KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2010 / SPORTS
3B
BASEBALL
Struggles on road give Jayhawks practice for Big 12
BY BEN WARD
bward@kansan.com
After Kansas took two of three games against then No.1 LSU.coach Ritch Pizza said his club played some of its best ball of the season. Even in a 4-2 loss, the lajhawks executed well in every phase of the game: solid pitching, clutch hits and sound defense.
But the seven-game road swing that started with such promise for the Jayhawks (11-8) ended with four straight losses — two against Tulane, Tuesday and Wednesday, and two more on Saturday against St. Louis.
In those four losses, Kansas couldn't piece together a complete effort. The team pitched well, but they couldn't get timely hits. Or they mashed at the plate, only to give the runs right back with ineffective pitching and sloppy defense.
Against Tulane, Kansas received solid starting pitching from two of its youngsters — Tanner Poppe and Thomas Taylor — but struggled to produce from the plate.
In their first game, a 1-0 defeat against Tulane, the Jayhawks were only able to stave off being no-hit thanks to two singles by junior outfielder Brian Heere. And the next day, Kansas was able to build a slim 3-2 lead on a two-out RBI hit from
senior first baseman Brett Lisher, but couldn't hold on, as Tulane responded with three runs of its own to win the contest 5-3.
The doubleheader in St. Louis proved to be just the opposite.
Kansas managed to build an early 5-0 lead in game one, and looked to be cruising to victory with junior ace TJ Walz working quickly on the mound.
"You expect to win when we have that lead with him on the mound." Price said. "We expect to dominate."
But the Billikens hammered Walz for six straight runs, most coming with two men out and in part due to several Jayhawk mistakes: two wild pitches, errors and walks apiece. Kansas regained the lead, led by a home run from junior outfielder Casey Lytle, only to have the pitching staff falter again - giving up six more runs to St. Louis.
Like Walz, senior Cameron Selik was strong early in the nightcap, but soon fell victim to a three-run rally coming with two outs by the Billikens. Like in game one, Kansas responded with a rally of its own to tie the score at 3-3, but St. Louis answered with five straight runs to put the game out of reach.
"I felt like I was making good pitches," Selik said. "But they put the bat on the ball, and when they did, they made me pay."
Despite racking up 14 hits in each game of the doubleheader, the Jayhawks were unable to match the timely hitting of the Billikens.
"At LSU we were fabulous with runners in scoring position and two-outs," Price said. "And St. Louis did the same exact thing to us."
"I tip my cap to St. Louis, because they beat my best two guys," Price said.
As a result, both Walz and Selik, who had been sharp against LSU, fell flat in St. Louis, with each throwing his worst outing of the season.
But losses aside, Price said he's confident that the road trip as a whole will be an experience that will benefit Kansas down the road—and as early as next weekend, when it takes on Baylor.
"When I did the schedule, I deliberately put those seven games there to prepare us for Big 12 play." Price said. "We're going to have to play on the road as well as we play at home to be successful in our conference."
To do so, junior outfielder Jimmy Waters said the Jayhawks need to stop playing at the level of their competition, and instead play up to their potential.
"We need to start playing at the level we played at LSU every day," Waters said.
Edited by Kristen Liszewski
NCAA TOURNAMENT
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Louis Dale scored 26 points, Ryan Wittman added 24 and No.12 seed Cornell upset fourth-seeded Wisconsin 87-69 on Sunday, becoming the first team from the Ivy League since 1979 to advance to the round of 16.
from the opening tip, picking apart Wisconsin's vaunted defense the same way they did Temple in the opening round.
Cornell had a 12-point lead early, a 20-point lead late and very few moments of concern in between. The lopsided affair should make for some interesting conversation this week at the "Dog Pound," the nickname giver to the three-story, off-campus house that 13 players and a team manager call home.
The Big Red (27-8) will play top-seeded Kentucky in the East Regional semifinal Thursday in Syracuse, N.Y., about an hour from Cornell's campus. Cornell wasted little time taking care of its end.
Cornell became the lowest seed to advance to the round of 16 in this year's tournament and the first Ivy League team to get that far since Penn 31 years ago
MSU stuns Maryland with a 3 at the end
Cornell to appear in surprising Sweet 16
The Big Red controlled things
SPOKANE, Wash. — Korie Lucious hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to cap a frantic finish and give injury-depleted Michigan State an 85-83 victory over Maryland on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament
SCORES FROM BREAK:
3/12 at LSU - W, 11-9
3/13 at LSU - L, 4-2
3/14 at LSU - W, 8-4
3/16 at Tulane - L, 1-0
3/17 at Tulane - L, 5-3
3/20 at St. Louis - L, 12-8
and L, 8-5
Greivis Vasquez's basket put fourth-seeded Maryland ahead 83-82 with 6 seconds left, but Michigan State inbounded immediately and pushed up the floor. The ball went to Lucious at the top of the key and he drained a 3 just in time.
NEWS AND NOTES:
NEWS AND NOTES:
■ After missing the first
19 games of the season -
nearly a month of action
Associated Press
Lyle and junior reliever Brett Bochy were named Big 12 Player and Pitcher of the
nearly a month of action - junior third baseman Tony Thompson will make his season debut Tuesday as the Jayhawks host the Creighton Jays. Adding the Preseason All-American candidate will undoubtedly help Kansas on both sides of the ball, especially at the plate - where he led the Big 12 in batting average, home runs and RBI a season ago.
Week, respectively, for the week of March 15. Lytle was a catalyst for Kansas' success in the LSU series, while Bochy also played a pivotal role out of the bullpen. Lytle did his job as the Jayhawks leadoff hitter, going 7-for-13 with six runs scored, and has stayed hot with a 5-for-10 showing in St. Louis, with four RBI and two runs scored.
Bochy, who was also named to the National All-Star Lineup by the College Baseball Foundation, pitched two-and-two-thirds innings of shutout ball with five strikeouts and saved two victories in the LSU series. After blowing his first save of the season against Tulane (3/17), Bochy rebounded with one-and-one-third shutout innings against St. Louis on Saturday.
white-hot at the plate after a slow start to begin the season. The Lawrence High product is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak, and after tallying six hits on Saturday against St. Louis, Heere is now batting at a .391 clip for the year.
Like Lytle, junior outfielder Brian Heere has been
After making a highlight reel catch on Friday (3/12) against LSU, Waters suffered a separated shoulder, which caused him to miss three games. Waters returned to the lineup against Tulane, and fought through soreness to pick up three hits in the three games. He even laid out to make another diving catch, sore shoulder and all. Coach Price praised Waters for playing through the pain - especially in a shoulder he's had previous operations on - calling the Council Bluffs, Iowa native "tough son of a gun."
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