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Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ANSAN a U.S.
JAYHAWKS WIN 10-0 AGAINST TEXAS TECH
But lose 4-2 in second game against Red Raiders this weekend. SOFTBALL 18B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2009
XAVIER HENRY MAY BECOME JAYHAWK
No. 3 recruit's decision depends on brother's future. MEN'S BASKETBALL 12 B
SOUTH FLORIDA 75,KANSAS 71
PAGE 1B
Rvan McGeenev/KANSAN
The Jayhawks watch dejectedly from the bench after the conclusion of Saturday's WNIT Championship game against the University of South Florida. The Bulls defeated the Jayhawks 75-71. Said junior guard Sade Morris, "We felt like crap and we were just sitting there. We still feel like crap."
Kansas suffers detrimental defeat
With the stands full, the Jayhawks lost to the Bulls Saturday
BY JAYSON JENKS jjenks@kansan.com
Right then — right after Kansas' remarkable late-season turnaround ended with a disappointing 75-71 loss to South Florida in the WNIT championship — junior guard Sade Morris still hurt.
Forget the game's record-setting crowd, the string of victories to
even reach this point and forget Kansas' ferocious comeback
attempttcatclosed South Florida's double-digit lead to one in the final minutes.
In a somber locker room, Morris and the Jayhawks sat in silence with watering eyes, the sting from the loss still fresh.
"We felt like crap and we were just sitting there.
"I mean, we just lost a championship game," Morris said.
"I mean, we just lost a championship game. We felt like crap and we were just sitting there."
SADE MORRIS Junior guard
"We still feel like crap."
Kansas' season ended with players sitting on the bench, headsburied in hands or jerseys as South Florida celebrated in a suddenly hushed Allen Fieldhouse.
appeared poised to cap off their season with a late-game comeback that sliced the Bulls' lead from 12
Moments before.
to one with 2:22 left. As Kansas inched closer, the crowd and sense of a WNIT championship seemed to grow louder.
But Kansas never grasped the lead, leaving coach Bonnie Henrickson to console a thoroughly disappointed group in the locker room.
"It's just so tough because we made that comeback at the end of the season and then we made one the last four or five minutes of the game," senior guard Ivana Catic said. "It just makes it that much tougher to deal with everything."
The reasons the Jayhawks
reached this point, the aspects of their game that led them to the championship game in the first place, vanquished against South Florida.
The Jayhawks' shooting appeared spotty at best, making an uncharacteristically low 38 percent of their attempts, while missing handfuls of routine open looks.
"That's as bad as we've shot in a long time." Herrickson said.
But that statistic alone didn't doom the Jayhawks.
SEE WOMEN'S ON PAGE 4B
For full coverage of the women's basketball game against South Florida, check out the rewind on page 4B.
BASEBALL
Team suffers biggest loss in six years, allows eight home runs
BY JOSH BOWE
jbowe@kansan.com
Baylor shortstop Shaver Hansen crushed his third home run of the game to dead center in the top of the eighth inning, putting the Bears up 8-1.
Unfortunately for Kansas, that wasn't the game score. The Jayhawks probably would have settled for that score.
Instead that was the home run count as the Bears decided to have their own home run derby inside Hoglund Ballpark Sunday. Kansas lost the 'game with an even more lopsided score: 21-9.
"We just couldn't stop them from scoring," coach Ritch Price said. "The difference in the game was we hit one home run and they hit eight home runs."
It was the Jayhawks' biggest loss since 2002. The winter mix of rain, snow and high winds contributed to the power displayed by Baylor.
"Obviously if you hit a ball in the air you had a home run today with the way the conditions were," Price said. "But at the same time we were behind in the count on almost every single hitter."
At times it seemed as though any ball popped up and hit into the air would clear the fence.
No Jayhawk pitcher was immune to the scoring barrage. The only pitcher not to give up a run was freshman Kelson Boyer, and he only pitched the last third*
BASEBALL REWIND
PAGE 3B
For full coverage of the baseball games against Baylor, check out the rewind on page 3B.
Sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson said the only thing to tell pitchers after a game like that was to stay positive.
Freshman starter Lee Ridenhour played the fewest innings of any of his starts this season. In three innings he allowed seven hits and a career-high six earned runs. But Price isn't ready to lash out against his pitching staff after one game.
of the ninth. The eight home runs were the most given up by Kansas since it played Oklahoma State in 2006.
"Tell them to stick with it and keep throwing strikes," Thompson said. "But today the conditions were pretty hard to play in."
After all it's the pitching that has allowed Kansas to be one of the most surprising teams in the Big 12 this season.
"One of the things I let everybody know is that our pitching has been fabulous." Price said.
At least for the offense on
But down the stretch the Jayhawk lineup couldn't keep up. Kansas failed to score in the last three innings while Baylor scored 10 in those innings.
Sunday, hitting wasn't a problem. Nine runs on 14 hits is usually enough for most teams to win.
This was especially evident after Baylor scored five runs in the top of the sixth to extend its lead to 11-6. Kansas immediately responded with a three-run home run by Thompson in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to two.
"I didn't think we were going to have to score 22 runs to win," freshman shortstop James Stanfield said. "But that's just how it happened."
Three home runs later in the top of the seventh saw Baylor up 16-9. The Bears' sophomore reliever Craig Fritsch came into the game and shut out the Jayhawks for the rest of the day.
After Price got on to some of his seniors after some close games earlier this week, he wasn't ready to bark negatives at his players after this game. Mainly he said this game should be forgotten.
"He came in and basically dominated us." Price said.
"All you can do is flush that," Price said. "I think there's no sense in beating your players up or saying something that would embarrass yourself later."
— Edited by Brandy Entsminger
Weston White/KANSAN
Sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson gets a quick handshake from Kansas' third base coach after jacking a home run over the left field wall. Thompson batted 2-for-4 Saturday afternoon against Baylor, driving in three RBI and scoring one run in a 6-0 victory against the Bears. Kansas lost to the Bears 21-9 on Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Women's basketball deserves spotlight
success breeds allure.
Saturday's WNIT final at Allen Fieldhouse - a 75-71
loss to South Florida — offered 16,113 reasons why this team (and sport) is capable of drawing its own spotlight. At the birthplace of basketball, Kansas fans don't discriminate when quality hoops are available.
It was a seismic shift from a few months ago, the worst month-long stretch of the season. Kansas went 1-8 in Big 12 play from Jan. 17 to Feb. 18.
The team didn't won more than 17 games and had struggled mightily in its conference during coach Bonnie Henrickson's regime. How much longer did she have left
SEE MONTEMAYOR ON PAGE 4B