THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 1B
Frin Droste/KANSAN
Junior outfieldier Matt Baty swings for the ball against the Wichita Shockers Wednesday night. Baty is batting a .327 for the season so far with 147 at bats. The Jayhawks will go up against Baylor in a three-game series this weekend in Lawrence.
BASEBALL
Jayhawks to face Bears
BY ALISSA BAUER
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Kansas prepares to take on No. 12 Baylor in a three-game series opener tonight at Hoglund Ballpark.
The last Big 12 Conference home series for the Jayhawks (24-15, 3-6 Big 12) was Easter weekend. The Jayhawks could use a home field advantage because it must face a multitalented Baylor club.
"I just wish it wasn't against someone in the top 15," Coach Ritch Price said about returning home for a Big 12 series. "It's an exciting time for us, we're a couple series away. If we can win back-to-back series, we put ourselves right back to the middle of the pack."
The Bears (22-13, 9-3 Big 12) enter tonight's match-up after a 2-0 loss to Texas-Arlington.
Held to just four hits against the Mavericks, the Bears offense never got off the ground. Baylor hits .265 as a club, and the Kansas lineup sits at .304.
Junior infielder Zach Dillon led the Baylor offense in the loss, collecting two of the team's four hits on the day.
Dillon leads the team with a .329 batting average and has 19 RBI this season.
Senior catcher Josh Ford remains consistent as he enters the game on an 11-game hitting streak. He has also reached base safely 34 of Baylor's 35 games in 2005.
Ford leads the Bears with 25
RBI and is hitting .309.
The Jayhawks offensive power dipped in their last game at Wichita State. The team was outhit 12-5 and struckout 12 times in an unusual performance for a club that consistently hits better than .300.
STARTING PITCHERS
Starters for this weekend's Kansas-Baylor series at Hoglund Ballpark:
Starter Record ERA
Tonight Mike Zagurski (KU) 4-3 4.22
Trey Taylor (BU) 3-3 3.88
Tomorrow Sean Land (KU) 3-3 5.20
Mark McCormick (BU) 4-2 3.02
Sunday Kodiak Quick (KU) 8-3 3.51
Corey VanAllen (BU) 6-2 3.63
Source: Kansas and Baylor athletics departments
Senior infielder Andy Scholl scored Kansas' only run on Wednesday. His solo home run off of Shocker ace Mike Pelfrey boosted his batting average to .273 and gave him RBI number 20.
Co-Big 12 player of the week Gus Milner remains atop the Jayhawk starters with a .341 average. The junior outfielder has driven in 30 runs this season.
Junior outfielder Matt Baty had one of the five hits Kansas scraped together in their last outing. Baty is hitting 327 and has scored 32 runs in 2005.
"I think that we are swinging the bats that good that we've got a chance of getting it done this weekend," Price said.
The Bears' pitchers are
MEN'S BASKETBALL
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 3B
Rvlan Howe/KANSAN
Senior Wayne Simien took advantage of the Men's Basketball Awards Ceremony to tell a few anecdotes about his fellow seniors that he didn't bring up during Senior Night. "Our freshman year we almost burnt down the Jayhawk Towers trying to make pork chops," Simien said about senior Aaron Miles. Miles took home the Cedric Hunter/Jacques Vaughn Assists Award, which coach Bill Self said could be changed in his name next year. Simien received the most awards with three, including the Dr. Forrest C. Phog Allen MVP Award last night at the Lied Center.
Banquet honors seniors
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The Kansas men's basketball team was all smiles in the spotlight last night at its annual basketball banquet.
About 250 fans gathered in the Lied Center to congratulate the 2004-05
A 16-minute highlight video recapped the season's best memories, including victories against Georgia Tech on New Year's Day and at Kentucky on Jan.9.
standing ovation when he was introduced.
Jayhawks and pay a final tribute to the four seniors — Keith Langford, Mike Lee, Aaron Miles and Wayne Simien.
Kansas coach Bill Self received a
"Ive had enough negativity the last three or four weeks," Self said after everyone sat down. "I am ready to have some fun."
Self paid tribute to the seniors, saying no senior class in Kansas history had matched its accomplishments.
"Regardless of how it ended, that won't take away who you are." Self said to the seniors. "These guys are first-class and they will be remembered as first-class."
