Sports
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, September 20, 1989
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Kent Gilbert/KANSAN
Senior Roanna Brazier has pitched for Kansas for four years.
KU veteran pitcher leads softball team
Rv Gene Kinn
Kansan sportswriter
The ball traveled from the pitching rubber in a single horizontal plane to the plate, where the umpire bellowed. "Strike!"
So began Roanna Brazier's fourth year as a pitcher for the Kansas softball team Friday night.
She posted three victories and a save last weekend to lead the Jayhawks to the Creighton tournament championship.
"She did an excellent job the whole tournament," Coach Kalum Haack said.
Brazier's other two victories came against Nebraska and Creighton.
Brazier pitched five and two-thirds perfect innings before she gave up a bloop single over the second baseman's head in a 4-0 victory against Southwest Missouri State.
Offensively, Brazier had a .625 batting average with five runs scored. Against Creighton, she had a .718 batting the sealed the victory for the Jayhawks.
"This is definitely the best team I have been on during my four years here." Brazier said.
Things haven't always gone as smoothly as this past weekend for
In past years on the KU pitching staff, Brazier said she had tried to do too much.
"I had to learn I couldn't do it all. It is a very humbling experience."
This year's team is relatively young; Brazier and Kim Doyle are the only seniors. But Brazier said she mind taking the leadership role.
"I'm trying to stand out and take
charge," Brazier said. "The season is young, but I think I have accomplished it."
Although Kansas only plays in four tournaments during the fall season, Brazier said that she worked just as hard in the fall.
"All of our practices are geared toward winning," she said. "Our attitude is the same as it is in the spring.
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I'm trying to stand out and take charge. The season is young, but I think I have accomplished it.'
— Roanna Brazier Kansas softball pitcher
"I treat every game like it is going to be my last."
Brazier said she still had room for improvement.
"I see things everyday in practice that I need to work on," she said. "Like today, I didn't throw enough strikes."
Royals slide by White Sox, win 5-3 Oakland, California and Kansas City remain in top three spots
Last season, Brazier had a .314 batting average and an ERA of 0.90. In 294 innings pitched, Brazier struck out 128 batters.
Brazier, who takes an ERA of 1.07 into this weekend's tournament, has faith in her young catchers.
"I try to concentrate on pitching and let them call the game. I rarely shake a signal off," she said.
"Now that I'm a senior, I want to pitch as a senior." she said.
Brazier said she was excited about the team's chances this year.
"If a person comes out to watch just one game, I'm sure they would come back for me," she said.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Willie Wilson and Danny Tartabull each drove in two runs, and the Kansas City Royals, helped by four Chicago errors, beat the White Sox 5-3 last night.
The Associated Press
The victory kept the third-place Royals $3 \frac{1}{2}$ games behind first-place Oakland.
Larry McWilliams, 2-0 as a starter since he was acquired from Philadelphia on Sept. 2, allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings. Steve McNutt, for the Harris save, allowing one hit. It was Harr's first save since Aug. 7.
in the second inning, the Royals scored five runs off Richard Dotson, 4-11.
Bo Jackson led the inning and was safe on the first of three errors by third baseman Carlos Martinez. Jim Eisenreich singled Jackson to second, but a fielding error by center fielder Sammy Sosa put runners at second and third, and Tartabull's double made it 2-0.
With two out, Bob Boone singled Tartaball home and Kevin Seitzer drew a walk before Wilson's two-run triple.
Martinez doubled, leading the Chicago fifth, and scored on a double by Sosa. After a sacrifice, Sosa scored on an infield grounder by Russ Morman.
Lance Johnson led the sixth, doubled and scored on Carlton Fisk's two-out double.
MINNEAPOLIS — Chuck Finley last night won his ninth game of 11 starts, beating the Minnesota Twins 7-8 and keeping the California Angels within 2% games of the first-place Oakland Westerns in the American League West.
California wins
Claudell Washington made a home run, singled, drove in two runs and scored twice. Every player in the Angels' starting lineup had an RBI, a run or both.
Kevin Tapani, 2.1, give up 10 hits in three 2-3 innings. Tapani, David West, Rick Aguilera and Tim Drummon are 7-7 combined. The four pitchers were acquired from the New York Mets in the Frank Viola trade. Williams is one of the players since the July 31 deal; the Twins are 25-22.
Finley, 16-8, gave up three hits in six innings and walked a season-high six. Bryan Harvey got three outs for his 24th save.
Finley allowed an unearned run in a first inning that included two bats, a stolen base, two caught balls, and baseman Mark McLemore's error.
California led 3-1 in the second with RBI singles by Washington and
Lance Parrish and catcher Brian Harper's throwing error. The Angels made it 4-1 in the third when McLemore doubled and scored on Chili Davis' single.
Kirby Puckett's two-run home run in the third pulled the Twins to 4-3. It was Puckett's first home run in 52 games since July 25. Puckett, the American League batting leader at .341, has only eight home runs after averaging 28 the last three years. He has 501 career RBIs.
