UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, August 29,1996
3B
Player returns with new position
Athletic department hires former 'Hawk to be softball coach
By Cameron Heeg Kansan staff reporter
The Kansas softball team got a gift in the off-season with Jayhawk Hall of Fame all over it.
The present: a new head coach,
Tracy Bunge. She was hired June 19
after coaching for three years at Ohio
University in Athens, Ohio.
As a former KU player, Bunge brings with her the credentials of a 1986 first-team NCAA All-American award, four All-Big Eight Conference selections and an induction into the Jayhawk Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987.
Her power in pitching can be seen her freshman year in the 1983 Kansas Softball Media Guide. The guide quoted former softball coach
Bob Stancliff saying: "Tracy has stepped in and done a fine job for us. She is adjusting to college competition very quickly. Tracy is very coachable and a hard worker. She will be a tremendous asset to our team."
Bob Frederick, athletic director, agreed with Stanclift when he hired Burge last summer.
"She is a product of the Kansas softball tradition, and we look forward to her continuing that success as our head coach," he said.
In her senior year at Kansas, Bunge set the school ERA record at 0.55, pitched 202.3 innings with 15 shoutouts and set a team record of nine home runs. Bunge still holds the school record for home runs at 15.
The transition from playing to coaching came naturally to Bunge. In 1993, her first year as head coach at Ohio in the Western Athletic Conference, she turned around a slumping team.
"I inherited a program that some people said you are crazy for going there," Bunge said. "I thought in my
"She (Bunge) is going to get us all focused in the right direction. We will be a lot more confident."
Kristina Johnson
Lawrencejunior
mind I had a four- or five-year plan that we could possibly challenge and win the conference title. To win the conference and get the first NCAA regional bid in school history in the second year I was there took me by surprise"
Bunge inherited a more talented
team in Kansas. The Jayhawks finished last season with a record of 31-25, a performance Bunge said she felt could be improved.
"We are going to play a very, very tough schedule next spring, but I think it is possible if the players stay focused," she said.
Focus was lacking last season when Kalum Haack resigned as head coach on Dec. 26. Gayle Luedke was appointed to the position as an interim coach for the remainder of the season.
The players feel confident that Bunge will come in and help the team focus.
"She is going to get us all focused and going in the right direction. We will be a lot more confident", said Kristina Johnson, Lawrence junior.
Johnson is not the only one with confidence in the squad.
"They have said to me they think we can win," Bunge said. "I want them to focus not only on what our goals and their goals are, I want them to get focused on what makes those goals happen."
Seattle to do without star pitcher Johnson
Cy Young winner needs back surgery; won't finish season
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners won't have Randy Johnson around as they try to make the playoffs.
The Mariners, six and a half games behind Texas in the American League West and two games back in the wild-card race, found out Tuesday what they had suspected all along — Johnson needs back surgery to be able to pitch again.
"Everybody takes it hard when you lose your No. 1 pitcher," said Jeff Manto, Mariners third baseman. "We're just going to have to have somebody else come through for us."
The 6-foot-10 left-hander has been bothered by his back all season.
Last season's AL Cy Young Award winner and the best power pitcher in baseball will have back surgery next month because of a bulging disc. He should be recovered by next spring training.
On Monday Johnson flew to Anaheim, Calif., for a second examination by back specialist Robert Watkins, and Watkins recommended surgery.
"It's a loss. It's a big loss," manager Lou Piniella said. "But we sort of expected it. Now that the uncer-
tunity of it is over, we can go on and go forward." At his peak, Johnson has a 98 mph fastball. The Mariners' ace, who will be 33 on Sept. 10, has been the major league strike-out king the past four season
past four seasons.
Randv Johnson
"Randy has an extruded disc herniation," Watkins said in a statement released by the Mariners. "His back is stronger now than when I examined him on July 19, but the pain and discomfort still
exist. If he were to continue to pitch, there is a risk of damaging the nerve or some other area from trying to compensate for the injury."
Larry Pedegana, a team physician, said an inch-long incision would be made in Johnson's back and a small piece of the bulging disc would be removed. He compared it to arthroscopic knee surgery.
"It certainly has been painful for Randy," Pedegana said of Johnson's recent appearances. "Randy has had pain after every one of his pitching performances."
Barry Meister, Johnson's Chicago-based agent, said Johnson kept pitching in pain this month despite Watkins' advice to quit. Meister said Johnson had been bothered by sciatica, an irritation of the sciatic nerve resulting in pain running down the inside of the leg, as well as by the protruding disc.
Johnson, who made 30 starts in compiling an 18-2 record with an AL-best 2.48 ERA last season, was
Johnson was not at the Kingdome before Tuesday night's game.
5-0 with a 3.67 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings and 14 games, including eight starts, this season.
He was on the 60-day disabled list from May 12 until Aug. 6, missing 73 games. Doctors initially thought rest would solve his back problems.
He pitched nine scoreless innings in his first three relief outings, allowing six hits and striking out 15, but was ineffective in his last three outings.
In a Saturday loss at Boston, Johnson surrendered a home run to former teammate Darren Bragg, only the sixth home run Johnson had allowed to a left-handed hitter and the first since 1992.
Johnson had refused Piniella's requests to return to the starting rotation, saying he wasn't yet ready to pitch that many innings.
Meister said Johnson considered Piniella a friend but didn't like fan and media criticism in Seattle that Johnson should have tried to start.
"He's a little frustrated and hurt by that," Meister said. "He did everything to get back on the field. It just turned out to be a physical impossibility."
Get Your Tickets Today!
Today is Make-Up Day
Beach (In front of Wescoe Hall)
8:30 - 4:00
If you missed your assigned pick-up date, you may pick up your tickets today!
Wescoe
Pick up your tickets for tonight's home opener with Ball State 7:00 pm, Memorial Stadium
You will receive your football tickets only at this time. You will receive the men's basketball and Kansas Relays portion of your Sports Combo at a later date. More detailed information will be available at pick-up.
Jennifer Patch
Andrea Prince
Allen Rector
Clint Rexford
David Reynoldson
Matt Rinehart
Jill Saffell
Carla Saichompoo
Jill Schaecher
Justin Schmidt
Tania Schmierer
You may pick up only your own ticket.
You must bring your KUID with a current FALL 1996 fee sticker to receive your tickets.
If you miss your assigned pick-up date and make-up day, you may pick up you tickets at the Athletic Ticket Office in the East Lobby of Allen Fieldhouse beginning Friday, August 30, 1996..
Congratulations Spring Initiates
Phil Algrim
Nathan Bennett
Jeff Beringer
Kelli Carney
Kalletta Ebbs
Annette Grace
Jeff Haas
Carrie Heinen
Kenneth Hillman
Arif Khan
Jennifer Martin
Meaghan O'Connell
Now taking applications for fall recruits.
Stop by our table in the Summerfield Commons.
We offer treatment for all conditions of the skin, hair and nails including:
- Acne
- Hair Transplants
- Tattoo Removal
- Glycolic Acid Peels for Acne or Pigmentation Problems
- Mole & Wart Removal
- Spider Vein & Collagen Injections
930 Iowa St. *Hillcrest Professional Building*
Lawrence, KS 69044 (913) 842-7001
Lonnie Ray's Blues Band Thursday evenings on the patio
$1.50 Amaretto Sour
$2.50 Cuervo Gold Margarita
815 New Hampshire 841-7286