Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Recruits display talent Players consider KU, while in town for tournament POTENTIAL 4B
Players consider KU, while in town for tournament. POTENTIAL | 4B
MONDAY,MAY 3,2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Rowing team takes third
Successful season continues at Big 12 Championship ROWING | 3B
BASEBALL
PAGE 1B
Shaky bullpen cannot close out late in games
BY BEN WARD
bward@kansan.com
twitter.com/bm_dub
After three straight shaky performances from his pitching staff, coach Ritch Price said any chance for a successful weekend would begin and end with quality pitching.
Though each of Kansas' three starting pitchers delivered a strong outing, it was only enough to earn one victory in Stillwater after spotty relief pitching.
*After a convincing 17-3 victory on Friday, Kansas (26-19, 7-10-1) stumbled against Oklahoma State and dropped the final two games 7-8 and 4-5 behind a rash
SERIES FINAL SCORES
SERIES FINAL SCORES:
Game 1
Kansas 17, Oklahoma State 3
Game 2
Oklahoma State 8, Kansas 7
Game 3
Oklahoma State 5, Kansas 4
of mistakes and blown leads.
"That's a devastating weekend," coach Ritch Price said. "They had an opportunity to do something special, and we were knocking right on the door but unable to
finish the deal."
The layhawks didn't appear to be headed for disappointment as they turned in a near-perfect performance on Friday night.
Kansas was stout on offense as every starter tallied at least one hit — and on the mound as well, where junior T.J. Walz flirted with a no-hitter.
Walz took his no-hit bid into the ninth but gave up two straight singles. The junior finished his outing with 8-plus innings, allowing two hits and two runs while striking out 11.
Senior Cameron Selik and freshman Tanner Poppe didn't boast no-hit pitching in their starts on Saturday and Sunday,
respectively, but they each gave the Jayhawks an opportunity to win.
Selik held the Cowboys to two runs through seven innings on Saturday, while Poppe worked the first five and 2/3 innings on Sunday, allowing only three runs.
Down 2-0 in the seventh on Saturday, the Jayhawks collected five runs in the eighth — capped off by a three-run home run by junior third baseman Tony
In both games, though, despite rallying to take a late lead, Kansas was unable to hold off Oklahoma State.
SEE BASEBALLON PAGE 6B
PITCHER SHUTS
DOWN OFFENSE
T. J. Walz threw eight nohit innings before giving up hits in the ninth.
PAGE 6B
IN THE LATE INNINGS
Senior's career coming to a close
BY ZACH GETZ
zgetz@kansan.com
twitter.com/zgetz
Senior first baseman Amanda Jobe watches the ball enter her glove for an out at first after a ground ball to Kansas pitcher Sarah Vertelka. Vertelka gave up seven hits and all four of the Wichita State runs.
While being described as quiet, it may be hard to think senior first baseman Amanda Jobe could throw a punch if she needed to. But she did a lot more than that on her way to becoming a recommended black belt.
After starting tae kwon do when she was nine, she moved up to the rank of recommended black belt, the level which precedes the black belt and takes a year to complete, but she had to decide between tae kwon do and softball because of the time commitment each one required.
"I wish I would've been able to find the time to do both, but the level I got into in karate required a lot more time," Jobe said.
Weston White/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Softball was the choice, and as she comes to the end of her softball career, she said she embraced the game by putting everything she had into it.
During her high school career, which included a state title and a state runner-up. Jobe said playing for Kansas was her goal. When Kansas offered her a scholarship her sophomore year in high school, she quickly committed.
"I grew up a laj Hawk fan my entire life. It was kind of a no-brainer." Jobe said. "I committed really early because I knew if I was given the option, I would go here."
Jobe became a four-year starter, and after being moved around her freshman year, she started at first base for the past three seasons. With Kansas fielding a young team this season that starts five freshmen, coach Megan Smith said Jobe was a great asset to help lead the team.
"She's not very loud on the field, but she leads by example, and the underclassmen see how she conducts herself on and off the field." Smith said. "We hope all of our players strive to be like her."
Junior catcher Brittany Hile, who played with Jobe before they both went to Kansas, said Jobe has a great passion for the game, even if it may not look like it.
"She'll make the plays, get outs and just not seem too excited," Hile said. "She doesn't show it much, but you know she has the drive to get it done."
Being a four-year starter, Jobe has embraced being a student-athlete, being named on both All-Big 12 Second Team twice as well as
Academic All-Big 12 First Team twice in her first three years.
Jobe said it got difficult balancing school and softball, and in one course alone, she has missed around 20 classes this semester.
“It’s hard because there’s really not much I can do about it,” Jobe said. “It’s a struggle, but my teachers and coaches have really been great.”
