2B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2007
athletics calendar
TODAY
Softball vs. Nebraska,
6:30 p.m. Lincoln, Neb.
Baseball vs. Missouri, 7 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo.
THURSDAY
- Softball vs. Greighton,
3 p.m., 5 p.m. Omaha, Neb.
- Tennis at big 12 Champion
ships, All day, Kansas City, Mo.
FRIDAY
Baseball vs. Oklahoma
7 p.m. Norman, Okla.
Tennis at Big 12 Championships, All day, Kansas City, Mo.
Track at Drake Relays, All day, Moines, Iowa
SATURDAY
Softball vs. Oklahoma,
2 p.m. Arrocha Ballpark
Baseball vs. Oklahoma,
3 p.m. Norman, Okla.
- Tennis at Big, 12 Championships, All day, Kansas City, Mo.
- Track at Drake Relays, All day, Des Moines, Iowa
SUNDAY
Baseball vs. Oklahoma.
1 p.m. Norman, Okla.
Softball vs. Oklahoma.
1 p.m. Arrocha Ballpark
Rowing at Big 12 Invitational,
TBA, Kansas City, Kan.
Tennis at Big 12 Championships,
All day, Kansas City, Mo.
》 TENNIS
Two named to Academic All-Big 12
Two Kansas juniors were
named to the Academic All-Big
12 tennis team
Tuesday in an announcement from the Big 12 Conference. Lauren Hommell, Roswell, Ga., native
was one of 31
players named to the first team.
Hommell
Stephanie Smith, Salina native, was one of 12 named to the second team.
average was required for the first
Smith
team, while a 3.0 is required for the second team.
Hommell has an 4-16 record this season and has competed at No. 4 singles and No.2 doubles. Smith has a 12-15 record and has competed at the No. 6 singles and No.3 doubles spots.
The Jayhawks continue their season Thursday at the Big 12 Championships in Kansas City, Mo.
Kansan staff report
》 MLB
Cubs struggle early in season... again
M. Spencer Green/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chicago Cubs manager Lou Pinelli walks from the dugout to question a call during one of the Cubs' many losses. Pinella's Cubs find themselves in last place once again early in the season.
BY RICK GANO ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — His hands jammed into his back pockets, his blue cap pulled tightly over graying hair, Lou Piniella prowls and paces the dugout daily, intently studying the game in front of him. So far, he's been watching a rerun.
Yes, it's early. And it's also so familiar.
The Chicago Cubs are in last place.
The swagger Piniella envisioned with a team that was overhaulied in the offseason — with $300 million committed to contracts present and future — has yet to surface.
"We broke spring training really thinking we have a championship ballclub," said Mark DeRosa, one of
the offseason acquisitions. "If you went around and still asked the same question, to a man we think we do."
But there have been baserunning mistakes, letdowns from the bullpen, an ace with just one victory, a star outfielder with no homers and one RBI, an offense that has been erratic, some bizarre plays and several devastating losses.
Hoping to get off to a quick start, especially with a favorable home schedule in April, the Cubs dropped to 3-8 at Wrigley Field after a 5-4, 12-inning loss to Milwaukee on Monday night in which they blew a four-run lead. They began Tuesday 7-12, last in the NL Central.
Piniella didn't even show up for his postgame news conference after the deflating loss, a rarity for a man who often is blunt, entertaining and humorous during exchanges with
reporters. And his hitting coach, Gerald Perry, could be heard having an angry exchange with the umpires in the tunnel leading to the duseout
— Piniella had a similar incident with umps last week.
The loss was the second straight in extra innings — the Cubs are now 0-3 in extra innings this season
— and dropped them to 0-5 in one-run games.
So far, a team that's gone almost a century since its last World Series title in 1908 is getting much the same results it experienced last season under Dusty Baker.
one his favorite introductions. "We've been in every game we've played. Our pitching for the most part has been pretty darn good. Defensively we've actually played really good baseball. We just need to start scoring some runs and that should come," he said. "So what's happened here in the past I really don't care about. What I care
"Defensively we've actually played really good baseball. We just need to start scoring some runs and that should come."
LOU PINIELLA Cubs manager
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thread often-injured pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood are out of action with injuries. Prior is scheduled for surgery this week, and Wood has tendinitis and has been unable to pitch since late in spring training.
The Cubs have tried to move on, but the slow start has frustrations mounting.
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"Look," Pinniea said earlier during the recent homestead, using with
Piniella showed flashes of his famous temper.
All of this is part of Piniella's introduction to Cubs baseball. So far — as he acknowledged earlier — he can see so what's made winning so elusive for so many years. He's vowed to fix that. Whether he can is still to be determined.
"Whatever our record is, it could be above by a lot," he said.
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