2B
SPORTS / WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it."
Author Unknown
FACT OF THE DAY
Senior pole vaulter Jordan Scott enters this weekend's NCAA Indoor Championships as the sixth-overall seed. His best vault this season was 17 feet and 9.75 inches.
Source: Kansas Athletics
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q: What record did Rebeka Stowe, Taylor Washington, Cori Christensen and Lauren Bonds break at last week's Alex Wilson Invitational?
A: The KU record for best performance in the distance medley relay. The women finished in 11minutes 7 point 96 seconds.
Kansas Athletics
MLB
Yoshida defies pitching convention
MORNING BREW
She looks like a neighborhood kid from Backyard Baseball throwing corkscrews.
Even Pablo Sanchez would fan at Eri Yoshida's stuff.
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
Yoshida, an 18-year-old pitcher from Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan, was recently offered a contract by the Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League. At 16, she became the first female to make a Japanese professional baseball team when she was drafted by Kobe 9 Cruise.
Standing at 5-foot-1 with a fastball topping out at 63 mph, Yoshida relies on her sidearm knuckleball to fool hitters. Inspired to throw the pitch after seeing videos of Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, her knuckler flutters unpredictably at a cool 50 miles per hour.
Yoshida exemplifies everything but the ordinary.
But pitching isn't all about standing at 6-foot-5 and clocking 95 on the radar gun. It's about getting outs; it doesn't really matter how you get there. A pitcher's primary objective is to not allow runners on base. As long as he (or now she) doesn't extend that half of the inning, he or she is doing his or her job.
just isn't there. Like an enigma, poof, the magic is gone. If Bradford's slider isn't sliding, he at least has a decent fastball. If Wakefield's knucker isn't knuckling, his curveball and fastball will pass.
Consider Chad Bradford, the former Oakland Athletics pitcher and
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Rick Ankiel drove in four runs and Mitch Maier hit a two-run homer as the Kansas City Royals rallied, defeating an Oakland Athletics split squad 11-10 Tuesday.
But if she can continue her incredible ability of getting batters out, no matter how she does it, the opportunities will keep coming.
Yoshida has no fall-back pitch. Because of that, she may fail.
If Yoshida is someday striking out Alex Gordon, you heard it here first.
"Moneyball" crush. Bradford's fastball hovered around 86 mph and he threw with his arm below his waist — a submarine pitcher. He looked more like a trucker than a reliable relief pitcher. But hitters never felt comfortable in the box when Bradford was on the mount. It was just something about him. Whatever it was, he got outs.
Wakefield is another oddity. His heater rarely reaches more than 80 miles per hour. His primary pitch, the knuckleball, ranges between 56-69 mph, depending on varying factors. But because he has mastered that one pitch, Wakefield is the longest standing player on the Red Sox and is a consistent innings eater.
Royals take victory against Oakland A's
But both Bradford and Wakefield have what Yoshida does not: serviceable alternate pitches. Some days, the knuckle
Maybe you wouldn't pick Yoshida ahead of Sanchez for the backyard squad. But at least consider her ahead of the Khan brothers.
Edited by Kate Larrabee
Associated Press
CAMPUS
No Easy Buckets advances to title
The CoRec intramural basketball team No Easy Buckets is headed to its league championship today. It defeated Self's Sixth Men 76-45 Monday. This season, the team went
3-1-3 in league play.
"It was a good win; we played really well as a team," Tim Taylor, a junior from Libertville, Ill., and team co-captain, said. "We are just happy to make it to the championship, excited for that last game."
The team is comprised of
five male and three female players. At any time in a game, each team playing CoRec must have at least two females on the court. No Easy Buckets often takes advantage of this by playing all three.
"We definitely try to get the ball to the girls because they
are worth more points, so you definitely want to give them the ball,"Taylor said.
For a two-point basket, a woman gets three points. For a three pointer, female players get four and after a foul, they get three shots instead of two.
— Kathleen Gier
BE A WINNER. TAKE A SHOT. Sign
Sign up to win basketballs autographed by Bill Self and Bonnie Henrickson to be given away at halftime during the SUA Big 12 Tournament Watch Party.
Free HINI flu shots for all KU students, faculty, staff, & retirees
THURSDAY, MARCH 11
10:30 A.M. THROUGHTHE
FIRST HALF OF THE KU MEN'S
BASKETBALL GAME
KANSAS UNION, 4TH FLOOR
ALDERSON AUDITORIUM
Download consent form at studenthealth.ku.edu Bring form and KU ID to clinic
KU STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES
The University of Kansas
Contributing to Student Success
LAWRENCE-DOUGLIAS COUNTY
Health Department
Valerie Skubal/KANSAN
Pete Knudtson, a graduate student from Saginaw, Mich., dribbles around Mike Anderson, a graduate student from Delwood, Minn., in a game of 21 at the Ambler Student Recreation and Fitness Center. Anderson and Knudtson play every Tuesday and Thursday, "I play for friendship and to lose weight," Knudtson said.
A friendly game
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
TODAY
Baseball vs. Tabor, 3 p.m.
THURSDAY
Women's basketball vs. Oklahoma State, Kansas City, Mo., 5 p.m.
DAY
Softball
vs. Valparaiso, 3 p.m.
Men's basketball
vs. Colorado/Texas Tech,
Kansas City, Mo.
11:30 a.m.
FRIDAY Softball
vs. Missouri State, 2 p.m.
vs. Valparaiso, 4 p.m.
Baseball
at LSU, Baton Rouge,
La., 7 p.m.
Rowing
Rowing at University of Oklahoma Invitational, Oklahoma City, Okla., all day
Track
at NCAA Indoor
Championships,
Fayetteville, Ark., all day
Swimming & diving at Zone D Diving Championships, College Station, Texas, all day
NBA Basketball:
Indiana 107, Philadelphia 96
Orlando 113, LA Clippers 87
Houston 96, Washington 88
Charlotte 83, Miami 78
Utah 132, Chiagoo 108
NCAA Men's Basketball:
SCORES
No. 12 Butler, Wright State
South Florida 58, DePaul 49
St. Johns 73, Connecticut 51
Bethune-Cookam 64, Florida A&M 53
Montana 68, Northern Colorado 63
Bonaventure 83, Quuesse 71
Dayton 70, George Washington 60.
NCAA Women's Basketball:
1. Connecticut 60, No. 9 West Virginia 32
Mid-Tennessee 70, Arkansas Little Rock 68
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