6B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2007
BASEBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Jayhawks in coach Ritch Price's time at Kansas. The Jayhawks dropped the second game of the two-game series Wednesday night in Wichita. The loss was a tough one, said the game's starting pitcher Andres Esquibel, but the close 2-1 margin of defeat actually gave the Jayhawks a little momentum.
"I know definitely if we had won this game, we would have been going in there doing pretty good," Esquibel "said on Wednesday. "I think after doing well here and knowing that we can play, and pitch and field, I think we're going to do really this weekend."
Because Kansas faces an opponent enduring similar struggles, Esquibel's words could ring true. Though Texas Tech has a commanding 22-10 all-time record against Kansas, the Red Raiders have not won a series against the Jayhawks since 2004.
Both squads are also striving to reach consistency at the plate, but have yet to completely reach it. Kansas is at the .281 mark as a team, whereas Tech is at .288. On the opposite side of the ball, each is facing a 5.00 ERA. The Jawhawks are just under it at 4.91 as a staff for the advantage over the Red Raiders' 5.23.
Both bring, similar strengths to this weekend's match-up, as well. Red Raider right-handed starter AJ Ramos (7-2, 4.48) ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 63 strikeouts, while his Friday counterpart, lefty Andy Marks (3-4, 6.87) is tied for first with 68.
Marks and junior lefty Zach Ashwood will welcome left-handed freshman Wally Marcel to the rotation this weekend. Marcel is slated to start Sunday after tossing three scoreless innings of relief against
Wichita State on Wednesday.
The three will have their hands full with the Red Raider lineup. They don't have many victories to show for it, but three of the starting nine nitters are at the 10-home run mark. Outfielder Roger Kiesnick leads the way with a .329 average and 39 runs scored. Catcher Matt Smith, another Red Raider with 10 home runs, leads the team with 37 RBI.
On the Jayhawks' side, junior right fielder Brock Simpson leads the team with 33 RBI, despite posting just a .260 average. Simpson was the only Jayhawk to score in their last time out, which was an offensively sluggish game not expected to be repeated.
"They had some good arms on the mound, but this club is pretty offensive", said sophomore catcher Buck Afenir, one of four Jayhawks to collect a hit on Wednesday. "So I think it was just a cold night with the bats."
Kansan senior sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@kansan.com
Edited by Ashley Thompson
On the mound
**Friday:** (TTU) AJ Ramos, RHP
vs. (KU) Andy Marks, LHP
**Saturday:** (TTU) Josh
Scofield, LHP vs. (KU) Zach
Ashwood, LHP
**Sunday:** (TTU) Colt Hynes,
LHP vs. (KU) Wally Marciel, LHP
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Seniors say goodbye at ceremony
》 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
BY CASE KEEFER
Of course that is understandable with a roster composed of seven freshmen and only two seniors. By the way coach Bonnie Henrickson talked about sisters Shaquina
For an awards ceremony being held in honor of the 2006-07 Kansas women's basketball season, there sure was a lot of talk about the future.
"The future is bright with all that we've got back," she said, "And that a tes-
the right choice
Katie Smith only played a total of 5 minutes all season but was invaluable in practice. Henrickson said she motivated the rest of the team by always playing with game-like intensity. The players voted to give Smith
To no surprise, Sharita Smith took home the Best Defender award after a season full of assignments against the opposition's best players.
"I hope to be remembered as a person instead of just a defensive stopper."
tament to these two. They took us on their backs and we followed."
Fans may have been surprised by Katie Smith winning the "Ms. Jayhaw Award," but anyone associated with the program knew she was
SHARITA SMITH senior guard
the award and when asked if she was deserving, Henrickson showed no hesitation with her answer.
"Absolutely," she said, "she is incredibly selfless. She takes on whatever role we ask her to"
Shaquina Mosley was recognized for her selection to the All Big 12 Second Team, but more importantly gave fans something to cheer about during the two videos shown.
Mosley's shot under the basket with .4 seconds left to beat the Texas Longhorns was shown four times during the ceremony. It served as an unforgettable moment in an otherwise forgettable 11-20 season.
"If you know me well, you know I have a dry and sarcastic sense of humor," Henrickson said. "If we would have played half as good as we look tonight, we would have won a lot more games."
That was the only cynical statement all night. The focus was clearly on the legacy Smith and Mosley left after they fought through adversity to lead Kansas to five wins in its last nine games.
Even with the gloomy feeling of having to say goodbye, the excitement for what the future entails was undeniable.
"I hope to be remembered as a person instead of just a defensive stopper," Sharita Smith said. "I want to be remembered as the teammate that was always there."
"Late Night will be here before you know it," Henrickson said.
