Volume 125 Issue 115
kansan.com
Monday, May 6, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAHY KANSAM
COMMENTARY Kansas athletics improve in 2013
The football team started strong, but lost seven straight to end the season. Former coach Mark Mangino was fired for his mistreatment of players.
The basketball team only lost two games all season, but then had an early exit in the NCAA Tournament after an ugly loss to eight-seeded Northern Iowa. A year later, Lew Perkins, former athletic director, would retire following a ticket scandal.
There is nothing wrong with that, but you already know that the University, students and professors are incredible. What many might not know is how awesome Kansas athletics have been over the years.
Many students, including myself will follow tradition and walk down the hill in 13 days.
In August 2009, I arrived on campus as a clueless freshman that didn't know what college was truly about.
After hiring Dr. Sheahon Zenger, the clouds seem to dissipate.
And the success doesn't stop there.
There seemed to be a black cloud over Kansas athletics.
The volleyball team advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament and finished its season with the program's best winning percentage. The women's track and field squad has been the number-one team in the nation for many weeks and has a gold medalist in spinner Diamond Dixon.
Before I came to Kansas, my sister would brag about the 2008 National Championship and Orange Bowl victory. I desperately wanted both of those to happen again for the programs.
Of course, that didn't happen. The first year was far from that.
Sure, the men's basketball team didn't make it to the National Championship game, but it recovered from great adversity. Kansas lost three straight games and was on the brink of having the Big 12 regular season title streak broken. Luckily, the streak continues and stands at nine straight titles.
You know, the typical farewell column that every senior columnist writes here at the University Daily Kansan.
The tennis team advanced past the first round of the Big 12 tournament for the first time in five years. Coach Charlie Weis made the football program competitive again, and the baseball team still occupies the top half of the conference.
I came in as a freshman and the athletics programs crumbled, but now, the programs rebounded and put together one of the most memorable years in Kansas history.
Hail to old KU. Now and forever, rock chalk Jayhawk.
Edited by Brian Sisk
Plenty of great things happened last year. The men's basketball team participated in the NCAA National Championship game in a "down" year. The women team made it to the Sweet Sixteen, even though Carolyn Davis tore her ACL. Even the women's soccer team made it to the NCAA Tournament.
The women's basketball program lost a key player in Natalie Knight, but that didn't stop coach Bonnie Henrickson and the layhawks. Kansas barely made the NCAA Tournament and went to the Sweet Sixteen for the second straight year.
Last year was great, but this year was even better.
I could sit here and describe what it truly means to be a Jayhawk. Maybe I could mention that everyone here at the University of Kansas is family to me.
KANSAS 5, BAYLOR 4
KELSEY WEAVER/KANSAN
First baseman Alex DeLeon, a senior from Woodland Hills, Calif., runs hard for third base. DeLeon has the highest batting average on the team at .329.
HOW SWEEP IT IS
Jayhawks' three one-run victories clinch series sweep over Bears
TREVOR GRAFF
tgraff@kansan.com
The Jayhawks' weekend series sweep over the Baylor Bears is a testament to just how quickly fortunes can change in NCAA baseball.
At this time last weekend, Kansas players and coaches were preparing for the long charter flight back from Beckley, WVa., after experiencing the wrong side of three one-run losses at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers.
"We played so well coming into that weekend against West Virginia," senior third baseman Jordan Dreiling said. "We just wanted to put ourselves back in position to get into the NCAA tournament. Nothing better than
having a sweep after getting swept."
Kansas players broke out the brooms in a truly styling style for this 2013 lineup. The Jayhawks won all three games by a single run, winning game one 3-2, game two 6-5 on a walk off from senior shortstop Kevin Kuntz and clinching the sweep with a walk-off single from Dreiling to win 5-4.
"He left a fastball up and luckily I got a good barrel on it," Dreiling said. "I didn't know for sure. I knew I hit it well, but their right fielder made some good plays over the weekend. I didn't know if he had a good enough jump on it to catch it."
The layhawks have made an art of the one-run victory. Over the course of this season, Kansas has recorded 11 victories in one-run
fashion.
"I'll tell you what," coach Ritch Price said, "I'm glad there's a really young coach in that third base box and a really young coach in that first base box because I'm having a heart attack in the dugout."
After the weekend in West Virginia, it looked as though the Jayhawks might be out of the race for the Big 12 conference. The Jayhawks are now a half-game out of first after Oklahoma's 9-6 Sunday loss to West Virginia. The Kansas mentality never changed over the course of the turnaround.
