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LOVE OF THE GAME
The KU club baseball team is bound together by a desire to play ball. But they do much more than play. Unlike most KU student athletes, they set their schedule with club teams at other universities, plan road trips and carpool to away games. They are both the players and the coaches.
- Edited by Erin Wilbert
This past weekend in Columbia, Mo., the team played four games in two days with a roster of just ten men. They may not have the fan base or the funding of an NCAA Division-I team, but they are all dedicated to the sport they love, because they have to be.
The club baseball team will host Kansas State in a double-header this Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m. at Holcom Sports Complex in Lawrence.
1. Members of the KU club baseball team congratulate each other Sunday morning in Columbia, Mo. 2. Club president Ben Prewitt, Council Bluffs, Iowa, senior, takes a break from scorekeeping during evening during Kansas game against Missouri..3. As a club team, the group receives limited funding and must provide a majority of their own equipment.
Beating the Sooners or Longhorns once is hard enough. Beating them over a twelve game schedule is infinitely more challenging.
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four south schools, Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, have had to play Texas and Oklahoma every year anyway, this new format won't really affect them negatively, either. But for Missouri, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State, this is nothing but bad news from a scheduling standpoint. The extra millions of dollars from the new television contract should help ease the pain, but the point stands.
The new television deal is nice, no doubt about it. But if any of the former Big 12 north schools want to even sniff a conference title in the near future, they'll search for two more schools to join the conference, thus putting the divisions back in place. Memphis, Louisville and BYU have been thrown around as possibilities, and any of those schools would be a good fit for the Big 12, especially for every school not named Oklahoma or Texas.
Take 2007 for example. Kansas had its most successful season in school history, winning 12 games and capturing the FedEx Orange Bowl. Conveniently, Kansas didn't have to face Texas or Oklahoma that year. Could they have beaten either squad? Sure, they could have. But the team they lost to—Missouri—lost handily to Oklahoma twice that year. With a round robin scheduling format, 2007 wouldn't have been the season Kansas football fans remember with such joy. Maybe that's harsh, but it's the truth. Texas and Oklahoma are on a different level than 99 percent of the country, and Kansas now gets to face both schools on a yearly basis.
the plate this season. Something happened to the Kansas batters Wednesday night though — every starter recorded a hit during a 24-hour hitting virus that infected the Jayhawks in their 11-2 win over Wichita State.
"When the first guy gets that RBI base hit, it makes it contagious throughout your whole dugout," coach Ritch Price said. "When one player clutches up, the next player looks forward to doing
came with runners on base.
Freshman Kaiana Eldredge got things started in the first inning, scoring from third off an unearned run after a Zac Elgie groundout. Kansas then tacked on another unearned run when sophomore Jake Marasco singled, knocking in senior left fielder Jimmy Waters from second after a throwing error by Wichita State shortstop Tyler Grimes.
three straight hits scoring one run, including a double to right center by sophomore catcher Alex DeLeon.
"We get our first RBI base hit, and the next thing you know.
The Jayhawks finished the inning with two walks and two singles to score two more runs. Keeping the pressure on, Kansas scored another run in the third off an RBI double hit by junior Jason Brunansky.
In the quick three-inning spurt, the lajawhaks had amassed seven runs before the Shockers knew
The atypical cushion provided by the bats helped the Kansas pitching staff relax kept the Shockers silent.
"It helps your pitching. There's no pressure," sophomore starter Thomas Taylor said. "Everyone's on top of their game after you're up 6-0. No one is going to be playing nervous; they just go right after them, and good things happen."
Taylor, pitching on a tired arm after starting Saturday, often kept
the seventh inning when Wichita scored one run off a single followed by a double.
XIV. OT of a double.
Wednesday's effort led to the Jayhawks putting up season bests across the plate. Kansas rebounded nicely from a four-game skid, winning two of two against Wichita State, and gaining momentum heading into a crucial weekend series against Big 12 preseason favorite Oklahoma.
Edited by Erin Wilbert
SOFTBALL
Kansas to fight for spot in regional tournament
The team celebrates after a home run hit by senior catcher Brittany Hile in the double-header against Okla. The team finished conference play 2-16. They hope to combine their preseason record of 26-3 with victories in their final three regular season games.
BY HANNAH WISE
hwise@kansan.com
The softball team is left to rely upon three final non-conference games to bolster its regional tournament chances after weekend losses to Texas A&M, 3-2 and 13-0. The Jayhawks finished conference play with a 2-16 record, but are 31-22 overall.
"It's a tough conference," coach Megan Smith said. "Every team we play is ranked. It's extremely difficult. You don't get a break, but that's why you like to play in those big conferences." The Rival's
The Big 12 conference has a total of 10 teams, eight of which are ranked in the top 25 nationally by either the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll or the USA Today Coaches' Poll and more often than not, both. It is an incredibly challenging conference to succeed in and the teams that are leading the standings Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma State — are teams that do well year after year in the conference as well as in the NCAA Tournament.
THE HEXA tournament.
The Jayhawks entered Big 12 play with a historic start to the season at 26-3. They won five of their six preseason tournaments, going
undefeated in four. The preseason start is what is helping the team's regional chances now, but the Jayhawks must win their final three games.
The final stretch begins tonight against Drake. The Bulldogs are 31-18 overall and 18-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Last week, the Jayhawks took home two victories against Wichita State (11-3 in six innings and 6-3 in the second game), another Missouri Valley competitor. The
The layhawks have not lost their drive. They are motivated by the possibility of still making it to regionals.
But the team cannot lose its focus, especially after last weekend's 13-0 loss. Coach Smith has said repeatedly throughout the season that they are going to focus on themselves and what they can do. That is what is going to carry the team through the end of the season.
"Its going to be an interesting finish, but we are going to be locked in and ready to play Drake," Smith said.
Edited by Jacque Weber
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