sports
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, FEB. 15, 2016
Softball faces pitching issues
BRIAN MINI
@daftpunkpop
Entering this year, pitching seemed to be the biggest question mark for the Kansas softball team. After the five-game Jacksonville Tournament, it still seems to be the biggest unknown.
The Jayhawks finished the tournament with a 2-3 record, with one loss coming against ranked NC State and the other two coming against 4-1 UNC Greensboro. In the Jayhawks' last two losses, they gave up a combined 18 runs.
The tournament started off well for Kansas, they went 2-1 in the first three games with wins against Jacksonville and Coastal Carolina. Unfortunately, the inexperienced pitching staff caught up to the Jayhawks.
Freshman pitcher Alexis Reid, who started two of the five games, was credited for all three of the losses. She had nine strikeouts in just over nine innings, but she'd also given up 10 runs.
The bright side of the pitching staff has come from the Virginia transfer Andie Formby. Formby has started three games and has a 2-0 record. Opposing batters are only hitting .224 against her and she's given up just four runs in 13.2 innings.
Offensively there was a lot to be excited about, most notably sophomore Daniella Chavez picking up where she left off last season. She's currently batting .588 (10 for 17) and has 10 RBIs with a home run in three straight games. To put her 10 RBIs in perspective, the rest of the team has a combined 14 RBIs.
Sophomore infielder Jessie Roane added four RBIs and senior outfielder Shannon McGinley added three. Senior outfielder Briana Evans is second on the team in batting average, hitting .385 with the team's first triple and stolen base
In the first game against NC State, Kansas fell behind 3-0 before scoring its first run in the seventh inning. The one run was on Alexis Reid's first hit of her Kansas career, a solo home run.
On Saturday, the Jayhawks split the two games again. The first against Coastal Carolina was a 5-1 win, highlighted by home runs by Chavez and junior outfielder Lily Behrmann.
The second game of the day against Jacksonville looked a lot more like last year's Jayhawks. The Jayhawks scored 9 runs in five innings on their way to a 9-0 shutout. Jessie Roane and Daniella Chavez both finished with three RBIs each and Andie Formby threw five shutout innings and gave up one hit
Against UNC Greensboro, the Jayhawks fell behind 6-1 after a four-run fifth inning. The Jayhawks started to rally but ultimately fell short by a score of 6-3.
On Sunday, the Jayhawks looked to bounce back against UNC Greensboro. The Jayhawks held a 6-3 lead over the Spartans but the Jayhawks surrendered nine runs in the sixth inning. The Jayhawks lost 12-8.
Edited by Deanna Ambrose
Missy Minear/KANSAN
Kansas senior forward Perry Ellis smiles in the game against Oklahoma Saturday. The Jayhawks have a short turnaround, facing Oklahoma State on Monday.
Jayhawks look to avoid hangover in rematch against Oklahoma State
SHANE JACKSON @iacksonshane3
Kansas is coming off an emphatic road win over Oklahoma by a score of 76-72. Sophomore guard Devonte' Graham led the way with a career high 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He outperformed the front-runner for National Player of the Year in Buddy Hield, who had 24 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
After the game, Graham was the center of the celebration in the locker room. He was mobbed by his teammates as they celebrated their third conference road win of the season.
The win put the Jayhawks back in the driver's seat for at least a share of the Big 12 title. The game itself and the postgame celebration had an eerily similar feeling to the last
time these two teams met. Back on Jan. 4, Kansas outlasted Oklahoma in a triple overtime thriller, by a score of 109-106. After the game, many were anointing it as the best collegiate basketball game of the regular season. Those same people were ready to crown both teams as the top two teams in the nation.
But something happened afterward. Kansas was brought down to earth, losing three of its next five games. Even in their two wins, the Jayhawks rarely flashed their true colors. It was most notable when Kansas topped Texas Tech 69-59 in a sluggish victory immediately following the Oklahoma game.
Now after another statement win over one of the premier contenders for the Big 12 crown, Kansas is once again center stage in the college basketball
landscape. Some national media members are making an argument for the Jayhawks to be the top team in the country.
This all means Kansas is once again under the spotlight, a place where it struggled just a month ago. But all that can be completely forgotten if the Jayhawks avoid any hangover and handle the Cowboys in Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night.
The last time these two teams met, Oklahoma State got the best of Kansas in a decisive 86-67 victory in Stillwater, Okla. The Cowboys shot 50 percent from the floor, and were led by Jawan Evans who had 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
Meanwhile for Kansas, no player scored more than 14 points and the team shot 42 percent from the floor, including an abysmal 27 percent from
beyond the arc. The Cowboys were an impressive 52.4 percent from downtown during that game.
But of course, that was on the road and during a stretch where the Jayhawks lost three consecutive conference games away from Allen Fieldhouse. In Lawrence, it's a different story.
Kansas is undefeated this season at home, where the team has won all 14 games. Currently the Jayhawks have won their last 37 home games, the longest active home winning streak in college basketball.
ter.
Whereas Kansas sits atop the Big 12, tied for first with West Virginia, Oklahoma State is ninth with a 3-9 conference record. On paper, the Jayhawks should have no problem taking care of business against Kansas coach Bill Self's alma ma-
But given that the game will take place just over 48 hours from the conclusion of the Oklahoma game, Kansas fans can't help but wonder if there will be some kind of hangover effect on the players. Winning on the road in conference is no easy task, particularly in an environment such as Saturday's against one of the best teams in the country. If the Jayhawks can avoid the hangover and control the Cowboys on Monday night, it would display the growth this team has made over the course of the season. And for a team trying to win their 12th straight conference title, that growth is a necessity.
- Edited by Matthew
Clough
Missy Minear/KANSAN
Left handed pitcher Ben Krauth throws against Utah. Krauth was named as one of the team's captains.
KU baseball names 2016 captains: Krauth, Moroney and Wright
▶ MATT HOFFMANN
@MattHoffmannUDK
The Golden State is sending its West Coast flair to Kansas in the form of baseball captaincy this season.
Kansas baseball announced today seniors Ben Krauth, Joe Moroney and Colby Wright will be captains for the team's 2016 campaign. This is the first
time each player will represent Kansas as a captain. All three hail from California.
"I am excited about this year's group," manager Ritch Price said in a KU Athletics release. "They are not only outstanding baseball players but even better people."
Krauth is a left-handed pitcher from Concord, Calif., who last season was tabbed as Big 12 Newcomer of the Year with a 7-5 record on the hill. Krauth was also named All-Big 12 Second Team and finished last season with a 3.65 ERA.
Moroney is an outfielder from Pleasanton, Calif., who is a three-time recipient of the "KU Hustle Award" and holds a perfect
1. 000 career fielding percentage. Last season, Moroney started in 21 of his 39 appearances.
Wright is an infielder from Castro Valley, Calif., who was sidelined with an oblique injury for 16 games last season. Of the 40 games he did appear in, 38 were starts. Wright went 4-4 on stolen base attempts last season and was
expected to sign an MLB contract but has returned to the Jayhawks following his injury.
Kansas baseball opens its season Feb. 20 at Arkansas-Little Rock before returning for a two-game homestand on Feb. 22 and 23 against Northern Colorado.
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