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SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1B
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2003
Looking to finish strong
Kansas tries to end slide with Big 12 home games against Nebraska, Baylor
By Steve Schmidt
sschmidt@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks (24-20 overall, 2-13 Big
12 Conference) will take on No. 7 Nebraska at 5 p.m.
The regular season roller coaster of the Kansas softball team will finally come to a stop after three more home games.
They then close out the season against Baylor at 2 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. Sunday.
One of those victories came against Kansas on April 10. In that game, Nebraska junior pitcher Peaches James threw a no-hitter in an 8-0 Cornhusker victory.
The Cornhuskers (33-11, 9-6) come to Lawrence having won eight of 10 games.
Andy Samuelson/Kansan File Photo
James is just one member of perhaps the best one-two pitching punch in the Big 12. Freshman Summer Tobias is the second half of that combination.
James is 19-9 with an ERA of 1.45. Not to be undone, Tobias has an ERA of 1.29 with a 13-2 record.
Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said that her squad had been working on its low ball hitting to prepare for James and her tendency to throw sinking pitches.
"We just have to shorten our strokes and not do so much and find a way to put the ball in the play," Bunge said.
Sophomore outfielder Anne Steffan leads the Cornhuskers in April with a .500 batting average (11-for-22). She ranks fourth in the Big 12 with a .351 season average.
"They've got some talented players,but they kind of have suffered the same things we have."
Tracy Bunge Softball coach
Kansas will look for a strong performance by freshman shortstop Destiny Frankenstein when it takes on Nebraska at 5 p.m. Frankenstein had a hit and two RBI in the 6-0 victory Wednesday over UMKC.
Senior outfielder Kim Ogee is hitting .391 (9-for-24) in Nebraska's last six games with four doubles and 4 runs scored. She ranks among the league leaders with a .319 batting average.
Kansas' already thin pitching staff got even thinner when junior Kara Pierce went down with injured shoulder in Texas last weekend. Bunge said Pierce was doubtful to play Friday but could see some action against Baylor.
Baylor (28-25, 2-13) can relate to Kansas's up-and-down season. The Bears sit near the bottom of the conference standings with Kansas, and both teams have had to deal with injured pitching rotations.
"They've got some talented players, but they kind of have suffered the same things we have," Bunge said.
Kansas will next take its act to Oklahoma City for the Big 12 Conference Tournament May 1-4. Seedings have yet to be determined.
"I'm going to let that become a gametime issue," Bunge said.
Bunge said that what happens this weekend could have a big effect on happens next week in Oklahoma. The Hawks will probably have to win it all to have a shot at postseason play.
"These games are big for our psyche heading in the tournament," she said.
Dan Nelson/Kansan File Photo
—Edited by Ryan Wood
Kansas to start series with Baylor
Sophomore third baseman Travis Metcalf shares the team home run lead with senior pitcher Kevin Wheeler and junior first baseman Ryan Baty. The tri all have 9 home runs this season. The Jayhawks will try to improve their 6-8 conference record when they play Baylor today for the first of a three-game series at Hoglund Ballpark.
By Daniel Berk
dberk@kanan.scan
dberk.sportswriter
After winning two conference series in a row, Kansas will attempt to get closer to the. 500 mark in conference play this weekend as the Jayhawks face the Baylor Bears for a three-game series at Hoglund Ballpark.
The Jayhawks are 31-16 overall, and 6-9 in Conference play. Baylor brings a 28-16 record to Kansas and is 9-9 in the Big 12 Conference, good enough to be ranked No.21 in the country.
Offensively, the Bears are led by David Murphy who has started all 44 games for Baylor this year, and is batting .430. He leads the team with 86 hits and is third in home runs with 7. Baylor's top pitcher is Steven White, who is 4-2 on the season.
The Jayhawks will counter with their three top pitchers. Senior Kevin Wheeler and juniors Ryan Knippschild and Chris Smart will pitch this weekend against the Bears. Knippschild leads the team in victories this season with a 7-2 record. Wheeler registered his first Big 12 victory last weekend and improved his record to 5-2.
Leading the way for the Kansas offense
are seniors left fielder Casey Spanish and Wheeler and juniors, outfielder Matt Tribble and first baseman Ryan Baty.
Spanish leads the way with a .399 batting average. Baty is next with a .385 average. Wheeler, Baty and sophomore Travis Metcalf all share the team lead in home runs with 9.
"Wheeler is a warrior who is just a great competitor," coach Ritch Price said. "I was real glad to see Tribble break out last weekend, he is a streaky guy and hope his hot play will continue."
With their 51 victories, this year's Jayhawks reached the 30-victory plateau for the first time since 1997, when the team
Ritch Price Baseball coach
"Only nine teams in Kansas history have won more than 30 games, and now we are one of those. It's special."
also won 31 games.
Price said winning seven more games than the year before, a "plus-seven turnaround," was good in baseball.
"This year, I challenged my team to a plus-14 turnaround, something that can be done," he said. "Only nine teams in Kansas history have won more than 30 games, and now we are one of those. It's special."
