The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 9

Mets beat Expos B5 Fishing report B9 Friday, April 8, 1988 Th PanUgrcph Nelson, Wrenn survive wind, lead Masters b) 7 0 I 1 4 AP i AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) The wind blew for Larry Nelson and the cold grew for Robert Wrenn. But each survived his battle with the elements to get a share of the lead yesterday in the first round of the 52nd Masters. Each had 69s Wrenn with a last hole birdie in conditions that rank among the most severe in the history of this old tournament. The chilly winds produced scenes more common to a New England autumn than a Southern spring.

It sent spectators burrowing under blankets and scurrying for warmer clothing. Most of them were gone when Wrenn, a rookie in this event who played in the next to last group on the Augusta National Golf Club course, rapped in the eight foot birdie putt on the final hole, only the third birdie of the day on the 18th. "A heck of a way to end the day," said the Wake Forest product who is in his fourth year on the tour. "The last couple of holes, I was getting numb out there." Unpopular wind It wasn't quite so cold for Nelson. But he played In the worst of the tormenting winds that had the elite, international field of 90 searching their vocabularies for adequate words of description.

"Devilish," Ken Brown of California's Chili Davis was out at home plate as White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk made the tag after Davis tried to score on a double in the fourth inning yesterday at Chicago. Disputed call helps Sox hang on replays showed Joyner had his arm around Guillen's leg. no question about it," he said. meanwhile, said his fastball and were his best weapons. on, my fastball was moving because of and the dryness," he said.

"After I got changeup was working." ninth, he said, "I bung a fastball and a changeup. I think I was Just trying to be a perfect." who retired 15 batters in a row giving up the double to Armas, allowed and struck out seven. Long picked up single drove home Gary Redus, off the fourth with a single and then CHICAGO (AP) It was a game that was fun for Dave LaPoint, but the ending left California JAngels manager Cookie Rojas fuming yesterday. LaPoint pitched a three-hitter over eight in-' nings and Ivan Calderon hit a run-scoring sin- gle in the fourth to lead the Chicago White Sox the Angels 2-1. LaPoint, 1-0, left with one out in the ninth after he gave up consecutive doubles to Tony Armas and Chili Davis, scoring Armas to pull -the Angels within 2-1.

Wally Joyner drew a walk off reliever Bill Long, then Brian Downing hit a grounder to "-Chicago second baseman Fred Manrique, who threw to Ozzie Guillen at second. Umpire Jim 1 McKean ruled it a double play, saying Joyner, sliding to second, had interfered with Guillen's throw. "There's no Interference," Rojas said. "Joyner was sliding into second base He was trying to break up a double play. He's not out of line He didn't grab the guy." Joyner said he touched Guillen, but he didn't think he did anything wrong.

"I'm not denying I stuck my arm out, but that's no different than sticking my foot out," Joyner said. "Ozzie wasn't making an effort to throw anywhere." Guillen, of course, thought the call was a good one. "I give all the credit to the umpires," he said. "It was a real good call. He (Joyner) tried to grab my right leg." White Sox manager Jim Fregosi said tele Cubs make Robinson's day with assignment to Peoria son as the No.

4 man in the starting rotation for the Chiefs, who open tonight at home against Springfield. Game time is 7 o'clock at Meinen Field. Robinson, who will get his first start Monday at South Bend, hopes to play as well in Peoria as he did last summer at Geneva, N.Y. Robinson had a 54 record and a fine 2.40 earned run average in a starting role. He struck out 76 and walked only 29 in 98 innings, helping Geneva to the Class A New York-Penn League championship.

"In my opinion the numbers don't lie, and if you look at Brett's numbers from last year, they were outstanding," Chiefs manager Jim Tracy said. "From what I've seen, he's going to do very well." Chiefs' pitching coach Rick Kranitz also expects big things from the 6-foot-4 Robinson, calling him "very versatile." "Not only can he be a starter, but he's capable of coming out of the bullpen and pitching every day," Kranitz said. "Either way, we can't go wrong with him." Actually, a lot of things could go basking in nessed." Frederick, who served as athletic director at ISU from 1985 until last May, admitted he got the feeling early in the 64-team tournament that the Jayhawks were destined to win the event. "Everything kept happening in our favor," said Frederick. "When the tournament draw came out, it appeared if we could beat Xavier, then we would have to beat (nationally ranked) North Carolina State, Pittsburgh and Purdue to make it to the Final Four.

