strategy involves
a great deal of speed.
But injuries to speedsters sec
ond baseman John Cole and center
fielder Jamal Strong have left Van
Horn’s hands tied.
wim men absence, the Husker
lineup relies more on the power of
first baseman Dan Johnson and
designated hitter Matt Hopper. The
pair are tied for the Big 12 lead in
home runs with 15.
“It certainly slows us down,”
Van Horn said. “We can’t create
runs as easily, so we have to rely on
a homer here and there.”
Cole, a preseason All American
who hit .396 and stole 15 bases last
season, went down with a groin
injury a few weeks ago. He was hit
ting .324 with 15 stolen bases
already this season.
Cole’s injury has caused the
infield to be shaken up a bit. Third
baseman Brant Vlieger has been
moved to short stop; short stop Will
Bolt has been moved to second and
Josh Hesse has taken over at third.
Hesse is a solid player, Van
Horn said, but he doesn’t have the
speed that Cole has.
Strong, a speed demon who has
stolen 62 bases in 94 games, suf
fered a partially separated shoulder
against Texas A&M on Saturday.
To compensate for Strong’s
loss, Left fielder Adam Stern has
moved to center and JefFLeise has
been starting in left.
“Leise really needs to step up
for us,” Van Horn said. “Jamal’s
Please see BASEBALL on 14
“ I IndHGtee
From Staff Reports
Johnny the Jet will soon be
departing for South Bend, Ind.
Johnny Rodgers, who helped
. lead Nebraska’s football team to
back-to-back national champi
onships in 1970 and 1971, was
announced Tuesday as a 2000
inductee into the College Football
Hall of Fame.
“I’d like to thank all my old
teammates of mine wherever they
may be,” Rodgers said during a
Hall of Fame press conference
Tuesday. “You don’t win a Heisman
Trophy by yourself. You don’t win a
national championship by yourself.
And you don’t go into the Hall of
Fame by what you did yourself.”
Rodgers, the 1972 Heisman
trophy winner, is the 18th member
of the Nebraska football program
_to be inducted
into the hall and
just the second
player from the
back-to-back
championship
teams of’70-’71.
Rich Glover,
inducted in 1995,
is the other.
i ne ceremo
Rodgers ny, the 12th for a
Nebraska player, will be held Aug.
11-12 at the College Football Hall
of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
During his three seasons at NU,
Rodgers led die Huskers to a 32-3
record and made a lasting impres
sion in the record books and on Big
Red fans’ memories.
His 143 receptions and 2,479
receiving yards are tops in Husker
history. The Omaha Tech graduate
finished his career at NU with 19
school records. He still holds or
shares 16 of them along with two
national records - in career punt
returns for touchdowns and kick
off returns for touchdowns.
It was Rodgers who sparked
NU to a win in the 1971 Game of
the Century. His 72-yard punt
return for a touchdown NU to a
come from behind, 35-31, win at
Oklahoma. His 77-yard touchdown
return in the Orange Bowl that year
helped start the 38-6 demolishing
of Alabama, which gave the
Huskers their second straight
national title.
U You don t win a
Heisman Trophy by
yourself. You don ’t win
a national
championship by
yourself. And you don’t
go into the Hall of
Fame by what you did
yourself.”
Johnny Rodgers
Colleg Football Hall of Fame inductee
Huskers extend winning streak
By Sean Callahan
Staff Writer
Another midweek doubleheader
for the Nebraska softball team means
another sweep.
Wednesday’s doubleheader
against Wisconsin was the
Comhuskers sixth midweek sweep
of a non-conference opponent this
season in as many tries.
By sweeping the Badgers (26
22) 1 -0 and 8-0, the Huskers (41-18),
No. 20 in this week’s poll, made
themselves only the fifth team in
Nebraska history to break the 40-win
mark.
With five regular-season games
remaining, the postseason NU has a
good shot of breaking the school
record of wins (48) that goes back to
the 1997 season.
Wednesday’s Wisconsin series
also had a little more weight to it
because former Husker All
American Ah Viola was coaching for
the Badgers on the other side.
