THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2009
SPORTS
7B
Jenny Terrell/KANSAN
SOFTBALL
**IN NEWS**/**KANSA**
Sarri Ramirez, junior second baseman, throws the ball in during the game against Missouri State on Tuesday afternoon. Kansas lost 13-8 against Missouri State.
After a seven-run rally, team falls short of comeback victory against the Bears
BY BENWARD bward@kansan.com
"We were not going to let them run-rule us at home," sophomore outfielder Liz Koon said.
Trailing 12-1 and in danger of a mercy-rule loss against Missouri State, Kansas could have given up and called it a day. Instead it chose to stay and fight.
Held in check for most of the afternoon, Kansas mounted a five-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning to narrow the margin to 12-6. The Jayhawks tacked on two more runs with Kocoron's homerun in the sixth, but Missouri State (13-12) added a run in the seventh and Lady Bear pitcher Lauren McGinley slammed the door, picking up her eight victory of the season.
Coach Tracy Bunge seemed to agree.
With the 13-8 loss to the Lady Bears, Kansas (10-17) has now lost three games in a row. Though they broke out of their recent offensive slump with nine hits and eight runs, the Jayhawks found little consolation despite their late-game rally.
"To come back and threaten them like that, it's a positive you want to hold onto," she said. "But we played with no passion, energy or confidence until we faced being run-ruled — we have to be tougher than that mentally."
"Sure, the eight runs help," Kocon said. "But it's no closure for the loss; it's embarrassing."
That lack of energy was evident on the field, where the Jahawks were both ineffective in the circle, allowing 13 runs on 14 hits, and sloppy with the ball — committing four errors, which led to eight unearned runs for the Lady Bears.
"Defensively we stunk, and we didn't pitch well," Bunge said. "And it all kind of snowballed on us, but it was really mistake-driven."
Mistakes or not, Missouri State out-hit Kansas as well, with four of the 14 hits coming from senior shortstop Jessie Smith. Coach
MISSOURI STATE 13,
KANSAS 8
WP — McGinley (8-3)
LP — Verteika (3-4)
HR — Replogle (MSU, 1);
Kocon (KU, 1)
TODAY
Kansas vs. Creighton
Double header starting at
2 p.m. at Arrocha Ballpark
Bunge was quick to credit the Lady Bears.
"Give Missouri State credit," Bunge said. "They did a lot of good things out there and capitalized off
of every opportunity."
With little time to rest before tomorrow's doubleheader against Creighton (15-8), Bunge expects her team to shake off this defeat and move forward.
"We have no time to sit and wallow over this loss," she said. "We need to forget about it and play our butts off tomorrow against a very good Creighton team."
"We need to keep the energy up and stay focused," said sophomore Allie Clark. "If we do that, good things will happen."
Bunge's resolve appears to be rubbing off on her team.
games. Back in Gary, some of Appleton's friends couldn't help but ask why.
"Everyone wonders what's going on because I was highly recruited out of juco," Appleton said. "But I tell everybody I'm new to it, too. Just like a freshman."
APPLETON (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Edited by Brandy Entsminger
Despite Appleton's disappointment, he was never negative. Appleton said he never considered leaving Kansas and was fully committed to the program.
Part of his positive outlook came from telephone conversations with people such as Williams. Now, Appleton has to deal with knowing he'll never have one of those again
"It's a hard situation for me"
Appleton said.
But something weird happened at Williams' funeral the day before Kansas' second-round game against Dayton. People kept coming up to Appleton. They wanted to talk about the Jayhawks.
They told Appleton to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Get to Indianapolis. That way, they could all go watch him perform on one of college basketball's grandest stages. It would help the healing process.
Well, Kansas beat Dayton 60-43. Now, Appleton needs a few extra tickets.
"We're going back to my home," Appleton said. "It's going to be real exciting."
The most exciting part? Appleton even has a chance to contribute for the Jayhawks. In their first-round
victory against North Dakota State. Appleton tied a season-high by playing six minutes.
These weren't meaningless minutes, either. Self watched as North Dakota State guard Ben Woodside dominated the first three jayhaws to defend him in the first half.
"Let's put some guys in there who give us the best chance to get some stops," Self said he thought to himself.
Self looked down to the end of the bench and called on Appleton in the middle of the first half. Appleton thought he heard Self wrong.
But when Self repeated himself, Appleton ripped off his warm-up suit and sprinted to the scorer's table.
Although no one stopped Woodside that day — he scored 37 points, third most against Kansas in NCAA tournament history — Appleton did arguably the best job containing him. Self praised Appleton's defensive effort after the game.
"That's what he does." Self said. "If he just focuses in on that then he 'can be really effective.'
There's no guarantee Appleton will play a similar role against Michigan State, but the Spartans' personnel suggests he might. Their leading scorer is sophomore guard Kalin Lucas, who was the Big Ten Player of the Year and averages 15 points per game.
Appleton guarded Lucas for a stretch when Michigan State beat
Kansas 75-62 earlier in the season.
If the rest of the Jayhawks struggle to match up with Lucas, don't be surprised if Selfs in Appleton.
program. Like the Joker needs Batman, and Duke needs North Carolina, maybe Kansas needs Missouri.
Whether Appleton plays or not, he'll have someone on his mind: Dennis Williams.
— Edited by Grant Treaster
But neither these nor any other explanatory mechanism seem to justify rooting for a rival as hated as Missouri. But, justified or not, it could happen again as soon as tomorrow, when Mizzou plays Memphis. And although Jayhawks for Missouri makes about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine, March Madness has been known to produce some crazy happenings.
"Always," Appleton said.
Edited by Jesse Trimble
BEECHER (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Or perhaps it is in that word "sympathy" that the answer can be found. Maybe Kansas fans, knowing that Missouri hasn't had any tournament success in seven years and has never reached a Final Four, felt sorry for the Tigers.
Maybe it was reason that Kansas fans relied upon to make their choice. Maybe, on some level, Kansas fans want Missouri to get better and to reach national prominence. A better rival leads to bigger games and more ESPN coverage. That increase in exposure (something Kansas hardly struggles with now) could help Kansas further establish itself as the nation's elite
WWW.CROSSROADSKC.COM
The Bottleneck 737 New Hampshire
Wednesday, April 1st Cornmeal
w/ Mountain Sprout
William Fitzsimmons
saturday, April 11th
Lez Zeppelin
SOMING SOON: Bleu Edmondson, KOTO,
The Killers & the Hills, That One Guy.
Washington Square, The Real,
New Horton Heath, The Sounds, Republic Tigers