University Daily Kansan / Monday, October 28, 1991
SPORTS
9
Morris leads Twins to Series title
The Associated Press
"It was a storybook ball game."
MINNEAPOLIS - After all the twists, turns and tension, the closest of World Series ended with the closest of games.
Tom Kelly
Twins Manager
The Minnesota Twins and Jack Morris squeezed past Atlanta 1-0 on pinchhitter Gene Larkin's single in the bottom of the 10th innings last night and won Game Seven, ending baseball's most dramatic odyssey.
Morris, named the Most Valuable Player, pitched 10 shutout innings and got his second victory in three Series games. He pitched a total of 82 runs in Atlanta runners in scoring position.
Never before had three Series games gone into extrainnings, and the Braves and Twins saved the best for last.
"Someone had to go home a loser, but there isn't in my mind," Morris said. "There are two of the greatest people in history." But how, we found a way to win this thurst."
From the start, it seemed almost inevitable that the first last-to-first World Series would go down to the last pitch. And it did, as for a record fourth time a game was decided on the last swing.
Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "The whole series was like a bookwork. We played it out, chapter seven."
"It was a storybook ball game."
"I don't know which team played better," Kelly said as the World Series trophy was presented by commissioner Fay Vincent. "By rights, they should cut this thing in half and give half to us and half to the Braves."
None of the previous 31 seventh games had been scoreless through seven innings, and not since 1924 when Walter Johnson won it for the Boston Senators, the Twins' ancestors — had one gone into extra innings.
The Twins followed the same scenario as they did in 1987. They won the first two games at the Metrodome, lost three on the road and then returned home to win two and the championship. Those are the only times the home team has won every game of a Series.
"I hope I never have to play another Game series game here — unless I'm on the Twins," said Braves third baseman Terry Pendleton, who was on the losing side with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975 and I'm tired of being a bridesmaid."
maid.
Morris lived up to his reputation as one of baseball's best big-game pitchers with perhaps his best performance ever. Pitching into extra innings for the first time since 1889, he shut out Atlanta on seven hits, striking out eight and walking one.
Morris won for the second time in a
time in the Series and 2-1 in the postseason.
Smoltz, who shut out Pittsburgh in Game Seven of the National League
Atlanta starter John Smoltz was almost as good as Morris, leaving the 0-6 game with one in the eight. He hit four of them, and all of drama that summed up this Series.
playoffs, allowed six hits in 7/4 innings, but he and the Braves lost a chance for victory on a base-running mistake by Lonnie Smith in the eighth.
Smith, playing on an unprecedented fourth team in his four Series, could easily have scored from first on Pendleton's double. But he lost track of the ball, hesitated when second baseman Chuck Knoblauch decoyed a throw to shortstop Greg Gagne and was pulled out later escaped by getting Sid Bream to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases!
The Twins wasted a bases-loaded chance in the eighth when Kent Hrbek lined into a double play, and they left runners at the corners in the ninth when pinch hitter Paul Sorrento struck out.
Then in the 10th, Dan Gladden led off with a broken-bat blooper that bounced over left fielder Brain Hunter, and he hustled for a double ahead of center fielder Ron Gant's throw. Chuck Knoblauch sacrificed Gladden to third, and after Alejandro Pena intentionally walked Kirby Puckett and Hrbk, Larkin batted for Jarvis Brown and lifted the first pitch for a fly ball that split Hunter and Gant.
Unlikely Series winds up being one to remember
The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — It seems appropriate that the improbable seasons of Atlanta and Minnesota ended with a World Series that ranks among the best.
What makes a memorable World Series? Close games, extraordinary moments and extra individual efforts. A seventh game helps, too.
Two games in Atlanta ended with close plays at the plate, and four of the first six games were decided in the winning team's final at-bat. There have been spurs of power, good pitching and unlikely heroes.
