KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010 / SPORTS
9B
2-1 IN LINCOLN
BASEBALL REWIND
Series to remember
Junior left fielder Jimmy Waters
Waters
Waters said before the series he wanted to make a statement against Nebraska. He did just that over the weekend, and the message was loud and clear. The Omaha native blasted four home runs and drove in seven runs to lead the Jayhawks on offense.
In perspective
After the disappointing outing to begin the series on Friday, the Jayhawks did exactly what they needed to on Saturday and Sunday to earn the essential series victory. With its conference record now sitting at a respectable 5-6-1 - good for right around the middle of the pack - Kansas needs to keep turning in strong weekend performances to contend for a Big 12 title.
Heating up at the hot corner
Junior third baseman Tony Thompson continues to make progress at the plate, going 4-for-11 over the weekend with one RBI, one walk and one run scored.
Series to forget
Junior T.J. Walz
Walz grew up a big Cornhuskers fan, and had enjoyed great success against his hometown team, with two victories in two previous starts. But Nebraska rocked Walz on Friday, teeing off on the junior for seven runs on nine hits and chasing him from the game with only one out in the fifth.
Walz
Word of the weekend
"I'm really happy with the way the team is playing right now, we never give up, we never go into a game against anybody thinking that we don't deserve to be there," senior pitcher Cameron Selik said.
1-13
From the stat sheet
Thompson
Selik
Kansas' pitching staff did an excellent job containing the Big 12 best hitter, Adam Bailey, who
came into the series leading the conference in batting average and home runs. For the series, the Jayhawks limited Bailey to only 1-13 hitting with two RBI, one coming on a sacrifice fly, and struck him out four times.
Game notes
Price check, again
Robby Price continued his torrid pace at the plate with a 7-for-13 weekend with four RBis, four runs scored and a walk. After tallying at least one hit in each game of the series, Price has now hit safely in a career-high 21 games.
Tickets available for Wednesday
Price
The Kansas City Royals have announced ticket prices for Wednesday's (4/21) non-conference game between Kansas and Missouri at Kauffman Stadium. General admission seats in the Lower Bowl of the stadium can be purchased for $10, while Kids' (ages 6-18) tickets are just $5 apiece.
Freshman pitcher displays his talent in game against Nebraska
BY ANDREW HAMMOND ahammond@kansan.com
Ben Ward
Jimmy Waters and Robby Price grabbed the headlines in the 2-1 series victory against Nebraska this weekend, but it was the pitching staff that served as the foundation for Kansas' success.
On Saturday, after Kansas' 7-4 victory against Nebraska, the coaching staff put the ball in the hands of freshman Tanner Poppe in the third and final game of the series. Similar to what Cameron Selik did on Saturday, Poppe had a stellar outing for the Jayhawks. He went six innings, gave up four hits and one run. The victory gave the Jayhawks their first series victory against the Cornhuskers since 1996.
"I just remained poised when I
went out there and I was ready to play today." Pope said.
Even before, Poppe took the mound, he already had a 1-0
Cornhuskers appeared poised to make a charge. They had two runners on and no outs.
lead thanks to a Tony Thompson RBI single. Kansas' pitchers benefited from solid run support throughout the last two games in the series after only scoring one run in Friday's game.
But Poppe forced a sacrifice
"It gave me a great chance to just go out and pitch my game."
"The offense gave us a huge boost with those early runs," Poppe said. "It gave me a great chance to just go out and pitch my game."
In the sixth inning, the
TANNER POPPE freshman pitcher
fly and then got an inning- ending double play. Although a run was given up, the damage could have been worse.
so getting that pop up and double play was big," Poppe said. "It was good defense and helped us get out of a jam."
"I was a little tired and my arm was wearing down
- Edited by Kristen Liszewski
BASEBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"I think everybody on the team took it personally." Waters said of the loss. "I don't think any of us ever felt like they were a better team than us."
Aided by that confidence and a heightened sense of urgency, Kansas again jumped out to an early lead on Saturday.
"Going in, I knew I had to be the guy to set the tone and give
The ninth place hitter, junior shortstop Brandon Macias, stepped to the plate in the third inning with two runners on base, and lowered his bat like he would attempt a sacrifice bunt.
But Macias pulled the bat back and ripped a three-run home run to left field, his first of the season.
For the second straight Saturday, senior Cameron Selik was sharp from the mound. Bolstered by the early 3-0 edge, Selik mowed down the Cornhuskers over his seven innings of work, allowing only one earned run on five hits while striking out four.
the team a chance to win the game
"and the series." Selk said.
While Selik handled the Cornhuskers, the layhawks tacked on four more runs to make, including an RBI single by Price and another home run by Waters.