But just before we were to play each of those teams, they'd get knocked off." Ironically, the Jayhawks' final three victories In the tournament over Kansas State, Duke and Oklahoma came against teams that had beaten them earlier in the year. Did Frederick think Kansas could win the national cham- vision locked "There's LaPoint, changeup "Early the wind going, my In the high little too LaPoint, before five hits the save. Calderon's who led stole second. Larry Nelson watched his putt on No. 16 yesterday.

Scott Simpson had a 79, as did former Illinois State University golfer A. Weibring. But they were not alone in wind-raked misery. "I saw some heartbreaking things out there," Crenshaw said. Lee Trevino, who has won the other three major championships twice apiece but has given up hopes of ever acquiring a Masters title, took a fat 81.

Arnold Palmer, 58, a four-time Masters winner, strained the patience of his loyal Army with an 80. It was two shots back of the co-leaders to a polyglot lot at 71. Bernhard Lunger of West Germany, the 1985 Masters champion, managed to go one under par despite an aching back. He was tied with Sandy Lyle of Scotland, a two-time winner on the American tour this season, along with Mark Calcaverchia and Don Pooley. Crenshaw, Watson at 72 Crenshaw, the 1984 Masters champion, Watson, a two-time Masters winner, and Gary Koch matched par 72.

"I was Just creeping around trying to find something," Crenshaw said. "It was like survival," Watson said. "I'm always amazed at what the wind does here. I don't think I'll ever figure it out." Koch had a share of the lead until he got into a bunker, left it there and made triple bogey on the final hole. Ballesteros, twice a winner of this title, was tied at 73 with a group that included Tom Kite, Ken Brown of Scotland, David Frost of South Africa, Love, Andy Bean, Gary Hallberg and Chip Beck.

Nelson, who won the 1983 U.S. Open and two PGA titles, matched two birdies against as many bogeys over the first 11 holes, then birdied the 12th from 10 feet. He got a wedge to within 30 inches of the wind-blown flag on the 14th, went to 3-under with a 9-iron that cozled In about 2 feet from the cup on the 17th and preserved It with an 8-foot, par-saving putt on the final hole. "I didn't try to do anything funny. I didn't try to do anything better than I could do," Nelson said.

at Kansas the tournament gave us the opportunity to showcase the university to millions of people," said Budig. "We've already started receiving phone calls from individuals anxious to participate in our fund raising effort. "I'm extremely pleased this happened during Bob Frederick's first year here. It should be a tremendous boost for Bob and the long range plans he has for intercollegiate athletics because of the additional support the program should receive." Frederick's biggest concern now is keeping close friend and head coach Larry Brown in Lawrence. Brown has been rumored as the front-runner for the head coaching job at UCLA, a position he held before going to Kansas.

"We've given UCLA permission to talk with Larry, but we're confident he'll stay at Kansas," said Frederick. "We're proceeding like he'll be here next year." right this year for the Chiefs, who finished 81-79 last summer but missed the Midwest League playoffs by IVt games. Seven players who spent all or part of last season in Peoria are back pitchers John Green, Greg Kallevig and Fernando Zarranz; in-fielders Lenny Bell, Sergio Espinal and Elvin Paulino; and outfielder Eddie Williams. In addition, 15 Chiefs were on the Geneva title team. "I think we're very solid," said Robinson, a 1987 IWU grad.

"I think we've got contending talent." Tracy is optimistic as well, In large part because his second Peoria team appears much better defensively than his first. The Chiefs committed 251 errors last season. "Our two strong points should be defense and pitching," he said. Following tonight's opener, at which Bradley University basketball star Hersey Hawkins will throw out the first pitch, Peoria is on the road until April 24. See Scoreboard for the Chiefs' home schedule and ticket information.

Scotland said. "Impossible," Davis Love III said. "Heartbreaking," Ben Crenshaw said. "It was definitely one of the top four most difficult days I've seen here," said Jack Nicklaus, competing in his 30th Masters. "It may be THE most difficult, actually." Nelson only smiled.

"It wasn't windy, was it?" the 40-year-old current PGA champion said, his eyes twinkling. "I didn't do anything really dumb. And I didn't do anything really smart. I just hit a lot of good shots and made a lot of short putts," he said. Bad day for putts That was an exception, too.

