7 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 SPORTS THURSDAY, APRIL 14. 2005 PAGE 1B WWW.KANSAN.COM BASEBALL: 5-1 Erin Droste/KANSAN No. 11 Ryne Price slides back to first after leading off as the Wichita Shockers pitcher threw back to the plate last night at Eck Stadium in Wichita. Below: No. 6 Ritchie Price throws to first after catching a ground ball down the left infield last night at Eck Stadium in Wichita. The Jayhawks lost to the Wichita Shockers S-1. This round goes to Wichita State Shockers dominate Javhawks in 5-1 victory BY MATT WILSON mwilson@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTWRITER WICHITA — Behind solid pitching and timely hitting, Wichita State rebounded from last week's loss to Kansas with a 5-1 victory against the Jayhawks last night. The Shockers got off to a quick start against sophomore starting pitcher Sean Land. In the bottom of the first, sophomore first baseman Derek Schermerhorn singled home senior left fielder Phil Napolitan for a 1-0 lead. The hit extended Schermerhorn's hitting streak to 32 games, which is second all- time at Wichita State. Two batters later, senior catcher Joe Muich singled to right to score Schermerhorn and make it 2-0. Kansas cut the deficit in half in the second when senior first baseman Andy Scholl homered over the right-field fence. It was Scholl's third home run of the season. Senior Clint Schambach relieved Land in the fourth inning and quickly ran into trouble. After a throwing error on senior catcher Sean Richardson, the Shockers had a runner at third with two out. Schambach quelled the threat by getting freshman pinch hitter Tyler Hill to DOD out to second. Wichita State eventually added a run in the sixth inning and made it a 3-1 game. After freshman Tyson Corley came in to pitch for the Jayhawks, Muich led off the inning with a line drive that junior shortstop Ritchie Price couldn't handle and moved to second on a stolen base. With two outs, freshman right fielder Matt Brown doubled past Scholl and up the right-field line, scoring Muich. The Jayhawks threatened in the eighth inning. With one out, junior center fielder Matt Baty was hit by a pitch. SEE ROUND ON PAGE 6B LAST NIGHT'S BOX SCORE Kansas (24-15) AB R H RBI Matt Baty, cf 3 0 1 0 Ritchie Price, ss 1 4 0 0 A.J. Van Slyke, lf 4 0 0 0 Gus Milr, df 3 0 1 0 Sean Richardson, c 4 0 0 0 Andy Scholl, 1b 2 1 1 1 Jared Schweitzer, ph 2 0 1 0 Ryne Price, 2b 4 0 1 0 Brock Simpson, dh 2 0 0 0 John Allman, ph 1 0 0 0 Erik Morrison, 3b 1 0 0 0 Travis Dunlap, ph 1 0 0 0 + HR: Scholl Wichita State (28-10) AE R H RBI Phil Napolitan, lf 5 1 2 0 Nick McCoola, ss 5 0 0 0 Derek Schermerhom, 1b 3 1 3 1 Tad Reida, dh 4 0 0 0 Joe Much, c 4 2 2 1 Damon Sublett, 2 3 0 1 0 Blake Huributt, cf 4 0 1 0 Matt Brown, rf 4 1 2 3 Brian Spear, 3b 2 0 0 0 Tyler Hill, ph 2 0 1 0 ❖ HR: Brown Score by inning R H E Kansas 010 000 000 1 5 3 Wichita State 200 001 02x 5 12 2 Win: Pelfrey (6-2) Loss: Land (3-3) Save: none Source: Kansas Athletics Department Source: Kansas Athletics Department ▼ EXCELENT ADVENTURE BILL CROSS bcross@kansan.com Albom critics should ease up Sports columnist Mitch Albom is being crucified by the journalism world. It's time to cut him some slack. Albom, one of the best-known sports columnists in the country, could be on the brink of being fired or placed on unpaid suspension. His mistake was hardly an innocent one. He said that former Michigan State players attended their alma mater's Final Four game when they did not. The false "fact" appeared in the opening sentence of his column on April 3, and he spent the next two paragraphs explaining, in detail, each player's travel plans. ("Jason) Richardson, who earns millions, flew by private plane," he wrote. "(Mateen) Cleaves, who's on his fourth team in five years, bought a ticket and flew commercial." The players had told him that they planned to fly to St. Louis, but they later canceled because of scheduling conflicts. Albom, a nationally syndicated writer, probably filed his story the day before the game so other papers could run it through their own editing processes. With that in mind, he should have re-worded