SPORTS
TALIB ARRIVES IN TAMPA BAY, FLA.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 2B
PREVIEWING KANSAS' DEFENSIVE LINE
UTICAEN
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WWW.KANSAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008
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BASEBALL
Jayhawks shut out Tigers
PAGE 1B
Pitching, key at-bats seal the 3-0 victory for Kansas at Kauffman Stadium
Senior shortstop Erik Morrison turns a double-play during Tuesday night's game against Missouri at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. The defense and pitching of the Jayhawks shut the Tigers out. Kansas defeated Missouri 3-0.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
BY SHAWN SHROYER
shroyer@kansan.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — No wonder the Kansas City Royals are the lowest scoring club in the Major Leagues.
A year ago Kansas and Missouri scored a combined 46 runs in three games. Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium the Jayhawks and Tigers combined for three.
Tiger killer and senior outfielder Ryne Price came through for the Jayhawks, blasting his 10th home run of the season and 60th of his home runs in Minnesota
and most of his career against Missouri — which proved to be the game-winner as sophomore left-hander and Lee's Summit, Mo., native Shaeffer Hall hurled seven shutout innings.
Behind the bat of Price and the arm of Hall, Kansas (26-22) took down No. 15 Missouri (29-15), 3-0. The game was a non-conference meeting, so the victory didn't help Kansas in the Big 12 standings, but that didn't suck any of the intensity out of the game.
"It's a big rivalry, so we always get up for it. I like playing them and I obviously see the ball well. I don't think they like me very much," said Price, who was involved in a bench-clearing scuffle his sophomore year in the Big 12 Championship against Missouri.
Price's home run, which he placed in the Royals bullpen beyond the right field wall, came in the second inning. His run stood as the only one in the game until the top of the eighth inning. Kansas stranded four men in scoring position between Price's home run and the eighth.
All the while, Hall (3-2) staved off one rally after another from Missouri.
"It was crucial that we scored early." Kansas coach Ritch Price said.
In the first inning, Missouri second baseman Greg Folga lined off with a single, but right fielder Ryan Lollis lined into a double play. Hall gave up his second hit in the second, but then induced an inning-ending double play.
"I just let my defense play behind me. They did a great job tonight," Hall said.
He got out of the fourth with two Tigers on base when he struck out Missouri shortstop Andrew Thigpen looking to negate the threat.
Hall gave up two more singles in the seventh. The first runner was caught stealing second, but the second runner swiped second successfully. Hall left him there, though, fanning third baseman
Kyle Mach looking.
Every inning wasn't a roller coaster for Hall, though, as he worked perfect innings in the third and sixth. Hall came
innings in the third a out after the seventh with a clean slate. He surrendered only five hits and two walks while striking out four.
The outing matched Hall's long for the season. He last went seven innings on March 1 against Xavier. He'd only made it to the fifth inning four times in nine starts entering Tuesday.
"It's a big rivalry, so we always get up for it. I like playing them and I obviously see the ball well."
Hall said. "I just took it inning by inning. Facing a good team like that, you've got to. You've got to focus on each batter, each inning and just go that way. I was
Although he had friends and family wearing crimson and blue as well as black and gold in the crowd,he said he wasn't trying to give them more for their money.
"No, I really didn't think that way."
just fortunate to go that long."
Not until the eighth could Kansas bounce Missouri right-hander Ian Berger (3-4) from the game. In sevenplus innings, Berger allowed six hits and three walks while striking out six. But when he put Kansas' first two batters on in the eighth he was
pulled in favor of right-hander Nick Tepesch.
However, Tepesch couldn't calm the Jayhawk bats. With Berger's runners on second and third, senior left fielder John Allman slapped a single up the middle to drive them both in and extend Kansas'
lead to 3-0.
Allman led Kansas with three hits while four other Jayhawks collected one hit apiece.
With a three-run lead to work with, junior closer Paul Smyth entered the game and kept the Tigers off the board for his eighth save of the year.
Tuesday was the first time Kansas had shut Missouri out since March 24, 2000. After the game, it was obvious that Hall's brilliant performance in the stadium he frequents every summer lifted a huge weight off his back.
"I've had the ability to pitch like this, but - earlier in the season, midseason - I really haven't been showing it," Hall said. "It was good to come out here and work through seven, instead of getting 3-2/3 or whatever."
—Edited by Russell Davies
CONTINUED COVERAGE ON PAGE 8B/9B
MEN'S GOLF
Jayhawks finish sixth in Big 12 Championship
BY BRYAN WHEELER
bwheeler@kansan.com
The men's golf team finished its season this past weekend at the Big 12 Championship with a sixth-place finish. Kansas had a four-round score of 1,194 at Whispering Pines Golf Club (par-72, 7,249 yards) in Trinity, Texas. The Jayhawks entered the tournament as the No. 11 seed and finished ahead of every team in the Big 12 North, as well as Oklahoma.
"We did pretty well as a team," junior Walt Koelbel said. "We've been joking about how we won the Big 12 North."
The Jayhawks sixth-place finish in the Big 12 Championship over the weekend is amongst their best finishes of the season. Kansas entered the championship as the No.11 seed.
finish by any Jayhawk in the last five years.
Freshman walk-on Brad Hopfinger led the team with a four-round score of 290, highlighted by a tournament best final round of 68. Hopfinger finished tied for seventh place and earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Tournament team.
"A lot of hard work paid off at this tournament," Hopfinger said. "It's nice that my best tournament was the last of the season. Hopefully I can do it again for three more years."
