Page 14 University Daly Kansan, October 24, 1980
Sports
SCOTT HOOKER/Kansan staff
Kerwin Bell, Kansas’ freshman tailback, is escorted back to the Kansas lockerroom by Officer Dan Gardner of the Lawrence Police Department after last week’s upset of Iowa State. Gardner rushed bell through a crowd of cheering KU fans. Bell needs only 44 more yards to break Joe Washington’s Big Eight’s offensive player the week for his performance last Saturday.
Meskimen hurls no-hitter
Mudville came to Kansas yesterday, literally,
to the house where he sat, but the
Kansas' daawahk didn't need him.
By PATTI ARNOLD Associate Sports Editor
Marla Meskimen was on the mound for the KU softball team yesterday, and when Meskimen has faced the Kansas State Wildcats this season, good things have happened.
Meskimen had already pitched a no-hitter against K-State this fall, and yesterday she hurried 11 runs poured out 10 hits and 11 run shots in an 11-1 victory in the Jayhawks' fall season finale.
Mekimelen didn't pitch a full game. Rain came down hard in the bottom of the sixth inning and the game was stopped. But she didn't give up a shot. She continued to reach first base before the game was called.
K-State scored its only run in the sixth innning. Kansas third baseman Ljill Larson feared a bunt, but threw wildly to first. K-State's Patt Pallard dropped the bunt down the base line and Larson had to charge hard just to get to the ball. Pallard then stole second and went to third on a ground-out. She scored when the ball was hit to Meskimen, who threw to the plate.
KU catcher Gay Boznango placed the plate, and then Failar's foot reached the plate before the taunt was over.
Meskimen had no other trouble all day, except with the weather. She said it wasn't just a little cooler, but a lot of sunshine.
"I was cold, but maybe you don't feel as much pressure when it's cold," she said. "I just tried to keep my head up."
Meskimen couldn't really explain the power
she has had over K-State this season, but said she did know some of the players on the team.
Stanlift said Meskimen had shown her best just about every time she pitched this fall.
"She's pitched well just about every time out," Wither she drop ball, she can throw a little hard.
"It was her second no-hitter against K-State so far. They probably prettied up of seeing her. We didn't plan it that way this time. Marla has her last couple of starts and she needed to throw."
Offensively, Jill Larson starred. She went 4-for-4, drove in two runs and scored three. She was 3-for-4 in the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday against Missouri, and Stancilt said by far, Larson had the most productive fall of any of the players.
But Stancillt said he was pleased with his team, which finished 14,4– much better than its 46-record last season.
"The defense is coming around," Stancillip said. "It's a good feeling going into winter. Our offense is way ahead of where it was last fall. It wasn't in this way, but a way ahead of last year. It was terrible last fall."
He said he was optimistic about the spring season. After about a week off, the team will win back on Wednesday.
The only thing that was terrible about yesterday's game, however, was the conditions under which it was played. The rain came and went, but the cold winds persisted throughout the game. Mud was everywhere and traction was non-existent.
But there was joy in Mudville yesterday and the softball team will be looking for more in the spring.
Probation jinx keeps OSU in cellar of Big Eight house
By GENE MYERS
Sports Editor
Oklahoma State has fallen in with the damned. The Cowboys have been dragged into the football purgatory that awaits teams fresh off probation.
Sports Editor
The Cowboys started the season with the brand of a bowl bidders. They were 7-4 last season and first-year Coach Jimmy Johnson was selected Big Eight coach-of-the-year. The team was young and finishing a three-year sentence for recruiting crimes.
The sentence is over but the Cowboys are still paying. The cowboy has latched on and wrestled him. "Wow, you know it!"
The Cowboys now wear the brand of a loser. They played that part well last weekend, falling behind Nebraska 14-0 before the Cowboys' offense touched the ball.
But the winless Cowboys are the favorite tomorrow against the B-4-1 Kansas Jayhawks.
