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SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1995
Assistant coach knows the bases
Edmee Rodriguez / KANSAN
SECTION B
Kansas assistant coach Gayle Lueke, left, hits a ball to the outfield during practice. Lueke has been the assistant coach for five years and played for the Jawhaws from 1984 to 1988. Lueke said coaching the outfielders was a tough task for her.
Luedke a force on softball team for past 11 years
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
Gayle Luedke strolls from the Jayhawk dugout, down the first-base line and into the coach's box
Before joining the team as a coach, Luedek followed a slightly different path. She would sprint from the Jayhawk dugout to her position at catena
It is the same path the Kansas softball team's assistant coach has taken for the last five years.
Gavle Luedke
first base or third base. Her 11 years at Kansas have transformed Luedke into a full-fledged Jayhawk.
"If you cut her, she bleeds red and blue," Kansas softball coach Kalum Haack confirmed. "There's nobody that's more of a Javahawk than her."
Luedke began her Jayhawk transformation as a walk-on in 1984. Coming from Omaha, Neb., Luedke said she caught flack from Nebraska fans for coming to Kansas. At the time, the move even saddened her parents.
"My dad wears his Kansas stuff now as proudly as his red sweater for the Nebraska football games," Luedke said. "My parents were always there to support my sister and I."
That support likely became even easier after Luedke earned a softball scholarship and played on four successful Kansas teams.
In Luedke's career, the Jayhawks com-
picked a 140-50 record.
They were second in the Big Eight Conference twice and finished two seasons ranked in the top 10 nationally.
In 1988, Luedke played her final season under the instruction of her fellow Kansas coach. Haack's first season with Kansas was 1988.
"She was what I define as a hard-nosed player," Haack said. "She was one of our best players. Winning was important for her."
Kalum Haack
Kansas softball coach about Luede
Luedek moved directly from playing for the Jayhawks to coaching them.
She spent a year as Kansas' student assistant and two years as the graduate assistant. Luedek made a relatively smooth transition onto the staff, Haack
said, but there were aspects of the job she had to learn.
"There's a lot more involved behind the scenes that they don't see when they're playing," Haack said. "It kind of opened her eyes."
Luedke agreed there were some difficulties.
Knowing where to draw the line between being the players' coach and
being their friend was the most difficult, she said.
The 29-year-old Laudec continued the learning process when she became Kansas' assistant coach five years ago. Her duties include coaching the catchers
and outfielders. Being a catcher during her first two collegiate seasons gave Luedek insight into how to coach that position.
Coaching the outfield was a different story.
Luedke's only experience came from playing outfielder in recreation league and slow-pitch softball games. She said that she asked other coaches and even players about different drills and fundamentals.
"By the time the players get here, they've been doing it long enough to know what we expect," Luedke said. "But it was a big learning process for me, and I've made some mistakes."
By coaching outfielders, Luedke has coaching experience in virtually every aspect of the game.
That has prompted Luedek to consider moving from Kansas, the place where she has spent all of her adult life. She hopes to utilize her ideology as the head coach of a college softball team.
"I'm getting a really big itch to do that," Luedke said. "It doesn't make a lot of the kids happy when I talk about that."
Luedke said that a Division-I head coaching job would be ideal but that coaching in Division II was not out of the question. The biggest difference is the pitching quality.
As for location, Luedke said that she only had ruled out California because of its lifestyle.
"The situation has to be right for her." Haack said. "But I know it's not going to be long before somebody has a good coach."
For now, Kansas has Luedek. And the Jayhawks also have the task of facing Creighton today in their final nonconference doubleheader of the season. They are looking to improve on their 17-21 record after losing four games to Oklahoma State last weekend.
Today's games are scheduled for 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. in a fitting place — Luedke's hometown of Omaha, Neb.
All-Star called safe at home
Judge disregards plea agreement
The Associated Press
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Instead of spending the summer in jail, Darryl Strawberry could be back playing baseball.
Strawberry received a lenient sentence Monday for evading federal income taxes, getting six months' home confinement rather than the three months in prison he agreed to in a plea bargain.
Strawberry was not fined, but he must pay $360,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties.
Darryl Strawberry
U. S. District Judge Barrington D. Parker Jr. also sentenced Strawberry to 100 hours of community service and mandatory drug abuse counseling. He will not be required to wear an electronic monitoring device and will be permitted to travel and attend practice if he finds a new team.
Strawberry agreed to serve three months in prison, and his lawyers asked that he be allowed to serve it near his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. But Parker exercised his right to disregard the plea agreement and determine the penalty on his own.
"We are disappointed that the judge did not impose the agreed-upon sentence," U.S. Attorney Marv Jo White said.
Strawberry was suspended for the first 60 days of the season on Feb. 6 after testing positive for cocaine. The San Francisco Giants then released him. If he finds a team, the earliest the league would allow him to play would be June 24.
He pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to one felony count of tax evasion for failing to report thousands of dollars of income he received at autograph signing shows in the late 1980s. Taxes on those payments would have been $101,000.
The former All-Star addressed Parker before the sentence was announced.
"I apologize for the mess I caused myself, my fans, friends and family," he said. "At some particular moments I felt it wasn't worth it to be here living."
before Strawberry spoke, the judge warned him that he had discretion in determining the severity of the sentence. Strawberry could have faced 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines if convicted of the charges against him in the original indictment.
"It was a courageous decision by the court. The judge took into consideration that he has only a few years left to make the kind of money he'll need to pay off what he owes," said agent Bill Goodstein, who replaced Eric Goldschmidt after Goldschmidt and Strawberry were indicted together last year for tax evasion.
BRIEF
Three Kansas golfers named All-Big Eight
That distance separated Slade Adams from the Big Eight Conference Golf Championship. The Wichita junior missed a 21/2-foot put on the 18th hole yesterday and ended the tournament in a three-way tie. Oklahoma State's Alan Bratton and Chris Tidland also shot three-round totals of 211 on the Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson.
Two and a half feet.
Cyclones series a must-win for Jayhawks
With Adams and Shelton leading the way, the Jayhawks placed second in the team standings. They finished 22 strokes behind Oklahoma State for their third consecutive runner-up finish. The Cowboys won their 35th conference title in the past 38 years.
Kansas also got a quality performance from senior Tyler Shelton. He shot a 216, which was his second-best career round, and placed fifth. Shelton and Adams earned All-Big Eight honors with their finishes.
"I still consider myself a champion," said Adams, who claimed his first individual collegiate title. "We all three played well, and it is an honor for all of us." Adams became the fifth Big Eight golf champion from Kansen and the first nine Matt Gogol in 1991.
Anders became the first big eight good champ from Kansas and the first since Matt Gorellis 1981.
The Oldahoma State women's golf team continued its domination as well yesterday. The Cowgirls won their 13th Big Eight title in 20 years at the Stillwater Country Club in Stillwater, Ola. Kansas finished in sixth place, 78 strokes behind Oklahoma State.
Kansas senior Michelle Uber earned All-Big Eight honors by placing fourth. She shot a final round of 79 and a 238 total in the tournament.
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Kansas junior second baseman Josh Kilner takes a swing during a layhawks game at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium. Kansas faces Iowa State on the road today.
Baseball squad pushes for last tournament spot
Kansas will complete its Big Eight road schedule with a doubleheader against Iowa State at 1 p.m. today in Ames, Iowa. The Jayhawks must avoid a seventh-place finish to play in Oklahoma City. Only the top six teams advance to the tournament.
But the honors and milestones take a back seat to the task at hand — securing a spot in next month's Big Eight Conference tournament in Oklahoma City.
Kansas sophomore shortstop Joe DeMarco said that now was the time for the team to come together.
"A lot of guys are not willing to play up to their potential," DeMarco said. "We came into this season knowing we should be a good team. We should be competing for the tournament championship, but we're struggling."
By Tom Erickson
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas' next win will be the 800th of head coach Dave Bingham's career. Bingham is currently 23rd on the victory list of active coaches with arecord of 799-490.
Kansas (16-29, 7-15) remains in sixth place in the Big Eight with seven league games left. Iowa State (19-15, 10-9) is in third. The Cyclones played at home against Creighton yesterday afternoon.
The Jayhawks split two games with seventhplace Missouri last weekend to remain in contention for the final tournament seed by 2 1/2 games. Stormy weather prevented Kansas and Missouri from playing the third game of the series.
The cancellation of Sunday's game with the Tigers may have worked to the Jayhawks' advantage.
"That was not a good day to play from a weather standpoint," he said. "We got an off day on Monday to do some individual work to get ready for Iowa State."
Junior pitcher Jamie Splitteroff, who threw a complete game to win the opening game against Missouri, is beginning to win important games down the stretch, something Bingham can appreciate.
Splittorff is now 2-2 in Big Eight games with a 4.00 ERA.
"I think he looks better," Bingham said. "Every time out there, he is getting stronger and able to meet the demands."
"We had good wins on Saturday and Sunday against Iowa State," Bingham said. "But their field is very different than ours, and that is always quite a challenge."
Although the Jayhawks won two of the three games with the Cyclones April 7-9, such success might be hard to duplicate in Ames.
Waiting to meet that challenge are Kansas starting pitchers Robert Garola and Dan Rude. Bingham said he was unsure which pitcher would start each game, but both would be used today.
Garola (2-5, 6.29 ERA) had been scheduled to start in Sunday's canceled game with Missouri. The sophomore's last came in a no-diece against Kansas State on April 18.
Rude (3-2, 5.36 ERA) also had a no-decision in his last start, a 16-11 loss to K-State on April 19. The senior right-hander is seeking his third win of the season as a starting pitcher.
The Jayhawks next home series will be a three-game weekend series with Nebraska Friday night at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.