THE UNIVERSITY DAILY IANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2007
SPORTS
3B
SOFTBALL
Kansas splits Texas series
BY RUSTIN DODD
In her last start, senior pitcher Kassie Humphreys pitched only 1 1/3 innings, giving up five runs. Afterwards, coach Tracy Bunge had to field questions about what was wrong with her first team, All-Big 12 Conference pitcher.
"Kassie will bounce back and Kassie will be fine" Burne said.
On Sunday against No. 11 Texas, Humphries bounced back.
Humphreys threw seven inning of scoreless softball, striking out 11 and surrendering only two hits in a 2-0 victory against Texas in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. Kansas dropped the second game to Texas, 3-2.
She also contributed from the plate, as the senior added two hits for Kansas. She scored the deciding run with two outs in the second inning on a two-out RBI base hit from sophomore second baseman Dougie McCauley.
McCaulley also finished with two
hits and scored Kansas' second run in the seventh inning on a single from sophomore shortstop Stevie Crisosto.
The victory against Texas gave Kansas its second victory against a ranked opponent this season. The Longhorns are the highest-ranked team the Jayhawks have defeated since they beat the Longhorns last season.
Despite another strong pitching performance from Humphreys and freshman pitcher Sarah Vertelka in the second name. Kansas fell 3-2.
Kansas jumped ahead in the third inning on Crisosto's RBI single that brought freshman outfielder Tracy Luben home from second base.
Texas roared with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Kansas cut into the lead in the top of the fifth when freshman outfielder Ally Stanton doubled down the left-field line, advanced to third on a McCaulley sacrifice and scored on a Texas throwing error.
In the end, Kansas could not break through Texas pitcher Erin Tresselt. Tresselt improved her record to 8-1.
Texas 3, Kansas 2
Kansas 001 010 0 — 2 5 3
Texas 000 300 x — 3 5 2
Kassie Humphreys, Sarah Vertekla (4) and Elle Potorf; W Tresselt and Megan Willis. W — Tresselt B-1. L — Humphreys 13-7. S — None. 2B — KU: Ally Stanton. HBP — KU: Stevie Crisoto, Humphreys.
Records — Kansas 27-14-1, 3-4 Big
12 Conference; Texas 28-10, 3-4.
giving up two runs in seven innings>
giving up two runs in seven innings. After picking up the victory in the first game, Humphreys earned the loss in the second and now stands 13-7 on the season. Kansas stands 27-14-1 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12 and No. 11 Texas is 28-10 overall and 3-4 in the conference.
Kansan sportswriter Rustin Dodd can be contacted at rddd@kansan.com.
— Edited by Mark Vierthaler
MLB
Cardinals break out of slumps
BY CHRIS DUNCAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen got the big hits they needed to break out of early slumps.
Dave Einsel/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Puijols hit a two-run homer and Rolen had four RBI to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 10-1 victory against the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Houston Astros' Brad Lidge delivers a pitch during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday in Houston. Lodge gave up five runs in the inning as the Cardinals heat the Astros 10-1.
Pujols' third-inning homer off starter Jason Jennings was the slugger's first hit of the series and it shook him out of a 1-for-17 skid.
"Sometimes you see the ball well," Pujols said. "You need to make adjustments and I try to make an adjustment every at-bat. That's what I did today — tried to figure out how they were pitching me and hopefully adjust to those things."
Rolen came into the game with only two hits in his first 17 at bats this season. He had an RBI single in the eighth inning and a three-run double in the ninth off closer Brad Lidge.
"You can't get confidence without success," Rolen said. "I certainly feel better leaving Houston."
The Cardinals finished with 13 hits after mustering 29 in their first five games.
"We needed to get going." Pujols said, "and obviously, that's what we did today. Everybody contributed. That's what our goal is."
As the St. Louis offense broke loose, starter Kip Wells shut down the Astros and outpitched Jennings, his former college teammate at Bavlor.
Wells (1-1), a Houston native, allowed one hit and struck out seven in seven scoreless innings. He retired the last 16 batters he faced after hitting Chris Burke with a pitch in the second.
the more Wells relaxed, the better he felt on the mound.
"The first couple of innings, I was putting a lot more effort into the pitches than I did as the game progressed," Wells said. "As I backed off a little bit, that gave me a little better command and a little better finesse. For me, that's something I constantly need to be aware of — not trying too hard."