Mark Lemke, a 225 lifetime hitter, won Game Three for the Braves with an RBI single in the 12th inning, scored the winning run
in Game Four after leading off the ninth with a triple and had two triples in Game Five.
Kirby Puckett played Game Six like it might be the last of his season and ended up leading off the bottom of the 11th inning with a home run off Atlanta's Charlie Leibrandt, forcing a seventh game. Puckett also had a run-scoring triple, sacrifice fly and a great leaping catch of a Ron Gant drive to fence in the fifth inning.
"He's one of the impact players of the game, and when you're an impact player, stuff like that hap-tions. Twins manager Tom Kelly said."
Oklahoma crushes' Hawks 41-3
Puckett's homer was the third time a game between the Twins and Braves ended with the final swing — a first in World Series history.
By David Mitchell
Kansan Sportswriter
NORMAN, Okla. — The Kansas defense was ranked sixth in the nation entering Saturday's game against Oklahoma and had compensated throughout the season for the team's sputtering offense.
However, the defense played like the Jahwahks 86th-ranked unit of a year ago, and the Kansas quarterbacks played as bad a game against them.
The Jayhawks never had a chance, losing 41-3.
After allowing an average of 415.3 yards a game last year, the Kansas defense had limited opponents to 263 yards a game this season, the sixth lowest total in the nation. Saturday, the Sooners racked up 439 vards.
Oklahoma tailback Mike Gaddis holds up under the weight of five Kansas defenders
Oklahoma continually blasted the Jayhawk defense and special teams winneth.
Oklahoma's Otis Taylor took Dan Eichloff's second punt of the game 58 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.
"We spotted Oklahoma quite a lead in the first half," Kansas coach Glen Mason said. "The punt return was a real momentum-swinger."
On the second play of the Sooners' next possession, Ted Long ran a reverse play 56 yards down the side of Oklahoma's second timedown.
Long broke two tackles behind the line of scrimmage, a feattypical the one for football.
Brian T. Schoenl/KANSAN
"We didn't play as well defensively
we have always been." said We
didn't play on defense of the
dipstick.
Oklahoma led 14-9 with four minutes left in the first period. The Sooners then scored on their next three possessions.
Kansas entered the game as a 14-point underdog, and both teams expected the game to be closer than the final outcome. Junior linebacker Hassan Bailey said the game was not a indicator of the Jayhawks' ability.
"They just kept punching it," Bailey said. "We are definitely better than the others."
Only Eichloff's 43-yard field goal late in the second quarter saved the 'Hawks from being shut out. Kansas trailed 34-3 at the half.
"We've been beat before, and we'll be beat again," Mason said. "I just don't want us to quit. We didn't quit, that was evident in the second half."
The Sooners scored just seven points in the second half, but that was seven goals. The Rams scored six.
muster
Sands entered the game needing 34 yards to pass the Jayhawks all-time leading rusher, Laverne Smith. Sands accounted for 89 of the Jayhawks' 166 yards of total offense, carrying the ball 21 times for 89 yards.
senior tailback Tony Sands was the lone bright spot for the Kansas offense.
After struggling throughout the sea
Junior quarterback Chip Hilleary and sophomore backup Nate Fletrell completed six of 16 passes for 45 yards. He was reshuffed for negative 15 yards on 12 carries.
Hilleary was sacked four times in the first half. He left the game in the third quarter with blurred vision and a migraine headache.
son, the Kansas passing game hit a newlow.
Florrell completed one pass on six attempts. Senior flanker Kenny Drayton's 28-game reception streak came to an end.
Senior offensive tackle Christopher Perez echoed Bailev's comments.
"Our chances walking in were better than they've ever been since I've been good as the score indicator, they are not as good as the the score indicator, they are not as bad as the score indicates."
