Monday, March 30, 1998
Cornhuskers pull
one over on ’BowsA trick play helps Nebraska edge
By Al Chase
Hawaii in the championship game of
the Easter Baseball Tournament
Star-BulletinA high school play that rarely works and elicits catcalls from baseball fans bailed the Nebraska Cornhuskers out of a tight situation yesterday.
With a Big-12 Conference doubleheader at Missouri on Wednesday, Nebraska head coach Dave Van Horn called on seldom-used senior right-hander Matt Schuldt to start yesterday's championship game of the Rainbow Easter Baseball Tournament.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound converted catcher responded with 623 innings of near flawless pitching, and reliever Tevis Arnold, an all-tournament selection, stopped the Rainbows (26-12 overall, 6-1 tournament) in the ninth.
Putting team discipline problems behind them, the Cornhuskers edged the University of Hawaii, 2-1, to win their first Easter Tournament title in five attempts before the largest Rainbow Stadium crowd of the season, 2,996.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii starter Troy Yoshimasu
delivers a pitch yesterday.
The game was officially a sellout, the first in two years for UH.The Rainbow faithful could sense a patented UH comeback when Darren Blakely opened the bottom of the ninth inning with a line-drive triple to right.
With Lars Hansen batting, Van Horn brought his infield in to try and cut off the tying run. Hansen ripped a hard grounder that handcuffed Nebraska third baseman Danny Kimura and went for an infield single.
Blakely remained at third.
Hawaii head coach Les Murakami sent Sean Takamori in to run for Hansen.
Van Horn moved his infield back, willing to concede the tying run in hopes of turning a double play.
However, Arnold pulled the old trick where the pitcher fakes a throw to third base in hopes of catching the runner at first straying too far off base. It worked.
Takamori was caught in a rundown and tagged out.
Blakely remained at third.
"He (Takamori) had the green light. I had just told him to watch for the third-to-first play," Murakami said.
With pinch hitter Joe Whitsett at the plate, Van Horn brought his infield back in. Whitsett hit a grounder at Ken Harvey at first for the second out.
Blakely remained at third.
Now Van Horn could move his infielders back to near-normal depth to play for the final out.
All-tournament pick Michael Dartt came to the plate 11-for-23 in the tourney. He battled Arnold to a 2-2 count and fouled off three pitches before hitting a sharp grounder to Kimura. The freshman walk-on from Iolani fired high, but true to Harvey, and the Cornhusker celebration started.
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Rory Pico, left, and Nebraska's Donny Starkins
look to the umpire on a close call at second base.
Starkins was safe on the play.
Schuldt was making his first collegiate start. A catcher at Howard Junior College (Texas), he pitched six innings for Baylor in 1997 and just 513 innings for Nebraska this year."This was my chance and I wanted to make the most of it," Schuldt said. "I just tried to throw strikes and keep them off balance."
He retired the first 12 Rainbows, striking out six. The Rainbows didn't get a hit until the sixth inning, when Neal Honma beat out a drag bunt up the first-base line.
The UH hitters rarely made solid contact. Schuldt finished with seven strikeouts, got four ground-ball outs, three outs on routine fly balls and five pop-ups.
Hawaii center fielder Darren Blakely was twice hit by pitches yesterday. That gives him 27 HBPs for his career, tying the school record. This season: Darren Blakely's Hard Knocks
Games: 38
He didn't get into trouble until he hit Blakely with two outs in the seventh and Hansen followed with a single to center. Schuldt's first two pitches to Shane Chan were balls, prompting Van Horn to bring in reliever Chad Wiles.
Chan walked, and Wiles gave up a soft, looping single to Dartt, just off the glove of shortstop Bryan Schmidt, scoring Blakely. But Greg Millichap popped to Wiles ending that threat.
After Jamie Aloy's one-out single and a walk to Tracy Nakano, Van Horn brought in Arnold, who had three tournament saves. He got Matt Wheeler to ground into a double play.
On the play, Wheeler strained his left hip flexor running to first, and was on crutches after the game. He is scheduled to be examined today, and is questionable for the 'Bows' Western Athletic Conference series at Air Force this weekend.
Schuldt's performance was anything but questionable.