More short putts were missed than made. "I backed away many, many times," said Crenshaw, one of the game's finest putters. "The wind would rock you and you had to back off." Seve Ballesteros, the mercurial Spaniard who has such a fascination with this event, four-putted for a double bogey on the 16th. He finished with a 73. "In my 13 Masters, I have never seen conditions so difficult," Ballesteros said.

The 48-year-old Nicklaus, who has won this title six times, three-putted four times in a round of 75 that, he insisted, kept him in the hunt for still another green jacket. "You cannot win the golf tournament on a day like today, but you can lose the golf tournament," he said. That could have happened to some of the game's more celebrated performers. Greg Norman, who has finished second in the last two Masters, struggled to a 77. Defending champion Larry Mize was one shot higher.

And U.S. Open title-holder ary, including a loss to Kansas State, which broke our 55-game home winning streak the longest in the nation." At that point, the Jayhawks had a 12-8 record and Frederick admitted, "We were wondering if we'd even make the tournament." "But, the players really came together, started playing great defense, and started feeling good about themselves," added Frederick. "They started on a tremendous run and only lost three games the rest of the way." Winning the national championship couldn't have come at a better time either, according to Frederick, because the university had just embarked on a $150 million fund raising campaign. Kansas Chancellor Gene Budig, who served as president at Illinois State from 1973 until 1977, agreed with Frederick. "The exposure we received from Jackson hurls Reds over Cards CINCINNATI (AP) Danny Jackson achieved his main goal in his National League debut he didn't embarrass himself.

Instead, he sent the St. Louis Cardinals away red-faced. Jackson pitched a three-hitter and drove In a pair of runs with a single and a sacrifice fly to lead the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-1 victory yesterday. The left-hander was the Reds' main offseason acquisition, obtained from Kansas City last November to be the cornerstone of a retooled starting rotation. "A lot of the guys were saying, 'Yeah, come here to the National League and make everything look easy a couple of RBIs, a Jackson said.

"But it wasn't as easy as they thought it was. I'm Just glad I didn't embarrass myself." Although he walked seven batters, Jackson allowed just three hits a bunt single by Tom Herr in the third, a soft double by Tony Pena in the fourth and a solo homer by Bob Horner in the eighth. Jackson stayed out of trouble by keeping the Cardinals' speed in check. He knew how important that was, having faced St. Louis twice in the 1985 World Series.

"That's a key, keeping the speedsters off base," Jackson said. "They're not going to be able to hit and run and do the things they do best Our offense and defense were great, especially the defensive plays." Rookie Chris Sabo, filling in for the injured Buddy Bell, made the biggest share of the defensive plays. He tied the major league record for assists by a third baseman with 11. Eric Davis and Kal Daniels also drove in two runs each to help the Reds sweep their rain-shortened two-game series with the defending National League champions. By RANDY KINDRED Pantagraph staff PEORIA It was a match made in Mesa, which despite its divine Arizona climate is a long way from heaven.

Still, Brett Robinson's assignment to the Class A Peoria Chiefs has the former Illinois Wesleyan University baseball standout on Robinson cloud nine. "No doubt about It," Robinson, said last night prior to Meet The Chiefs Night at the Continental Regency Hotel. "I was hoping it would turn out this way." The 23-year-old Robinson, a right-handed pitcher who signed with the Chicago Cubs organization as a free agent in June, was sent to Peoria after pitching well in spring training at Mesa. The Bethany High School and Wesleyan graduate begins the sea- Frederick By BRYAN BLOODWORTH Pantagraph staff A year ago, as athletic director at Illinois State University, Bob Frederick was trying to figure ways to get as many chairback seats as possible in Redbird Arena. Today, as athletic director at Kansas University, Frederick can be excused for kicking back In his chair for a moment to relish the thrill of having a team win a national championship.

The Jayhawks put Frederick in that position Monday by defeating Oklahoma, 83-79. for the NCAA basketball title at Kansas City. "The feeling is tremendous and the enthusiasm here is unbelievable," said Frederick, who finally had a chance to catch his breath yesterday. "We had 30,000 people greet the team at a welcome home rally in the football stadium. It was one of the more emotional things I've wit championship glow Frederick Budig pionship at the beginning of the season? "Based on the players we had coming back, we felt we had an excellent chance of making it to the Final Four," said Frederick.

"But, we ran into some real difficulties during the year. "We lost two of our frontline starters (Archie Marshall to a knee injury and Marvin Branch to academics) in December. Then, we lost five of six games in late Janu.