MONDAY,APRIL14,2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Baseball beats Tech in first conference series victory
By Daniel Berk
dberk@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Rallying to win two games in the ninth inning against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Kansas baseball team won its first Big 12 Conference series of the year.
With the two victories, Kansas improved its record to 28-15 on the season and now has a conference record of 4-8.
Junior Ryan Knippschild took the mound for Kansas Friday night to get the series under way and pitched seven-and-a-third innings and allowed nine hits and six earned runs. Junior Brandon Johnson, who has been suffering from an elbow injury, pitched the final one-and-two-thirds innings and recorded the victory for Kansas.
"Brandon is as great as a competitor as I have ever been associated with," coach Ritch Price said. "He was absolutely huge for us this series, and when he is out
"We went through a valley recently, and we are just trying to play good baseball and get ourselves back in the hunt."
Ritch Price Kansas baseball coach
there, the confidence level for the guys playing behind him rises as well."
After the Jayhawks squandered a six-run lead in the eighth inning, sophomore third baseman Travis Metcalf hit a solo home run in the ninth inning to secure the victory for Kansas. It was Metcalf's seventh home run of the season and second game-winning home run. The home run gave Kansas a 9-8 lead that it would not lose.
Kansas also got contributions from freshman middle infielder Ritchie Price
SATURDAY
and senior left fielder Casey Spanish who both recorded three hits in the game.
In the second game of the three-game series, Price sent junior Chris Smart to the mound for only his fourth start of the
season. Smart pitched eight innings allowing 12 hits and five earned runs and was credited with the loss.
The Jayhawks almost rallied again as the score was 5-2 in the eighth inning. Kansas cut it to 5-4 by scoring a pair in the top of the eighth inning, but could not get any closer as it dropped a 5-4 decision.
Offensively, Kansas was led by junior first baseman Ryan Baty who went 3-of-4 from the plate.
The third and final game of the series would decide the series winner. Senior Kevin Wheeler pitched for Kansas and pitched five-and-two-thirds innings.
Kansas built a 6-2 lead in the game before letting it slip to a 6-6 tie heading into the ninth inning. With two outs and Price on base, Wheeler ripped a single to put runners at first and second for junior right fielder Matt Tribble. With the tension mounting, Tribble delivered a base hit, sending Price home and giving Kansas a 7-6 lead.
"I have been waiting for that type of situation all year," Trible said. "When I got it I was just trying to find a hole in their defense and I did. Hopefully this series win against a conference opponent will really get us rolling."
Johnson once again came in relief in the ninth and recorded his seventh victory of the season, improving his record to 7-2. The Lawrence junior also has a team-leading six saves on the season. On Kansas' five-game road trip, Johnson recorded two victories and two saves.
saves.
"Getting two wins on the road is huge for this team." Baty said. "We went through a valley recently, and we are just trying to play good baseball and get ourselves back in the hunt. It was a pretty long week for this team and to win four out of five is great, and it shows a lot about the character of this club."
Tulsa, Arkansas defeat soccer team
By Shane Mettlen
smettlen@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Edited by Michelle Burhenn
The Kansas soccer team didn't finish the season as positively as it had hoped to, getting swept by Arkansas and Tulsa Saturday.
The losses dropped the Jayhawks record to 3-4-2 for the spring season
The Jayhawks got off to a poor start against the Razorbacks and went into halftime trailing 1-0. Sophomore Monica Brothers tied the game with a goal in the second half, but Arkansas answered late in the game to secure a 2-1 victory.
The second game of the afternoon was largely uneventful.
tuna scored the game's only goal in the first period to ensure a 1-0 victory and avenge the Jayhawks' victory over the Golden Hurricane last weekend in Lawrence.
Despite the losses Kansas made progress during the spring season.
Now the Jayhawks' focus turns back to the fall season, which opens
Aug. 29 with Kansas hosting Northwestern at the SuperTarget Field.
The Jayhawks have 14 letterwinners returning, including the spring's leading goal scorer Caroline Smith, and will add seven new freshmen to the roster.
Edited by Julie Jantzer
Banquet honors women's basketball
By Ryan Greene rggreen@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The annual awards banquet for the Kansas women's basketball team not only commended members of the team for their achievements both on and off the court this past season, but it also served as a tribute to coach Marian Washington for her 30 years as the coach at Kansas. The ceremony culminated with a video montage depicting Washington's Kansas career and the presentation of two framed Kansas jerseys, one a frontal view of "Kansas 30," and the other a view from the back of "30 Washington." She was also presented with a framed photo layout of snapshots from her 30-year career.
Twelve awards were presented to players and faculty who supported the athletes throughout the season.
