Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
The Kansas women's and men's ultimate Frisbee club teams faced tough competition at the annual Fool's Fest tournament.
Kansas Softball
The Kansas softball team split weekend double-headers against Texas and Texas A&M.
SEE PAGE 3B
Twins thump Royals
Monday
April 6, 1998
Section:
B
Page 1
Page 1
Behind the pitching of newly acquired Eric Milton, Minnesota beat the Royals 10-1 yesterday.
SEE PAGE 5B
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Rugby teams compete in Lawrence
By Laura Bokenkroger
Kansan sportswriter
The Western Rugby Football Union Men's College Championship Tournament returned to Lawrence last weekend for the first time since 1984
The two-year-old Westwick fields were the site of the tournament.
"We bid on it to get it, and the main reason we did it this year is because of these new fields," said Rick Renfrote, the Kansas Jayhawk Rugby Football Club sponsor.
Lawrence was the site of the first Rugby Football Union Collegiate Tournament in 1980. The tournament was held here two other times in the 1980s.
Eight teams competed in the Division I tournament, including Kansas State, Truman State, Air Force Academy, Louisiana State, Colorado State, New Mexico State University, St. Louis University and Rice University.
Rugby players from Kansas State tackle a player from Louisiana State. The Western Rugby Football Union Men's Collegiate Championship Tournament was held last weekend at the Westwick fields. Photo by Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
The Kansas men's rugby football team could not qualify for the tournament because they are on probation this semester after playing ineligible players last year.
The top three finishers in the Division I tournament go on to the Sweet Sixteen.
Third-seeded Air Force Academy defeated top-seeded Truman State 24-13 yesterday in a muddy battle for the championship.
Colorado State defeated Rice to finish third in the tournament.
"The Truman State is a terrific team," said Air Force Academy coach Dave Gaines. "They're big, smart, disciplined. I think our fitness worked for us today."
Western University finished first in the four-team Division II tournament. The other participants were Benedictine, Texas Christian University and the University of Northern Texas.
The women's Rugby Football team competes April 18 and 19 in an eightteam tournament at Westwick. Only the winner of the tournament advances to the next round of the national playoffs.
The Jayhawks, 4-6 on the season, will receive the brackets and their seed Friday.
Team wins weekend matches
By Erin Thompson
Kansan sportswriter
The women's tennis team continued its dominating play this weekend by defeating Oklahoma and Oklahoma State at Robinson Center.
The Jayhawks beat Oklahoma State 7-2 Saturday in a cold and windy match, and Oklahoma was not much more of a challenge for the Jayhawks yesterday. Kansas defeated the Sooners 7-2 as well.
The team competed yesterday without Kyle Hunt, its top singles player. Hunt missed the match because of an inflamed left lung. She is expected to return to the lineup by next weekend.
Kansas coach Roland Thornquist said he was pleased with how his team performed without its top player.
"The kids did a great job today stepping up in Kylie's absence," he said. "I think they all showed great character."
Brooke Chiller returned to the lineup this weekend after missing a month because of tendonitis in her left hand. She defeated Oklahoma's Jennie Hamilton at No. 6 singles and teamed up with Sim for doubles. They lost to Oklahoma's Viviana Macropa and Danielle Knipper 8:46.
"I struggled at the beginning of the second set," she said. "I kept playing well and gained some confidence. I knew she wasn't going to give up. Eventually it worked."
Sim said it felt good to be back in the top spot, although she was nervous at first.
With the two wins this weekend, the Jayhawks improved to 14-2 overall and 6-0 in the Big 12. They are expected to crack the top 10 in the rankings released today.
"We knew when we got the two freshmen in January we were going to have a heck of a ball club." Thornvist said. "We got to off a good start and the confidence keeps growing with each win and even the two losses. The two losses are to top-five teams, and we all feel we should have beaten them."
The Jayhawks swept the singles competition but dropped two of the three doubles matches.
The team will travel to Nebraska on Wednesday for its next match
The men's tennis team traveled to Boulder. Colo..
where it was defeated by Colorado for the first time in five years.
The Jayhawks were up 3-0 when the Buffaloes stamped back and won the next four matches, defeating the Jayhawks 4-3.
Monica Sekulov, Hamersey, Australia, freshman, defeats Storma Stoadt from Oklahoma State. Sekulov wint 6-3, 6-0 in singles as the Jayhawks defeated Oklahoma State Saturday 7-2. Photo by Jay Sheperd/KANSAN
The men will next see action Wednesday against Drake at Robinson Center.
