FRIDAY,APRIL 18.2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Jayhawks vie for spot in tournament
By Daniel Berk dberk@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas baseball team will travel to Norman, Okla., this weekend to do battle with the Oklahoma Sooners in a crucial Big 12 Conference match-up.
Kansas holds a 29-15 record this season and a 4-8 mark in conference play. Oklahoma is 13-20 with a conference record of 1-11 and three games behind Kansas.
Both teams are vying for a bid to the Big 12 Tournament, which only the top eight teams in the conference receive. Kansas is currently in eighth place and will try to get some separation this weekend against Oklahoma.
"Without a doubt, this is a big weekend for us," coach Ritch
Price said. "The great thing about last weekend's series is that it made this series more important. We have the opportunity to do something special this weekend."
Reggie Willits and Eddie Cornejo lead the Sooners on the offensive side. Willits is batting .397 and Cornejo is right behind with a .346 mark. The team's No. 1 pitcher is Mark Roberts who is currently 4-2 in nine starts and has an ERA of 3.92.
Kansas will send its normal rotation to the pitching mound this weekend as junior Ryan Knippschild will get the start today and will be followed by junior Chris Smart tomorrow. Senior Kevin Wheeler will pitch the series finale on Sunday.
It is unknown whether bullpen ace junior Brandon Johnson will
"The great thing about last weekend's series is that it made this series more important. We have the opportunity to do something special this weekend."
Ritch Price
KU baseball coach
be available to pitch during the series. Johnson has been suffering from an elbow injury and received treatment for it last week. Johnson was instrumental in the Jayhawks' success last weekend as he registered both victories against Texas Tech.
Another spot in the lineup that
will be adjusted this weekend is the No.9 spot in the batting order. Senior Brandon Shepard and freshman Matt Baty have both been receiving playing time in the middle of the infield, and Price will continue that this weekend.
"The reason we were successful against Texas Tech was because we were getting production through our entire lineup," Price said. "Both of those guys are quality players. Matt has been struggling since conference play started, but he is a strong player who will rebound."
The two teams will start their three-game series at 6:35 p.m. and then will play two day games at 2 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. Sunday to close out the series.
— Edited by Michelle Burhenn
The Associated Press
OLEAN, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure fired basketball coach Jan van Breda Kolff and accepted the resignation of two athletic department officials yesterday, a month after the team was sanctioned by the Atlantic 10 Conference for using an ineligible player.
The school accepted the resignation of Athletic Director Gothard Lane and assistant coach Kort Wickenheiser effective immediately.
Van Breda Kolff, Lane and Wickenheiser were placed on
administrative leave in March, shortly after the Atlantic 10 sanctioned the team for using center Jamil Terrell. Terrell was declared ineligible for violating NCAA junior collegetransfer guidelines.
In a review of the men's basketball program, officials found three violations of NCAA rules.
University President Robert Wickenheiser resigned at the demand of the board of trustees and took full responsibility for approving Terrell's transfer.
Terrell was ruled ineligible because he didn't have an associate's degree.
Softball to face final opportunity for road victories at Texas
By Steve Schmidt
sschmidt@kansan.com
kansan sportswriter
If the Kansas softball team wants to improve on its 5-8 road record, it'll have to do it at No. 4 Texas during the weekend. The Jayhawks take on the Longhorns for a doubleheader at noon tomorrow for their final away games.
Looking at the standings, the two clubs seem to be becoming polar opposites as the regular season comes to end. Texas (33-7 overall, 10-2 Big 12 Conference) has won 12 of its last 13 games and is on a four-game winning streak as it sits on the top of the Big 12.
out of 10 teams.
Kansas (23-16, 2-9) had lost five in a row before defeating an equally struggling Arkansas 1-0 in the second game of a doubleheader at Jayhawk Field on Wednesday. The Hawks maintain ninth place in the conference
Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said the Longhorns weren't the most explosive ball club as far as offense goes, but they still got the job done.
"They don't score a lot of runs, but they win ball games and that's what it's all about," Bunge said.
Despite its low amount of runs, Texas still has some players that can hit the ball such as freshman Tina Boutelle with a .336 average and 36 hits, junior Tamara Poppe with a .312 average and 25 hits and sophomore Wynter Turner batting. 306, 30 hits and 21 RBI.
Texas can get away with few runs because it holds opponents to fewer runs — if any at all.
The Longhorns have a phenomenal team ERA of 0.61. To give some perspective, Kansas' team ERA is 2.36. Out of four pitchers, the pitcher with the highest ERA, sophomore Lizi Sowers, could easily be the ace of any other squad
"Their entire pitching staff is solid right now," Bunge said.
Sophomore pitcher Cat Osterman is also a member of the U.S. National team.
Osterman has an ERA of 0.38 with an overall record of 18-4 and has recorded 131 strikeouts so far.
"When she's on, there's not many pitchers who can throw the ball like she does," Bunge said of Osterman. "There's a reason she's on the U.S. National team."
Kansas will return from Texas to finish the regular season by playing seven home games against four different clubs, beginning with Missouri for a doubleheader at 3 p.m. Monday.
— Edited by Michelle Burhenn
Senior Kirsten Milhoan pitches in game one in a split with Arkansas in this picture from Wednesday. The Jayhawks take on No. 4 Texas at noon and 2 p.m. tomorrow in Austin, Texas.
Cordney Kuhlen/Kansan
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