Monday, May 1, 2000 The University Daily Kansan Section B·Page 3 Bears' pitching dooms'Hawks in sweep By Amanda Kaschube sports@kansan.com Kansas swriter With the bases loaded in the eighth inning yesterday in Waco, Texas, center fielder Doug Dreher lined a shot toward Baylor third baseman Mark Saccomanno. But Saccomanno snagged the shot, ending Kansas' best chance of avoiding its second conference series sweep. The 'Hawks stranded nine base runners yesterday in a series that was marked by tight pitching — except when Kansas was on the mound. The Baylor pitching staff dominated the Kansas offense all weekend, allowing only six runs on 13 hits during the three-game series. The Hawks (22-26 overall), 8-19 in the Big 12 Conference) lost 8-1 Friday, 5-0 Saturday and 6-5 yesterday. Bears pitcher Kyle Evans pitched a complete game in Saturday's shutout, allowing three hits, and reliever Zane Carlson shut down Kansas in the late innings yesterday. The steady Baylor pitching — the Bears struck out 26 Jayhawks — made beating the No. 5, conference-leading Bears much harder. "Waco is a tough place to play, and their pitching was a lot better than I expected," said coach Bobby Randall. "We handled the lefty well, but the two righties earlier this weekend gave us trouble. They deserve to be the No. 5 nationally ranked team." While Baylor, 39-13 overall, 20-7 in the Big 12, was perfect on the mound, Kansas pitcher Brandon O'Neal was not that stable yesterday. O'Neal (1-5) allowed six of the eight lead-off hitters on base and four scored laurel junior gave up six earned runs in six innings and walked four in an outing that Randall said was disappointing. The walks he gave up hurt him a lot," he said. "The game got away from us early, and we never got it back. We had chances to score with runners on base, but we flubbed on a lot of them." The flubbing — Kansas stranded nine on base yesterday came from strikeouts. That and a strong center field cost Kansas the game. But senior Shane Wedd said the three losses weren't because of Jayhawk errors. ■ Kansas has never beat Baylor in Waco. The 'Hawks are 0-10 on the road against the Bears. "I think what it came down to was that they threw three quality games," he said. "We would have had to have played flawless baseball. It just didn't go our way this weekend." Kansas Baseball Notes Senior Rusty Philbrick made his 4th career start and became Kansas' all-time leader in games started, breaking David Meyer's record. Philbrick fell to 5-5 on the season after Saturday's loss. BOX SCORES Game One — Friday Kansas 100 000 000 1 7 1 Baylor 102 030 02x 8 13 0 Kansas IP H R E BB 50 Pete Smart 4/2 3/9 6 6 1 2 Dan Olson 3/4 2/4 2 2 2 Game Three — Sunday Kansas 020 002 010 5 7 1 Baylor 100 113 006 6 11 4 Game Two — Saturday Kansas 030 000 000 0 3 Baylor 030 000 20x 5 7 0 Kansas IP H R ER BB SO Rusty Philbrick 6/1 3/7 5 2 5 6 Jeff Dear 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 Kansas IP R H RB 50 Brandon O'Neal 10 6 10 6 4 3 Sam Gish 1 0 0 0 1 Surprise bunt leads Royals to win against Mariners The Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. - While home runs are generating all the excitement in Kansas City, sometimes it's the little things that are winning games for the Royals. Mike Sweeney's bunt single in the sixth inning caught everybody by surprise and helped Kansas City beat the Seattle Martins 6-3 yesterday. Sweeney's bunt enabled Johnny Damon to speed home from third and break a 2-2 tie, flustering Gil Meche (0-3) and thrilling Royals manager Tony Muser. "This is a sign of maturity and wanting to win, and learning how to win," said Muser. "That was tremendous. That was what really sparked us and got us into position to do other good things." It was not a suicide squeeze. Damon had no idea Sweeney wasn't swinging away. "Johnny came up to me in the second inning and said Meche was falling off the mound toward first base, and my next at-bat I noticed [third baseman Carlos] Guillen was way back." Sweeney said. "So I decided to bunt it." "For Sweeney to lay down a bunt right there, that's just not something I expected." Meche said. Jermaine Dye's RBI double a moment later made it 4-2, then Joe Randa tacked on a two-run homer in the eighth as the Royals raised their home record to 10-2. Jose Rosado (2-2) went 5 and 2/3 innings and was replaced by Jose Santiago after a 50-minute rain delay. Rosado gave up two runs on five hits, with three walks and four strikeouts. Santiago struck out five batters in 21/3 innings and prompted Seattle manager "Johnny came up to me in the second inning and said Meche was falling off the mound toward first base, and my next at-bat I noticed [third baseman Carlos] Guillen was way