KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010 / SPORTS
BASEBALL
7B
Baker game provides tune-up for Big 12
BY ANDREW HAMMOND
ahammond@kwwan.com
ahammond@kansan.com
While Kansas had to work hard to defeat Creighton 5-4 Tuesday night, the Jayhawks should face less of a challenge tonight when they play Baker, which plays in the NAIA. The focus will be getting players more game experience before the conference opener at Baylor.
"We haven't been as consistent
one through nine in our lineup," coach Ritch Price said. "The good thing is we won't have to encounter the match-up issues we had at LSU and Tulane."
"Getting a few swings in tonight was key," Thompson said after
Jayhawks' offense appears to be on track after taking a vacation during spring break. With third baseman Tony Thompson back in the lineup, the hitting and defensive alignment is full of guys with Big 12 experience.
Thomas Taylor will start for the jayhawks, although Price said he expected to rotate different pitchers no matter how Taylor performed. Taylor pitched well in his last outing — five strikeouts in five innings for a no-decision in Kansas' 5-3 loss to Tulane.
"Our biggest games of the season are in the Big 12 and I'm excited about that."
That's something Kansas will need entering its rigorous conference slate against teams like Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas.
Price said Tuesday's game allowed him to develop younger players such as Taylor and fellow freshman pitcher Tanner Poppe.
"We will need them in some series with Big 12 play coming up," Price said.
TONY THOMPSON Junior third baseman
One thing that will certainly help Kansas' young pitchers is that the
the Creighton game. "My goal has always been getting back before the conference starts. Our biggest games of the season are in the Big 12 and I'm excited about that."
A key player
many players for Baker is Nick Peterson, who's leading the team in batting average at .385 and slugging .558.
Kansas' relievers have struggled of late and the Wildcats will give the Jayhawks a chance to rid themselves of recent struggles out of the bullpen.
"The game will give us a chance to give guys some pitching time and some throwing in before conference play." Price said. "We're going to need it."
Edited by Taylor Bern
Junior third baseman Tony Thompson takes a practice swing before batting Tuesday night. Thompson, who won the Big 12's triple crown last season, made his first appearance this season in Kansas' 5-4 victory against Creighton after missing the first 19 games of the season because of a hairline fracture in his kneecap.
Jerrv Wano/KANSAN
ATHLETICS
Perkins to speak in Dole sports series
Athletics Director Lew Perkins will speak at the Dole Institute of Politics Tuesday, April 13 as part of
the Institute's Leadership and Globalization of Sports series.
The series explores topics about the broader
economic, so
Perkins
Link spoke in November 2009.
cial and political effects of sports throughout the world. Former NFL commissioner Paul Taglilabue was the series'inaugural speaker in November 2008, and international mountain guide Robert
Perkins will speak in a public interview about his career in sports administration.
"Lew Perkins' record of leadership in collegiate sports is extraordinary," said Bill Lacy, director of the Dole Institute. "Mr. Perkins is a talented athletics director who understands the importance of sports in the lives of young people and can speak to the broader issues of academics, leadership and globalization in collegiate athletics."
Perkins has been the Athletics Director since 2003. In 2008, he topped the public voting in Time Magazine's online poll of the best sports executives in the world.
Perkins' interview begins at 7:30 p.m.
— Clark Goble
Huskies demolish Owls bump win streak to 74
WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT
NORFOLK, Va. - Connecticut was so good — nearly perfect — in the first half against Temple on Tuesday night that even one of their superstars, Maya Moore, was surprised.
Associated Press
BY HANK KURZ JR.
"You go in wanting to feel like you're going to hit every shot, but you don't really think every single shot is going to go in," Moore said after making all six of her shots, including three three-pointers. "At
"It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime kind of a half," Moore said. The Huskies shot nearly 78 percent, held Temple to five field goals and 12 points and took a 43 point lead into the locker room. They coasted to a 90-36 victory in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament, stretching their winning streak to 74 games.
a point there, we thought every shot was going to go in."
On a night that started with UConn coach Geno Auriemma twice hugging former assistant Tonya Cardoza, in her second season as the Owls coach, perfection quickly replaced affection.
To the Owls, it seemed like every shot did.
"It was just, 'Wow,'" said Qwedia Wallace, who led Temple with 12 points.
"They are the No.1 team in the nation for a reason," added Marli Bennett.
Moore hit three-pointers on the Huskies' first two possessions, they ran off 20 points in a row in 6 minutes after Temple closed within 13-5 and finished the half on a 20-1 burst.
After that, the Huskies starters got to watch the reserves get plenty of time.
WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT
reach both of those marks.
BY DAVE CAMPBELL Associated Press
A few thousand Huskers fans chanted "Go Big Red!" and cheered their team on a 16-0 run early in the second half that broke the game open, fueled by a pair of three-pointers from Cory Montgomery. She had her own cheering section from hometown Cannon Falls, a 45-minute drive south from the University of Minnesota campus.
Nebraska women in Sweet Sixteen
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Star Jasmine Dixon managed 13 points for the No. 8 seed Bruins (25-9) after early foul trouble, but the momentum and chaos created by their defensive pressure didn't last past the first quarter of the game.
MINNEAPOLIS — Nebraska shook off a shaky start and showed it belonged in the final 16. The best season the Cornhuskers have ever had will continue for another weekend.
Griffin, who recorded her 2,000th career point in the first round, got past 1,000 career rebounds to become only the second Nebraska women's player to
The Cornhuskers (32-1) advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time in program history. They will play No. 4 seed Kentucky in Kansas City, Mo., next Sunday.
Dominique Kelley scored a career-high 22 points, Kelsey
Griffin added 18 points and 14 rebounds and top-seeded Nebraska took apart UCLA 83-70 in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament on Tuesday night.
WALTER S. SUTTON LECTURE SERIES
THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND THE KU INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR ETHICS IN BUSINESS PRESENT
"Ethical Decision Making in a Transparent World Kathleen Edmond, Chief Ethics Officer, Best Buy
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 7 p.m. Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union, 1301 Jayhawk Blvd. Free to the public. No RSVP necessary.
1
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR ETHICS IN BUSINESS
The University of Kansas