Kansan sportswriter Case Keefer can be contacted at ckeefer@kansan.com.
Edited by Trevan McGee
award winners
SAAC Award junior forward Jamie Boyd
Academic Pride Award freshman forward Rebecca Fleckert
Defender of the Year Award senior guard Sharita Smith
Most Improved Player freshman forward Danielle McCray
The 50/50 Hustle Award freshman guard Kelly Kohn
Lew Perkins Leadership Award junior forward Taylor McIntosh
NCAA BASKETBALL
Ms. Jayhawk Award sophomore guard Katie
— Asher Fusco
Oden declares himself eligible for draft
BY RUSTY MILLER ASSOCIATED PRESS
"There will be a release in the morning from Ohio State. Greg Oden will be hiring an agent," said Al Powell, who has been a party to meetings between Oden and two other Buckeyes freshmen stars considering the draft.
As for the two others, Powell was less specific.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State freshman Greg Oden will make himself available for the NBA draft Friday, a family friend said Thursday night.
"Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook will not be hiring an agent at this time," said Powell, a paid assistant coach at Dayton's Dunbar High School who helped coach all three players when they played AAU ball.
If Conley and Cook don't hire agents, they'll retain the option of returning to school next fall. College underclassmen have until midnight April 29 to declare whether they intend to make themselves available for the draft.
Dunbar coach Pete Pullen Cook's high school coach and the current coach of Oden's brother, Anthony also said Oden would be announcing his intention to enter the draft Friday and that the other two players hadn't yet decided whether to hire agents.
Ohio State spokesman Dan Wallenberg said Thursday night that he was unaware of any announcement from Ohio State or any news conference regarding the three players involving the university.
- "I think Greg is making the right choice for him and his future," Pullen said.
Coach Thad Matta was unavailable because he's out on the road recruiting players.
The decision to enter the draft is not irreversible until players sign with an agent. Players can work out for NBA teams and gauge interest as long as they do not have an agent and have until June 18 to withdraw their names from the draft pool.
They could still retain their Ohio State eligibility at that point.
The players are expected to be represented by Conley's father, Mike Conley Sr. He won the Olympic gold medal in the triple jump in 1992 in Barcelona.
In addition to running a company Sport Chicago that helped garner that city the U.S. bid for the 2016 Summer Games, he also has created another sports-representa $ ^{a} $
tion company Mac Management Group and applied to the NBA to be a plaver agent.
A message seeking comment was left at his business number Thursday night.
Oden, who turned 19 on Jan. 22, is a two-time player of the year in high school who lived up to all of that promise after getting a late start at Ohio State.
He and Conley friends and teammates since the sixth grade in Terre Haute, Ind. led Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis to three consecutive state championships and a 103-7 record.
Cook signed with Ohio State first and helped coax Conley and Oden to join him.
Oden underwent surgery on his right (shooting) wrist to reattach ligaments on June 16, 2006.
MEMORIAL KU athletics distributes Virginia Tech T-shirts
LAWRENCE — More than 700 athletes, coaches, trainers and staff from the University of Kansas will honor the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings on Friday by wearing orange and maroon Virginia Tech T-shirts during the day.
The idea was brought to Athletic Director Lew Perkins by women's basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson.
Associated Press
The school announced that 500 shirts would be distributed, but Henrickson estimated that the number would grow to over 700 because others, including janitors, have asked to wear a shirt.
>> CRICKET MURDER
BY ROHAN POWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jamaican authorities investigate players
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Pakistan cricket players could be called to testify next week at a coroner's inquest into the homicide of team coach Bob Woolmer at the World Cup, a senior Jamaican investigator said Thursday
Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room March 18 and pronounced dead at a hospital the morning after his powerhouse Pakistani squad was upset by Ireland on St. Patrick's Day.
A pathologist who conducted Woolmer's autopsy initially ruled that the cause of the death was inconclusive but four days later determined he had been strangled.
His death shocked the global cricket fraternity and cast a pall over the World Cup, being played in nine Caribbean countries through late April.
Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields declined to say which players might be called to give testimony to a coroner's inquiry that begins Monday in the Jamaican capital of Kingston.
Shields, a former Scotland Yard detective, said Jamaican investigators are in the Caribbeah islands of Grenada and Barbados to interview members of the West Indies and Ireland cricket teams, which were staying in the same hotel where the 58-year-old coach was slain.
"Some Pakistani players are expected to be called to the inquest, but I'm not prepared to say who they are," Shields told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
The inquest will be presided over by the Jamaican government coroner, who has declined to speak with the media.
A jury is expected to review testimony from witnesses, some who will testify in person and others through written statements.
Shields has said Woolmer likely knew his killer or killers because there was no sign of forced entry at his hotel room.
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