"Energy level in the dugout is always high," Dreiling said. "We had our backs against the wall. Every game from here on out is pretty much a playoff game because we have to get our record up to get an NCAA regional bid. I
In a weekend full of Jayhawk heroes, sophomore designated hitter Connor McKay came up big in Sunday's sweep-clinching win. McKay belted two doubles to score two of Kansas' runs. One of these doubles came in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game at four and send the Jayhawks to extra innings.
think everybody knows that in the back of their minds and everybody believes they can contribute"
"We've lost a lot of one-run games this year," McKay said. "There was kind of that bitter taste in our mouth, especially after West Virginia. We really needed this series and the team itself, knowing how it feels to lose, wasn't going to let the loss happen."
Kansas junior closer Jordan Piche' appeared in all three of
the Jayhawks' one-run wins. Piche' struggled through one and one-third innings giving up three hits, an earned run and striking out three. The appearance raised Piche's ERA to 0.72.
"When you're asking a young man pitch three days in a row, they don't even do that in the big leagues." Price said. "He's grinded all year. The reason we're 12-9 in this league is him being the best guy in the country at the back end of games."
Kansas heads to Wichita on Tuesday for an important game against the Shockers. The game won't affect Kansas in the Big 12 race, but has a large effect on an NCAA regional bid. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Eck Stadium.
- Edited by Tara Bryant
SOFTBALL
Team makes history on Senior Day
CHRIS SCHAEDER
cschaeder@kansan.com
The Kansas softball team made history on Sunday in the team's doubleheader against No. 1 Oklahoma at Arrocha Ballpark.
Sunday's 2-0 victory over Oklahoma was the first by the Kansas softball program over a number-one ranked team. Kansas was previously 0-5 all-time against top-ranked teams.
Kansas coach Megan Smith said she was proud of her team accomplishing a historic milestone.
"We have such a special team, and we've had some games not go our way this year," Smith said in a Kansas Athletics news release. "For it to finally happen is kind of like a breath of fresh air for us. Maybe the monkey is off our back and we can take that next step now. I can't imagine a better day for the seniors than beating the No. 1 team in the country. I can't say enough about them. They've been a big reason why we've been successful year after year."
This weekend's series was scheduled for Friday and Saturday, but several rain delays prompted the switch to a Sunday doubleheader.
Kansas started off strong in its
2-0 victory with an RBI double by freshman shortstop Chaley Brickey that drove in freshman catcher Alex Hugo and gave the Jayhawks an early 1-0 lead.
Freshman pitcher Kelsey Kessler pitched a complete game and threw her fifth shutout of the season.
"Oklahoma is an incredible team, and I don't know if you ever say we deserved it or had it coming, but we've played a lot of good teams tough this year," Kessler said in a Kansas Athletics news release. "So hopefully those games taught us all the got us to where we are now. We had a lot of heart going into this game; we wanted it for our seniors."
Kessler said tough competition prepared Kansas for facing a tough team like Oklahoma.
Sunday's doubleheader was also Senior Day for Kansas. Four seniors — outfielders Rosie and Maggie Hull, pitcher Morgan Druhn and infielder Mariah Montgomery — played their last game at Arrocha Ballpark.
The doubleheader began with a 4-2 victory by Oklahoma over Kansas. Despite a complete game from sophomore pitcher Alicia Pille, two unearned runs in the
seventh inning by the Sooners gave them the victory.
Kansas took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI double by sophomore third baseman Chanin Naudin. The Jayhawks held this lead until the top of the fifth inning when Sooners sophomore second baseman Georgia Casey hit a two-run RBI single to go on top 2-1. A throwing error by Oklahoma allowed Kansas' Hugo to score on a dropped third strike that tied the game going into the seventh inning.
A squeeze bunt and a throwing error by Kansas in the top of the seventh drove in the eventual game-winning run and an RBI single by Oklahoma's senior left-handed pitcher Keilani Ricketts gave the Sooners a 4-2 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
The Jayhawks look to continue their momentum next weekend as they travel to Ames, Iowa, to conclude the regular season against the Iowa State Cyclones. A three-game series is scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday with game times at 4 p.m., noon and noon, respectively.
Edited by Tara Bryant
TRAVIS YOUNG/KANSAN
Sophomore pitcher Alicia Pille pitches during the softball game against the UMKC Roos. Kansas defeated the Roos 4-0.