Brian Downing's sacrifice fly and Devon White's run-scoring double made it 6-3 in the fourth. Washington hit his 13th home run in the fifth against Juan Berenguer.
Oakland retains lead
CLEVELAND — Mike Moore pitched four-hit ball for eight innings, and Jose Canseco and Dave Parker hit consecutive RBI doubles in the fourth inning as the Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1 yesterday.
Oakland won the second straight time since being swept in three weekend games at Boston. The A's began the night leading the American League West by $2\frac{1}{2}$ games over California.
The Indians have lost five straight and are 2-6 under interim manager John Hart. They have scored 14 runs
in eight games since Hart replaced the fired Doc Edwards.
Moore, 18-10, set a career high for victories and did not allow an earned run for the 11th time in 33 starts this season. He gave up singles by Joey Belle in the second and Cory Snyder in the seventh, walked one and struck out five. Gene Nelson relieved with a hitless ninth.
Moore's shutout was spoiled by sloppy defense in the sixth. Canseco dropped Felix Fermin's fly ball to right for a two-base error, and Fermin went to third on a groundout and scored as second baseman Tony Phillips bobbled Dion James' grounder for another error.
Rod Nicholls, 45, struck out the side in the first inning and retired the first 10 hitters he faced until Carney Lansford singled with one out in the fourth. Canseco followed with a run-scoring double and scored on Parkside. Pena came home single by Daven Henderson, making it 3-0.
The A's added a run in the seventh on Mark McGwire's sacrifice fly off Neil Allen, Cleveland's fifth pitcher. Canseco singled and went to third on Parker's single, setting up the sacrifice fly.
Terry Steinbach singled and later scored on Lansford's sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Police approve of ban on beer sales
The Associated Press
"I saw a difference," said Thomas Stabell, chief of patrol services for the Erie County Sheriff's Department. "We haven't had a Monday like this," he said, but remember the ones we had and this was a lot better."
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills lost to Denver on Monday night, but local authorities say the team's policy of banning beer sales at Rich Stadium throughout the game was a victory.
Robert C. Hening, chief of police in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, called the Bills-Denver game the "easiest Monday night game ever" since the stadium opened in 1973. A sellout crowd of 78,716 fans
attended the game
Stabell said sheriff's deputies made 16 arrests for disorderly conduct or misdemeanor assault; seven outside the stadium and nine inside.
The only out-of-the ordinary occurrence, police reported, was a fan who ran onto the field during the game's first quarter. The man was subdued and removed by stadium security personnel.
"You can always expect some problems," Stabell said. "When you get 80,000 people, there are bound to be a few troublemakers."
Richard Schwertfager, a manager of Burke Security, the company in charge of Rich Stadium security, reported a slight increase in the number of cans and bottles confiscated from patrons at entrances to
"You always have stuff you think is going to creep up that even the most areful planning can not account for," Bercholt said. "We had done a lot of preparation for this; it was just a matter of implementing the systems we had in place. Everything went real well."
Buffalo Bills spokesman Scott Berchold said the team was pleasantly surprised by the absence of alcohol-related incidents at the game.
The Bills' current policy prohibits the sale of beer inside the stadium during Monday night games. During Sunday afternoon games the Bills cut off beer sales after the third-quarter kickoff.
Stabell said he would like to see the game-long ban continued. Berchthold
said the Bills' policy will not change
"I certainly think the policy adopted by the Buffalo Bills curtailing beer sales was quite effective," Heming said. "If the next Monday's game is a Las Vegas Rams) progresses as smoothly as this one, I’ll be happy."
Although fans were generally well-behaved, some questioned the baggage.
"You pay enough to get in here," said one spectator, who held a coffee cup filled with a mixture of unidentified ingredients. "You should be able to vell and drink if you want."
Both New York teams, the Giants and the Jets, have announced that they will prohibit beer sales at Monday night games they host this season at Giants Stadium.
Sports briefs
JAYHAWK INJURIES: Kansas coach Glen Mason said yesterday that the team would be without two key defensive players for Saturday's game against Baylor.
The team determined that outside linebacker Lance Flachsbarth would not be able to play Saturday because of a knee sprain. It is the same knee that was injured last season and kept him out of play seven games.
Starting cornerback Tim Hill is "extremely questionable" for the game, Mason said. Hill sprained his right ankle during Saturday's game.
The Jayhawks practiced for two- and a-half hours yesterday.
MISSOURI PREPARES: The Missouri Tigers ran offensive and defensive drills yesterday in preparation for the State Finals of the six best teams in the country.
The next three weeks will pit Missouri against Arizona State in
First for Missouri (1-1) will be Saturday's home game against No. 2-ranked Miami (2-0).
Arizona, No. 6-ranked Colorado in Boulder, Colo., and No. 3-ranked Nebraska at home.
CHIEFS LOSE LINEBACKER: The Kansas City Chiefs have placed linebacker Angelo Suipes on the injured reserve list, the team said Monday.
Snipes injured his right knee Saturday during Kansas City's 24-19 victory against the Los Angeles Raiders, not play for a minimum of six weeks.