Peg Wittmer service award Renate R. Mai-Dalton, associate professor of business and director of the Multicultural Business Scholars Program
Academic achievement award — Sophomore center Valerie Migicovsky
Freshman forward Crystal Kent
Freshman academic award
Assist leader award — Freshman guard Erica Hallman (97 assists, 3.4 per game)
Teaching excellence award Chico Herbison, professor of African and African-American studies
Steals leader award — Sophomore guard Aquanita Bur-
ras (76 steals, 2.6 per game)
Most improved award
Juniord guard Lelia Menguc
■ Vickie Adkins rebounding award — Freshman forward Tamara Ransburg
Angela Aycock free throw percentage award - Crystal Kemp (74.3 percent)
Adrian Mitchell sportsman-
ship award — Sophomore guard
Blair Waltz
Sheila Ullman coaches award - Erica Hallman
Shebra Legrant newcomer award — Tamara Ransburg
■ Jackie Martin inspiration award - Leila Mengüç
■ Lynette Woodard MVP award — Tamara Ransburg (10.9 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game, 68 blocks)
Kemp said she thought the academic achievement award spoke volumes for the program's emphasis on success off the court.
"It's letting me know and letting my other teammates know that the academics are the important thing," Kemp said.
Although Ransburg expected her MVP award to go to Burras, she said she saw it as a positive step toward what she wanted to accomplish next season.
"This is my first time getting MVP ever since I started playing basketball, so it's really a booster for me to go into next year and have a bang so I can get it back-to-back." Ransburg said.
— Edited by Lindsay Hanson
Hockey fans arrested after final game
The Associated Press
Fans from the winning and losing teams at the NCAA hockey championship threw bottles and rocks, smashed store windows and set trash bins on fire in separate outbreaks of violence that resulted in more than 100 arrests.
No injuries were reported in Minneapolis, but in New Hampshire, 17 people were treated for exposure to pepper gas, the university said.
The disturbances began shortly after Minnesota beat New Hampshire 5-1 Saturday night in
Buffalo, N.Y., for the Gophers' second straight title.
At Durham, N.H., police twice fired pepper gas into a bottle-throwing crowd of about 4,000 people who spilled into downtown after the game. It took two hours for the crowd to disperse, and police made 90 arrests.
In Minneapolis, shop owners swept up broken glass and repaired storefronts near the university Sunday. Police arrested 11 people after a celebration over the Gophers' victory turned into a window-smashing, rock-
throwing melee. Five vehicles, one owned by a TV station, were set ablaze, and emergency workers were pelted with bottles, rocks and chunks of concrete.
It took 100 officers to restore order to a crowd of about 2,000, police spokesman Ron Reier said. He expects charges to be filed against those arrested.
University President Robert Bruininks said yesterday that he was outraged and disappointed by the criminal activities in and around the campus.
"We are deeply disappointed
that the actions of some individuals have tarnished the reputation of this institution and the majority of law-abiding, responsible university students," Bruininks said in a statement. "A victory such as this should be a time for building community, not tearing it down."
In New Hampshire, firefighters answered 21 calls, mostly for setting fires in trash bins and on a couch, school spokeswoman Kim Billings said. She added that students will be brought before the student conduct system, and there probably will be suspensions.
Canadian wins Masters playoff with bogey putt
The Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. $ \rightarrow $ A Maple Leaf grows among the towering pines of Augusta National.
Mike Weir became the first Canadian to win the Masters, making two clutch pars to force a playoff with Len Mattiace, and winning on the first extra hole with a simple tap-in for bogey.
The green jacket that Tiger Woods had hoped to slip on for a record third straight year is going north of the border.
Weir, who only five years ago had to toil through PGA Tour qualifying school, closed with a bogey-free 68 on a dramatic Sunday at Augusta National, then let Mattiace make all the mistakes in the first Masters playoff in 13 years.
Weir had to sweat over a 5-foot parp putt on the 17th and a 6-footer on the 18th, as Mattiace waited on the practice green among chairs that already were set up for the fabled green jacket ceremony.
Minutes later, Weir leaned over to tap in for his only bogey of the day, then raised his arms and embraced his longtime friend and caddie, Brennan Little.
What a breakthrough — not only was he the first Canadian to win a major championship, he became the first left-hander to win a major since Bob Charles in the 1963 British Open.
Mattia watched a brilliant day at Augusta National crumble quickly.
He chipped in for birdie, holed a 60-foot putt on No. 10, and charged through the back nine on a mission to build a twostroke lead. But Mattiace bogeyed the 18th for a 65, and he never had an opportunity in the playoff.
From the middle of the 10th fairway, he hooked his approach wildly to the left and then chipped some 30 feet by the hole. His par putt nearly went off the green, and Mattiace wound up with a double bogey.
Both finished at 7-under 281, the highest winning score at the Masters since 1989.
Weir won for the first time this year, and all six of his PGA Tour victories have been comebacks — none more special than this.
Until yesterday, the most nervous he has ever felt was watching Canada win the gold medal in hockey at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
"This was definitely nerve-racking," Weir said. "I tried to gather myself on each putt. Every putt on this golf course is tough."
All of them mattered until the end, when Mattiace chopped up the 10th hole and was struggling to hold back tears when he realized how close he had come.
All of them mattered in a nervous pursuit of the green jacket.
Woods, who stumbled to a 75, slipped the coveted prize over his shoulders.
"Thanks, Tig," Weir told him. "It feels good."