back. So I decided to bunt it." Mike Sweeney Mike Sweeney Kansas City Royals first baseman Lou Piniella to wonder if he wasn't scuffing the ball. Piniella went out and asked the umpires about it. "Every time Santiago went to his belt buckle, the ball was doing something funny," Piniella said. "I just asked them to check the ball if he went to his belt buckle." Santiago denied any wrongdoing. Santiago denied my wrongdoing. "I guess my ball moved pretty good today and he was kind of surprised," Santiago said. "The umpires didn't say anything to me. I asked him if he wanted to check me and he said no." Ricky Bottalico pitched the ninth for his third save. Mark Quinn hit a two-run homer in the first and Dye hit an RBI double in the sixth that capped one of the most productive Aprils in team history. Dye, the first player in major league history to have 10 home runs and 10 doubles before May 1, closed out the month leading the AL with 11 homers. 83 total bases, 12 doubles, 2 extra-base hits and an .847 slugging percentage. His 11 "He's had a great month. I'm happy for him." Muser said. homers and 28 RBI are both club records for April. Alex Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly in the third. The Mariners tied it at 2 on an RBI grounder in the fifth by Edgar Martinez. Johnny Damon reached on a fielder's choice in the fifth and went to second with his league-leading 11th stolen base before Sweeney laid down his two-out bunt. Martinez hit his fifth home run with two out in the seventh I ran with two arms. Meche gave up four runs and six hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out five. In his five starts, the Mariners have scored just seven runs. "The runs are just not coming right now," he said. "I'm just not getting lucky right now. But it will turn around. I'll just keep going after them." - Every Mariner batter struck out one time. Notes: The Mariners (13-10) had a winning April for just the seventh time in their history. After getting swept in three games in Seattle last week, the Royals took two of three from the Mariners. - Royals 2B Carlos Febles made a fine play in the seventh. With John Olerud on first and two out, Jay Buhner hit a hard smash straight at him. He knocked the ball down, then went to his knees and tossed to shortstop Jeff Reboulet for the force. The Mariners turned four double plays SEATTLE ab r h b l Mclmre 2b 5 1 2 0 Javier if 3 1 0 0 Ardrgz 2d 2 0 1 1 EMtzn dh 5 1 1 2 Olendu 1b 1 3 0 0 Bouhr f 4 0 1 0 Cmeron cf 4 0 1 0 Willen c 3 0 2 0 Wilson c 3 0 2 0 Bmpln 3b 3 0 0 0 Lpmph 1k 3 0 0 0 DaBeil 3b 3 0 0 0 Totals 33 3 7 3 ROYALS 6, MARINERS Seattle 001 010 100 3 Kansas City 020 020 02x 6 KANSA5 CITY ab r b h bl Damon lf 1 4 0 0 0 Febles 2b 1 3 0 0 0 MJwsy 2b 1 3 2 2 1 McCryt 1b 0 0 0 0 Dye rf 1b 4 0 1 1 CBeltm cf 4 0 0 0 Randa 3b 3 2 2 2 Quinn dh 4 1 2 2 Porgas d 3 0 0 0 Rboulet ds 2 0 2 0 Totals 30 6 10 6 E - Febelles (4), MJWeseney (4), Randa (3). D - Seatelle 4, Kansas City 1, LOB - Seattle 10, Kansas City 4, 2B - McLemore 2 (3), ADROuguez (7), D Cameron (5), D Wilson (6), Dve (12), HR - EMartirez (4), Randa (5), Quinn (4), SUF - McLemore 6, McLemore 5, S - Tujfer-SUF - ADROuguez | Seattle | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Meche L0-3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | | Rodriguez 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | HBP—by Meche (Randa). Umpires - Home, Foster, Marty; First, Kulpa, Second, Hernandez; Third, McCielan, Fourth, Grafenauer. T-2:30, A—23,568 (40,625). Javelin win at Drake Relays propels thrower to 'Triple Crown' By Sarah Warren sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter Scott Russell might as well be a racehorse — though he's built more like a Clydesdale. The 6-foot-9, 270 pound junior, already an All-American and a team captain, completed the Triple Crown of track and field this weekend by winning the javelin at the Drake Relays. "Back in yesteryear it was big to win the Triple Crown, which is to win your event at the Texas, Kansas and Drake Relays," coach Gary Schwartz said. "I remember when it was a big deal, and I think it is still a big deal and Scott obtaining that is definitely a highlight." The accomplishment was a meet highlight, but not a season highlight, at least in Russell's eyes. "Honestly, I'm not happy with how I threw," Russell said. "But I can't complain because I did end up winning, and I did complete the Triple Crown." In fact, Russell threw 231-feet-8, after throwing 239-7 at Texas and 239-0 at Kansas. "There were two guys there that could have and should have beat me," Russell said. "I did all right." Kansas fared well in other throwing events, with sophomore Andrea Bulat placing third in the