APtop25
The following are the top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll with first-place votes in parenthesis. The top three were polls received and last week's ranking.
| | Rec. | pts. | pts. |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1. Florida St (53) | 8-0-0 | 1,492 | 1 |
| 2. Miami (3) | 7-0-0 | 1,415 | 2 |
| 2. Washington (4) | 7-0-0 | 1,412 | 3 |
| 4. Michigan | 6-1-0 | 1,312 | 4 |
| 5. Notre Dame | 7-1-0 | 1,247 | 5 |
| 6. Florida | 6-1-0 | 1,210 | 6 |
| 7. Alabama | 6-1-0 | 1,058 | 7 |
| 8. Penn St. | 7-2-0 | 1,046 | 8 |
| 9. Nebraska | 6-1-0 | 1,002 | 9 |
| 10. California | 6-1-0 | 991 | 10 |
| 11. Iowa | 6-1-0 | 910 | 11 |
| 12. A&M | 6-1-0 | 910 | 12 |
| 13. Ohio St | 6-1-0 | 741 | 14 |
| 14. Tennessee | 6-2-0 | 693 | 15 |
| 15. Colorado | 5-2-0 | 657 | 16 |
| 15. Clemson | 4-1-1 | 570 | 19 |
| 17. East Carolina | 6-1-0 | 535 | 20 |
| 18. Syracuse | 6-1-0 | 486 | 18 |
| 19. N Carolina St | 6-1-0 | 401 | 12 |
| 20. Oklahoma | 6-2-0 | 378 | 21 |
| 22. Baylor | 6-2-0 | 287 | 22 |
| 23. UCLA | 6-2-0 | 156 | -- |
| 24. Arkansas | 5-2-0 | 140 | 25 |
| 25. Fresno St | 5-2-0 | 97 | -- |
Others receiving votes: Virginia 37, Illinois 33, Air Force 90, Indiana 29, Mississippi 29, St. Petersburg 9, Bingham 8, Kansas City 4, Duke 3, Kansas State 2, Uttah 1
Rugby teams beat St. Louis
Kansanstaffreport
The Kansas rugby teams played two St. Louis University teams Saturday.
The A-side team beat the St. Louis A-
side队 20-16, and the B-side队
team 19-18.
In the A-side game, Scott Etheridge,
Norman, Okla., senior, scored in the first five minutes of the game.
Tony Rio, Chicago senior, and Charlotte Lee, California sophomore, also served on the board.
St. Louis scored twice before Phil Olson, Burke, Va., senior, scored the game-winning goal and mattle a kick for an additional two points.
Olson said there was never any fear on Kansas' team that St. Louis would score again.
"They were falling apart, they were nervous and they were yelling at each other," he said.
AFC rivals to clash at Arrowhead
The Associated Press
KANASCITY, Mo. — Thousands of Kansas City Chiefs fans geared up for tonight's showdown with Los Angeles by wearing Raider hater T-shirts and hats to Raider hater mates.
Chiefs' quarterback Steve DeBerg wants everyone to know he was shirtless, hatless and home.
"I don't hate the Raiders," DeBerg said with a grin. "I don't want those guys' to hate me. They're going to be coming after me with a very aggrievance. I'm not whose job is trying to knock me down, whose they are trying to do several times."
The Chiefs (5-3) are six-point favorites to maintain their home-field momentum against the Raiders (5-3) in the AFC West matchup. With Denver playing a relatively weak fifth-half, the Chiefs can finish, the loser tonight could face an uphill climb getting back into the division race.
"You must win in your division," Raiders coach Art Shell said. "If you can do that, you've got a good chance to win them for them and a big gameforus."
A sellout crowd of about 78,000 is expected for the second Monday night game this month in Kansas City, which before this year had gone eight years without one.
"We're tied with the Raiders, and we want to stay within striking distance of the Broncos," Chiefs coach Marty Schuttenmeier said.
The Chiefs dropped a 19-16 verdict at Denver last week but hoped to recapture the home-field magic that saw them pound Buffalo and Miami by a combined scored of 75-13 in their previous Arrowhead Stadium games.