Those runs would prove essential, as Nebraska capitalized on an error by Macias to score two uneared runs in the sixth, and threatened in the ninth - but sophomore Colton Murray closed them out for his fourth save of the season.
By the series finale on Sunday, Nebraska surely had seen enough of Waters.
With Kansas already ahead 1-0 in the third, Waters crushed a three-run home run to right-center field to provide freshman Tanner Poppe with a solid lead he refused to relinquish.
And later with the Jayhawks ahead 5-1 in the eighth. Waters again stepped into the box.
Because he hadn't recorded a
Friday - L, 7-11
Saturday - W, 7-4
Sunday - W, 6-1
hit aside from the three that left the ballpark, Waters said he would have settled for a single.
But with how locked-in Waters was at the plate, he launched the first pitch he saw over the left field fence for his fourth hit - and fourth home run - of the series, which capped off a 6-1 Jayhawks victory.
"That's a pretty good weekend," he said. "I'll take it."
— Edited by Kristen Liszewski
SELBY (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
The Kansas coaching staff is relieved to get this done.
And in the Jordan Brano Classic, Selby showed why he is so highly touted, scoring 21 points with four assists, and he looked flashy doing it with dunks and behind-the-back passes.
"We felt like losing the caliber players we lost off of last year's team," Self said in a news release Sunday, "that we really needed to hit a home run from a talent standpoint in the spring signing and we've done that with Josh."
Selby is a 6-foot-3, 180-pound high school senior from Lake Clifton High School in Baltimore. When everyone thinks Selby, a combo guard, they just see a pure scorer. What many don't realize is he can distribute the ball just as well.
"I don't know why people think he's just a gunner, because he's not," Meyer said. "Josh Selby is an incredible competitor. He plays with flash and flair, which I personally love watching."
With Rivals.com five-star recruit Doron Lamb, another prospective Kansas recruit, opting for Kentucky along with Brandon Knight last week, the Jayhawks lost out on highly regarded prospects.
With guard Royce Woolridge
signing back in November, Kansas wanted another top-notch player. Meyer said not only are the Jayhawks getting a key replacement to a legendary guard like Collins, but they received the best player in this recruiting class.
It also poises them for high expectations in 2011.
"I think it was vital for Kansas to get Josh Selby." Meyer said.
"To be honest, I knew from the jump that I was going to go to Kansas," he said. "I just wasn't quite sure a slight bit because I built a great relationship with the Tennessee coaching staff. But I knew I was home when I chose Kansas."
Selby was recruited by schools including Arizona, Kentucky and Connecticut, but his final candidates came down to Tennessee and Kansas. He said the chance to win compelled him to become a Jayhawk.
At the Jordan Brand postgame press conference. Selby admitted choosing his college wasn't as difficult as he made it appear to be.
NHL
Pittsburgh takes 2-1 lead over Ottawa
ASSOCIATED PRESS
OTTAWA — Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Malkin scored his third playoff goal, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference series.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves and Alexei Ponikarovsky and Bill Guerin also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins, who won their second in a row following a 5-4 loss to the Senators in the series opener.
Malkin restored Pittsburgh's one-goal lead at 2-1 in the second not long after Fisher drew the Senators even with a power-play goal 1:53 into the period.
The 2009 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP, Malkin jumped on a loose puck beside Elliott and fired into an open net at 5:57 after the Ottawa goalie failed to poke it away.
Mike Fisher and Matt Cullen scored power-play goals for Ottawa.
Game 4 is Tuesday night in Ottawa.
Maxim Talbot drew an assist on the play, pushing the puck away
from rookie Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson as the two raced toward the goal to recover the puck after it got away from Malkin on a rush into the Senators' zone.
Crosby, who had five points in the first two games in Pittsburgh, made it a 3-1 with 44.4 seconds left in the second. The Penguins' 22-year-old captain carried the puck across the goalmouth from the right corner, holding onto it before putting a shot over a sprawled Elliott for his first power-play goal of the playoffs.
Crosby added his seventh point, his fifth assist, when Guerin's breakaway goal increased the lead to three 4:27 into the third.
Fisher gave the Senators' fans some hope when he converted Ottawa's first power-play opportunity early in the second to tie it at 1. Cullen's goal at 12:58 of the third also came with the man advantage, though it only drew the Senators within two.
Ponikarovsky quietened the Scotiabank Place crowd with his first goal 1:17 in. The former Toronto Maple Leafs left wing carried the puck along the right side before stopping in the faceoff circle, holding off for a moment
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waved his arms and announced, "the puck was kicked in - no goal" to the dismay of the crowd. Replaced replays had already shown Regin kicking the puck with his right skate between Fleury's pads.
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The Senators thought they had scored the tying goal with 40.8 seconds remaining in the first. After a video review, referee Eric Furlatt
while Karlsson past him along the ice before firing a wrist shot past Elliott.
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