MONDAY.MARCH 11.2002
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Ninth-inning errors plague Jayhawks against Aggies
By Ryan Wood
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas baseball team suffered two ninth-inning disasters in yesterday's doubleheader against No. 13 Texas A&M, losing 5-3 and 10-6 after winning Friday's game 5-4.
The Jayhawks were unable to win either of yesterday's games despite being tied or ahead entering the final inning of each.
"The conference does those things to you." coach Bobby Randall said.
With the losses, Kansas falls to 10-2 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 Conference play. The Aggies improved to 16-5 and 5-1 in the Big 12.
"Kansas has a good ball club, and I can see why they were undefeated when we came in here," Aggie coach Mark Johnson said. "Certainly we could have walked out of here getting swept just as easily."
Senior Dan Olson pitched seven solid innings in the first game, allowing just three runs and striking out seven. Kansas scored all three of its runs in the fifth, helped by RBI singles from sophomore outfielder Matt Tribble and senior third baseman Ryan Klocksien.
"We did a pretty good job of hitting," Randall said, "but we didn't finish it off and we lost our composure."
Three Jayhawk errors led to two ninth-inning runs that made the difference in the game. Freshman pitcher Tom Gorzelanny suffered the loss, his first and Kansas' first of the season.
"We got together and said we had to make things happen," said Aggie third baseman Tim Petru, who homered in the game. "Put the ball in play, and make them make the play."
Like in the first two games of the series, Kansas scored runs in bunches in yesterday's second game. The Jayhawks collected six hits in a five-run fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run single by junior outfielder Jason Appuhn.
Appuhn, making his first start of the season after recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, also stole a base and scored a run.
"I feel real good," he said. "It was kind of frustrating not to be able to do anything."
Down 6-4 in the ninth with two outs, Texas A&M's David Evans hit a huge two-run home run to tie the game up. The Aggies scored four more runs, putting the game out of reach.
"We hung a bad pitch, and they put good wood on it," Appuhn said. "Those things happen."
The victory extended the team's winning streak to 10 games, the second highest total in team history.
Senior Jeff Davis pitched eight innings, allowing no earned runs and striking out five, improving his record
Kansas took a 2-0 lead early on, highlighted by a fourth inning home run by sophomore second baseman Rvan Baty.
to 3-0. Gorzelanny pitched a perfect ninth and grabbed his third save of the season.
Baty had two throwing errors in the eighth, which helped Texas A&M take a 4-2 lead.
After Kansas answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the eighth, he delivered the RBJ single that proved to be the game-winner.
"real sweet redemption," Baty said.
"I wanted to be the one to drive it in."
Appuhn said that though winning just one of three close games was frustrating, the team wouldn't hang its head.
"That was the No.13 team in the nation," he said, "and we were one pitch away from winning the series from them."
The Jayhawks return to action tomorrow, starting a six-game road trip with a game at Southwest Missouri State. They return to conference play next weekend at Baylor.
"I'm still awful proud of our team and our players," Randall said. "They'll come back. I'm not worried about that."
Contact Wirt at wrwood@kansan.com.
This story was edited by Kristi Henderson.
JILLIAN THORPE/KANSAN
Kansas infielder Brandon Shepard shows his frustration after Kansas' loss to Texas A&M. The game was tied going into the ninth inning, when the Aggies pulled ahead with two runs.
Softball team extends streak, wins tournament
By Ali Brox Kansan sportswriter
At its team retreat before the season, Kansas softball players decided that they wanted to win their own tournament.
The Jayhawks got what they wanted this weekend, going 4-0 and winning the Kansas Holiday Inn Invitational for the second straight year.
KIMBERLY THOMPSON/KANSAN
Senior third baseman Megan Urqhart throws to second base as freshman pitcher Serena Settlemier ducks. Kansas won its game against Portland State 5-0 Sunday at Jayhawk Field.
Kansas improved its record to 11-7 and extended its winning streak to seven games.
The Jayhawks won both games Friday, 3-0 against Princeton and 6-0 against Indiana State. Kansas won two more yesterday, topping Indiana State again, 9-1, and Portland State, 5-0.
"I was pleased with our pitching," coach Tracy Bunge said. "This weekend, obviously, throwing four games and only giving up one run is a major step in the right direction."
Freshman pitcher Serena Settlemier got the victory against Portland State yesterday, and said Kansas' pitching was solid all weekend.
"We all had the attitude to not let anybody get on." Settlemier said.
Bunge said she was satisfied with the Jayhawks' offense, but that their defensive still needed some improvement.
"We're still making errors that didn't cost us much this weekend but that, in the future, could," Bunge said.
The games did allow the Jayhawks to work on some offensive strategies in game situations. Senior left fielder Christi Musser laid down a squeeze bunt on Friday that left Bunge very
pleased.
"We executed a squeeze bunt, my God," Bunge said. "We've been trying to execute that for God knows how long. We tried a couple of different things just to see, and when you get a lead you can do those kind
of things. It's kind of nice to see us execute that in those type of situations."
Contact Box at abrxob@kansan.com. This story was edited by Jenna Goeffert.
No.12-seed Creighton pleased with its ticket to NCAA tournament
The Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. — When Creighton's name appeared in the Midwest Region of the NCAA tournament, the Bluejays had the seed they expected and the destination they wanted.
After locking up its fourth straight NCAA berth by winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament last Monday, Creighton will be a No. 12 seed when it plays fifth-seeded Florida at 11:30 a.m.CST on Friday at the United Center in Chicago.
Creighton lost to Iowa 69-56 in last year's first round at Nassau Coliseum in New York. Most of the team's talk yesterday centered on how pleas
they were to stay closer to home this year.
"We're very excited about the opportunity to go to Chicago," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "It should give our fans an opportunity to go along with us if they want."
The game will be just the second meeting between Creighton and Florida, a 62-52 loser to Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals Friday. The Bluejays beat the Gators 75-73 at the 1996 San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.
Both teams have been to the NCAA tournament four straight seasons, both have four consecutive seasons with at least 20 victories and
both take a 22-8 record into Thursday's game.
"All I wanted was to a play a big school and to play in Chicago at the United Center," said junior forward Kyle Korver, Creighton's leading scorer with a 15-point scoring average. "That's exactly what we
got."
The Bluejays, with no seniors on their roster, finished with a 14-4 record in the Missouri Valley Conference and shared the regular-season title with Southern Illinois.
But the team struggled to hold on to big leads at times, and ended the regular season by letting Drake rally for a 75-73 win in Omaha. That cost the Bluejays the outright Missouri Valley regulars.
son championship.
"We thought we'd be an 11 or 12," Altman said about the NCAA seed. "We haven't demonstrated the consistency, you know, that they probably were looking at to be any higher."
Creighton entered the Missouri Valley tournament as a longshot for an at-large NCAA bid. The Bluejays then won three straight games and avenged two earlier losses to Southern Illinois with an 84-76 win in the conference championship game.
"We played the best basketball last weekend that we have all year," said sophomore center Brody Deren. "I think it's going to carry over."
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