"He didn't seem to be throwing that hard, but I didn't see the ball until it was halfway there," Wheeler, who was 0-for-4, said of Schuldt. "He must have been hiding it well."
"We changed his arm slot to about three-quarters two weeks ago and it has made him a better control pitcher," Van Horn said. "He did a great job because he got ahead with his pitches."
Schuldt said he was effective because he hit his spots with his slider and change-up after getting ahead with the fastball.
Nebraska (12-8, 5-2) got RBI singles from Donny Starkins and Cliff Durham.
It was the first time a team with the best tournament record did not win the title.
Yesterday's first game between Wright State (10-12, 0-6) and the University of Hawaii at Hilo (11-24, 2-4) was canceled due to rain.
There were congratulatory speeches, presentations of plaques, a Waterford Crystal Bowl, a large, framed version of the Les Murakami 1,000-victory card, a bronzed 1,000th win baseball and the ball Rich Maltby hit to give "Coach Les" his first win in 1972.
Maltby made the presentation.
Randy Oyama, a Rainbow first baseman from 1985-88, spoke on behalf of the former players, many of whom stood on the field for the ceremony.
Box Score
Nebraska Hawaii ab r h bi ab r h bi Schmidt ss 4 0 0 0 Millichap lf 4 0 0 0 Durham 2b 4 1 3 1 Honma rf 4 0 1 0 Harvey 1b 4 0 1 0 Aloy 1b 4 0 1 0 Kimura 3b 4 0 0 0 Nakano dh 2 0 0 0 Starkins rf 4 0 2 1 Martin pr 0 0 0 0 Hunt dh 2 0 0 0 Wheeler 3b 4 0 0 0 Harrington 2b 4 0 2 0 Perreira 3b 0 0 0 0 Sawyers c 2 0 0 0 Blakely cf 2 1 1 0 Moore ph 1 0 0 0 Hansen c 4 0 2 0 Lythgoe pr 0 0 0 0 Takamori pr 0 0 0 0 Johnson c 1 0 1 0 Pico 2b 1 0 0 0 Mumm lf 4 1 1 0 Konishi ph 1 0 0 0 Chan 2b 0 0 0 0 Whitsett ph 1 0 0 0 Dartt ss 4 0 1 1 Totals 34 2 10 2 Totals 31 1 6 1 Nebraska 100 010 000--2 2 Hawaii 000 000 100--1 1DP--Neb. 1 (Harrington-Schmidt-Harvey), UH 2 (Pico-Dartt-Aloy, Dartt-Pico-Aloy). LOB--Neb. 8, UH 8.2B--Starkins (4), Harrington (2), Johnson (3)). 3B--Blakely (5). SB--Honma (18), Hansen (1). S--Schmidt (5).
IP H R ER BB SO Schuldt (W, 1-0) 6-2/3 2 1 1 2 7 Wiles 2/3 2 0 0 1 0 Arnold (S, 4) 1-2/3 2 0 0 0 0 Yoshimasu (L, 2-1) 4 6 1 1 1 0 McNair 5 4 1 1 0 3HBP--Blakely 2 (by Schuldt 2), Hunt (by McNair).Umpires--Tomaszewski (plate), Torres (first), LeBeau (third).
T--2:15. A--2,996.
Cal Poly-SLO 002 000 000--2 10 1 Lewis-Clark State 021 000 00x--8 10 1Mike Zirelli and Matt Bailey; John Veitch and Barry Larson. W--Veitch (3-1). L--Zirelli (2-8).Leading hitters--CP: Jason Barringer, 2-5; Matt Elam, 3b; Tanner Trosper, 2-3; Michael Bland, 2-4. LCS: Kendrick Wallace, 2 RBIs; Elliott Strankman, 2-2, 3b; Thad Kline, 2-3; Brian Flanagan, 2b.
1B: Jamie Aloy, Hawaii. 2B: Matt Elam, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. SS: Michael Dartt, Hawaii. 3B: Matt Wheeler, Hawaii. OF: Greg Millichap and Darren Blakely, Hawaii and Kendrick Wallace, Lewis-Clark State. C: Scott Sheldon, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. DH: Ken Harvey, Nebraska. P: Aloy, Tevis Arnold, Nebraska.
Most Outstanding Pitcher: Aloy.
Most Outstanding Player: Aloy.
Rainbow Men Baseball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