Jennings (0-1) gave up five hits, including Pujols' homer, and struck out five in five innings. He got no support from the Astros' offense,
"Jennings threw a pretty decent ballgame," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "He deserved better."
which managed two runs or less for the fourth time in six games.
Houston finished with three hits and fell to 1-5, matching its worst start since 1990.
"We looked like we hadn't had any spring training today," Garner said. "We did not take good at bats at all."
The Astros play 14 of their next 16 games on the road.
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Jayhawk Bookstore ..at the top of Naismith Hill
But they forgot to mention that Miami High had to forfeit its state title and that its record was changed to 0-37. Oops.
DENT (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Today's national poll.
Martin allegedly gave fake addresses for players such as Steve Blake and Udonis Haslem, both of whom are now in the NBA, so they could play at Miami High.
But we know Martin didn't get hired because of a great track record. He got hired because he can baby-sit Bill Walker and Michael Beasley for one year. They'll be the ones calling the shots.
"This is one of the most, if not the most, blatant violations of FHSAA rules," said Ron Davis, head of the FHSAA, to the Miami New Times in 1998.
Huh, Martin bends the rules to win. Since when does K-State hire coaches with sketchy pasts?
K-State might be good in spite of Martin next season, but success won't last long. Assistants rarely make good coaches at major Division I programs.
Iowa State made assistant Wayne Morgan head coach after it forced out Larry Eustachy in 2003 so the Cyclones could hold onto talents Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock. Morgan made one NCAA tournament in three seasons.
Texas A&M could fall into the same trap as Kansas State and Iowa State. The Aggies are supposedly looking to name their new coach from within. It might not even matter who they hire. Gillispie gave the basketball program its first NCAA tournament appearances since the 1980s. Texas A&M will not be able to replicate that success in the near future unless John
Wooden comes out of retirement.
None of the other Big 12 programs will rival Wooden's UCLA teams either. Missouri coach Mike Anderson found it hard to win with full-court pressure in a major conference, Oklahoma's Jeff Capel ended the Sooners' 26-year postseason streak in his first year. Nebraska doesn't appear close to making its seventh NCAA tournament berth in school history. Oklahoma State collapsed this season and won't have Mario Boggan back for next year.
Colorado will surprise people. The Buffaloes couldn't have hired a better coach in Jeff Bzdelik. Bzdelik led Air Force to an NIT semifinal and an NCAA tournament appearance in two seasons. Before that he coached the Denver Nuggets to the playoffs and only got fired because Carmelo Anthony clashed with him. Bzdelik will have Colorado in the top half of the conference in his second season.
The Big 12 will be down, but that won't hurt Kansas. The Jayhawks, who could possibly be without sophomore stars Julian Wright and Brandon Rush, could be among the top 10 teams in the nation. It won't matter that they'll steamroll most of their conference foes. If Florida played Prairie View A&M for 16 games this season, it still would have won the NCAA tournament. The Gators were better than every other team. As long as the Jayhawks play a tough nonconference slate, they'll be fine in the postseason.
They'll also give the Big 12 its only shot at earning respect.
NO HASSLE FOR YOUR TASSLE JBS
Dent is an Overland Park sophomore in journalism.
— Edited by Ryan Schneider
Kansas will next compete at the Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J.
The novice eight and second varsity eight boats struggled to get started. Catloth attributed the slow starts to confusion about the race conditions. Strong winds forced the boats to use floating winds instead of being tied in. The races started when the officials determined the two boats were lined up. All of the races were shorter than the normal 2,000 meters.
"I think we came through and really showed that we have a pretty experienced first eight with a lot of seniors in there. And without much racing this year, they actually came through and had a really strong finish," he said.
ROWING (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
points.
"It came down to the varsity eight and we raced how we planned on racing," said Kansas coach Rob Catloth.
Kansas 12, Kansas State 10
First Varsity Eight (8 points): 1
Kansas, 5:50.86, 2, Kansas State,
5:52.06
Second Varsity Eight (5 points): 1, Kansas State, 5.52.1. 2, Kansas, 6.02.8.
Novice Eight (5 points): 1, Kansas State 5:09.0, 2, Kansas 5:18.8.
Varsity Four (3 points): 1.
Kansas B, 5:46.5. 2, Kansas State,
5:54.9. 3, Kansas A, 6:0.3.
**Novice Four** (1 point): 1, Kansas A, 6.59.7, 2, Kansas State, 7.05.6,
3, Kansas B, 7.02.0
Saturday.
Kansan sportswriter Catherine Odson can be contacted at codson@kansan.com.
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