The Chiefs activated wide receiver Stephone Paige, who had a two-game exemption from the National Football League.
FOOTBALL PLAYER DIES: Marcus Samuel Jones, a freshman football player at Samford University, collapsed and died because of a vastly enlarged heart, the team's
Jones, an 18-year-old freshman from Pascagoula, Miss., died Monday after a light practice.
physician said yesterday
James A. Whiteside, the team's doctor, said an autopsy determined that Jones condition was developed after a football-related to his athletic participation.
Whiteside said Jones could have developed an enlarged heart during routine day-to-day activities.
Earlier, team physicians had said they did not believe Jones died as a result of contact or exhaustion.
"He was in the parking lot above the tennis courts," said Samford sports information director Kent Evans. "It was always and never regained consciousness."
Student trainer Bob White was the first to reach Jones. Head trainer Chris Gillespie arrived soon afterward. Both White and Gillespie performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, trying to revive Jones.
An emergency rescue crew transported Jones to Brookwood Medical
Jones; a 6-foot-3, 235-pound offensive lineman, had not played this season. He broke his wrist the first week of preseason practice and had the cast removed several days ago.
Center, where further efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
AMERICA'S CUP AWARDED:
Once again, the America's Cup belongs to San Diego. And this time, the victory came on land, not sea.
The Cup was returned to the San Diego Yacht Club yesterday when an appeals court reversed a decision that five months ago awarded yachting's most coveted prize to New Zealand.
The victory last September by Dennis Conner aboard Stars & Stripes was affirmed by New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division. New Zealand had sued after it lost.
The Cup is in a New York bank vault under the custody of the New York Yacht Club.
Freshman guard excited about sports, academic programs
Bv Paula Parrish
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas guard Stacy Truitt left her family in Mississippi to play for Coach Marian Washington but found another family waiting for her on campus this semester.
As a senior last year at Port Gibson High, the 5-foot-10 guard led her team to its fourth straight class 3A state title and was named USA Today's player of the year for Mississippi. She was heavily recruited by many schools, including Auburn, Louisiana State, Texas and Mississippi.
"I think I'm like the little baby on the team," said Truitt, a freshman from Portsmouth. Miss. "It's just one big family — lovable."
"There were so many that I could probably name the ones that didn't try to recruit me faster than the ones that did," Truitt said.
"There was something unique about her," Truitt said. "It seemed to me that her focus is on getting me my degree, instead of seeing how I
Truitt's main reason for choosing Kansas over the rest was Coach Michael Johnson.
could interplay with the basketball team."
Trutt said that the other schools who contacted her during recruitment used an approach different from Washington's.
"I got here for my visit, and it was like nobody was faking." Truitt said. "You know how you can tense up when you can feel somebody's faking around you, putting on a front? Nobody was faking; everybody was like 'Hey, this is me, period.' They're doing the same thing now what they did for me when I was a recruit."
"They talked about basketball, and that really disturbed me," Truitt said.
She said she asked the recruiters about academics, and they told her not to worry about it. "But that's what I'm worried about." she added
Truitt said Washington's emphasis on academics was as intense now as it was during her recruitment.
Truitt's visit to Lawrence last year helped her to decide to come to Kansas.
"Basketball is going to come natural; let's get that degree."
Truitt said. "She says that to me almost every day."
Truitt's family was not surprised that she decided to go to Kansas.
that she decided to go to Kansas.
"The knew I wanted to go away from Mississippi," Truitt said. "I've been in Mississippi for 17 years, and I love it. But they weren't surprised because all I talked about was Coach Washington and Coach (Kevin) Cook after I met them both."
Two of Trutti's teammates were recruited by Alcorn State University, and two others went to junior college. But Trutti wanted something more.
"I wanted to find that there were things somewhere else." Truitt said. "I wanted to give myself a challenge."
Adjusting to university life may be enough of a challenge for now.
"I thought I was going to die the first couple of days," Truitt said. "It took me a day-and-a half to understand that my teacher was not going to tell me what to do. That was a big adjustment from high school."
On the court, Truitt's teammates are a major support.
"I think if it wasn't for them.
there'd be a lot of times I'd just give up, "Truit said. "Practice can be very hard, and they just pump you up. They keep putting the energy back into your legs when they're about to fall from under you."
Truitt has had more than just school and athletics to contend with during her first year at Kansas.
"Right now, I'm trying to cope with the idea that I lost my high school coach (Mason Denham) about two or three weeks ago," Truitt said. "He was a really big influence on my life. But I am achieve, I can do that, and that's getting an education and playing basketball at the same time."
Sophomore guard Geri Hart said the foam was lucky to get Truitt.
Truitt tries to keep her feelings hidden from her teammates.
"She's a world-class player, very talented coming out of high school," Hart said. "I'm looking forward to playing with her."
"I'm trying to keep it down inside to keep them happy," Truitt said. "If I'm down, they're going to be down, and I don't want that."
Stacy Truitt, basketball recruit, came to Kansas from Port Gibson, Miss.