SAN
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Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MANGINO REINSTATES DEZMON BRISCOE
THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
KANSAS TRYING TO BUILD MOMENTUM GRADUALLY
Jayhawks take on the Drake Bulldogs tonight at Arrocha Ballpark. SOFTBALL 16B
PAGE 1B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Henrys expected to choose Kansas today
BY CASE KEEFER
ckeefer@kansan.com
Xavier and C.I. Henry have scheduled a press conference at 11:30 this morning to announce where they will attend college next year. All indicators point toward Kansas.
Earlier this week, the Henry brothers canceled their visit to Kentucky scheduled for this weekend, citing Xavier's senior prom at Putnam City High School
in Oklahoma City as a reason. Multipleoutlets,includingthe Daily
Oklahoman.
are reporting that the Henrys will select Kansas over Kentucky, their other finalist.
Xavier Henry
The press conference will be held in the Putnam City
High gymnasium. It's an appropriate location considering it's where Xavier led the Pirates to two state championships and became regarded as one of the top recruits in the class of 2009.
Rivals.com ranked Xavier as the No. 8 player in the nation in its newest rankings, released this week. He originally committed to Memphis in November, but got out of his letter of intent when coach John Callipari left for Kentucky.
C. J. walked on at Memphis last year after spending three sea-
league baseball with the New York Yankees' organization. Before his stint as a professional baseball player, C.J. had committed to play
basketball at Kansas out of high
C. J. Henry
school.
Because C.J., a 6-foot-3 shooting guard, is transferring, he might have to sit out a year under NCAA rules. The Henry family filed an appeal with the NCAA to let C.J. play right away.
Xavier, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, would likely start immediately for the lajawkens and fill their most glaring need of a talented wing player.
Edited by Sonya English
Going, going, going ... gone
KANSAS 7, MISSOURI 3
Preston Land's home run pushes Kansas past Mizzou
BY JOSH BOWE
jbowe@kansan.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Wednesday night Kansas spelled redemption L-A-N-D.
Western White Kieran Senior first baseman Preston Land bumps chests with sophomore designated hitter Jimmy Waters after hitting a home run Wednesday night against Missouri. Land was 1 for-4 at the plate and drove in three runs in Kansas' 7-3 win. Land has hit the ball well in recent games, an overplowed zone.
Senior first baseman Preston Land continued to prove why he's been a starter the last four seasons, even if the last two haven't been starter material.
Weston White/KANSAN
Land's sixth inning, three-run home run helped Kansas bounce back from an early deficit to defeat border rival Missouri 7-3 at Kauffman Stadium.
"Especially after making an error earlier in the game, redeeming yourself like that and getting the runs back on the board felt real good," Land said.
Land has been looking for redemption all season after mediocre sophomore and junior seasons. After hitting .314 as a freshman and earning All-Big 12 preseason mentions before his sophomore season, Land struggled the next two years, hitting .206 and .221.
And this season started similarly. In Land's last eight games, he was 2-for-23 with no home runs, one RBI and 13 strikeouts. Since the Texas Tech series last weekend, Land has gone 4-for-16 with three home runs and sixRBIs. Wednesday night's home run wasn't even a sure thing. Land said he doubted whether he got enough of the inside fastball.
"When I was rounding first, I saw the guy at the wall and I was like 'Oh come on, don't tell me he's going to rob this.'" Land said.
It wasn't robbed, and Kansas picked up its 23th victory of the season, only three back of last year's total. Coach Ritch Price has stuck with Land all season, and
"I tell you what guys, it's been a long four years too." Price said, laughing. "I feel really good for him."
he said he was glad his senior was able to get back into a groove, especially against the Tigers at Kauffman Stadium.
In Missouri's two-run fourth
inning, Land failed to make two plays he typically makes. One was a dropped ball on a Tiger bunt attempt as sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson made a strong throw to Land. The other
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 7B
TENNIS
Kansas gets second chance against Missouri
BY JUSTIN HILLEY
jhilley@kansan.com
That did not happen, however. On March 22's Border Showdown, the Jayhawks hosted a fervently contested dual match that resulted in a 5-2 loss to the Tigers. A few of the players were in tears afterwards.
The Kansas Jayhawks finished their 2009 regular season without fulfilling one of the team's primary goals: defeating the Missouri Tigers.
"We will beat Missouri," coach Amy Hall-Holt said in an interview before the start of the season.
Payback will be on the minds of the Jayhawks today when they take on the Tigers in the first round of the Big 12 Championships in Norman, Oklahoma.
"We're definitely pretty excited. We want to get revenge," Hall-Holt said when the team arrived in Norman.
First round
Big 12 Championships
Kansas vs. Missouri
10 a.m.
Norman, Okla.
TODAY
Getting revenge should be a lot easier now that the layhawks feature a newly ITA-ranked doubles pair. Senior Edina Horvath and freshman Kate Morozova won both of their doubles matches last weekend, including one against Texas' then-No. 34 Vanja Corovic and Marija Milic. Horvath and Morozova's conference record of 7-3 is tied for the No. 1 position in the Big 12. Ranked No. 69, they are one of five Big 12 doubles pairs to be ranked in
COMMENTARY
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
SEE TENNIS ON PAGE 5B
Freshman Ekaterina Morozova, left, and senior Edina Horvath, right, keep each other motivated between sets during the Jayhawks March 22 match against Missouri.
ANSAS CITY, MO.
- The division began behind home plate as if
Jayhawks and Tigers meet at Kauffman
it were a state line. On the third-base side at the newly polished Kauffman Stadium sat the bulk of Kansas fans while the Missouri faithful mainly resided opposite their foes on the first base side.
And then senior first baseman Preston Land stepped up to the plate. Any jitters from being held up in traffic on the way to the ballpark and playing in a park that is far from amateur were erased with the ping of a left-field home run. The result: a 5-3 lead that would eventually become 7-3 before the ground-skeepers took the field, signaling it was all over.
Sure, there were a few thickets of crimson and blue among the Tiger supporters and a couple of rogue gold T-shirts on the other side, but not enough to suggest a cessation of baseball's 318th Border Showdown.
But then the inning began. Heere crushed a triple to lead off and erupt half of the viewing populate. Kansas turned in two quick outs before sophomore left fielder Casey Lytle was hit by a pitch and sophomore designated hitter Jimmy Waters singled in a run and advanced Lytle to second.
Kansas fans didn't need perfection to bellow out their "Rock Chalk" chant.
"That was awesome man," Price said. "I got goosebumps."
The warm, spring weather and shiny stadium screamed perfection, although the game itself would be far from it. In fact, Kansas committed three errors -- two in the first four innings.
And as if the jayhawks needed reminding of their surroundings, the stadium's Major League residents appeared on the massive, crowned LED screen before sophomore right fielder Brian Heere was up to bat to lead off the bottom of the sixth. In crystal clear high definition, Joakim Soria Mexicuted the last Cleveland batter of the night, activating music, cheers and "ROYALS WIN" blown up on the scoreboard.
"My only disappointment of the game is that we were sloppy defensively," coach Ritch Price said. "That's something we haven't been doing. We've been playing well defensively."
And with two consecutive midweek wins at both the site of the College World Series and the site of The Show, Kansas looks like it might be able to crush its nerves on any stage.
"That infield's perfect, you can't blame any of those errors on that infield," Price said. "That thing is like a golf course. I think it was nerves."
Kansas' jittery start resulted in no runs to lead off the game but it would produce an early 3-1 deficit in the midweek, non-conference til. When searching for answers for his team's uncharacteristic defensive start, Price simply summed it up: nerves.
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Edited by Heather Melanson