Tennis photos
For more photos from this weekend's matches,
See page 68
Baylor pitching and defense choke 'Hawks
By John Blakely Wilson Kansan sportswriter
The Jayhawks held close to the Bears on Friday, eventually losing 5-2 before beingiced down by the Baylor defense and pitching in 4-1 and 10-1 losses on Saturday and Sunday.
Kansas baseball was beaten soundly in three weekend games by ninth-ranked Baylor (29-7) in Waco, Texas.
The Jayhawks have dropped five of their last seven games and must now combat a tough April schedule with games against national powers Wichita State, Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M.
The Kansas offense has been the team's strength all season, averaging more than 10 runs per game, but it was nullified all weekend by Baylor's pitching staff.
Baylor hurlers allowed just four runs and 16 hits while striking out 36 in three games.
Kansas played closest to the Bears on Friday, actually outhitting Baylor 8-7. Catcher Josh Dimmick scored a run on two hits and right fielder Cliff Bryson drove in a run, but the team still lost 5-2.
Kansas starting pitcher
Les Walrond had an eventful day, setting 1998 team highs for most strikeouts (10) and walks (seven) in a game. He also was tagged with the loss and five runs in seven innings.
Baylor pitchers choked the Kansas team on Saturday and Sunday in the 4-1 and 10-1 wins. The Bears' Saturday and Sunday pitchers, Brett Bergman and Kip Wells, both threw complete games while setting career single-game strike out records at nine and 12 each. Baylor also played flawless defense: the Bears did not commit an error all weekend.
The Jayhawks scored one run in each game while averaging just four hits. No batter had more than one hit in either game, and five different players struck out at least twice in a game.
The team now must step up for the tough Big 12 Conference April games. The Jayhawks play a home series this weekend against Texas Tech, followed with a midweek pair of games against Wichita State on April 14-15.
Pierce promises Mom he will earn his degree; Axtell visits KU
By Tommy Gallaher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Paul Pierce apparently will not complete his spring classes at the University of Kansas and will stay in California to prepare for the NBA Draft.
Pierce took most of his possessions back to Inglewood, Calif., last week, where he announced Thursday that he would enter the draft and forego his senior season. Pierce said he was 11/2 years from graduating.
But Pierce is expected to return to Kansas on April 16, when the men's basketball team will hold its annual banquet in Allen Field House.
Pierce promised his mother, horse Hosey, that he eventually would earn a college degree.
Pierce: will not finish semester at University
"All I asked him was, 'Are you ready?' And
he said, 'Mom, I'm ready,' " Hosey said Thursday. "He was worried about me and what I thought about him not graduating. He said, 'Don't worry, Mom, I'll get my degree.'"
Other basketball news:
Texas guard Luke Axtell made a recruiting visit to Kansas this weekend, Texas media reported.
Axtell, a 6-foot-9 guard, has not said whether he would transfer or stay at Texas with a new head coach. Utah head coach Rick Majerus is considered the leading candidate to replace Penders, who resigned last week.
Axtell was suspended by former Longhorns coach Tom Penders for academic reasons. Axtell recently was granted a release from Texas and saw the suspension lifted Friday.
The Austin American-Statesman, citing a source close to the selection committee, reported that Majerus may have met with Texas officials about the position yesterday.
Billy Thomas struggled to invitation Tournament in the Portsmouth (Va.) Invitation Tournament on April 1-4. But Thomas' team, MD Designs, still claimed third place out of the eight team field
In his first game Thursday, Thomas went 5-for-10 from the floor and scored 11 points. But from there, he regressed
Thomas: struggled in NBA scouting tournament
The tournament was the first of three stops on the NBA's pre-draft circuit. Players who participated are hopefuls trying to catch the attention of NBA scouts.
Thomas shot 2-for-7 from the floor, including 0-for-2 from the three-point line, in the semifinals Friday. He finished with four points.
And in the third-place game Saturday, Thomas fired blanks — 0-for-8 from the field, including 0-for-3 from three-point range. Overall, he shot only 28 percent from the floor and 16.6 percent from the three-point line.
Ten players from the tournament, including Corey Brewer of Oklahoma and Brett Robisch of Oklahoma State, were invited to play in this week's Nike Desert Classic in Phoenix, the second NBA pre-draft camp. Thomas was not invited.
North Carolina forward Antawan Jamilson completed a clean sweep of player-of-the-year awards Friday, winning the 22nd annual John R. Wooden Award.
Jamison won in a runaway with 5,041 votes. Kansas forward Raef LaFrentz, who placed second, received 3,901 votes and teammate Paul Pierce finished fourth with 2,756 votes.
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