Contributed by Jeff Jacobsen/KAHSAS ATHLETICS
The finish marked the best performance of the season for Hopfinger and tied Gary Woodland's 2006 performance for the best
"As a freshman, you can't ask for anymore than he gives us this season," coach Kit Grove said. "I'm really proud of him."
Koelbel finished tied for 22nd place with a four-round score of 298. Koelbel, who led the team in the 2007 Big 12 Conference Championship, also had his best finish of the spring.
Also competing for the Jayhawks were junior Zach Pederson, freshman Nate Barbee and sophomore Patrick Roth. Pederson had a four-round score of 321 and finished tied for 58th place. Roth had a four-round score of 305 and finished tied for 37th place.
"I was hoping to finish in the top 20, but 22nd place was a decent finish," Koelbel said.
"Being the fifth guy in our lineup, Patrick really stepped it up in this tournament," Grove said.
Barbee had a four-round score of 309 and finished tied for 41st place. His best
in the third with a score of 74.
"It's pretty exciting for us, knowing we were seeded eleventh and finished where we did," Barbee said. "It gives us a lot of momentum going into next year."
round came in the third with a score of 74
Kansas will return all but one senior.
Joey Mundy, to its lineup next year. The Jayhawks have yet to find out if any individual players will be selected to compete in the NCAA Central Regional.
basketball notebook
No.11 ranked point guard commits to Jayhawks
Tyshawn Taylor committed to Kansas on Tuesday, becoming the seventh member of the 2008 recruiting class, Taylor, a guard from St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City, N.J., originally signed with Marquette, but got released from his
letter of intent after coach Tom Crean left the school.
Taylor made an official visit to Kansas last week and came away impressed. He told Jayhawkslant.com about how the entire team and Bill Self gathered with him on the ioftball field at night. With all of them holding flashlights, a basketball highlight video started playing on the
big screen.
"It was just something I will never forget," Taylor said to Jayhawkslant. "Watching the highlight video with Coach Self and the team was awesome. It was just an unbelievable experience."
Taylor is the No. 11 ranked point guard in the class of 2008. He averaged 10 points a game for St. Anthony's.
Mark Dent
which finished the year as the No. 1 high school team in the country. He'll join the Jayhawks as a newcomer in the fall along with Travis Releford, Mario Little, Tyrone Appleton, Marcus Morris, Markeiff Morris and Quintrell Thomas.
>> COMMENTARY
Collins makes mistake by entering NFL draft early
Anthony Collins, we never knew you. And that's a shame.
The junior from Beaumont, Texas, committed the biggest sin prospects can make when deciding whether or not they should leave early; He didn't understand his stock. And it probably cost him millions.
Collins parlayed one stellar season into a ticket to the NFL. His only question in the aftermath should be: Is that ticket refundable?
The Cincinnati Bengals scooped him up with the 13th selection in Round 4, the 112th selection overall. It ended a free-fall that dropped him out of any substantial signing bonus he could have received by going on the draft's first day.
Look, I'm happy he can pursue his dream. But it wasn't going anywhere. Waiting a year would have been wise. Instead, he entered a draft loaded with offensive tackles: Jake Long, Ryan Clady, Branden Albert (if you count him as a tackle), Chris Williams, Gusher Cherilus, Jeff Otah, Sam Baker and Dusen Brown. And those are just the first-round guys. By the time Collins should have been picked, maybe the late second or early third round, every team that needed a tackle had already filled their holes with more polished prospects. Collins suffered a needless drop.
It didn't have to be this way. Collins burned his final year of eligibility. He could have returned to a dynamic offense. He could have protected Todd Reesing during a 3,000-yard passing season and paved the way for Jake Sharp to carve out 1,000 yards on the ground. He could have helped the jayhawks compete for the Big 12 North title and simultaneously pushed his stock through the roof; many draft projections believed he would have entered next season with a first-round grade. Instead, he sold early.
I'm sure Collins believed his stock was rising after having been selected as an Associated Press first-team All-American and Outland Trophy finalist in his final season. I'm sure he wanted to leave on top with his friend Aqib Talib after the Orange Bowl victory. I'm sure he felt that a good showing at the combine would lock him in as either a high second-round pick or low first-rounder. He shouldn't have taken that chance. There was simply too much money at stake. And we have precedence for a player that left the Fighting Mangino's early only to be severely disappointed by the draft process. Charles Gordon insists to this day that he didn't make a mistake by coming out early, despite the fact that he was not selected and had to claw his way on the Minnesota Vikings roster. I'm sure Collins will say he doesn't regret his decision either.
Collins is more blessed. His stock wasn't going down. He has all the skills the NFL is looking for. With another year in college, and another successful season, he was in line to rake in a multimillion-dollar signing bonus that would set him up for life.
Scout inc. on ESPN.com had this to say about Collins: "Collins will likely need at least a year of polishing before he's ready to contribute in the NFL. His footwork is spotty, he must improve his explosive power and most importantly he needs to play with more consistent leverage."
That's fine. But Gordon and Collins are vastly different players. Gordon was small and slow for the cornerback position. Another year in college might have pushed him into the very latter stages of the draft, but it wasn't going to make him a first-day pick. He simply does not have the measurables that teams are looking for when they make a selection. Coming out early wasn't a big mistake. Either way, he was going to have to earn his keep or find a job in another field.
Gee, I wonder — if Collins could take that year, work on his weaknesses and gain millions, would he? It's too bad he can't make the decision over again.
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Edited by Patrick De Oliveira
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