KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, MARCH 8. 2010 / SPORTS 7B SOFTBALL Offense slow in weekend series Freshmen step up as Jayhawks win two of four series games BY ZACH GETZ zgetz@kansan.com twitter.com/zgetz The Kansas softball team split its four games at the Coach B Classic and is now 9-10 overall. Though the pitching and defense were solid aspects of play for the Jayhawks during the weekend — they allowed just 11 runs in four games — Kansas' offense was sluggish, racking up only 10 runs. For that reason, coach Megan Smith said Kansas needs to have more confidence, and therefore more production at the plate. "We need to relax in the box and trust what we've been working on all fall and all preseason." Smith said. "We need to know it's going to work, get up there, wait for our pitch and attack it with an aggressive swing." Kansas' offense has relied on only a handful of hitters so far this season. Sophomore outfielder Kelsey Alsdorf said the rest of the layhawks needed to deliver as well. "We've had to rely on big hits sometimes from Alex Jones, Sara Ramirez or Brittany Hile," Alsdorf said. "Hopefully more people can start getting on base." Kansas' offense needs to regroup and take a simple-minded approach to hitting instead of looking for the homerun ball, junior catcher Brittney Hile said. "I think we just need to take a step back and watch the ball all the way to the bat and not look for that big hit to get us out of our slump." Hile said. "We need to take it one hit at a time and let it all come together." Out of the top five batting averages on the team, four are freshmen. The freshman players have arguably been some of Kansas' most productive players this season. "Our young players are playing better than our upperclassmen," Smith said. "I told the freshmen after the fall, 'You're no longer freshen, and you've got to step up and be ready to play.' They've certainly done that and gone out and did an excellent job for us." Kansas will have its home opener on Thursday when it hosts the KU Invitational and will face Valparaiso and Missouri State. Edited by Kelly Gibson COACH B CLASSIC RESULTS Kansas 4, University of Illinois-Chicago 3 Kansas scored two in the bottom of the first, but UIC quickly responded, scoring two in the second. Kansas broke the tie in the third when junior catcher Brittany Hile hit a two-run homer to take a two-run lead. Kansas wouldn't score again, but wouldn't need to, as it wrapped up its first opening day victory this season. Kansas was outhit in the game 10-7, but still came up victorious. Southern Illinois-Carbondale 3, Kansas 1 The entire game was an offensive funk. SIU racked up three runs on three hits in the second, but only managed one hit in the other six innings. Likewise, Kansas could only manage one hit in the first six innings, but thing started to heat up in the seventh. Kansas managed to get a run and two hits in the inning, but when Kansas missed a chance, leaving two on base, Kansas got just three hits for the entire game. Kansas 3, Western Illinois 0 Junior pitcher Allie Clark had an outstanding game, allowing just one hit and one walk in seven innings. Kansas got two runs on four hits in the first, and added another run in the third, but wouldn't score again. Freshman right fielder, Rosie Hull led Kansas' early tirade, getting two runs off of two hits and Clark had two RBIs off her lone hit. Southern Illinois-Carbondale 5. Kansas 2 SIUE had a good start, getting a run in the first and adding two more in the second. Kansas, on the other hand, couldn't seem to get its offense together. In the first and third innings, Kansas got a runner on base with zero outs but couldn't get the runner home, and in the second Kansas had a runner on with one out. Kansas did manage two homers in the fourth and sixth by Clark and Hile, but it was not enough to defeat SIUE. —Zach Getz TRACK & FIELD Athletes compete in NCAA qualifier BY KORY CARPENTER editor@kansan.com A return to Ames, Iowa and a trip to South Bend, Ind. this weekend brought two first-place finishes to the track and field team as 22 athletes competed in the NCAA qualifier for this week's indoor championships. In Ames, freshmen Kyle Clemons finished sixth in the 400 meter dash with a time of 47.83. Clemons finished ahead of teammates Jacob Breth, Chandler Frigon and fellow freshman Redshirt freshman Kaman Schnieder finished first in the 3,000 meter while a team of four runners finished first in the distance medley relay. In Ames, sophomore Sasha Cunningham finished 9th in the women's 400 meter dash. Her time of 56.92 gave her the edge over teammates Tara Grosserode and Anna Barber, who finished with times of 58.97 and 59.71 respectively. In South Bend, the tandem of Rebeka Stowe, Taylor Washington, Cori Christensen, and Lauren Bond finished first in the distance medley relay with a time of 11:07.96. Isaac Bradshaw. All four runners set personal records in the event. Redshirt freshmen Kaman Schneider not only set a personal record in the 3,000 