6B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
FRIDAY, MARCH 18.2005
BASEBALL
No spring break vacation for Jayhawks
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
As students pack up for a week at the beach or some time on the ski slopes, the Kansas baseball team is preparing for a week filled with games.
Starting this afternoon against Western Illinois, Kansas (17-8) begins the first of seven spring break games. The week will feature a three-game series at home against the Leathernecks, followed by one game against. Southwest Missouri State and ending with the Big 12 Conference opener against Nebraska.
Western Illinois (4-14) comes in to today's game amidst an 11-game losing streak. Wednesday night, the Leathernecks fell to Oklahoma State and lost to Wichita State last night.
Coached by Stian Hyman, Western Illinois is hitting. 285 as a team with a 9.65 team ERA.
Senior outfieldier Kyle Malan leads the team in batting average at .379 and has collected 21 RBI.
Baty
"Western Illinois is a pretty solid ball club. I remember last year they had a lot of good arms on their t e a m , " Richardson said.
T h e
Jayhawks will face considerable challenges in several of the break's games, and will need all players, including injured junior outfielder Matt Baty. Baty has been sidelined the last four games with an ankle injury, but coach Ritch Price said he would play on a limited basis this weekend.
Wednesday, the Jayhawks head to Springfield, Mo., to take on the SMS Bears (4-11) for the second time this season. Kansas won game one, 8-4.
Coached by Keith Guttin, the Bears are mired in a five-game losing streak. They will take on Middle Tennessee State in a three-game series before facing Kansas.
Kansas will open up the Big
12 against a Nebraska team that is second in the conference. Nebraska (14-2) is ranked No. 21 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 23 in the Baseball America poll.
"We are a lot better than we were at the start of the season and we're going to have to be better because the teams are going to be a lot better," junior shortstop Ritchie Price said.
The Jayhawks' improvement will be put to the test against a Nebraska club whose two losses were against Southern California and Texas State. Both losses were by one.
tosses well Nebraska's .334 batting average isn't much better than Kansas'. .315, but that. .334 comes from a team that beat 2003 World Series champion Rice earlier this season.
Rice earlier this season Junior infielders Brandon Buckman and Alex Gordon lead a line-up that consists of nine batters hitting over 300.
Buckman leads the starters at 451 and has knocked in 15 RBI this season. Gordon ties for first on the team with five home runs
SPRING BREAK SCHEDULE
The Kansas baseball team will keep busy during spring break. The Jayhawks have four nonconference games before the Big 12 Conference season starts March 25 at Hoglund Ballpark. All games are played in Lawrence, except the game on March 23, which is in Springfield, Mo.
TIME DATE OPPONENT
3 p.m. March 18 Western Illinois
1 p.m. March 19 Western Illinois
1 p.m. March 20 Western Illinois
7 p.m. March 23 Southwest Missouri State
3 p.m. March 25 Nebraska
1 p.m. March 26 Nebraska
1 p.m. March 27 Nebraska
Source: Kansas Athletics Department
while hitting .400.
while hitting 40.
Nebraska finished eighth in the Big 12 last season, but is first in the league in pitching this year. As a staff, the Cornhusker pitchers lead the Big 12 with a 1.58 ERA. The Jayhawks will likely face sophomore Joba Chamberlain (3-0) in the three-game series. The right-hander leads all Big 12 pitches with a 0.36 ERA. He is also averaging
13. 5 strikeouts per nine innings.
"We're better against plusvelocity guys," Ritch Price said. "These kids in our dugout have been fastball hitters their whole lives."
Senior cather Sean Richardson remains a team leader both at the plate and in
lives.
To be successful, Kansas will need better-than-average performances from its stars.
the dugout. With a .365 average and 18 RBI, the Johnny Bench Award candidate is a big factor in the team's success.
Other vital members of the Kansas club are junior outfielders A.J. Van Slyke and Gus Milner. The pair continues to lead the team in extra base hits.
Van Slyke knocked out his team-leading sixth home run of the season on Wednesday. He also heads the line-up in batting average at .377 and RBI with 26.
Milner, posting a .359 batting average, has collected nine doubles and three triples.
On the mound, the Jayhawks will likely lead their rotation with senior left-handed pitcher Mike Zagurski (3-2). The lefty currently posts a 3.55 ERA and has thrown 53 strikeouts and 14 walks. Also vital to the pitching staff is junior right-hander Kodiak Quick (6-1) who has a 2.78 ERA.
Spring break baseball begins at 3 p.m. today at Hoglund Ballpark.
Edited by Kendall Dix
MEN'S GOLF
Kansas plays with pain to defend championship
BY TIM HALL
hall@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The Kansas men's golf team will head to the remote town of Stevinson, Calif., Saturday to play in the Stevinson Ranch Intercollegiate. The Jayhawks enter the tournament coming off of a fourth-place finish at the Louisiana Classics Invitational on March 8.
and then won again in 2004.
Kansas enter the tournament at Stevinson Ranch as the defending champions. The Jayhawks have won the Stevinson Ranch Intercollegiate five out of the past six years. Kansas won the tournament four years in a row from 1998 to 2002.
Coach Ross Randall is excited for next week because of the team's record at Stevinson Ranch.
"We know that we have
had a lot of success there in the past," Randall said. "It's really a great golf course because it's tough and long, and it has sort of a Scottish-type feel."
Stevinson Ranch, located in the San Joaquin Valley, is a par 72 and just longer than 7,200 yards. Stevinson Ranch is similar to the
Price
Jayhawks home course, the public course at Alvamar Golf and Country Club.
"I think that playing the Alvamar public course really helps us for when we head
to Stevinson because it's so long," Randall said. "Stevinson has wide fairways like Alvamar but if you don't find the fairway off the tee, you won't find your ball."
The Jayhawks, who are ranked No. 38 in the nation, will go to California with six players. Sophomore Tyler Docking, senior Kevin Ward, senior Andrew Price, sophomore Gary Woodland and junior Pete Krsnich will start for the Jayhawks. A sixth Kansas golfer, yet to be named, will play in the tournament as an individual.
The team finished qualifying for the last slot in the tournament at Lawrence Country Club late yesterday.
Earlier this spring in Hawaii, Price shot a 63, the lowest round in Kansas golf history. The senior will play in his fourth Stevinson Ranch intercollegiate next week.
"I think that we all know this course pretty well because everyone has seen it before," Price said. "Hopefully we can just get everyone to click at the same
The team finished qualifying for the last slot in the tournament at Lawrence Country Club late yesterday.
time because we really haven't done that yet this year."
Price and Docking will both play through minor injuries next week. Price has a sore left wrist and Docking has lower back pains. They have both visited team trainers since the team returned from Louisiana on
Coach Randall said he knew that the team could play well enough to win next week, but that there were some important factors that would determine the lavhawks' success.
"We really need Andrew to play well for us to succeed this week," Randall said. "His hand really kept him out of its last tournament, the other senior to guide the team while Price and Docking play through their pain."
The team leaves Lawrence on Saturday and plays a practice round Sunday. The tournament begins Monday.
Edited by Lori Bettes
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