“With Ali coming back, I think
that meant something to us,” NU
Coach Rhonda Revelle said.
Coaching against the program
she help build, Viola said it felt
strange standing from the other end
of it.
Viola joked and said she made
sure Revelle didn’t still use the same
signs as she did in 1998 season.
One thing that stuck out to Viola
was the added power of some of her
former teammates.
“I don’t like watching them hit
home runs,” Viola said. “They’re a
lot more powerful than I remember.
I’m proud of all of them for being
such a huge part of this program that
we turned around.”
The added power Viola was talk
ing about was very evident in both
games.
In game one, the Huskers got
their only run off of senior Jennifer
Williams’s solo shot in the second
inning
U I think we ’re
seeing some
mental fatigue
... I feel like we
need to stay
fresh.”
Rhonda Revelle
NU softball coach
NU nearly got another home run
in that same game from sophomore
Leigh Suhr. Suhr’s ball pinged the
top of the left field wall but then
bounced back onto the playing field,
giving her only a double.
“I wouldn’t consider myself a
power hitter by any means,” Suhr
said. “But if I make good contact
with the ball, it’s good contact, not
power.”
In game two, Nebraska once
again relied on the long ball to get the
victory.
First senior All American
Jennifer Lizama hit a two-run homer
off the left field score board.
The next inning junior Jamie
Fuente also belted a long ball, this
time with the bases loaded.
On the mound for Nebraska was
the duo of sophomore Leigh Ann
Walker (17-5) and senior Jenny Voss
(16-8).
With Voss earning a shut-out per
formance, she moved her streak of
scoreless innings to 28 'A.
After the game Revelle said
Dead Week and the fact that her team
has played four games in the last two
days was good enough reason to give
her team Thursday off.
“I think we’re seeing some men
tal fatigue,” Revelle said. “I had kids
up at 4:30 this morning writing
papers. I feel like we need to stay
fresh.”
_____ Mike Warren/DN
JAMIE FUENTE makes a play to first in the first game of a doubleheader against
Wisconsin. Fuente went 1-2 In the second game of the doubleheader, including
a grand slam in the second inning. NU swept Wisconsin, winning 1-0 and 8-0,
extending their home winning streak to 22 games.
Wahoo high jumper commits to Husker track and field team
Sean Callahan
Staff Writer
Great high-jumpers seem to find
their way to Nebraska.
Kyle Odvody, a high-jumper
from Wahoo, gave the Cornhusker
track squad die word yesterday that
he will stay in his home state and
compete for the Huskers.
This season Odvody already has
broken the Nebraska state record
mark in die. high jump with a leap of
7 feet 1 Vi inches.
Along with Odvody, Nebraska
got two more signees on Wednesday.
Fana Ashby, a sprinter from Petit
Valley, Trinidad and Tobago, and
Ann Gaffigan, a distance runner
from Springfield, 111., both said they
would compete for the NU women
squad in the 2001 season.
Odvody, Nebraska Track Coach
Gary Pepin said, is a great addition to
the Husker track program.
“I would think, if he stays
healthy, he could jump even higher
this season,” Pepin said. “He defi
nitely has a chance to come in and be
a scorer at the conference level next
year.
“He’s just a little shy of where
(former Husker All American) Shane
Lavy and (NU sophomore All
American) Shaun Kologinczak were
jumping in high school. We’re very
pleased he is coming here.”
Deciding to go to Nebraska,
Odvody said, was something he
always wanted to do.
He said being so close to home
and that he had a good opportunity to
compete right away made it an easy
decision.
“It was probably on die top of my
” They have a real good track program,
and I would like to be apart of that.”
KykOdvody
NU track recruit
list because it was closest,” Odvody
said. “They have a real good track
program, and I would like to be a part
of that.”
The opportunity to work with
Pepin is something that excites
Odvody. He said Pepin believed he
could get him to jump higher.
Odvody said Pepin seemed like
he was a pretty down-to-earth guy.
“He knows what he’s doing,”
Odvody said. “He’s always told me
that he wants to work with me, and
he knows he can teach me some little
things that will help me and make me
improve.”