"Don't let that 6-5 record fool you, because it doesn't me," KU head coach Darnambrough said. "They lost that opening game to West Virginia, and they had a surprise, but they've played everyone tough."
"This is the same team that whipped us last year."
Last year the Cowboys beat Kansas 30-17 in Memorial Stadium. Oklahoma State led 16-0 in the first quarter but KU came back and went on a 49-25 run. The Cowboys scored twice in the third quarter to win.
common opponent this season.Nebraksa, KU
defeated 46-14. Oklahoma State was
defeated 40-7.
"One word of caution is necessary for our players and fans who feel we are through the tough part of our schedule and that we're automatically going to win," Johnson said. "You win because it's your turn. You win because you work hard and make good things happen."
The good things have not happened for either team that often this season, though. But last weekend, against previously unbeaten and 18th-ranked Iowa State, good things did happen for
The Jayhawks used second-hand Iowa State turnovers to come from behind 28-17. The upset victory has given new optimism to the team, as it secured the Iowa State game as the start of a new season.
"We're playing hard and with enthusiasm," Farnbaugh said. "Our victory over Iowa State was all-important. I'm sure that if we'd lost us, we would have bounced back, but it would have been tough.
"But our players have renewed confidence. I couldn't be happier."
The KU players say that none of the five games left on the schedule are out of reach. After Oklahoma State, the Jawahres play Kansas State, Oklahoma, Colorado and Missouri.
"After Nebraska beat us!" flanker David Verser said, "we had to put it out of our minds. We couldn't let them beat us for the rest of them. They did it last year and we didn't like that.
"Now we have to keep up the pressure. We can't be content."
KU, however, should not be content, or overconfident.
"Oklahoma State has lost five games but they've played everybody tough," KU offensive coordinator John Haddi said. "And we learned our lesson against Louisville."
"We got waxed 17- in Lawrence by a team we
that's not exactly No. 8 in the nation."
That's not exactly No. 8 in the nation."
KU has another advantage besides momentum. The team is 1-0-1 on the road, but only 1-3 at home.
"I don't know for sure why we've played so well on the road," Fambrough said. "I think it's the lack of distractions on the road. We are going to play games we do on the road for home games."
JAYHAWK NOTES: Steve Smith will start at quarterback for Kansas. He led the team to a touchdown on open last week's 28-17 victory over Iowa State before being removed from the game. The team trailed 17-7 when Frank Seurer replaced Smith late in the third quarter.
Head Coach Don Fambrough was named United Press International's coach of the week after last week's game. Tailback Kerwin Bell was the B'g I-eight offensive player of the week.
Back problems put Lillis on shelf
Although KU hasn't beaten Oklahoma State since 1972, the Jayhawks hold a 22-15-1 edge in the series.
By TRACEE HAMILTON
Sports Writer
When the Kansas Jayhawks are on the road, chances are that half the town of Lawrence is tuned in and glued to the radio. There is one more town in which a little more interest, and, perhaps, a little sadness.
Bill Lillis, who started the season as the second-string quarterback, has played his last game of college football. Lillis is suffering from a hernited disc.
It's a tough listening on the radio," he said. "You can go and watch from the stadium. That makes it tougher."
Lillis will write a blues song about his five years as a Jayhawk, always playing behind someone else. He was listed under Brian Bethke and Kevin Clinton on the depth chart last year, but when Bethe graduated and Clinton traded his football helmet for a baseball cap, Lillis and junior Steve Smith suddenly came into the quarterback limelight.
Kansan Predictions
"Dr. John Wertzberger (the team doctor) said I should have an operation," Lillis said. "But I went to two neurosurgeons in Kansas City and asked them if we see whether the disc goes back in on its own."
This year’s Pittsburgh game, which Lillis spent on the sidelines, proved to be his last. He is back in the team as coach.
"This was my last year," he said. "I’m a fifth-year senior. It’s really disappointing. I worked
Lillis has had two epidermal blocks out in his back. The blocks are similar to cortical shots, and they are supposed to permanently deaden pain.
