SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, April 19, 1994
11
Jayhawks fly past Bluejays with late hit
Kansas sophomore pitcher Clay Bair throws a pitch to a Creighton batter. Kansas played a make-up game last night at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium and defeated Creighton 10-9 in the eleventh inning. Bair lasted just three innings, but the Jayhawks received help from relief pitches Scott Tittington and Jason Schreiber.
Eleventh inning run wins game
By Andrew Gilman
Kansan sportswriter
"I needed to get a hit," Igou said.
"And I knew I would."
When junior left fielder Josh Igsou
stepped up to bat in the bottom of
the 17th inning he got exactly what he
was looking for.
Igou doubled over the left-field wall and drove home junior shortstop Dan Rude with the winning run in the Jayhawks' 10-9 victory against Creighton last night.
"I wasn't worried," Igou said. "I almost told Wilhelm he didn't have to think about getting ready to bat, but I didn't want to lixm myself."
Junior third baseman Brent Wilhelm didn't have to bat in the 11th as the Jayhawks improved their record to 27-11 overall and 18-2 at Hogland-Maupin Stadium. The Bluejays dropped to 19-20.
Creighton scored four times in the top of the second inning, and it seemed as if sophomore pitcher Clay Haird was facing the same situation he was Friday night.
Baird lasted just one-third of an aning against Iowa State Friday and gave up six hits. He lasted threenings last night and needed help from relievers sophomore Scott Titington and freshman Jason Threiber.
"I was more focused than I had been," Monroe said. "It had been while."
Kansas countered in its half of the second inning by scoring six runs, three coming on senior center fielderarryl Monroe's 10th home run of the season. He had gone 12 games without hitting one.
The Jayhawks also got help with the bat from Rude.
Rude went three for five and said he had learned from his recent mistakes.
After going one for five Sunday, I just went back to the basics," he said.
On tonight you got the ball up, and I got
some hits."
Kansas coach Dave Bingham also noticed Rude's improvement.
"He is six for his last nine," Bingham said. "He's starting to pick up his bat speed and is using more of the ball park."
Kansas added one run in the fifth,
courtesy of an Igou triple and freshman first baseman Heath Bender's fielder's choice ground ball. Two more Kansas runs in the sixth gave the Jayhawks an 9-6 advantage.
"In the late innings mistakes can kill you," Bingham said. "That's why we don't run special defenses. It makes things too difficult."
of their own defense in the 11th inning.
After scoring three runs in the eighth and ninth innings to tie the game! The Bluejays were the victims.
Rude led off the inning by walking on four pitches and moved to second when junior pitcher Rick Heiserman pivoted to throw to first but no one was there. The balk put Rude in scoring position. Both the first and the
Kansas plays host to Nebraska at 7 tonight at Hogland-Maupin Stadium.
third baseman were charging the plate expecting a bunt.
Tittrington has five good innings
By Tom Erickson Special to the Kansan
Kansas sophomore pitcher Scott Titrington plans to make the most of his game off tonight after throwing five innings against the Creighton Bluejays and lifting the Jayhawks to an 11-inning, 10-9 victory last night.
Tittrington said that being ready before coming into the game was the key to his success.
Coming in to relieve sophomore starting pitcher Clay Baird, Tittring-ton allowed just three hits and two runs. Only one of the runs was earned.
"There was no pressure," he said. "I felt good from down in the pen and had my breaking ball today."
Kansas junior catcher Jack Wilmot said that he sensed his pitcher was in good form and that he saw no problems during Tittleton's five innings.
"It was the best outing I've ever seen him," Wilmot said. "He had good command of three pitches — the fastball, curve and changeup."
Wilmot also noted how well Titlington was hitting the strike zone.
"Everything was down. If he missed, he missed down. Nothing was up at all," he said.
Kansas coach Dave Bingham agreed that Tittington pitched well but replaced him after the eighth inning with freshman Jason Schreiber.
"I thought he had an outstanding performance," Bingham said. "I was disappointed he didn't get the win, as well as he pitched."
Golf brings seniors together
Bingham defended his decision to put Schreiber into the game despite his giving up a two-run home run in the ninth inning.
"It might be bad for tonight, but for the future it's an important thing to do," Bingham said.
