Husker ace Dorn downplays matchup with Mizzou's Crow

Two of the most dominant pitchers in the Big 12 Conference will square off Friday night when Nebraska's Johnny Dorn takes the mound against Missouri's Aaron Crow.

While the marquee matchup is sure to be highlighted by media and fans alike, Dorn said he views it as just another difficult challenge in the Big 12.

"It's just another Friday night game," Dorn said. "I know it's probably going to be another tough one for us, but we're just going to scrap and do whatever we can.

"Against Crow, I know that I've got to do a good job of keeping them to one or two runs because that might be all we get against him. That's going to be my approach."

Dorn has a 5-1 record and ranks second in the league in strikeouts (90) and fifth in ERA (2.65). Crow enters the series with an 11-0 mark, leads the conference in strikeouts (103) and sixth in ERA (2.82) for No. 12 Missouri.

Dorn versus Crow is a headliner to be sure, but more important to Dorn and the Cornhuskers than any individual battle is the team's performance in the final regular-season conference series. No. 5-ranked Nebraska (39-9-1, 17-6-1 Big 12) trails Big 12-leading Texas A&M (42-11, 19-5) by 1 1/2 games, but also owns just a slim lead over third-place Oklahoma State (38-14, 16-8).

"If the A&M series was big, then you've got to assume the next one's big, too," Dorn said. "Oklahoma State is right on our heels and Texas A&M is still winning it, so things won't shape up the way we want them to if we don't take care of business."

Dorn said last weekend was definitely one of the most memorable of his college baseball career. The senior from Grand Island pitched eight solid innings last Friday night and got a no-decision in a game that Texas A&M went on to win 6-3 in 16 innings.

But with the Aggies needing just one victory in Sunday's doubleheader to clinch the Big 12 regular-season title, Nebraska rallied from a four-run deficit to win game one 9-8 and then came back from five down to win 13-10 in the nightcap.

As if that wasn't memorable enough, the Huskers had ceremonies for both parents' day and senior day on Sunday due to Saturday's rainout, packing a lot of emotion into one afternoon. The end result was something Dorn said he won't forget anytime soon.

"It was a fun day," Dorn said. "I appreciate everybody coming out. To have the opportunity to play with these guys in front of these fans is unbelievable."

20-year officials

Several area officials were among those recognized by the Nebraska School Activities Association for 20 years of service.

Area 20-year officials include Douglas Berlie of Grand Island (football), Merlin Brenden of St. Paul (football), Robert Dewitt of Hastings (football), Doug Voigt of St. Paul (basketball) and Roger Aspen of Hastings (wrestling).

Officiating high school athletics can be undoubtedly one of the most thankless jobs out there. Kudos to those individuals who have stuck with it, mostly due to their commitment to high school athletics and the student-athletes who participate in them.



Terry Douglass is sports editor for The Independent.