Price wanted his team to get one game this week, as the Jayhawks were scheduled to travel to Wichita to take on the Wichita State Shockers. However, the game was canceled because of bad weather in the Wichita area.
The first pitch of the Baylor series is scheduled for 7 p.m. today. The teams will meet again at 2 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. Sunday.
- Edited by Andrew Ward
Drake Relays host Olympians, local runners
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Like last week's Kansas Relays, the Drake Relays are among the biggest events of the outdoor track and field season.
The Drake Relays, held in Des Moines, Iowa, began Wednesday with the heptathlon and decathlon.
A familiar name for the Drake Relays was leading the decathlon at the first day. Kip Janvrin is looking for his 14th Drake Relays title and his ninth straight crown. Janvrin, 37, is the track and field coach at Central Missouri State.
Janvrin leads in decathlon with 3,924 points. He was an Olympian in 2000 and is still hoping to compete in the Olympics in 2004, he said.
Lineese Gordon leads the heptathlon with 3,358 points after day one. The 23-year-old Ball State graduate is competing in only her second heptathlon.
Gordon said she was having a good time. "I will go home and take an ice bath and get ready for tomorrow," she said.
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't going to give it 100 percent," Janvrin said.
One of those athletes is sophomore Brooklyn Hann, who is scheduled to compete in the 100-meter hurdles. Hann won that event last weekend at the Kansas Relays with a time of 14.21 seconds.
According to the Relays officials, around 30 Kansas athletes qualified to run in the meet.
Members of the Kansas track and field team left yesterday for the meet, which runs through Saturday.
"We just got to give her little bit of a break from jumping and then get her back into jumping so towards the end of the season she's right on top," said Kansas coach Stanley Redwine.
Hann, who has competed in horizontal jumps in the past, is taking a break from the those to concentrate on the hurdles.
Hann was looking forward to getting back to the horizontal jumping events.
"I like doing all the jumps, but triple jump is my best event. Hopefully I'll be back doing that by (the conference meet)," she said.
Members of the team who are not running at the Drake Relays will compete in the UMKC Invittional, which takes place today and tomorrow. The event will be held in Kansas City, Mo., at the Swinney Recreation Center Track
DRAKERELAYS
This is the 94th running of the Drake Relays
This year is the 37th straight sellout in the 18,000 seat Drake Stadium — the longest streak in U.S. Track history
9,359 athletes are scheduled to compete
781 teams represented
65 nations represented
Complex, 5030 Holmes, and Rockhurst High School, 9301 State Line Road.
SPORTS COMMENTARY
- Edited by Christy Dendurent
Jonah Ballow
jballow@kansan.com
This is the time of year when college basketball has ended, college football is far from starting and college baseball does not provide excitement until the World Series begins.
Considering that the University of Kansas campus and the local media are obsessed with Kansas basketball, some fans may want more Jayhawk basketball before next season.
Past'Hawks show stuff in playoffs
For those of you with Kansas basketball withdrawal symptoms, here's the quick fix: The NBA playoffs have begun, and every former Jayhawk in the league is on a playoff squad.
The most recent Kansas player to go pro was Drew Gooden, who made an instant impact on the Orlando Magic. Recruiting Gooden from the Memphis Grizzlies, a constant cellar dweller, gave the Magic the rebounding and scoring they desired.
In his first playoff outing, Gooden looked like a veteran with 18 points and 14 rebounds against the defensive player of the year. Ben Wallace.
In the second game against the Pistons. Gooden had a hard time scoring but managed to grab 11 boards in the 89-77 defeat.
On a team that struggles to find production outside of its leading scorer, Tracy "Trady" McGrady, Gooden helped the Magic steal a game in Detroit over the No. 1-seeded Pistons.
Jacque Vaughn is a former Jayhawk who plays alongside Gooden on the Magic.
To upset the Pistons, the Magic will need solid performances from the two former Jayhawks.
Although Vaughn's contributions are less impressive than Gooden's, he was able to dish out six assists in both games.
Another former Kansas center now plays for one of the NBA's best teams, the Dallas Mavericks. Raef LaFrentz is important to a team that possesses extreme depth at almost every position on the court.
With the Jazz in a 0-2 hole heading back to Salt Lake City, Ostertag will have to step up his game to help elder players Karl Malone and John Stockton.
Moving to Western Conference match-ups, the Sacramento Kings benefited from the 8 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots from Scott Pollard in game two of the playoffs against the Utah Jazz, which ended at 108-95.
He scored 18 points and ripped down 11 boards only to come back in game two with 4 points and four rebounds.
A coach's decision kept Pollard from the first game, but he plays a crucial role in the Kings' bench productivity.
Former Kansas big man Greg Ostertag, who has spent his entire eight-year NBA career with the Jazz, was a weapon for the Jazz during game one.
However, the Mavericks have struggled in the past with defense and rebounding.
LaFrentz helped the Mavericks win game one with 7 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. He struggled in game two with only 6 points and three rebounds, but his team has the 2-0 advantage over the Portland Trailblazers. The game ended 103-99.
If the Mavericks march past the Blazers, LaFrentz could be called upon to defend some of the best power forwards the western conference has to offer.
SEE BALLOW ON PAGE 8B