Section:
B
The University Daily Kansan
They said it
Sports
Baseball commentator Joe Gariagola: "The Chicago Cubs are a lot like Rush Street — a lot of singles, but no scoring."
Inside: Atlanta reliever John Rocker suits up for the first time this year — but not against the Mets.
SEE PAGE 3B
Inside: The Milwaukee Bucks pulled out a crucial win in Orlando yesterday, giving them the eighth playoff spot in the east.
TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2000
SEE PAGE 5B
'Hawks shoot for the Stars
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Softball players won't overlook NAIA team
By Rebecca Barlow
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
The Kansas softball team will not take NAIA powerhouse Oklahoma City lightly when it faces the Stars in a doubleheader today.
Oklahoma City, the No. 2-ranked team in the NAIA, swept Kansas last year. The Stars finished last year 69-12.
The Jayhawks don't expect anything less of the Stars, 45-5 overall, in this season's match-up. They will prepare for this game just as hard as they would for any other game.
"They are not a typical NAIA team," said trac Coach Tracy Bunge. "They are very tough, and we don't expect them to be any different
The Jayhawk pitching staff will have its hands full against the Stars — who feature six players batting better than .300.
from last year. We need to come out and play tough against them."
Oklahoma City is led by Chinese national team member Christie Liu Xuging, who is batting .368. She has tallied 49 hits and 11 home runs so far this season. Senior first baseman Lauren Hollis is hitting .349 and already has 60 RBI and 12 home runs.
The Stars' pitching also could be trouble for the Jayhawks, whose offense has been problematic most of this season. Oklahoma City's top two pitchers have a combined 37-5 record and each have an ERA less than 1.00.
Freshman pitcher Lindsey Voss leads the team with a record of 19-2 and an ERA of 0.74.
Senior Sonia Oritz has won 18 games for the Stars and has an ERA of 0.89.
Kansas is not the first Big 12 Conference team that Oklahoma City has faced this year. It has
"We need to play our best if we want to beat them. They have some good hitters and are a good team."
Christi Musser Kansas left fielder
played Baylor and Oklahoma State, along with other Division I teams, Colorado State and Arkansas. The Stars split games with Baylor, Colorado State and Arkansas and beat Oklahoma State.
Kansas also split games with Baylor and Arkansas, but lost to Oklahoma State this season.
"We need to play our best if we want to beat them," said leftfielder Christi Musser. "They have some good hitters and are a good team."
The doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. today, and the second game begins at 4 p.m. Both games will be played at Jayhawk Field.
Kansas softball coach Tracy Bunge argues her point with an umpire. Bunge and the Jayhawks are not taking tomorrow's opponent, Oklahoma City, too lightly even though it is an NAIA opponent. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Pete Smart fires a pitch during Saturday's loss against Oklahoma at Hog Island Ballpark. Kansas plays Big 12 Conference opponent Missouri today in a game that does not count in the league standings. Photo by Brady Dreier/KANSAN
Kansas aims to even the score
Tonight's Missouri game won't count in Big 12 Conference standings
By Amanda Kaschube sports@kansan.com Kanson sportswriter
The Kansas baseball team is only one game away from seventh place in the Big 12 Conference standings, the spot currently held by Missouri.
So the Jayhaws-Tigers-matchup at 7 tonight at Stadium in Columbia, Mo., would be the perfect opportunity for Kansas to close the gap — if the game counter toward Big 12 rankings.
Teams only can face conference opponents three times in one season, and any extra games count toward their overall records.
"We aren't blessed with many Division I opponents in driving distance, so Missouri will be one of our mid-week games that doesn't count for conference records," said coach Bobby Randall. "It's still a meaningful game for us — we want to even the score."
A Kansas win would tie the series score at two wins apiece. Missouri snatched two road wins from the 'Hawks at the end of March, 12-2 and 10-7. Kansas claimed the first contest 3-0 off a shut-out performance from the mound from pitcher Pete Smart.
But the circumstances have changed since the last Missouri encounter.
The 'Hawks have strung together high-profile wins against Texas A&M, Wichita State and Oklahoma just last weekend. And unlike the last time, Kansas
"At this point, we need to string together six or eight wins in a row. The competition is a lot more difficult now."
Bobby Randall Kansas baseball coach
heads in with a win, as opposed to recovering from a 10-3 loss to Arkansas.
And that all fits into Randall's strategy.
"At this point, we need to string together six or eight wins in a row," he said. "The competition is a lot more difficult now—we should have started earlier. It's not necessarily realistic, but we'll try starting with Missouri." Containing the Tiger offense including conference hitting leader Ryan Stegal could be difficult for the 'Hawks. Stegall has laced 19 doubles this season and has recorded a team-best 45 RBI. Kansas will try to counter Stegall's .416 batting average with pitcher Brandon O'Neal (1-
O'Neal's last outing on Friday
— a 6-5 Kansas loss at the hands of the Sooners — might have shaken him. The Sooners racked up six runs on 12 hits off the junior pitcher in his 72/3 innings.
