University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, March 6, 1991
Sports
9
Grand slam wins game
Kansas sophomore Jeff Neimeier rounds third after a grand slam that beat the Creighton Bluejays at Hoodland-Maupin Stadium.
Three home runs give KU victory
Kansan sportswriter
By Mark Spencer
Kansas sportswriter
Kansas sophomore Jeff Neimeer's two home runs in his last two at bats gave the Kansas baseball team a 13-11 extra-inning victory against the Creighton Bluejays yesterday at Hogwlund-Maunin Stadium.
Kansas trailed the 11th-ranked Bluejays in 8 in the bottom of the ninth inning when Neimeier came to bat with two men on base.
"He beat me with a fastball on the first pitch," Neimeier said. "Then, he ended up hanging a curve."
Neimeier swatted the pitch into the left-field evergreens, forcing the game into extra innings.
Creighton answered in the top of the 10th inning with a three-run home run by Creighton catcher Ryan Martindale, his second of the day.
The Bluejays led 11-8 as Kansas came to bat, but Neimeier said the Jayhawks refused to give up.
"The whole inning before, when they scored three runs, I hoped I would get a chance in the 10th," he said.
In the 10th, Kansas senior Denard Stewart scored on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded.
The Jayhawks trailed 11-9 when Neimeier the吴 came true.
"I took a pitch that I maybe should have" it said. Neimeter said, "The second one was a fastball on the inside part of the plate."
Neimeier launched that pitch over the left field fence, sealing the victory for the Jawhaws.
He said he knew the two balls would leave the park as soon as he hit them.
"To get a chance to do that in two innings is incredible." he said.
Baseball
Neimeier's home runs overshadowed a fine pitching performance by Kansas freshman David Mever.
Meyer was relieved by sophomore Jim Walker with one out in the seventh inning. Walker was credited with the pitching victory.
After surrendering four runs in his first three innings, Meyer retired 10 of the next 14 batters he faced.
In the first inning, the Jayhawks scored three runs, but their early lead was erased when Creighton runs in the second and third innings.
Kansas regained the lead 5-4 in the sixth when sophomore left fielder John Wuycheck drilled a two-run run over the right center fence力
Creighton right fielder John Pivar put the Bluejays back on top 7.5 with a three-run dinger in the top of the eighth.
Creighton catcher Ryan Martin-dale's bases-empty home run in the top of the ninth gave the Bluejays an
8-5 lead and set the stage for Neimeier's late-game heroics.
Kansas coach Dave Bingham said that he was pleased with the way the Jayhawks battled back into the game when Creighton took the lead.
"We adjusted better in this game than we have before," he said. "In the middle innings, there was a time that we leu up.
performance at the plate.
"But a guy like Neimeire wouldn't let us give up, and neither would (David) Soul," Bingham said.
Soult scored three runs in a 3-for-4
"I'm very impressed with Meyer," he said. "As far as I am concerned, he's our third starter and we're looking for a fourth."
The Jayhawks are starting to locate some key personnel, Bingham said.
Bingham said the Jayhawks were maturing with every game.
"When things go bad in baseball, you can almost give up," he said. "The good ones will fight through it. The bad ones are pretty, but that what's we're doing."
The Jayhawks, 5-5, will play Missouri Southern at 2 p.m. today at Hogund-Maupin Stadium.
'Hawks prepared for Big 8
By Rick C. Honish
Sansan sportswriter
By Rick C. Honish
Diving coach Don Fearon said they all had buzzed their hair to carry on a Kansas swimming tradition.
The men's swim team coaches were sporting new haircuts when hey left yesterday for the Big Eight Conference championships in Lin-
"The team shaves every year, so we do too," he said. "It is just one more way to motivate the team."
The meet will begin tomorrow and will finish March 9.
Swimming
Although the team has not competed since Feb. 16 when it lost to Southern Illinois, Fearon said the team has been training intensely for this meet.
"As a team, we are pumped up and ready," he said. "I think we have a shot at the title."
Fearon said the time off from
competition would be a valuable asset to the team when it faced Big Eight rivals Iowa State, Nebraska and Missouri.
"The men have a little more muscle mass than the women, so they need a little more rest," he said.
Fearon said he expected freshman diver Tim Davidson to have a good meet
"He has beaten every Big Eight opponent he has faced this year in dual teams," he said. "This meet will be better, though, and a lot more can happen."