women's javelin and sophomore Ryan Speers finishing eighth in the men's shot put. Also on the field, junior All-American Andrea Branson placed fourth in the pole vault. Meanwhile, on the track, junior All-American Charlie Gruber placed second in the 1,500-meter race, missing the win by nine-hundredths of a second. Although he was runner up, Gruber provisionally qualified for the NCAA outdoor meet and ran his second fastest 1,500 ever at 3:43.59 Because of these high standards, Kansas was unable to field a full team. Those who did not attend Drake headed east to Kansas City, Mo., to compete at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Open. “Getting into the Drake Relays is an accomplishment; placing at the Drake Relays is an accomplishment as well.” Schwartz said. “It's probably the largest sporting event at Drake, and it is definitely a world-renowned meet among track and field enthusiasts.” At that meet, the 'Hawks faced more than 400 athletes from schools around the Midwest. There, senior Shanna Shoemaker won the high jump, while freshman Sarah Schraeder was runner-up and sophomore Jennifer Foster placed third in the disc. Sophomore Justin Stancil placed third in the pole vault, while junior Ashley Pyle and freshman Megan Wray placed second and fourth, respectively, in the women's side of the event. Junior Sherre-Khan Blackmon placed fifth in the 400-meter run, while junior Erika Hamel claimed fourth in the 100-meter low hurdles, and sophomore Derek Lacio finished fifth in the 800-meter run. The Jayhawks will be in Marietta, Ga., next week at the Life University Series. Jayhawks drop two to Sooners By Rebecca Barlow Kansan sportswriter The Oklahoma softball team has pounded the ball all season against its Big 12 Conference opponents — and Kansas was no exception. no exception. Oklahoma, 55-6 overall and 17-1 in the Big 12, outhit Kansas 10-3 Saturday and 11- 6 yesterday, defeating the Jayhawks 11-3 and 6-2 and clinching its second-straight Big 12 regular-season championship. The Jayhawks, 30-29 overall and 5-11 in the Big 12, jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning yesterday with a home run by senior first baseman Shannon Stanwix. The Jayhawks didn't score again until the seventh inning, when Stanwix hit her second homer of the game. "Today we really had some people swinging the bats hard," Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said. "Shannon had two big hits for us. I was pleased with what we did. Scoring runs and getting some kids back on track offensively is what I take as a positive." Oklahoma retaliated, scoring two runs in the second, one in the fourth and three in the fifth. Sooner outfielder Andrea Davis went 2-3, including four RBI. Davis went 23,5 hits. Senior Melanie DeWinter started on the mound for the Jayhawks and gave up 10 hits. DeWinter was relieved by senior Sarah Clopton, who gave up one hit and had two strikeouts. But yesterday was smooth sailing compared to Saturday's game for the Kansas pitching staff. Oklahoma's offense was a nightmare for Clopton and DeWinter in first game. The Sooners collected eight hits and nine runs off Kansas' starter Clopton, and they tallied two hits and two runs off reliever DeWinter. Lisa Carey, Oklahoma's top hitter at .408, continued her spectacular season. She hit a three-run bomb in the first inning and followed it up with a grand slam in the fourth, tallying seven RBI and two runs on the afternoon. "Oklahoma is just a very talented team offensively," Bunge said. "It's not very often you are going to shut a team down like that." Kansas scored all three of its runs in the fourth inning on a three-run home run by Courtney Wright. Sooner starting pitcher Jennifer Stewart held the Jayhawks to three hits and notched three strikeouts. Senior pitcher Lana Moran relieved Stewart and allowed no hits or runs and had two strikeouts. Despite the two losses, the Jayhawks feel they played well against the Big 12's best team. "It was as positive as you can get with two losses," Stanwix said. "They beat us and we didn't beat ourselves, and that is a big difference." With the two losses, the Jayhawks will need to take both games from Nebraska this Friday at the Husker Softball Complex to improve their seed in the Big 12 tournament. The Jayhawks are tied with Missouri for eighth in the conference. BIG 12 STANDINGS School Conference Overall W L W L Oklahoma 17 1 55 6 Nebraska 12 2 42 18 Texas 11 5 26 24 Oklahoma State 8 10 34 20 Texas A&M 7 9 28 19 Texas Tech 6 9 17 33 Baylor 7 11 27 29 Missouri 6 12 31 29 Kansas 5 11 30 29 Iowa State 4 13 17 26 BIG MONDAY HenryT's Bar&Grill GOURMET BURGER BASKETS ON MONDAY NIGHTS. 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