"I went to Watkins daily for traction," he said, "but it just kept getting worse."
| | Arnold | Bertels | Lewis | Myers | Seeley |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Kansas at Oklahoma St. | Kansas 21-17 | Kansas 17-14 | Kansas 17-13 | Kansas 10-6 | Kansas 31-3 |
| Missouri at Kansas State | Missouri 45-10 | Missouri 41-7 | Missouri 35-14 | Missouri 42-6 | Missouri 24-21 |
| Oklahoma at Iowa State | Oklahoma 24-21 | Oklahoma 21-7 | Oklahoma 24-17 | Oklahoma 20-19 | Oklahoma 17-16 |
| Nebraska at Colorado | Nebraska 54-0 | Nebraska 52-0 | Nebraska 62-0 | Nebraska 91-0 | Nebraska 63-3 |
| N. Illinois at Wichita State | Wichita State who cares? | Wichita State 17-14 | Wichita State 27-20 | Wichita State 3-2 | Wichita State 14-13 |
| Arkansas at Houston | Arkansas 14-10 | Arkansas 21-17 | Arkansas 17-7 | Houston 14-13 | Houston 24-9 |
| Pittsburgh at Tennessee | Pittsburgh 17-14 | Pittsburgh 10-7 | Pittsburgh 23-13 | Pittsburgh 21-18 | Pittsburgh 21-20 |
| Louisville at Florida | Florida 24-10 | Louisville 21-10 | Louisville go UL | Florida no UL | Florida 19-16 |
| S M U at Texas | Texas 21-20 | Texas 20-10 | Texas 31-17 | Texas 23-21 | Texas 37-4 |
| William & Mary at Delaware | Delaware 7-3 | Delaware 3-0 | Delaware 24-20 | Bill & Mary 12-10 | Delaware 23-15 |
| Season Totals | 40-19-1 | 37-22-1 | 41-18-1 | 41-18-1 | 41-18-1 |
Doctors recently gave Lillis a milogram test. The test colors the spinal fluid so that it can be seen on X-rays. The milograms give Lillis migraine headaches.
"the epidermal blocks he walk me," Lillis said. "I had no chance of playing, I could hardly move."
Lillis' back first began bothering him last spring when he hurt it lifting weights. The first week of practice this fall the injury flared again. But Lillis kept practicing.
The predictors are Patti Arnold, Kenns associate sports editor; Kevin Bertels, sports writer; David Lewis, editorial editor; Gene Myers, sports editor; and Mate Seeley, sports writer.
hard but my back didn't come through."
Lillis said that the high point of his career came against Syracuse last season, when he
"My first touchdown," he said. "And my last." Lillis had completed 6 of 11 passes for 95 yards in his short career. The lone touchdown throw was good for 57 of the 95 yards.
Lillis probably would have seen some playing time this season. Head Coach DumFarbough has been playing his remaining two quarterbacks, Frank Seurier and Smith, in every game.
Lillis has been off the team before. He broke his arm in the spring of his freshman year and quit the team. But when Fambrough replaced Bud Moore, the coach asked Lillis back.
"Fambrough had a lot to do with my coming back," Lillis said. "He has a whole different way
of doing things than Moore. He really gets the players riled up."
Fambrough said before the season, "Lillis is a fine drop-back quarterback who hasn't had much luck. He hasn't had much of a chance to play, but he's played more than our other quarterbacks. He'll have the same chance as everyone else."
Lillis said that after working out with Searer or one month, he could tell that Searer had the potential to build strength.
"he needs the time to develop," Lillis said. "He won the right to start, but maybe it was too quick."
He works very hard at quarterbacking. "He's advantage of his chance. That's what you have to do."
"It's a matter of waiting until your time comes."
Basketball team will work on roles to gain stars' status in NCAA finals
By KEVIN BERTELS
For Lillis, that time came just a little too late.
