SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Tuesday, April 26, 1994 11 Jayhawks fly high after weekend games Team takes three from Cornhuskers Kansas sophomore infielder Clint Hardesty slides safely into second base during a recent game. The Kansas baseball team plays Southwest Missouri State at 7 on tonight. By Andrew Gilman Kansan sportswriter Kansas baseball coach Dave Bingham said he was in high snirts — for now. "I'm very happy for our guys. We've struggled through April, but I couldn't be more happy," Bingham said. The Jayhawks took three consecutive games from Hawkins in Lincoln, which propelled them back into third place in the Big Eight Conference. "I thought we played the brand of baseball we're capable of playing." Bingham said. Bingham said that Kansas had not played well since its April 1-3 series against Missouri. Since then, the Jayhawks have gone 4-6, including losing twice to Nebraska in Lawrence. included in the three victories this weekend was Sunday's 6-2 triumph. Nebraska junior pitcher Troy Brohm, 16-1 entered the game, started for the Cornhuskers and said he guaranteed a victory before he took the mound. "He's a gay who thrives on that stuff." Bingham said of Brohawn's comment. "It was ploy to make you swing a little harder and try harder to defeat him. I told my guys that I would expect him to say that." He defeated Kansas just four days before and gave up only one run in Nebraska's 9-1 triumph. fortunately, he hung a curve ball in the first inning, and Wilhelm hit it out," Bingham said. "Then Dan Rude made a great play at shortstop and threw Brohawn out at the plate. That set the tone of the game." Kansas won Friday's game 9-8 in 13 innings, and they won Saturday's game 9-7. In the second game, senior center fielder Daryl Monroe got his 248th hit, moving him past All-American catcher Jeff Niemeier's record for hits at Kansas. "There really was no big buildup," Monroe said. "I'm sure that it will hit me later, especially after the season's over." Besides getting more hits than any other Kansas player, the Lawrence High School product also was named a quarter-finalist for the Smith Award. The Smith Award, chosen by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, goes to the college "Player of the Year." The original list of 186, compiled at the beginning of the season, has been pared down to 52 players. The award will be presented June 23. Monroe said he was more concerned about the team continuing to play well than the award. "Last weekend the team played so well," he said. "Hopefully we can keep it going. We improved each day and played Kansas baseball." Kansas will be home tomorrow to take on the Cowboys, and Bingham and Monroe agreed that the conference standings were not a consideration, even though two victories would put the Jayhawks just one game behind the Cowboys in the loss column. "We're mostly concerned with playing good baseball," Bingham said. "We need to get better with guys on base. It's more of a matter of experience." "We'll let the standings take care of themselves," he said. "We can't let that affect how we play." Monroe said that the standings were not important at this time. Kansas baseball notes Kansas will play Southwest Missouri State at 7 tonight at Hogland-Maupin Stadium. Kansas freshman Robert Garola will make his second start of the season. Garola is 0-1 with a 9.89 ERA. Sophomore Jamie Splittorff, who will not pitch this week. Splittorff, who has a 2.91 ERA and an 8-0 record, has not pitched since April 13. "There's a little inflammation of the shoulder capsule," Kansas coach Dave Bingham said yesterday. "He started throwing today, and we might see him pitch this weekend." Big Eight baseball standings
conferenceoverall
Oklahoma St.1863213
Oklahoma1483213
Kansas1493013
Missouri992914
Nebraska10102619
Iowa State6131825
Kansas State3191233
Kansas tennis: King, Queen of the courts Men's team has Hollywood finish Jennio Zeiner / KANSAN Kansans sportswriter By Matt Siegel If Hollywood ever decided to make a tennis movie, maybe it should look at the men's Big Eight Conference tournament Sunday between Kansas and Oklahoma. Even so, Hollywood probably could not have written the improbable script that Kansas followed for its first conference championship since 1988. Kansas men's tennis coach Michael Center is proud of the Big Eight Conference tournament trophies that the women's and men's teams won this weekend. Both sides defeated Oklahoma Sundav for titles and became the first Kansas teams to win a conference title this year. Sophonore Michael Isroff was leading 5-4 and serving for the match. If he won, the Jayhawks would capture the tournament title. On the rains game "I just wanted to get it over with," Isroff said. "I was trying to stay calm. There were two or three times they said we were going to resume play. We would step out onto the court, and it would beginraining again." After a 90-minute delay, tournament officials decided to move the match indoors. I shall be able to move the master bathrooms. "I was not bothered by it because I knew the match would finally be over with," isrsoff said. "In outdoors, you never know what the conditions are going to be, but in indoor, the conditions are always perfect." And four points later, the Jayhawks were conference champions for the 13th time in school history. "I remember looking over at the guys and seeing them racing toward me," Isroff said. "After that, everything was a blur." The Kansas men already had beaten Oklahoma twice this year. So going into the championship match Sunday, Kansas coach Michael Center said that he felt good about this team's chances against the Sooners. "I honestly felt like we deserved to win this weekend," Center said. "We had beaten Oklahoma in the fall and the spring. We had gone through the entire season within the region undefeated and had better wins outside the region. We had just proven that we were the better team. When you play the same team for the third time, crazy things can happen." Center said that several Kansas losses at the tournament had surprised him. Sophomore Reid Slattery and junior Martin Eriksson both lost. Then freshman Trent Tucker lost. But the Jayhawks took victories at the No. 3, 4 and 5 singles spots as well as the No. 2 and 3 doubles positions. "We found a way to win," Center said. "It looked as though it was slipping away. We had our backs up against the wall. J.P. came up big. Victor Fimbres did what he has been doing all year — win. When it came down to Isroff in the third set, I felt good about our situation. I felt like we were in control. I just told Isroff that we have been in this situation. That is why we play a tough schedule." Center called winning the tournament a historic day for Kansas tennis. "It was an exciting moment for me," he said. "We did it the hard way this year. We have been on the road and played in a lot of tough environments. It had everything you would ever want in a college tennis match." Three-peat so sweet for women's squad By Matt Siegel By Matt Siegel Kansan sportswriter Kansas women's tennis coach Chuck Merzbacher tried a new tactic entering the Big Eight Conference tournament. A loss to conference rival Oklahoma in the last regular season match convinced him that the team had gotten a little too satisfied. So the week prior to the tournament, he put his players through a difficult practice week and instilled one thing in them: fear. "If we lost, I didn't want to be on the ride home," said Kansas freshman Bianca Kirchhof. "Practice wasn't any longer or more grueling, but he made sure we concentrated for the entire practice." Fortunately for Kirchhof and her teammates, the ride home from Oklahoma City was filled with elation. The No. 6 Jayhawks gained their third conference conference crown. Merzbacher said that the three-peat was nice and that he had especially enjoyed this team's victory. "The whole team felt like the loss to OU was a "good thing," Merzbacher said. "We used it, and that is a credit to this team. I told the girls, control what you can control. You can't control the crowd or the conditions, but you can control you r play. Every year it's a different team, but it is all sweet." One player who turned her play around was junior Nora Koves. Koves, the No.1 singles player lost to Oklahoma's Nicole Kenneally the previous week. It looked as if the outcome would be the same this time when Kenneally defeated Koves 6-1 in the first set. But then Koves took the next two sets 6-1, avenging the earlier defeat. The victory moved her overall record to 32-3. Senior Mindy Weiner defeated Jen Del Valle, 6-2,7-6, which moved her record to 40-8. Weiner also has gained 16 consecutive victories. "I'm anxious to see what this team can do at national, Merzbacker said. "I'm extremely proud of this group."