"If you miss on a dive, it opens the door for someone else, but that works both ways."
Fearon said Davidson had five quality dives and would not be hurt
by the added competition.
He said sophomore diver Jeff Mix, who qualified for the zone meets last year, also would be in top form for the Big Eight meet.
Senior co-captain John Easton said being out of Kansas' home pool would not affect the team.
Mix has been plagued by shoulder and lower back problems all season, but Fearon said he had recovered from the strain with chance at qualifying to do just that.
"Nebraska's pool is actually nicer than ours," he said. "It is bigger and decear."
Easton said the entire team was ready to challenge the favored Cornhuskers.
"There will be an adrenaline rush because it is the Big Eight meet," he said. "We will swim faster than we have all season."
Williams says media hoopla during tourney is ridiculous
By S. J. Bailey
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams is ready for the Big Eight Tournament on Friday at Kemper Arena. But don't ask him about all the media hoop surroundings the affair.
"I think it ridiculous to have mandatory practice, media coverage and press conference over there on Thursday," Williams said at a news conference last week. "I want to press conference this year, figured that one up by myself."
Kansas is scheduled for a public practice at 4 p.m. Thursday at Kemper, followed by a media session at 5 p.m.
Williams said he was not pleased that senior guard Terry Brown and junior center David Johanning would have to miss part of their afternoon classes to participate in the activities.
“It's just ridiculous that we've got presidents all over the country saying we're missing too much class time, and here I've got to takeguys out of class to practice on a court that doesn't care if we practice on.” he said.
Although Kansas was the only Big Eight school not to participate in the practice and media sessions last year, Williams said the team would be there to promote the tournament this year.
"When I got the sheet, the word mandatory was underlined on mine," he said. "I think some guys probably ganged up on (Kansas Sports Information Director) Doug Vance and said, 'Hey, why don't Williams bring Kansas over here?' I mean, I've been to Kansas City before. Our team played there last year, so I don't see any sense in going back."
Williams did say, however, that he had thought about not participating in the pre-tournament activities again this year.
"I will say this," he said. "We're going only because we only have two guys missing the last part of one room and the noon practice. I would not go."
Williams said the Atlantic Coast Conference, where he was an assistant coach at North Carolina for 10 conference tournament media events.
"You can go if you want to, and if you don't want to, you have to."
he said of the ACC guidelines.
"I can understand if we were playing in Timbuktu and the media out there didn't know anything about us. They would need to get more information on us to do their stories and promote the tournament. But I don't think the Big Eight Tournament necessarily needs our push."
Williams also said yesterday that junior forward Alonzo Jamison did not practice Monday or yesterday, and has not expected to practice today.
He said Jamison, who sprained an ankle in Sunday's game at Nebraska, probably would be ready for Friday's game.
"I had hoped to have him back today, but if I had to right now, he probably won't practice Wednesday either," he said. "I said 'I'm hoping by Friday he will be at at least 90 degrees.' That is not what he would not play. And that brothers us because there's not much time between now and Friday."
Kansas will take on the Colorado Buffaloes on Friday at 6:10 p.m. in the opening round of the Big Eight Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
The Associated Press
Iowa State coach questions Missouri's place in tourney
Iowa state coach Johnny Orr is not sure that it is. Missouri is on NCAA probation and barred from
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Iowa State will meet Missouri on Friday in the first round of the Big Eight Tournament, but is that right?
the NCAA Tournament, and the winner of the Big Eight Tournament will get the Big Eight's automatic bid to the NCAA.
If Missouri wins, the Big Eight will lose its automatic bid. That still would probably not keep the Big Eight's top three teams, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma State, from getting at-large bids. But Orr points out that Kentucky, also on probation and barred from the NCAA Tournament, is not being allowed to compete in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Joseph J. Lies/KANSAN
Eric Rieger, Fairway sophomore, practices lunges against Alex Burton, Overland Park junior. Burton teaches the Intermediate Fencing class, whbh he conducted outside yesterday near Robinson Center because of the warm weather.