Tittrington said he look forward to this week's series against Nebraska.
Five years as roommates leaves pair with memories
Kansan sportswriter
By Matt Siegel
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas senior golfers Casey Brozek and Jeff Moeller have a lot in common. Both entered school together and redshirted their freshmen season. Both have made a 3.0 grade point average or better every semester they have been at Kansas, and both will likely be Academic All-Americans. They even roooed together for five years.
Now the invisible link that bonded the two is ending.
"Coach set it up that we room together," Brozek said.
"From there it took off. We lived together for a long time, and it's going to be hard to split up."
Brozek plans to turn professional after the season is completed, and Moeller already has landed a job in Lenexa with a computer software company. For five years these two players pushed each other academically and on the golf course.
"There would be times where I would be at a tournament and he would be at home and vice versa," said Moeller, who was an Academic All-American last year. "It went both ways all the way through, and it got pretty intense sometimes. We had a good go at it. It's going to be weird, but we will still keep in contact."
Even though the two will no longer be living together, their connections will continue.
"I'm going to turn pro in July," Brozek said. "I'm going to see what it's all about. Jeff's not doing the golf thing, but you know how people are always saying that you can fall back on academics. That comes into play for both of us. I'm going to fall back on academics a little later, and he's going to fall back on it right away."
"You have to make the decision whether to go pro or to go out into the business world," Moeller said. "I wasn't exactly playing the greatest golf in the world. A lot of it was that I had a business degree. I had worked really hard in school to get that degree, so it was hard not to use it. It's hard because I still love golf. I probably won't get to play consistently for another three or four years."
Moeller said he hadn't been playing his best golf this season and would not be making the trip to the Big Eight Championships next week in Hutchinson. He said he wasn't able to devote as much attention to his game this season as he would have liked, but he had to think about his future.
Jennie Zeiner / KANSAN
Brozek, who hasn't gotten below a 3.75 GPA the last four semesters, said it was a combination of factors that brought him to the level he's at now.
Last semester, he reached all of his goals but one by achieving a 4.0 GPA. Now, he is hoping to attain that final goal: Academic All-American. He is in the process of applying for the honor and should receive word before the season ends. He said one other key to his academic success was that he had always been kept busy by golf and school.
Along with his studies, Brozek puts in the required 20 hours of practice per week. But to enhance his game, he practices an extra 30 hours per week. He hopes that
"It's something I'll never forget," Moeller said. "We did a lot of traveling together. We saw each other a great percentage of the time whether it was traveling, class or golf or living. He was someone I didn't know before college started, and it's kind of neat how it all worked out."
Kansas senior Casey Brozek plans on playing professional golf after he graduates next month. Brozek, who aspirates to be named an Academic All-American this season, has never had a lower GPA than 3.0.
"Golf is kind of different than other sports because it has two seasons," Brozek said. "Academic All-American says a lot when you can have two seasons, fall and spring, and still keep your grades. My best grades came when I was traveling."
this will prepare him for upcoming professional tournaments, but his primary focus remains academics.
Moeller said he was going to miss playing alongside Brozek.
Royals cage Tigers on road
DETROIT — Tom Gordon has not had much success against the Detroit Tigers in his career, so he wasn't looking forward to yesterday's start at Tiger Stadium.
The Associated Press
The Kansas City Royals made it easy for him, however, scoring six runs in the first inning on the way to an 11-1 rout.
"The that takes a lot of strain off of you, that's for sure," Gordon said. "With those runs, you can go out there and make them swing the bat without worrying about one of them going out of the yard."
Gary Gaetti hit a two-run single in the first inning and later hit his first homer of the season. Greg Gagne, who got the 1,000th hit of his career, and Wally Joyner each drove in two runs as the Royals won their fifth in a row.
Detroit has lost four of five.
"I feel a lot better about who I am, and what I am able to do," he said. "I feel like I'm pitching the best ball of my career right now, and that is just
Gordon, 1-1, allowed one run on five hits in seven innings. He walked four, struck out seven and didn't give up a hit after Mickey Tettleton's leadoff single in the fourth.
