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A career .218 hitter in April during his seven years in the major leagues, Dustan Mohr is used to slow starts. That's why he doesn't panic when he gets off to one.

Dropped from the No. 4 spot in the batting order to No. 6 because he entered Wednesday batting .171, Mohr responded by delivering a two-hit game, including a two-run home run that gave the Wingnuts the lead and, ultimately, a 4-3 win over Fort Worth at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

"I've always been that way and I don't know why," Mohr said. "For whatever reason I start slow and as the season progresses I get better. Hopefully tonight was a step in the right direction. I haven't been feeling bad, there's just nothing to show for it."

For the second straight night, Wichita overcame several miscues to win. The Wingnuts have won the first three in the series, which concludes tonight.

Mohr's average was the lowest among Wichita regulars, and a grand slam during the Wingnuts' recent road trip was his only extra-base hit.

Some of Wichita State's seniors welcome the fresh start of tournament time. Some want to keep cruising along. The important thing may be that the 23rd-ranked Shockers do have six seniors, as well as nine juniors, to lean on. In baseball's postseason, that experience and perspective can be helpful.

The WSU seniors know the pain of losing in the Missouri Valley Conference title game and in regional title games. Last season, they learned they can battle out of the losers bracket and advance to a super regional. They also learned an inconsistent regular season can fade away with a good postseason run.

"We look at Oregon State last year," WSU senior Tyler Hill said. "They lost a lot of games, and a lot of people counted them out. But you talk to their players, and during their season, they didn't have any doubt in the world."

WSU (41-15) starts play today against Southern Illinois as the top seed in the MVC Tournament. It's little more than a week removed from a doubt-raising 12-0 loss to Oral Roberts that capped a stretch of four losses in six games. The Shockers rebounded with a sweep of Bradley to regain some momentum.

Oregon State endured plenty of bad days in 2007 before sneaking into a regional with a 38-17 record, 10-14 in the Pac-10. The Beavers then won 11 of 12 games on their way to a repeat national title.

Kansas State 3, Oklahoma State 2

Baylor 10, Nebraska 4

Missouri 3, Texas 2 (10)

At Oklahoma City

Wednesday's games

Pool 1

Missouri 3, Texas 2

Oklahoma 4, Texas A&M 1

Trotting to the mound in the sixth inning of Creighton's opening round matchup against Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, reliever Pat Venditte knew thathe could provide the missing spark.

After Creighton's bats struggled to a slow start Wednesday at Eck Stadium, Bradley loaded the bases and was threatening to break open a game tied at 2-2 when Venditte entered.

"We were kind of sleep-walking through those first five innings," Venditte said. "We needed a spark. That was a big opportunity for me to try to ignite things."

Venditte did exactly that, baiting Bradley's Tommy Fitzgerald into flying out on a breaking slider away from the plate to get out of the jam. Creighton then scored nine runs in the bottom of the sixth on the way to a 14-2, eight-inning win.

"I didn't want to give them the lead, they didn't need any more momentum than they already had," Venditte said. "I knew if I got us out of that jam, our offense would pick things up."

The Missouri Valley Conference tournament's new format tempted Missouri State coach Keith Guttin to alter his rotation and save Pitcher of the Year Tim Clubb for Friday.

"For about one second it tempts you," Guttin said. "Then you come back to reality."

The Bears, who earned a first-round bye with their second seed, are playing well enough that Guttin doesn't need to change his routine. He can match his No. 1 against Creighton's No. 2 and still feel good about the next game.

The Bears are the hottest team in the field, with eight wins in nine games and 14 of 16. Their hitters lead the MVC. No. 2 starter Buddy Baumann and reliever Matt Frevert are on the upswing.

"Our offense has been pretty balanced," Guttin said. "We've had contributions from a lot of places."

