UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, May 2, 1997
3B
Softball team prepares for Big 12 tournament
By Matt Woodruff
Kansan sportswriter
Maybe a trip to a familiar playing field can end the Kansas softball team's offensive struggles.
Kansas, who has dropped five of its last six games, will look to get back into the swing of things in the Big 12 Conference Tournament which begins today in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Although Jayhawk Field is home for Kansas, the Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City is where the team has played most of its games this season (11 games at Jayhawk Field, 12 in the Hall of Fame Stadium).
Kansas finished the regular season with a 34-19 record overall and went 11-6 in Big 12 games. The team is ranked No. 25.
The Jayhawks will enter postseason play as a No. 3 seed. They will take on No. 6 Texas A&M at 2 p.m. today.
Although the Aggies lost both games of a doubleheader in Lawrence earlier this season, the team has won 13 of its last 16 games and leads the all-time series 26-13.
The winner of the first game will play No. 2 seeded Oklahoma at 8 p.m.
Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said the team's offense must return to mid-season form for the team to be successful in the tournament.
"I'm confident that we can get back to where we need to be," Bunge said. "Having a good week to practice should help."
The Jayhawks are hitting .314 as a team, and 15 of their 23 home runs have come at the Hall of Fame Stadium.
Kansas leadoff hitter and All-American candidate Sara Holland, a native of Bixby, Okla., has played well in her home state. In the team's 12 games at the Hall of Fame Stadium, Holland has hit .590, scored 12 runs, knocked in 12 and hit three doubles and six home runs.
Bunge said the offense will have to support pitchers Sarah Workman and Christy McPhail, who have surrendered just nine runs in the last eight games, to compete in this year's tournament.
SEASON NOTES:
In Kansas coach Tracy Bunge's first season, the Jayhawks split just two doubleheaders. Last season the team split 11 of its 13 doubleheaders.
The Jayhawks have stolen 85 bases this season, six more than the 1995 and 1996 seasons combined. Sarah Holland and shortstop Michelle Hubler lead the team with 16 each.
'Hawks fine tuning for Big 12
Athletes attempt to qualify for NCAA Championships
By Matt Woodruff
Kansan sportswriter
Classes might end Monday, but the Kansas track and field team's season is just hitting its stride.
The team will compete tomorrow at the Oklahoma Invitational in Norman, Okla. Kansas will compete against athletes from Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the one-day event.
"This is kind of a nice meet for us to work on some things on an individual basis," Kansas coach Gary Schwartz said. "When we go to Big 12 (championships), it will be a team thing. But this weekend we'll be getting back to working on individual improvements."
Schwartz said the team would be looking to fine tune before the Big 12 Championships May 16-18 in Waco, Texas.
Regardless of what happens this weekend, Kansas will be represented in the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 4-7 in Bloomington, Ind.
Kansas decathlete Mike Evers broke a school record and earned an automatic qualifying mark when he scored 7,702 points during the Kansas Relays.
Kansas also has three athletes
who have earned provisional qualifying marks for their performances.
Heptathlete Candy Mason had a strong performance in the Kansas Relays, scoring 5,292 points, and Kim Feldkamp earned a provisional mark in the hammer throw with a toss of 162-5. Ricardo Amezcua earned the most recent provisional mark when he ran the 10,000 meters in 29.26:29 at last weekend's Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa.
Kansas coach Gary Schwartz said Amezcua's time had a good chance of getting him into the NCAA Championships.
"I think Ricardo's time will hold up," Schwartz said. "We'll have to wait and see, but I think it has a good chance."
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