After Jobe gets her bachelor's degree, she said she planned to apply to the University of Kansas Medical Center this summer, and has thought about either a family practice or sports medicine.
"I've played softball for so many years and involved in a system that really helped guide me through everything," Jobe said. "I'm about to be at a point where I'm kind of all on my own."
Jobe said with her final season coming to a close, she doesn't know what life will be like after softball.
Edited by Drew Anderson
22 First baseman Amanda Jobe
Hometown: Shawnee
Nickname: Jobey
Major: Human Biology
Favorite childhood toy: Pogs and Easy-Bake Oven
Jobe
The best thing about KU: The teams and traditions
This person had the most influence in my life: My parents I could max out my credit card at this store: Express
Oklahoma catches Kansas off guard sweeps weekend two-game series
BY ZACH GETZ
zqetz@kansan.com
Oklahoma swept Kansas in two games over the weekend as the Jayhawks extended their conference losing streak to eight. Kansas tell to 19-32 (1-15) while No. 10 Oklahoma improved to 39-10 (13-3) in its hunt for the Big 12 Conference title.
Oklahoma pitcher Keilan Rickett threw a solid first game, junior pitcher Allie Clark said.
"It itch us off guard, which it shouldn't have," Clark said.
"We were struggling and couldn't get runners on base."
Coach Megan Smith said she knew Ricketts would be tough coming into the series, and she showed why Oklahoma has the lowest combined ERA in the Big 12.
"She hit her spots really well and had good command over her pitches," Smith said. "But I think we could've done a better job and could've made some adjustments."
"Defensively we just played really solid all the way through seven innings." Hile said.
Even though Kansas wasn't getting hits, it had a strong defensive first game, junior catcher Brittany Hile said.
Smith said she was pleased with what she saw from the defense, and several players came through with crucial defensive plays.
"We did a good job defensively, and that's what you got to do against a great hitting team like that." Smith said.
In the second game things didn't go so well for Kansas. It again had two hits, but this time Kansas gave up 12 hits and seven runs.
Kansas will return to action again Wednesday when it has its final non-conference series with Drake in Des Moines, Iowa.
SERIES RESULTS
Edited byAshley Montgomery
Game 1:
No.10 Oklahoma 2, Kansas 0
Game 2:
No. 10 Oklahoma 7. Kansas 0
JP NEXT Kansas vs. Drake WHEN: 4 and 6 p.m. Wednesday WHERE: Buel Field, Des Moines, Iowa
COMMENTARY
Recruiting hype has reached fever pitch
BY CLARK GOBLE
cgoble@kansan.com
twitter.com/clark ooble
I never expected to come to an epiphany after a high school basketball player's college declaration/ hat ceremony/superbly overhyped event.
Terrence Jones, the No. 13 recruit in Rivals.com's class of 2010 rankings, sat in his high school gym in Portland, Ore., with the hats of five schools in front of him: Kansas, Washington.
Oklahoma, Oregon and Kentucky. The event was broadcast online. Nearly 25,000 people were watching when Jones made his decision on the spot.
He reached with
In that juke came the recruiting epiphany: following recruiting closely is a worthless activity.
his right hand six inches above the white Kansas hat at his left, making Kansas fans thousands of miles away collectively gasp in excitement, and then juked back right and grabbed the black Washington hat.
If Kansas adds a new recruit, that's important information. Depending on the player's caliber, it can add a new level to a team. No. 1 recruit Josh Selby will probably start for Kansas next season, so that addition will cut into the playing time of other returning Kansas guards.
Simply, I want to know what the recruit says at his press conference, but I don't want to know what he's thinking beforehand.
There is too much buildup for these high school athletes. With recruiting services calling prospects seemingly every day and recording any visits from coaches, anyone with an Internet connection has an opinion about where a player is going to go.
These recruiting services make money because people want precisely the information I hope to never read into again. Message boards blow up when a recruit does an interview or makes an official visit. We write about it because people want to read it.
One commenter on JayhawkSlant. com's message board said he saw Terrence Jones eating with Bill Self and others at Jefferson's during Jones' official visit last week. He also noted that Self's back was turned to the recruit.
People went bonkers. In a matter of six hours, the post had 54 replies. Some tried to infer that Self was in the wrong for not facing jones directly. Others thought Jones wasn't having a good time because he wasn't the center of Self's attention.
Let's get real.
These are high school kids who are going to change their minds quite often. We have no way of knowing what goes on behind closed doors, and recruits sure aren't going to tell anyone if they are getting benefits that potentially violate any rules to enroll somewhere.
All we need to know is who will be on the roster in September and that there weren't any recruiting violations
There is one silver lining: recruiting is pretty much over. Now we finally get away from all the recruit-speak.
Well, until next spring.
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Edited by Jesse Rangel