When: 7 p.m. tonight

Where: Lawrence-Dumont Stadium

Records: Fort Worth, 5-8; Wichita, 8-5

Starting pitchers: Fort Worth, Joel Kirsten (0-1, 1.93 ERA); Wichita, Demetri White (0-1, 12.71)

Radio: KGSO, 1410-AM

North boys coach Ben Mitchell resigned after three seasons and a 21-44 record. "I'm going to concentrate on getting myself ready for (being an administrator)," said Mitchell, who has a master's degree. "I want to be an assistant principal, and hopefully run my own building down the road."

Mitchell, who played at Kansas State, will teach algebra and eighth-grade math at Curtis Middle School next school year. North was 12-11 in 2006-07 to end three straight losing seasons. Mitchell also coached three years at West, going 12-54 and advancing to the Class 5A tournament in 2004.

• Deanna Nolan had the go-ahead jumper with 2:01 left and the Detroit Shock went on to beat the visiting Indiana Fever 76-71 on Wednesday night.

Kara Braxton scored a career-high 22 points and fellow reserve Plenette Pierson added 20 for the Shock (2-1). Nolan finished with 14 points and eight assists.

Katie Douglas had 26 points to lead Indiana (1-1). Tan White scored 17 points and Tammy Sutton-Brown added 12, but the Fever couldn't overcome 27 turnovers.

Facing Southern Illinois pitcher Shawn Joy produced one of the low points of the season for Wichita State. The Shockers get another shot at him today.

Fifth-seeded SIU defeated fourth-seeded Northern Iowa 5-3 in the first game of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Wednesday at Eck Stadium. The Salukis play top-seeded Wichita State at 7 tonight.

Joy, a lefty from Topeka, returns to the mound where he threw a shutout against Wichita State in a 3-0 victory in April. He struck out five, allowed five hits and walked none to out-duel WSU's Aaron Shafer.

"Our starting pitching's been great the past couple weeks," SIU catcher Mark Kelly said. "I know Shawn's going to give us a good effort, and even if he doesn't have his best stuff, he's going to battle for us. The past couple weeks, he has had it."

Wednesday, SIU right-hander Cody Adams definitely had it.

At Eck Stadium

Wednesday's games

S. Illinois 5, N. Iowa 3

Creighton 14, Bradley 2, 8 innings

N. Iowa 9, Bradley 2, Bradley eliminated

When: 7 tonight

Records: SIU 33-21, WSU 41-15

Pitchers: SIU -- LH Shawn Joy (6-2, 4.38); WSU -- LH Rob Musgrave (9-1, 2.11)

Radio: KNSS, 1330-AM

TV: None

The personalities of Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon are worlds apart.

Dixon prefers playing the subdued star, while Wheldon embraces his role as the gregarious gentleman.

On the track, however, this seemingly odd couple has given Target Chip Ganassi Racing a perfect 1-2 punch, a combination the world will witness when they start side-by-side on the front row for Sunday's Indianapolis 500.

"Like chalk and cheese," Wheldon said when asked about their differences. "When I first joined the team, Scott didn't say much at all. He's somewhat like introverted. When you get to know him, he's bloody funny."

It took 2 ½ seasons to work out the kinks between the New Zealander Dixon and the English-born Wheldon.

Bursting with all the trademarks of both the series and its director, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" finds Steven Spielberg returning to his most famous franchise and delivering something of a greatest hits album wrapped up in a shiny CGI bow.

The computer-generated effects are primarily what differentiates this "Indy" from its predecessors, with Spielberg using every tool in his arsenal to make this chapter the greatest B-movie in motion picture history. And, after its whiz-bang opening salvo, you'll be ready to bestow that title on "Crystal Skull," though the movie ultimately falls a bit short in this particular quest for glory.

The film's missed opportunities are self-imposed limitations present in all the "Indy" romps. Action-adventure set pieces have always taken precedence over story here, and the characters are archetypes along for the amusement park ride.

When that ride is operated by a filmmaker as gifted as Spielberg, you grab onto the handrails and surrender yourself to the thrills. As long as he balances the action's inherent absurdity with a lighthearted spirit ("Temple of Doom" failed miserably on this count), you can forgive any story shortcomings and the occasional serving of cheese, which here comes early on via some Ewok-cute, chattering groundhogs. (Thanks, George Lucas.)