"We tried to get the game moved to a neutral site," Shell said. "We don't want to have to come in to Kansas City."
Victory seemed particularly important for the Chiefs because five of their last seven games are on the road and they appear to have a decided home-field advantage. On the road, they're 1-2 with only one-point squeaker against San Diego.
"You have to realize that once they get on a roll, they can stomp on you." Shell said. "They've got the team; they've got the fans."
But the Raiders have owned Monday night with a record of 29-6-1 that is the best in the league.
Volleyball team pulls out victory against OU
BvJeffKobs
KansanSportswriter
Behind an improved blocking attack, the Kansas volleyball team defeated Oklahoma in four games Friday夜 at Allen Field House.
Kansas won 15-13,14-16,15-13,16-1
The victory improved Kansas's record to 21-4 and 4-3 in the conference.
Coming off a crushing 15-3 third-game victory, it seemed the Jayhawks would do the same in the fourth game.
"Except for the fourth game, I thought it was a good match," Coach Frankie Alhitz said.
Kansas jumped to a 9-3 lead before
it snuttered.
"We stopped attacking," Albitz said. "We shut down and almost beat ourselves."
Oklahoma cut the Kansas lead to 9 6 when the Jayhawks called a time out.
"We got a little tight and stopped communicating out there," senior Adrian Powell said. "We calmed him back in our game and our rhythm."
The Sooners blasted their way to a 10-9 lead before Kansas responded.
pull out the victory 16-14
It didn't help.
The two teams tied 10 and then again at 12 and 14. A kill by Kris Lehmischnitt gave Kansas a 15-14 lead, and the Jayhawks went on to
Oklahoma coach Miles Pabst said his team did not pass well.
"We just didn't execute," he said. "But I don't want to take credit away from Kansas because they played well."
"It's the same thing we did against Colorado, except Colorado did things to us." Albiz said. "We have just swung. I think we got too careful."
Albitz said it was not the first time Kansas had problems after opening a big lead.
Albitz said the team improved its blocking but failed to use the middle of the court.
"We need the middle game to take pressure off our outside hitters," she
said, "It thought our blocking was better, it was our biggest improvement."
Powellhed Kansas with 19 kills and 18 digs, while sophomore Cyndee Kanabel added 18 kills.
The Jayhawks had 75 kills to the Sooners' 64 kills. Kansas had a better hitting percentage with a .258 compared to Oklahoma's .228 hitting percentage. Kansas had 14 blocks while Oklahoma had 12 blocks.
Kansas is in third place in the conference behind Nebraska and Colorado.
Only the top four teams in the standings advance to the Big Eight tournament, Nov. 29-30.
Former quarterback Brodie wins senior golf tournament
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — John Brodie, who made smooth transitions from NFL quarterback to TV analyst to professional golfer, needed only a 4-inch birdie putt on the first playoff holeyedday to beat Chi Chi Rodriguez and George Archer for his first PGA title, the Security Pacific Senior Classic.
The victory ended a winnless drought that covered seven years and 157 tournaments on the 50-and-over circuit for the first time since 2010, never played in a regular tour event.
Brodie, who missed a birdie putt for the victory on the final hole of regulation and 68 for a 54-hole total of 13 under-par Park municipal course. Both Rodriguez and
Archer shot 5-under 66s yesterday.
The playoff started on the 14th hole, a 392-yard par-4. Brodie hit a 9-iron that hit a small hill 15 yards in front of the green, bounced and rolled to within 4 inches of the cup. Rodriguez rolled his 16-foot birdie try to the right and then added his own touch to Brodie's first victory.
Moments before Brodie tapped in for the £78,000 winner's check. Rodriguez took out a handkerchief and over Brodie's eyes like a blindfold.
The co-leader after each of the first two rounds, Brodie fell a shot back after a bogey on the 15th hole, but missed the stroke with a bounce on the 17th.