meters, but also finished atop the standings in the event with a time of 9:06.39. Freshman Sam Jones finished highest among Jayhawks in the men's 800 meter with a time of 1:53.96, while redshirt freshmen Austin Bussing led the Jayhawks in the mile. He finished with a time of 4:14.34. Washington also competed in the 4x400 meter relay. Her team finished fourth, with a time of at 3:37.80. Not all athletes are finished for the year, however. Two relay teams and nine other athletes have met NCAA provisional standards and will hope to compete at the NCAA indoor championships Friday and Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. The announcement of the field is expected shortly. Junior Kendra WOMEN'S GOLF Bradley finished seventh in the 400 meter dash with a time of 56.27. — Edited by Jesse Rangel Team finishes fifth Sunday in Arizona Senior Emily Powers recorded a team-best 77 in the final round as she helped the Jayhawks to a fifth place finish at the Duramed/Rio Verde Collegiate on Sunday. Kansas recorded a third-round score of 317 to bring its tournament total to 917. Michigan took the tournament title and led through all three rounds. Powers' last round gave her a final score of 231 as she tied for 21st. Junior Meghna Bal led the team and ended the event with a 229 to tie for 15th. Junior Grace Thiry tied for 28th as she shot an 85 to bring her three-day total to 233. The Jayhawks will return to action when they travel to Florence, Ariz., to compete in the Northern Michigan Migration March 15-17. Jayson Jenks Stick-to-itiveness Katlyn Craft, a senior from St. Louis, Mo., has the ball knocked loose by a Missouri defender during the women's lacrosse match Sunday afternoon. The Jayhawks won the game 13-12 in overtime. Jerry Wang/KANSAN Butt dialing fail? We can fix it. iCafe Mac sales, service and education icafe-lawrence.com 23rd & Louisiana Bryan Hackenberg, Denver, senior — Hackenberg, along with Barbee, lead the Jayhawks all the way from eighth place up to fourth place in just one round three weeks ago at the Rice Invitational in Houston. Hackenberg shot a 77 and a 72 in the last two rounds, coming up big for the Jayhawks. Nate Barbee, Dakota Dunes, S.D., junior — To Kansas golf followers this should come as no surprise. Barbee is coming off a third-place finish at the Jayhawks' last tournament in Houston, Texas. This was Barbee's fifth top-five finish for the season. Barbee shot a 1-under score of 71 in the final round of the event. The Dynamite Saloon & Buffalo Bob's • 719 Mass • 856-BREW MEN'S GOLF Team prepares for Louisiana tourney Andy Wituszynski Lawrence has suffered quite the long winter this year. The Jayhawks men's golf team knows that, perhaps more than anyone. Winter storms have kept the team indoors and off the golf course so far this season. "We still haven't played a lot of golf so far with this weather," coach Kit Grove said. "There has been a lot of ice on the greens even the last few weeks and most of the guys have played just a handful of rounds this semester." Despite not being able to practice, the Jayhawks are optimistic about playing in the Louisiana Classics Invitational on Monday in Lafayette, La., for the fourth time in as many years. "We'd love to win this event," Grove said. "However, a top three to five finish would really help our ranking." The tournament features a few schools from Louisiana including Louisiana State University and the University of New Orleans. The only other Big 12 school competing is Colorado. Teams will play 36 holes on Monday followed by the last 18 holes on Tuesday. Bell has been doing some things this season that nobody saw coming. First, Bell made the team as a walk-on during tryouts back in August. Kansas had not had an open tryout in coach Kit Grove's tenure at Kansas. Then, after just one tournament, Bell cracked Grove's tournament rotation. Since then, he has been one of the team's best scorers. New doubles team shows teamwork PLAYERS TO WATCH: The Kansas tennis team split their matches this weekend losing to Tulane 7-0 on Saturday and defeating the University of New Orleans 4-0 on Sunday. TENNIS Against Tulane, the Jayhawks recorded only one victory, from the doubles team, senior Kuni Dorn and freshman Sara Lazarevic. This was the first match the two had played together. That one win did not score, however, The Jayhawks, who sit with a 6-4 record after this weekend are set to play their next match at home against Saint Louis University at 3 p.m. at the Jayhawk Tennis Facility. because doubles is scored as one point for whichever team wins the best of three. In the victory against New Orleans on Sunday, Dorn and Lazarevic won again as Kansas swept doubles and won three matches. 14" Large 16" XL Cheese OR Cheese Pizza Pizza $4.99 $6.49 Mon- Thur Delivery or nick-up -Kathleen Gier 785-841-5000 1445 W 23rd St Monday-Thursday & Sunday 3pm-3am Friday & Saturday 12pm-4am $^9,^{9,9}$ Big Ass Cheese Mon. - Thurs. Delivery or pick-up 12" Mix'N Match 16" Mix'N Match - 10 Wings * 5 Pepperoni Rolls