Though there must be a good dozen allusions to Indy's age ("what are you, like, 80?"), the most immediate effect of the 19-year gap between "Crystal Skull" and "The Last Crusade" comes from putting Jones in 1957. The movie opens in the New Mexico desert and moves to the military installation we last saw at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." The Nazis have been replaced by Commies, and the Feds, in full Red Scare mode, suspect that Indy might have cast his lot with the Ruskies.

THE EXHIBIT, WHICH FEATURES CADAVERS ON DISPLAY, OPENS SATURDAY AT EXPLORATION PLACE

It's controversial, compelling and probably not for the weak of stomach (or for those who don't want to know what their stomachs actually look like). The anticipated traveling exhibit "Our Body: The Universe Within" opens Saturday at Exploration Place, 300 N. McLean Blvd.

The exhibit features 17 human cadavers and several other anatomical displays preserved through a process called plastination.

The cadavers are posed in lifelike positions. Most are without skin so that bones, muscles, tendons, nerves, blood vessels and organs are visible.

The display and several others like it have been selling out museums across the country. They've also been controversial, especially after allegations were made that a similar touring exhibit may have improperly obtained cadavers from China. Exploration Place officials said the producers of the exhibit coming to Wichita have documentation on each body showing that it was properly obtained.

When former "Dancing With the Stars" champ Julianne Hough came to town to make her debut album, Nashville's songwriters went to work churning out a bunch of songs about -- what else? --dancing.

Big mistake.

"Each one that said dancing (in the title), I said 'Nope, sorry,' Hough, 19, recalled over coffee recently.

For now at least, Hough, whose self-titled CD came out Tuesday, wants people to forget she's a dancer and think of her as a singer.

She's been doing both since she was a little girl and had actually begun pursuing a career in music before "Dancing With the Stars." She had reservations about doing the show in the first place.

These days, the expression "dimpled chad" sounds more like a nickname for the latest contestant racking up votes on "American Idol." But eight years ago, it was all about not getting a vote for thousands of frustrated Florida residents whose balloting didn't count.

HBO takes us behind the scenes of that 2000 presidential election in the ambitious docudrama "Recount," premiering at 8 p.m. Sunday with an all-star cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern, Tom Wilkinson and Denis Leary.

For weeks after the election, the Democratic and Republican parties each fought to assure a clear vote count in Florida, the last state to weigh in on a very tight race for the White House between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush. The film portrays the efforts of both camps to tilt the scales, one seemingly fairly and one not, in order to give their candidate the greatest chance of winning.

"It's a really important story to tell, and it's one told in a way that's more of a thriller than it is a history lesson," says Spacey, who portrays Ron Klain, the former Gore chief of staff who ends up taking up the fair election cause for the then vice president.

The film plays out over a 36-day period, walking viewers through what took place from Election Day to the date the race was finally decided.

The eyes still have that twinkle, though they twinkle behind wrinkles these days. The freckled girl-next-door grin is still infectious, the voice and laugh as plucky as we remember them.

Karen Allen is 56 now, her "Animal House" days long behind her. The same could be said for Harrison Ford, who at 65 is decades removed from his 1980s heyday. But there's something magical, something so right about Indiana Jones hooking back up with "the only girl" he "ever loved," Marion Ravenwood, for the first Indy movie in nearly 25 years, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which opens today.

"This was a huge surprise," Allen says of returning to Indyworld. "I was so pleased that they wanted me to come back and be a part of this all again."

She's been living with Marion for more than 25 years, getting stopped on the street, customers dropping into her Massachusetts knitwear design business (Karen Allen Fiber Arts), people wanting to meet the gal (the only word for her) who could take a punch, throw a punch and hold her spiked punch with the best of them.

"I don't think Marion will ever be out of my life," she says, laughing. "That's a great thing, too, I have to say. She's a wonderful character, and it's a film that is very beloved. There's a resilience and a resonance to her that kind of spills over into my own life that I like. It's great having a character like her shape my relationship to the world, particularly the film world."