THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
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MEN'S BASKETBALL|9A
Woolridge to transfer schools
Freshman guard Royce Woolridge will leave the Jayhawks to seek more playing time.
MONDAY, APRIL 18,2011
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VICTORY AGAINST CANCER
Celebrating survival
Sophomore outfieldier Rosie Hull sports a pink armband that read "MOM" in honor of her mother, who survived breast cancer
Howard Ting/KANSAN
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
The team was sporting pink uniforms, most of the fans were also wearing pink, and the Jayhawks were hosting Baylor for their Pink in the Park game to support breast cancer awareness.
Maggie and Rosie Hull had reminders everywhere.
But the Hull twins had another reminder of the disease this one more personal. They each wore a pink wristband with "MOM" written on it.
"I was just thinking about how she's a stronger fighter than I ever have been." Rosie said.
Sophomore outfielders Maggie and Rosie Hull's mother, Marilyn Hull, was diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram when the twins were sophomores in high school. Marilyn has been cancer-free for three years and remains a constant reminder to the twins of what true strength really is.
"I was trying to take some of the fight that I see in her onto the field," Maggie said.
Maggie, who hit her seventh home run of the season on Saturday, recalled the hardest times for her mother and the admirable way she would go to their high school basketball games even when she was sick. If she was strong enough to go, Marilyn was there for her daughters.
"She's one of the most selfless people I know and really tried to put family above everything when she was going through all of that," Maggie said.
The Jayhawks lost the weekend series to the Bears 9-3 and 8-0, but the motivation was still there.
What their mother overcame makes everything seem like a manageable obstacle, the twins said. With cancer, it's a matter of life or death. But whatever the twins do now has a deeper meaning. Whether it's softball,
school or any other life challenge, Rosie said they had an idol who was a living example of perseverance.
"That was my inspiration to get me through not only this game, but life," she said. "It teaches you not to take life for granted."
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And they haven't, especially after a hardship the softball team endured last year.
Former player Ally Stanton's mother died of breast cancer.
The team attended the funer al. which was a time of sincere tragic experience
The team atte al, which was compassion on behalf of the Hull family.
That could have been their mom.
"It could have gone the other way,"
"I was trying to take some of the fight that I see in her onto the field."
MAGGIE HULL
Sophomore outfielder
er overcame. Just a couple of weeks after she was cancer-free,
Maggie said. "They just so happened to catch my mom's early."
recalled the the emotions began to show in their eyes. They were lucky.
Maggiehad one memory in particular that summed up how much her moth-
Marilyn Hull finished the Relay for Life walk, a fundraising event for the fight against cancer.
"At the end of the track, she took off her hat and she was bald," Maggie said. "She was just so proud that she could do that walk.
"And she was proud of who she was."
Edited by Helen Mubarak
BASEBALL
Young pitchers shine against Missouri
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
Senior infielder Brandon Macias slides across home plate for a run Sunday at Taylor Stadium. Kansas won 6-0 and took the series from Missouri.
Three underclassmen pitchers came through for the Jayhawks when they needed it most, shutting out Missouri in the series-deciding third game. The 6-0 victory gave the Jayhawks their first series win at Taylor Stadium in 28 years, and keeps the Jayhawks' postseason hopes alive.
"We've now put ourselves not only in a position to make the Big 12 Tournament, but we can make the NCAA tournament if we continue to play well," coach Ritch Price said.
Freshman pitcher Alex Cox gave up six hits in 5.2 innings on the mound, while striking out three, in what he said was easily one of the biggest starts of his career.
"With the series split, I obviously knew it was a big game," Cox said. "It was a great overall team win."
"He got into trouble, and every time he got into trouble he made a big pitch, rolled up a double play ball, and got out of it," Price said.
Cox, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Corona, Calif., managed to escape the second, third, and fourth innings with two Missouri runners left on base.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Sophomore Thomas Taylor, usually a weekday starter, came out of the bullpen to relieve Cox and close out the sixth inning.
Next to pitch wgs freshman, Frank Duncan, who quickly went through the Missouri lineup. He retired the Tigers with 10 pitches in the eighth and 18 pitches in the ninth.
"It's really exciting to start a freshman, relieve him with a sophomore, and then close it up again with a freshman," Price said. "Those guys have really emerged."