Randall said that shouldn't affect his performance on the mound tonight.
he battled his tail off last time, and I don't think his confidence is too shaken," Randall said. "He wasn't at the top of his game, but he'll be ready to go again."
O'Neal's fastballs have squeezed the 'Hawks past conference opponents in the past. He limited the Aggies to one run in the beginning of April to avoid a Texas A&M sweep.
And he'll be up for the challenge again tonight.
"I jump on the opportunity to start — you just have to roll with it," O'Neal said. "I had visions that I'd be here at the beginning of the season. You have to make up your mind that you don't want to be beaten."
Kansas Baseball Notes
Ryan Klocksien's bat has been hot lately — and he'll try to keep it going tonight. The sophomore third baseman has hit safety in 29 of his last 32 contests, including two base knocks on Sunday.
With freshman Ryan Baty still on the injured list, senior Duane Thompson and freshman Casey Spanish will alternate at second base until Baty recovers from his sore shoulder, Randall said.
Tennis team swipes victory from Colorado
Rv Brent Wasko
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas men's tennis match with Colorado could not have been much closer.
"It was our best effort so far this season," said Kansas coach Mark Riley. "We had to come from behind in almost all our matches. The most important thing was that nobody quit."
Jayhawk players fought through adversity on several occasions and outlasted the Buffalooes 4-3 Sunday in Boulder, Colo. With the victory, Kansas improved its record to 8-9 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12 Conference.
Colorado got off to a fast start, claiming two of the three doubles matches. That gave the Buffaloes an early 1-0 lead, but the Jayhawks would battle back.
At No. 2 singles, sophomore Rodrigo Echagazar rebounded from
one-set down to beat Mirko Jovanovic 4-6, 7-6, 7-5. In No. 3 singles, sophomore Quentin Blakeney clinched his sixth straight win by beating Artur Rusiekii 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. Blakeney now has a 5-1 record against Big 12 opponents.
A l e x
Barragan,
who had been
struggling
this season
with a 6-17
s i n g l e s
record,
his first set 6-3
The Jayhawk's final two points were the most dramatic. Sophomore
against Bryan Knepper, but lost the second set 0-6. Barragan and Knepper jostled back and forth in the third set, with Barragan facing four match points. In the end, he was able to squeak out a victory with a 7-6 third set.
KANSAS TENNIS
"He came back from basically being dead out there," Riley said.
With Barragan's win, Kansas needed just one point to beat Colorado, and senior captain Bryan Maier stepped up to the challenge. He fell behind 4-6 to Andy Winter, bounced back with 7-5 second set, and then clinched the Jayhawk victory with a 6-3 final set. Maier holds a 9-1 record in three-set matches this season.
By defeating the Buffaloes, Riley now is only two wins away from reaching the century mark for career victories as a men's tennis head coach. He holds a 98-67 record after seven years of coaching, including a 51-41 mark in his four years at Kansas.
"I was pretty tired out there, but I think my conditioning was a major factor in the match," Maier said. "I don't think Colorado's conditioning program is as rigorous as ours."
"We couldn't have won the match without Barragan's performance."
"It says that I've been around awhile," Riley said. "I certainly don't take a lot of credit for the wins.
Mark Riley Kansas men's tennis coach
"I certainly don't take a lot of credit for the wins. I've coached some great tennis players.I just try to make sure that we are prepared for every match."
I've coached some great tennis players. I just try to make sure that we are prepared for every match."
The Jayhawks have just three regular season matches left before they head to Kansas City, Mo., to play in the Big 12 championships. Next up for Kansas this week is a resched-uled match with Tulsa at 3 p.m. tomorrow at the Robinson Center Tennis Courts.
Former amateur coach denies paying players
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former amateur coach Myror
The Associated Press
Piggie pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges he defrauded some of the nation's top high school basketball players and four major college programs. A
Rush: May have received help from Myron Piggie
Piggie, accompanied by his attorney, spoke briefly with members of his family before
magistrate ordered him held without bond.
Federal prosecutors allege Piggie defrauded UCLA, Duke, Missouri and Oklahoma State, because the amateur status of five players was compromised by accepting money from him while in high school.
Piggie also was accused of helping UCLA junior forward JaRon Rush lease a car on the condition that he not accept a basketball scholarship from Kansas, and of contacting sports agents with the help of George Raveling, a Nike consultant and former coach at Iowa and Southern California.
saying he was not guilty of charges in an 11-count indictment handed down Thursday.
Piggie was charged with paying the players more than $30,000 between April 4, 1996,
See COACH on page 2B
6