THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24, 2000
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2009
SPORTS
7B
BASEBALL
Kansas to play No.21 Arkansas today
Kansas scouting report
Kansas had an up-and- down weekend to open the season, at best. After a brilliant
perform-
ance
from junior
starter
Shaefer Hall to no-hit Air
Force as the Jayhawks
blanketed the Falcons
Hall
5-0, Kansas dropped the next two games of the weekend to Memphis.
In each game, the starters, sophomore T.J. Walz and junior Cameron Selik, pitched exceptionally well. Certainly good enough for victories, but
the Kansas offense and bullpen failed them. Senior closer Paul Smyth blew a 2 run lead in the bottom of the ninth, and
Smyth
the Jayhawk three and four hitters in the lineup, struck out with runners in scoring position.
Against the Razorbacks, the Jayhawks will turn to freshman phenom Lee Ridenhour. Price raved in the preseason about
the arm of
the arm of
Ridhuren,
who will
have his
work cut
out for
him with a
dangerous
Arkansas
lineup.
Ridenhour
Junior
infelders Robby Price and David Narodowski must be able to step out of their funk and put up some numbers against a struggling Arkansas
rotation as both hitters are hitting a mediocre .200.
Luckily the bottom of the order has produced
exceptionally for Kansas, with sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson leading the team in hitting and RBI.
Thompson
Josh Bowe
Young Jayhawks expect a difficult playing environment in Fayetteville
BY JOSHBOWE
jbowe@kansan.com
For a team full of freshmen, Kansas is either in for a rude awakening or a promising surprise today.
The Jayhawks travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to face off against the No. 21 Arkansas Razorbacks at 3 p.m today. Coach Ritch Price had very fond words to say for the Arkansas program, but he expects a difficult playing environment.
"It's an incredible environment to play in, they play in one of the nicest stadiums in America," Price said.
Price also expects his freshman and other young players to grow in one form or another, good or bad. A lot of players on the current roster haven't experienced an atmosphere that the Razorback faithful can provide.
"It's a great environment for our freshmen to go, because they are going to step into an environment they've never seen in their life," Price said. "Their fans are on you."
top pitcher in this season's freshmen class, will start tonight. Price said he expected Ridenhour to be nervous.
"We need him to do the same thing that we got from all three guys this weekend," Price said. "Hopefully he can get through the first couple of innings and let the nerves settle down and pitch well."
Freshman Lee Ridenhour, the
HALL NAMED BIG 12
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
After pitching in easily the best game of his career, junior Shaeffer Hall is now reaping the rewards of such a historic performance.
Hall was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 23rd. He is the first Kansas pitcher to win the award since 2006. Hall's complete no-hit game was only the fifth individual no-hitter in Kansas history and the first in almost 30 years.
Hall is accompanied by Texas A&M third baseman Caleb Shofner in the conference's weekly awards.
— Edited by Susan Melgren
Arkansas, who swept the Washington State Cougars
Arkansas scouting report
in their
Darr
Monday.
Senior outfielder Andrew Darr led the Razorbacks in the weekend with two game-winning hits, one a 10th inning walk-off home run, the other on a squeeze play.
Even with all that, he may not have been Arkansas' top hitter of the weekend. Sopho
Darr's glove also made a difference—in the half-inning before his walk-off he climbed the wall to take away what would have been a go-ahead home run for the Cougars. On the season Darr is hitting .300 with three RBIs, a double to go along with his home run and a .700 slugging percentage.
more infelder Andy Wilkins,
who last year started 35 of the
team's 40 games as a freshman, led
the team
with a .444
average
and a .615
on-base
percentage.
His one
home run
and three
RBIs tied
Wilkins
him for the team lead with Darr.
Senior pitcher Justin Wells played a huge role for the Razor-backs in silencing
Wells
Washington State's bats. He picked up a win and a save while allowing only one hit in 2 appearances and 4.2 innings of work.
Tim Dwyer
MLB
Steroids a concern as spring training starts u
JUPITER, Fla. — Baseball union head Donald Fehr began his annual tour of spring training camps Monday with steroids back in the spotlight.
