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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014
PAGE 9
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BASEBALL
Kansas hopes to spring back with first home game
BEN FELDERSTEIN
sports@kansan.com
After almost a month of away games, tomorrow the Jayhawks will play on their home field of Hogland Park for the first time this season. The Jayhawks (12-3) will face the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts University (6-8) at 3 p.m.
"We've been on the road all season so far," senior catcher Ka'iana Eldredge said. "All the guys are excited to play in front of their friends and families."
Oral Roberts is coming off of a series loss to Dallas Baptist in Dallas. The team scored 15 runs over the weekend and let up 19. Unlike the Jayhawks, the Golden Eagles have had the pleasure of playing eight of their 14 games at home thus far. Kansas has started the season with 15 consecutive road games due to weather.
"It's a nice change of pace," said senior pitcher Frank Duncan. "It'll be good for us to play in front of a home crowd."
The Jayhawks are also coming off a series loss from the weekend. They dropped two of their three losses on the season to the Stanford Cardinals. Kansas will look to get back on track and get a victory before their first Big 12 series of the
season.
"It left a bad taste in our mouths." Eldredge said. "Both of those losses could have gone different ways."
Junior pitcher Drew Morovick (3-0) will get the start on the mound for Kansas. Morovick ranks at the top in multiple Big 12 statistical categories. Prior to the Stanford series, he was seventh in the conference with a 1.56 ERA. Over the weekend, Morovick lowered his ERA to 1.31. He is tied for first with three wins and was fourth in strikeouts with 19. Morovick also ranked second amongst pitchers qualified with a .161 batting average against.
Junior pitcher Phillip Wilson will have the task of facing Kansas' high-powered offense. This season, Wilson is 0-1 and has not started a game on the mound for the Golden Eagles.
Kansas will look to keep their high-powered offense going against the Golden Eagles. The Jayhawks have scored five or more runs in 10 of their 15 games on the season so far.
The lajhawks will look to extend their Big 12 best record to 13-3. Morovick and the offense are looking forward to that in front of their home crowd.
Edited by Austin Fisher
Kansas will finally play at home tomorrow after cold weather canceled its previous games at Hoglund Park. The Jayhawks (12-3) will face the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts University (6-8) at 3 p.m.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
NBA
Wade carries Heat late, Miami tops Wizards 99-90
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI — Dwyane Wade scored 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, LeBron James led all scorers with 23 points and the Miami Heat clinched a playoff spot by beating the Washington Wizards 99-90 on Monday night.
Chris Bosh scored 22 for the Heat, who snapped a threegame slide and moved within one game of Indiana in the race for the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Bradley Beal scored 18 points, Martell Webster added 17 and Drew Gooden scored 15 for the Wizards. Marcin Gortat finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds — 10 of them in the first quarter alone.
Ray Allen added 13 for Miami, which was down one midway through the fourth before Wade sparked a 12-0 run with five points, three assists and a block at the rim. The Heat never trailed again, and avoided their first four-game slide since 2011.
John Wall finished with eight assists for Washington.
Wade knocked down a jumper with just under 2 minutes left, putting Miami up 97-87 and sealing the outcome. Wade's 13 points in the fourth represented his highest-scoring quarter this season, and came with him playing on consecutive days for the first time since Jan. 4 and 5. It was only the third time all season he's been in for both nights of a back-to-back.
Both teams shot only nine free throws each; James didn't shoot one for the second straight game, just the second time that's happened in his career, the first coming in December 2003, early in his rookie season.
James went scoreless for a stretch of nearly 15 minutes in the first half, and still easily led everyone with 19 points by intermission. The entirety of his first-half scoring came in two impressive spurts three 3-pointers in as many tries over a span of 2:43 early in the game, then 10 straight Heat points in a stretch of 2:33 late in the half.
The Heat shot 54 percent in the first half, the Wizards just 34 percent. But Miami's
lead was just 53-45 at the break and when Washington started making a few more shots, the Heat were put back on the ropes, exactly where they spent most of their time on the futile trip through Houston, San Antonio and Chicago.
Miami's lead was 12 early in the third before Washington went on a 10-0 run, with Gortat scoring the first eight and Trevor Booker's jumper getting the Wizards within 59- 57. And after Miami rebuilt the lead to seven, Washington took off on another quick burst, this one enough to give the Wizards their first lead since 1-0.
In less than 2 minutes. Washington outscored Miami 11-0, Webster scoring six in 25 seconds. He head-faked James in the air to start what became a four-point play, then had an alley-oop dunk off a Wall pass on the next possession as Washington took a 65-64 lead.
Allen had two 3's for the Heat late in the third, and it was 73-all entering the fourth.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington Wizards' Al Harrington (7) is unable to block Miami Heat's Chris Andersen (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Monday in Miami.
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