In the seventh, Taylor gave up a leadoff double but quickly recovered, retiring the next three Missouri batters.
One of Kansas' biggest plays came off the bat of junior catcher James Stanfield in the sixth inning. Stanfield's first career home run extended the Kansas lead from two runs to three, and opened up the game from there.
The Jayhawks' batting lineup gave the pitching staff cushion all game, getting six runs off of nine hits.
"It definitely feels good to finally get that monkey off my back" Stanfield said.
The Jayhawks pulled away in the seventh, scoring two additional runs that gave Kansas a 5-0 lead. Another run in the ninth secured Kansas' first series victory at Missouri since 1983.
The pitching staff had a great weekend as a whole against the Tigers. Senior T.J. Walz had an outstanding performance in Friday night's series opener. He gave up five hits for one run in seven innings on the mound in
the Jayhawks' 8-3 victory.
the jersey. In game two on Saturday, the teams were in a 2-2 deadlock headed into the bottom of the ninth. Junior closer Colton Murray blew his first save of the season, when he gave up an RBI single to Missouri outfielder Blake Brown.
The split of the first two games
made game three crucial to the rest of the Jayhawks' season. The victory puts Kansas at 18-18, with an 8-7 record in conference play — securing the Jayhawks the fifth spot in the Bie 12 standings.
Edited by Tali David
Kansas can now take the momentum of winning three consecutive Big 12 series into a showdown with Texas from April
"We opened conference play with four series wins out of the first five, and the great thing now is every week can become bigger than the last," Price said.
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COMMENTARY
Recruits join the Jayhawk lineup
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BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
So who's left?
Gone are seniors Brady Morningstar, Tyrel Reed and Mario Little. Off to the NBA are the Morris twins and, gulp, Josh Selby. Transferring for playing time is Royce Woolridge.
We know Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson are back (which caused a Lawrence-wide sigh of relief for the latter, and hopefully, someday, the former). Robinson's best buddy Elijah Johnson is back and likely in the starting lineup for non-Taylor related reasons. Jeff Withey and Travis Releford will do more than sniff the hardwood from the distant sidelines; both are in line for substantial minutes next season.
After them, we've got bench staples and Danny Manning, and I don't suspect a comeback.
BEN MCLEMORE
Bill Self and his recruiting brigade have been scouring the continent for talented youngsters who might want to give Allen Fieldhouse a try. The process continues, but here's a breakdown of who has already been lured to Kansas to familiarize yourself with new and undeniably core pieces of the Jayhawks' future.
Rumor had it that his mom wanted him to be a Missouri Tiger. McLemore, who's from St. Louis, had more secure and historically successful things in mind.
rie is one of the most athletic incoming freshman in the country and will fit as a shooting guard or small forward. He needs to add more muscle to his boyish frame and continue to work on his outside shot, but this Kansas team needs a scorer. Inside or out, McLemore is just that. Expect him to get fairly heavy minutes for a freshman.
This kid is as true a point guard as they come, and he's a winner. Tharpe had multiple 30-victory seasons at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., so he should easily transition into Kansas' winning culture.
NAADIRTHARPE
Tharpe loves to make the extra pass; he'll give Jayhawk fans plenty of highlight-worthy assists. He is quick and intelligent with the ball, and his past coaches have praised his leadership qualities. Like most point guards, he needs to continue working on his jump shot. His somewhat diminutive stature could pose matchup problems against lengthy Big 12 opponents. But what's the worst that could happen? After all, this kid is from Worcester, Mass., or as locals call it: WuHstahhh!
BRAEDEN ANDERSON
Anderson signed with Kansas seemingly the second after the Morris twins declared for the NBA. That fact alone tells you a good bit about his game.
Anderson, a Calgary, Alberta, import can play small forward or power forward, but next season's team will need him more in the paint. He can score anywhere on the floor, but at his position, he needs to improve as a rebounder.
Here's hoping Self and company aren't finished. Trevor Lacey, DeAndre Daniels and Jamari Traylor are just a few of the unsigned names floating around. After guys like North Carolina's Harrison Barnes and Kentucky's Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones decide to stay in school or leave for the NBA, we'll know much more.
—Edited by Amanda Sorell