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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015
PAGE 9
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MISSY MINEAR/KANSAN
Junior center fielder Briana Evans throws the ball to the infield at Arrocha Field. The Jayhawks' final conference series against Iowa State is this weekend.
Kansas softball prepares for last Big 12 series against Iowa State
DEREK SKILLETT
@derek_skillett
The Jayhawks hope to finish the regular season strong against Iowa State (26-25, 3-12) in the final Big 12 conference series this weekend. The Jayhawks (35-13, 5-10) are also hoping to secure a favorable spot in the NCAA Regionals, which will be announced Sunday night.
Kansas is coming off a fivegame losing streak to No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 14 Baylor, the top two teams in the conference. Most recently, Baylor swept the jayhawks in the final home conference series of the season. Kansas allowed Baylor to score 17 total runs over the three weekend games and were only able to record three total scores.
"You know Baylor is a great opponent coming in," Kansas coach Megan Smith said. "They're a top-25 opponent,
but I really hoped we would have shown up and done a little bit better than what we did. We were competitive in parts of games, but not full games."
"We have to take care of business this weekend against Iowa State for us to even have a chance to be selected (to the NCAA Regionals)."
MEGAN SMITH Softball coach
Iowa State currently has a 26-25 record on the season, but has only recorded three Big 12 wins. Those three wins came against Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas Tech.
"Our mindset going into Iowa State has to be, 'We've got to forget the last two weekends' and
have a fresh outlook that we're going to be facing a team that is equally matched to us, which is a good thing." Smith said.
Iowa State is offensively led by junior Brittany Gomez, who boasts a 4.24 batting average and has recorded 75 hits, 43 scores and 18 RBIs. Senior Lexi Slater leads the Cyclones with 41 RBIs on a .312 batting average and has recorded 49 hits, 25 scores and nine home runs this season.
The Cyclones' pitching staff is led by senior Stacy Roggentien, who leads the team with a 3.51 ERA and has recorded 105 strikeouts while allowing 137 hits and 73 scores. Sophomore Katie Johnson is another solid pitcher for the Cyclones, who ranks third on the team with a 4.65 ERA and has recorded 53 strikeouts while allowing 121 hits and 85 scores.
ours in terms of their pitching ERAs, in terms of their batting averages," Smith said. "Iowa State has always been a team that is extremely scrappy."
The Jayhawks will first face off against Iowa State at 4 p.m. Friday.
"Iowa State is very similar to us. I think their numbers, statistically, are almost identical to
Kansas also awaits Sunday night to learn its postseason fate, when the NCAA Regionals are selected. As of now, the Jayhawks are projected to play in the Athens Region against No. 16 Georgia, Kennesaw State and Iona.
"We have to take care of business this weekend against Iowa State for us to even have a chance to be selected," Smith said. "We try not to get ahead of ourselves. I think we've had a great season. I think we have a great resume. If we do a good job against Iowa State this weekend, I think we deserve to get in."
- Edited by Callie Byrnes
Baseball slated for weekend series against No.7 TCU
WESLEY DOTSON
@WesleyDee23
Fresh off a midweek sweep of the Northwestern Wildcats, the Kansas baseball team will travel to Texas and turn its attention to the No. 7 TCU Horned Frogs this weekend.
The Jayhawks will have their hands full in this Big 12 series matchup. TCU (37-9, 13-5) leads the Big 12 conference in both team batting average at .291, and team pitching with a 2.22 ERA.
A player to watch for TCU is freshman Connor Wanhanen, who is currently batting .378 with 28 RBIs on the season. His batting average leads the Big 12 conference.
However, Kansas (22-28, 7-11) has won two games in a row, and the offense appears like it is finally getting back on track. In the series with Northwestern, the Jayhawks scored a total of 16 runs and recorded 23 hits.
Another notable player is senior Cody Jones. He is tied for third in the Big 12 with his .360 average, and he also has three home runs and 23 RBIs on the season.
Expect junior Ben Krauth to start Friday night's series opener for the Jayhawks. Krauth has been phenomenal as of late, allowing only two earned runs in his past four starts. His seven wins lead the team, and he has anchored the Kansas pitching staff this season.
The TCU lineup is full of great hitters, but expect Krauth to be ready for the challenge.
Senior Drew Morovick is expected to start for Kansas in game two of the series Saturday afternoon. He had his struggles earlier in the season, but he has performed well in his recent starts. His most notable start came on April 11 against the Oklahoma State Cowboys when he threw seven scoreless innings in a victory.
TCU's first-ranked pitching staff in the Big 12 is 12 led by junior Alex Young, who is 9-2 on the season with a 1.46 ERA, and senior Preston Morrison, who is 10-1 with a 2.03 ERA.
After showing signs of breaking out of their offensive slump in the two-game series with Northwestern, the Jayhawks are certainly looking to carry their momentum into this series with TCU.
They will need impact players like senior Dakota Smith, sophomore Michael Tinsley and senior Connor McKay — who now has a 37 game on-base streak, and is tied for third in the Big 12 with his .360 batting average — to continue to be effective.
"I'm just hopeful that [the scheduling of the Northwestern series] pays off," Price said. "Because we're obviously going to have to score [against TCU] to win." Game one of the series will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday night. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start, and Sunday's series finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
Edited by Laura Kubicki
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