Fair weather fencers
LSU's Shaquille O'Neal named best SEC player
Sports briefs
ATLANTA — Louisiana State's Shaquille O'Neal was named the Player of the Year on The Associated Press All-Southeastern Conference basketball team yesterday and Mississippi State placed two players on the team for the first time in 28 years. Greg Carter and Cameron Burns, two forwards who led Mississippi State to a share of the SEC crown with LSU, joined O'Neal on the first team along with Allan Houston of Tennessee and Litterial Green of Georgia.
Rick Pitino of Kentucky edged out Richard Williams of Mississippi State in the Coach of the Year voting.
TOWSON, Md. — Towson State won its second straight East Coast Conference championship, beating Rider 69-63 last night behind Devin Boyd's key three-point play with just more than a minute to play.
Towson is the first team to successfully defend its ECC title since St Joseph's in 1982.
Rider, Lawrenceville, N.J., led 59-85 on Mark Woolner's wpointer with 2:40 to go, but Roy tied the score on two free throws with 2:03 left and put the Tigers (19-10) ahead for good on a three-point play with 1:06 to go.
From The Associated Press
By Rob Wheat
Special to the Kansan
Last year in the NCAA finals, it seemed certain that pole vault Pat Manson would finally realize his dream of winning the NCAA national
He had come close several times before, having placed second twice and third once. Manson led the meet, and it was evident that the title would be won either by him or by one other candidate. This was Mason Mason University Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
as Bagila drained over the cross bar, it rattled on its pegs yet somehow managed to stay on. The final shot was from a distance of 18 feet 4 inches to Manson's IB-18%.
Once again, Manson had to settle for being an All-American.
A five-time All-American, Manson will have his final chance to face Bagula for the national title March at the NCAA Indoor Championship.
“This year, I haven't been jumping as high because I've had to work more on fundamentals,” Manson said. “My tendency is to go just wild back, but if I want to vault past college, I need to improve my technique.”
Manson's indoor collegiate vaulting record of 18, which he set in 1969, was shattered by Bagula this season with a 19-1/4 fall. Bagula the top-ranked vaulter in the nation and is ranked fifth in the world.
But this time the odds are against Manson.
Manson's other dream is to compete in the 1929 Olympics, which means making sacrifices, but there are concerns that he won't beat Bagula if he doesn't burn down the track.
Manson said that he understood the importance of technique, but that he would be tempted to mix both his old and his new styles.
"It's like losing the World Series," Manson said. "You're happy to be there, of course, but you're also there to win. I'll never have another college track meet again after this year."
'This year, I haven't been jumping as high because I've had to work more on fundamentals. My tendency is to just go wild down the track, but if I want to vault past college, I need to improve my technique.'
- Pat Manson
Kansas pole vaulter
Manson said he first became interested in pole vaulting because of the excitement of running down the track and climbing over it, then leaping high into the air.
This thrill-seeking urge continues to drive Manson. Two years ago, during a trip to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, Manson suddenly decided to learn hang gliding. And his friends are repelling these robos days.
But pole vaulting, he said, is different now.
"I probably analyze my approach now more than I do some of my problems in class," said Manson, who takes classes such as Advanced Programming and has maintained names and has maintained a 3.6 grade point average.
Phil Bave/Special to the KANSAN
Five-time All-American Pat Manson practices for the NCAA Indoor Championships. He also hopes to compete in the 1992 Olympics.
When you run hard and get a little sloppy, you can still jump high." Manson said. "But then the potential is gone to jump super high."
But that doesn't mean having to choose between the national title and
He is making progress, he said,
and he believes in what he is trying to
accomplish.
That is probably why he came home elated after winning his fifth conference title two weeks ago at the Big Eight Indoor Championships in Columbia, Mo., after jumping 17-4-1. He wears a foot less than his personal best.
Pole vault coach Rick Attig said it was extremely important for Manson to stick to his plan so he would have a better showing during tryouts for the 1982 or 1986 Olympics as well as the European tour this summer.
Olympic gold. Attig said.
Manson also receives advice from former Kansas vaulter Scott Huffman, who is ranked in the top 10 worldwide and also hopes to compete
Attail is the United States national vaulting coach and is the main reason Manson decided to attend Kansas where he was not offered a scholarship.
in the Olympics.
Huffman has vaulted against Bagula several times on the Grand Prix circuit, a series of track invitations held throughout the year.
"we all call him Bag-man because his name is hard to pronounce," Huffman said. "He is one of the most famous people we ever seen, but Pat is really talented."