"Everybody understands that there were things which happened in the early part of the decade which we wish hadn't, that that's not the case anymore," Fehr said after meeting with Florida Marlins players.
"We fixed the problem and we need to look forward, as Bud has said many times," he said.
Fehr said he didn't think commissioner Bud Selig will take disciplinary action against Alex Rodriguez, who admitted Feb. 9 that he used a banned substance from 2001 to 2003. Rodriguez confessed two days after Sports illustrated reported he was on a list of 104 players who tested positive in the 2003 survey. Selig said Rodriguez shamed the sport
Testing in 2003 was to be confidential. Fehr rejected the
suggestion all players in 2003 are under suspicion because 104 of them tested positive.
"If that's the judgment, it seems to me that is entirely wrong." Fehr said. "We know what happened in 2003. The number of positives we had was slightly over 5 percent. That means that slightly over 94 percent was negative."
Pitchers Curt Schilling and Brad Lidge are among those who have said all 104 players should be identified, but Fehr said the union will try to ensure the list of names remains confidential.
Tulowitzki comes back, hopes to lead for Rockies
TUCSON, Ariz. — After a scorching rookie season and a sophomore slump, Troy Tulowitzi wants to emerge this year as a leader in the Colorado Rockies clubhouse.
"I want the guys to look at me in this locker room and say, 'He has that leader mentality and he is a good player because he works his butt off and takes this game seriously.' "Tulowitzki said.
Two years ago, the shortstop didn't even know he was going to
make the club until the final few days of spring training.
He went on to play a pivotal role in getting the team into the World Series, leading all National League rookies in at bats (609), plate appearances (678), games (155), hits (177), doubles (33), runs (104), total bases (292), walks (57) and RBIs (99).
He also became a vocal leader in the dugout, manger Clint Hurdle said.
"He picked some times where he became vocal and then backed it up." Hurdle said.
After getting a 6-year, $31 million contract in the offseason, Tulowitzki got off to a feeble start in 2008.
He lost another 13 games after he slammed his bat to the ground in a June game and it shattered, operating his right hand.
BIG 12 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Texas A&M narrowly defeats Oklahoma in last six seconds
Associated Press
The Sooners'loss ended a 20-game winning streak
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M's Takia Starks hit a layup in the lane with 6 seconds left to lead No. 12 Texas A&M to a 57-5 win over second-ranked Oklahoma on Monday night, ending the Sooners' 20-game winning streak.
Texas A&M's Takia Starks shoots the go-ahead basket over Oklahoma's Danielle Robinson (left) and Nyssa Stevenson during a women's college basketball game Monday in College Station, Texas. Texas A&M womens 57-26.
The Aggies (21-5, 9-4 Big 12) trailed by one before Starks got the ball at the top of the key and drove into the lane for the winner.
She also had a long jumper with 2 minutes left to get Texas A&M within striking distance.
The Sooners, who had a season-high 29 turnovers, scored 10 straight points to take a 56-53 lead with $3\frac{1}{2}$ minutes remaining.
Oklahoma (24-3, 12-1) led by 14 points in the second half before Texas A&M went on a run that gave the Aggies a seven-point lead with eight minutes left.
It's Oklahoma's first loss since falling at No.1 Connecticut on Nov.30.
Texas A&M got 18 points from Tanisha Smith and Starks finished with 12. The Sooners were led by Danielle Robinson's 17 points.
NO. 9 NORTH CAROLINA
74. N.C. STATE 57
RALEIGH, N.C. - Italee Lucas scored 16 points to help No.9 North Carolina beat North Carolina State.
Cetera DeGraffrenreid and Jessica Breland each added 14 for the Tar Heels (24-4, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their third straight overall and extended their
North Carolina ran out to an early double-digit lead and never trailed to earn its 17th win in 19 meetings.
recent dominance against their nearby rival.
The Tar Heels led by as many as 19 in the second half.
Freshman Bonae Holston turned
in a second strong performance against the Tar Heels, finishing with 15 points to lead the Wolfpack (12-15, 4-8).
But leading scorer Shayla Fields struggled all night, while the Wollpack shot just 31 percent from the field and 2-for-15 from 3-point range.
4