Max Falkenstein, who completed his 49th year broadcasting Kansas
FOOTBALL
SEE BANQUET ON PAGE 3B
New, old players to take field
Tomorrow is the culmination of nearly a month of spring practices, as the Kansas football team will hold its annual spring game at Memorial Stadium beginning at 3 p.m.
BY RYAN COLAIAanni
rcolaiani@kansan.com
KANSAN SONSWRITER
Mason Logan, sports information director, said the format will likely be 15-minute running clock quarters. The teams will change throughout the game as the offenses and defenses will get to face different units.
The first 5,000 fans who enter the stadium tomorrow will receive a free
An alumni game will begin at 1 p.m. as former Jayhawk standouts Dana Stubblefield and Don Davis will be honorary coaches for the two alumni teams. This is the second time an alumni game has been held. Stubblefield played 11 seasons in the NFL at defensive end for San Francisco, Washington and Oakland. Davis is currently a member of the New England Patriots. Players for the alumni team are likely to include Don Fambrough, Bobby Douglas and David Lawrence among others.
The game will give fans the opportunity to see junior college newcomers that have been practicing with the team throughout the spring, including linebacker Eric Washington, wide receiver Brian Murph and defensive tackle Wayne Wilder.
Kansas football t-shirt. The gates at the stadium will open at 12:30 p.m. Admission to the event is free.
The game will also feature freshmen who did not see any action during last year's season. Wide receiver Marcus Herford and running back Gary Green are vying for playing time next season.
Fox Sports Net is expected to be at Memorial Stadium. The network is producing a 30-minute spring game special that will be shown throughout the summer, according to the Kansas Athletics Department.
"Saturday will be a lot of fun for KU football fans," coach Mark Mangino said. "They will have the opportunity to watch the 2005 team scrimmage and see their favorite players from the past perform in Memorial Stadium."
Selected players will sign autographs for fans after the contest.
Edited by Lisa Coble-Krings
THE RANT
RYAN COLAIANNI rcolaianni@kansan.com
Football team needs spring fans
43,600. No, that's not the number of times it would take you to drive back and forth from Lawrence to Kansas City for the Royals to win the pennant. It was the attendance at Texas A&M's spring game last weekend.
Kansas football fans should look at that number and be as ashamed. Last year's spring game was probably not even a quarter of that number. And that was just a few months removed from a Kansas bowl appearance.
The team returns two first team Associated Press All-Big 12 selections: junior linebacker Nick Reid and sophomore cornerback Charles Gordon.
Nebraska drew more than 60,000 for its spring game last year.
There will be plenty for football fans to see and do. It's the first opportunity to see what the team will look like next season. The expectations seem to be high for that season. For the first time in the Big 12's existence, the Jayhawks have a legitimate chance to take home the Big 12 North title.
Certainly Kansas football is not on the same level as Nebraska and Texas A&M in tradition, but if Jayhawk fans want to start moving up in the Big 12 football standings, they are going to need to start supporting their team. It all begins tomorrow at Memorial Stadium.
Freshman Marcus Herford will show his talent. Fans can see what kind of threat he will be next season as a wide receiver. He brings great hands and athleticism to the table.
The speedy Gary Green and the hard-nosed Clark Green will compete for the running back job, created when John Randle was dismissed from the team. Gary Green is sure to flash past someone, something the Jayhawks will need going into the Jayhawks' season opener Sept. 3.
And of course, the defense that improved mightly last season will be on the field as well. The junior college additions who may be starters by the time the season begins will be auditioning for their jobs. Junior defensive end fernial Ashley and sophomore defensive end Charleton Keith will cause fits for the offensive line. They appear to be moving much quicker than they did at the end of last season.
Gordon will be there as he prepares for an encore to last year's tremendous season. Can he eclipse the seven interceptions he had last year? Will Reid jump to the top of the Big 12 Conference in tackles?
Tomorrow you will see the additions that have been made to the defense, particularly at the linebacker position. There's an opening there created by Gabriel Toomey's offseason departure. Eric Washington is certainly a transfer that should be watched at the linebacker position. Defensive tackle Wayne Wilder has the size to clog up the running lanes and could make some noise.
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SEE COLAIANNI ON PAGE 3B