the column to indicate that the players said they intended to be at the game: "Richardson, who earns millions, planned to fly by private plane. Cleaves ... said he would buy a ticket and fly commercial." But he didn't. He knows he was wrong. And the failures didn't stop there. The column made it past the editors at his home paper, The Detroit Free Press, and to the subscribing papers. SOFTBALL: 5-3 SEE CROSS ON PAGE 3B 'Hawks show up ranked Tigers Pitching helps lead to upset in Columbia BY DREW DAVISON ddavison@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTWRITER The Jayhawks were led by a three-run home run from junior infielder Nettie Fierros. Fierros said the shot came off the first pitch of the at-bat and was right down the middle. The Kansas softball team upset No.18 Missouri last night in Columbia, Mo., notching its second Big 12 Conference victory and winning the softball Border Showdown. 5-3. Kansas improved to 18-16 overall and 2-5 in the Big 12. The team suffered a tough stretch mid-season, losing six in a row, but has won three of its last four. Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said her team had turned a corner. "I'm really proud of this group. After the Texas A&M series, the team was real upset," she said. "Now they have a renewed sense of energy and determination to not let anything happen." Elle Pottorf, freshman catcher, played for the first time since being injured in a collision against Texas A&M on April 3. Ashley Goodrich, junior outfielder, filled in at catcher during Pottertorf's injury but returned to the outfield last night. The pitching staff played well yesterday, holding a nationally ranked opponent to only three runs, one of which was unearned. Serena Settlemier, junior pitcher, pitched three innings and earned the victory. Christina Ross, freshman pitcher, closed the game for the Ivanhaws and picked up the save "She is solid, and found a way to get on base and get an RBI," Bunge said of Pottoff. "Christina Ross did a, great job coming in relief," Bunge said. Ross threw four innings allowing one earned run. The team will head to Springfield, Mo., today to face Southwest Missouri State at 3 Fierros p. m. The Bears were scheduled to play host to the Jayhawks earlier this year, but the game was postponed because of rain. SMS made a trip to Lawrence earlier this season during the Holiday Inn Classic. The Jayhawks swept the series, defeating the Bears 7-1 and 6-5. Coach Bunge said she was proud of her players for staying focused and coming off their losing skid. The road gets tougher for the Jayhawks after the SMS game with three conference games against two elite teams in the Big 12, Baylor and Nebraska. The Jayhawks will have home field advantage this weekend in Arrocha Ballpark, when they host the No. 8 Bears. Edited by Kendall Dix TENNIS Rylan Howe/KANSAN Freshman Lauren Hommell strikes a forehand shot during her No. 4 singles match. Hommell won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, but the jayhawks fell short in their doubles matches and the no. 1-3 singles matches and lost the meet against Kansas State, 4-3, yesterday afternoon at Robinson Courts. Kansas finds itself in doubles trouble BY RAHUL SHARMA rsharma@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTSWRIETER A lack of mental preparation and the inability to prevail in doubles play doomed the Kansas tennis team all afternoon, coaches said, as Kansas lost 4-5 against Kansas State yesterday at the Robinson Courts. The Jayhawks (4-14, 3-5 Big 12 Conference) fell behind at the start of the match, failing to convert in doubles. In fact, the Wildcats won 24 of 28 games in doubles, easily earning the doubles point. With the overall match tied at 3-3, Kansas State junior Jessica Simosa defeated Kansas sophomore Brittany Brown, 6-0, 5-7, 6-1, giving the Wildcats their sec ond straight conference victory. "We finally realized how important the doubles point is." Kansas coach Amy Hall-Holt said. "It could have made the biggest difference in our match today." Kansas assistant Frank Polito said the team would focus on doubles in practice tomorrow. SEE DOUBLES ON PAGE 6B 7