Sports Writer
Undoubtedly, when college basketball's four national tournament finalists play on television at the end of the 1980-81 season, they will be in a hot spot, will say that a player fills his role well.
KU may not make it to the Final Four this season, but KU basketball players will fill the necessary roles on both ends of the court and will do and won't make scoring their top priority.
He might be talking about a passing guard. He might be talking about a player who plays defense with passion. He might be talking about a big man who reboundss aggressively, and he might be talking about a player on the KU basketball team if Head Coach Ted Owens has his队 way.
Filling those roles won't be new to KU basketball, but they will be stressed more this season by the Jayhawks attempt to overcome some slumped weaknesses that hampered last year's team.
To achieve the good chemistry, some coaches use a formula, the television commentator will say this spring. Some coach will say the formula for a great team is to have a big rebounding center, a passing guard and a defensive superstar. Another coach will name an entirely different combination. Many experts say there is a formula that can be followed each season for victorious teams, but few are on which combination.
"We have always tried to do that," Owens said. "Last year we had some obvious weaknesses that we have to overcome. Rebounding was a big weakness. This season one or two people have to say that they are not forget everything to go to the boards."
"The great teams have the good chemistry," Owens said. "The good chemistry comes from each guy having a role to play and playing it."
But filling roles means more than rebounds, for KU or any other team. It means team play, something else that was lacking on recent KU teams.
There is a formula, Owens agreed, but it
"I think the formula is different for every tae kwon do because it has to have a number of people willing to play tae kwon do."
comes from players giving up some aspects of the game to concentrate on others.
"Ken Koenigs was a chemistry man," Owens said. "He helped that team fit together. He would give up the ball to someone for a better team play.
A recent example of a player willing to do what he wanted is 6-foot-10 Ken Coignes, 1978 KR graduate.
"The amazing thing about that is that a person who is able to give up the ball often becomes one."
From the present team, Owens said, Tony Gk from junior guard is the closest Koenigs imitation.
"We want all the players to fill a role like to come degree. Tony Guy is chemistry mowman. Owen."
Owens would like to have the team fill one more role at the end of the season. He would also see his team play one of the four starters in the finals of the NCAA tournament.
KU won two matches in straight games Wednesday night in Wichita, its last competition before beginning the Big Eight tournament today.
Any coach of any team will admit that the biggest problem with freshmen is that they are inconsistent. The KU volleyball team is no exception.
Spikers get hot at right time
Now the team is riding another hot streak, and couldn't have picked it at a better time, accustomed to playing in them.
The young team, with only one senior and often with three freshmen on the floor, has had stretches of brilliance mixed with periods of bad play.
The two matches may have been the team's best play of the season, Lockwood said.
The Jayhawks beat Oklahoma State University 15-11, 15-8 and Wichita State 13-5, 14-8.
"This was probably our best effort of the year," he said. "We had 12 girls who played their own part."
Diane Schroeder, the team captain for the last five games, earned praise from Lockwood.
"Diane played an outstanding game," he said. "We moved her to a different spot in the line-up and she didn't."
The team left yesterday for Nebraska and the big Eight tournament, one of the most important men's tournaments.
With its fall schedule meeting an end, the KU men's tennis team will try to up its record to 1-4 with a home match gainst Missouri tomorrow at 1 p.m.
"Everything is geared toward the Big Eight," Lockwood said. "That's the one we try to win and I believe we're going to do it."
Kansas, cornering off a 5-4 loss to Nebraska two
weeks later. No win over Baker, Eugene in
State and Kansas State.
KU netters ready to improve record
Kandy his squad's record, Kansas coach Dandy McGraham said this year's team was not as unstoppable.
"We are pretty average," McGarth said. "Our top three players are strong, but after that there is room for improvement."
The '11 top players for KU are seniors Wayne Mason and titan and junior Dave Tues. Ms. Serrano will with last year's Big Eight singles champion Cissel at the one number one postest.
"Missouri was good last year," McGrath said. "And they will be good again this year."