Fan nabs 2 historic home runs
HOUSTON -- Shaun Dean made two big catches from his spot in the stands during the record-setting, 18-inning Game 4 between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros.
HOUSTON -- Shaun Dean made two big catches from his spot in the stands during the record-setting, 18-inning Game 4 between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros.
ST. LOUIS -- Mike Martz is out indefinitely as coach of the St. Louis Rams with a bacterial infection of the heart. A specialist Monday told Martz that his condition, which kept him out of two practices last week, had worsened. The 54-year-old has been ill for more than a month and was tested for endocarditis, a bacterial infection of the lining of the heart or a heart valve.
In college football, it's not an uncommon sight to see the crowd rush the field. But after IU's 36-13 Homecoming win over Illinois Saturday, it was the team that rushed the crowd. And it was head coach Terry Hoeppner leading the charge. In front in 35,829 fans, the Hoosiers triumphed over the Illini for their fourth win of the season, pushing them two wins away from bowl eligibility. Though attendance dropped from the previous home game, Hoeppner stressed quality over quantity.
The IU volleyball team's struggles in Big Ten play continued this weekend as it lost a pair of matches, one against No. 9 Minnesota and the other against unranked Iowa (30-20, 20-30, 20-30, 27-30), dropping it to 1-5 in conference play and 8-10 overall. The weekend started when the Hoosiers faced off against Minnesota, the second-best defensive team in the country. Minnesota came into the match ranked second in the nation in opposing hitting percentage, holding opponents to a .098 hitting percentage, and preventing opposing teams from hitting more than .200 in the season.
Each time the IU field hockey team wins, a record seems to be broken. Saturday proved to be no exception when the Hoosiers defeated Northwestern 3-1. The victory extended the Hoosiers' record-winning streak to eight games and marked the first time IU has won three consecutive Big Ten games. Saturday's defeat of Northwestern was the first time a Hoosier team defeated the Wildcats and also improved IU's home record to 6-0 this season.
Junior Josh Tudela scored his third goal in two games en route to securing IU's first Big Ten victory of the season over Michigan. The 2-0 win also handed the Wolverines their first conference loss of the season. This is the longest it has taken IU to notch its first Big Ten regular season victory since the conference adapted men's soccer as a varsity sport in 1991. In 2003, it took IU two tries to get a Big Ten win when the team tied Michigan State in the Big Ten opener, then beat Michigan.
IU head coach Mick Lyon said he cannot ask much more from his team. Playing on the road and in the rain, IU (5-7-1, 1-4 Big Ten) out-shot its opponent and scored two goals, but it was not enough for the Hoosiers to overcome Ohio State (5-5-2, 2-3 Big Ten). The Hoosiers lost 3-2 Friday night at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
With the Hoosiers leading 21-13 in the fourth quarter, Illinois quarterback Tim Brasic just hit receiver Kyle Hudson on a 34-yard pass to move the Illini into Hoosier territory. Two plays later, on third and long, Brasic took off, running the ball to the Indiana 42-yard line, past the first down marker. There IU junior defensive back Will Meyers met Brasic and delivered a decisive blow, popping the ball from Brasic's grip. Sophomore defensive lineman Charles Emerson recovered the ball, giving IU possession near midfield. The Hoosiers went on to score 15 unanswered points and seal the victory.
The first time IU fans saw Blake Powers play Illinois, they saw a shaky freshman throw two interceptions in the fourth quarter of a 26-22 loss that crushed IU's bowl-game hopes. That was 2004. This is 2005, and Blake Powers is no longer a nervous freshman. He's IU's all-time leading touchdown passer in a single season. Throwing his 15th, 16th, 17th and record-breaking 18th touchdown passes Saturday, Powers surpassed former IU standout and current Pittsburgh Steeler Antwaan Randel El's single-season mark set in 1999. With four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Powers threw the record-breaking pass to his busiest target, freshman wideout James Hardy. Hardy ran a quick slant pattern and caught the 8-yard touchdown to give Powers the record.
ATLANTA -- The Braves rocked the Rocket, John Smoltz picked up where he left off six years ago, and Atlanta finds itself all even with the Houston Astros in the NL playoffs. Rookie Brian McCann hit a three-run homer in his first postseason at-bat, which were all the runs Smoltz needed to lead the Braves past Roger Clemens and the Astros 7-1 on Thursday night, tying the best-of-five series at one game apiece.
ST. LOUIS -- When Mark Mulder took a line drive off his arm in the second inning and doubled over in pain, the St. Louis Cardinals figured it would be a short outing for their 16-game winner. Instead, Mulder shook off the hard shot to his left bicep from Joe Randa -- the same way he tossed aside a pair of poor tuneup starts -- and put his team on the brink of a playoff sweep.
SAN FRANCISCO - Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison are poised to make history, and the San Francisco 49ers know there's not much they can do to protect one of their franchise's most hallowed records in their own stadium. The 49ers are just hoping Dwight Freeney doesn't set some sort of sacks record of his own while chasing Alex Smith, San Francisco's own star quarterback of the future.
IU women's field hockey head coach Amy Robertson has her team riding high, evidenced by a seven-game winning streak to match a program high No. 7 national ranking. Even with many accolades and wins, Robertson insists her team isn't losing focus on their season goals, especially with 6-5 (0-3) Northwestern coming into Mellencamp Pavilion Saturday.
For the first time all season, the IU women's soccer team will only play one game over the weekend, tonight at Ohio State. The team is used to playing two games a weekend, one Friday and one Sunday. "There is definitely a mental advantage," said senior captain Kristen Zmijewski. "Knowing we only have one game, we can go all out and then we can let our bodies recover."
During a long college sports season, losing focus is something that can plague teams. The members of the IU women's volleyball team realize this, and have come up with a unique formula for battling the monotony that accompanies their long road trips and tournament weekends.
ST. LOUIS -- Robert Lang had a goal and an assist, and Jason Williams had three assists to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a season-opening home-and-home sweep of the St. Louis Blues with a 4-3 victory Thursday night. Detroit, which beat the Blues 5-1 at home Wednesday night, could not have asked for a better opponent to open the season. Since 2002-03, Detroit is 11-1-1 against St. Louis.
The IU men's soccer team returns to Big Ten action this weekend at Michigan in search of its first conference victory of the season. After beginning the Big Ten campaign 0-1-1 with a loss to Penn State and a tie with Michigan State, the Hoosiers rebounded with a pair of non-conference wins against IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and the University of Louisville.
In its last four games against Illinois, the IU football team managed only one win and averaged 16 points per game. This year, in front of a Homecoming crowd, the Hoosiers hope to overpower the Illini defense with their offense -- one that has averaged nearly 30 points a game.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Junior Josh Tudela netted both goals for the Hoosiers en route to a 2-0 win over the University of Louisville Cardinals in front of a record crowd of 3,583 fans at Cardinal Park.
IU's rowing clinic expanded its session to three weeks this year to better prepare walk-ons and novices for the realities of life in America's oldest intercollegiate sport. "Last year we taught them how to row, but we didn't teach them what rowing was about," head coach Steve Peterson said. "There's a big difference, and we needed more time."