Gordon began the game with a 3-8 record and 7.66 ERA against the Tigers.
because I'm letting myself go out there and do what I am capable of doing."
error in the opening inning. Gaetti's single made it 4-0 and chased John Doherty,1-2, with one out. Gaetti hit a solo homer to the opposite field in the seventh off Joe Boever.
Vince Coleman and Brian McRae led off the game with ground singles to left, and Joyner lined an RBI single to center. Mike Macfarlane grounded a single, and an error by left fielder Tony Phillips enabled McRae to score.
Storm Davis relieved and gave up a bloop RBI single to Jose Lind. The sixth run of the inning scored on Gagne's groundout.
"I made the bullpen pitch nine innings today, and that's a joke," Doherty said. "I have no excuse, because I felt fine. It just happened."
Joyner was out at the plate on Bob Hamelin's grounder to first, but Dave Henderson was intentionally walked, and Gaetti singled up the middle.
"We can't slug with anyone, so we have to do it like that," McRae said. "We have to move the ball around and
McRae tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the second. Davis walked the bases loaded in the third and a run scored on Joyner's force out.
put pressure on the defense. It takes a lot longer than two three-run homers, but it is still six runs. Maybe it is ugly, but winning is never ugly."
Chad Kreuter singled home a run in the Detroit second.
Beover gave up only Gaetti's home run in five innings. He has pitched in three of Detroit's last four games for a total of 10 innings.
"I don't usually shake my players' hands after a loss, but I did tonight with Joe Boever," Tigers manager Sparky Anderson said. "Without him, we'd have some real shambles on our hands."
**Hamelin was named AL player of the week. The rookie was 8-for-16 with four homers and 13 RBI in five games.**
"I don't think I've ever pitched 10 innings in four days before," Boever said. "I pitch a lot of innings, but never this many this fast. I'm not hurting or anything, and we'll get our rest once the starters get going."
Boever has now pitched more innings than two of the four starters in Detroit's rotation.
The Royals' five-game winning streak matches their longest run of 1993.
Notes:
Juwan Howard to leave Wolverines
Howard announced yesterday that he would pass up his senior season with the Wolverines and enter the NBA draft. Jalen Rose, another member of perhaps the best freshman class ever in college basketball, is expected to announce his plans in about a week.
The Associated Press
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Juwan Howard, the first of the Fab Five, became the second to leave Michigan before graduating.
If Rose leaves, only Jimmy King and Ray Jackson—the two Texans—will remain from the all-freshmen lineup that started the NCAA championship game against Duke in 1992.
The lineup, including Chris Webber, was still intact for the 1993 title game against North Carolina. The Wolverines lost both title games and Webber turned pro after the loss to North Carolina, in which he called his infamous timeout.
Without him, Michigan was eliminated in the regional final by
Arkansas this season.
"I've been here since 1882," said Michigan coach Steve Fisher, who sat
Howard, who made great improvements in his game between his sophomore and junior seasons, had a strong finish. He became the Wolverines' "go-to" player, especially in games when Rose struggled.
"There will never be a freshman class like the Fab Five," Howard said. "I can't imagine five freshmen starting the final game for the NCAA championship ever again."
In four NCAA tournament games last month, Howard averaged 29.0 points and 12.8 rebounds per game. For the season, he averaged 20.8 points and 8.9 rebounds.
Howard, a 6-foot-10 center, was the first of the Fab Five to commit to Michigan. He promised his grandmother he would be the first member of the family to get a college degree after finishing high school at Chicago Vocational. He promised yesterday to return for the 37 hours of credit he still lacks.
at Howard's side during a news conference. "We've never had anybody here as good as Juwan. We might have had players with more talent. But he was the best at exemplifying the best of college athletics."
Fisher had known for a week that Howard was leaving. The two had a tear-filled meeting that lasted almost two hours.
"We both cried," Fisher said. "But they were tears of joy. He's going to go on and be every bit as successful as he's been here, with life. He's special. We're going to miss him a lot."
Turning to Howard, Fisher said, "We love you, and we're going to be with you forever, I promise you."
Now that Howard is leaving, Fisher has one more scholarship to give. He used up his allotted 13 last week with the signing of Detroit prep star Willie Mitchell.
"Well, it gives us a scholarship,
Fisher conceded. "But it also leaves a big void. We're losing more than just a 6-10 guy. We're losing Juwan Howard."