KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2010 / SPORTS
7B
SOFTBALL
Kansas struggles with fundamentals, goes 2-3
BY ZACH GETZ
zgetz@kansan.com
Freshman outfielder Maggie Hull said the team is never satisfied.
ing as Kansas softball finished 2-3 at the UTC Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn, and Kansas moved to 7-8 overall for the season.
"We played.
some good teams this weekend, but there were a few games that I think we could've pulled it out," Hull said.
Kansas has the ability to win and needs to trust itself to play well, junior pitcher Allie Clark said.
"We can do it with our eyes closed in practice," Clark said. "We just can't reproduce it in the games."
Missed routine plays on defense and other fundamental mistakes led Kansas to its losses, coach Megan Smith said.
Kansas has played its share of ranked opponents this season, and the team sees playing tougher teams as a chance to prove itself,
"We beat the teams I think we should've beaten, but unfortunately we didn't put ourselves in a position to beat the other three teams," Smith said.
Hull said.
"When we play a high-ranked team it pumps us up even more because we really think that we have nothing to lose," Hull said.
Kansas will have an easier go the next three tournaments, and will only face one more ranked team, No. 24 Massachusetts, before Big 12 Conference play starts on March 27.
Kansas will return to action next weekend at the Coach B Classic when it competes against Southern Illinois-Carbondale, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Western Illinois and Illinois-Chicago in Carbondale, Ill.
Edited by Allyson Shaw
UTC FROST
CLASSIC
FRIDAY Kentucky 7. Kansas
Kentucky 7, Kansas 2 Kansas and Kentucky went into the fourth scoreless, but that is when Kentucky started to take over. Kentucky hit a two-run homer in the fourth to start its scoring run. Kentucky didn't let up and scored one in the fifth, three in the sixth and a final run in the seventh. Despite homeruns from Allie Clark and Sara Ramirez, Kansas couldn't match Kentucky's offensive output and fell in the first game of the weekend.
Tennessee-Chattanooga 6,
Kansas 0
UTC started out strong scoring three in the first and three in the third, but only had one more hit for the rest of the game. But UTC didn't need to score again since Kansas couldn't score any runs in spite of five hits in the game.
The lone stat highlight for the game was freshman standout Alex Jones getting two hits. Kansas continues its winless opening day streak and is now 0-6 on the first day of tournaments.
SATURDAY
Kansas 4. Tennessee Tech 3
Kansas pulled to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but Tennessee Tech quickly tied it up in the third. Kansas and Tennessee Tech went into the bottom of the seventh tied at 3-3. Kansas had the bases loaded with one out, and freshman shortstop Mariah Montgomery hit a grounder third. Tennessee Tech threw out Ramirez at home, but when it went for a double play, TTU's first baseman missed the catch and Clark strolled in for the winning run.
Lipscomb 7, Kansas 3
Episcopal, Kansas
Kansas had a monster first
inning, racking up three runs
on four hits, including a two-
run homer by Sara Ramirez. But after the first, Kansas could not get its offense going and managed to have just one more hit in the last six innings. Lipscomb's offense responded with two runs in the first and two in the second to take a 4-3 lead. Lipscomb scored three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to help seal the victory.
SUNDAY Kansas 9, Austin Peay 0
Ramirez's two-run homer in the bottom of the first was a telling sign how the game was going to go. Allie Clark's three-run homer in the top of the third put Kansas up by nine and all but sealed the game. Everything clicked as Ramirez had three runs and three RBIs, Clark had three RBIs, and freshman left fielder Maggie Hull had three hits, two runs and two RBIs as Kansas run-ruled Austin Peay in the fifth. Senior pitcher Sarah Vertelka also pitched five innings with only one hit.
BIG 12 BASKETBALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wildcats maul Tigers, look ahead
MANHATTAN — The shots weren't falling, the bodies were. Their coach's face was nearly purple, and a few fans threw objects onto the floor.
Faced with a start like this any other year, Kansas State would have blinked, folded under the pressure.
Not this team. Backing down is never an option for this bunch.
Overcoming an ugly first 15 minutes offensively, the sixthranked Wildcats leaned on their defense and kept their composure in a tough atmosphere to pull out a defense-dominated 63-53 victory over gritty Missouri on Saturday night.
"It was a hard-tought game and our guys never lost their focus or
their emotion because of the physical part of the game, because of mistakes, because of missed shots," coach Frank Martin said. "They stayed the course and when teams do that in a big game, you've got to be proud of them."
The Wildeats (24-4, 11-3 Big 12) watched the first half of top-ranked Kansas' loss to Oklahoma State and knew they had an opportunity. Instead of grabbing it, they missed one shot after another against Missouri's pressure defense, putting together their worst shooting half in 14 years (18 percent).
The Wildcats have their most wins since 1987-88 and can take another step Wednesday in Lawrence, where Allen Fieldhouse is sure to be rockin' for what could be the biggest game in the history of one of college basketball's most heated rivalries.
But the Wildcats didn't slump their shoulders, didn't let Missouri run away with it. Relying on defense, Kansas State broke out of its funk — at least partly — and took control with a 15-2 run early in the second half. The plucky team held
"Our team understands this could be our big push for the Big 12 championship," said Kansas State's Jacob Pullen, who had 11 points. "We get to go to KU and we have our destiny in our hands."
Missouri (21-8, 9-5) won the first meeting between the cross-state rivals on Jan. 9 with gritty defense.
on down the stretch to keep alive its slim hopes of tying rival Kansas for the big 12 regular season title.
Run it
Joe Moriarty, a freshman from Kansas City, Mo., jogs along the track at Amubler Student Recreation Center. Moriarty jogs four times a week for two miles to stay in shape. "I like to listen to rap when I run," said Moriarty. "It keeps me motivated."
Jerry Wanq/KANSAN
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Tennessee upsets Kentucky
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KNOXVILLE. Tenn. — J.P.
Prince had 20 points and Scotty
Hopson added 15 as No. 19 Tennessee withstood a late rally to upset No. 2 Kentucky 74-65 Saturday, handing the Wildcats just their second loss of the season.
It was the second major upset of a highly rated program this year for the Volunteers (21-7, 9-5 Southeastern Conference), who also knocked off top-ranked Kansas last month.
gave the Vols some cushion.
The Wildcats (27-2, 12-2) had trailed by 19 early in the second half but managed to tie the game at 65 with just over two minutes left before Prince and Hopson scored the final nine points to clinch the victory.
Prince got the go-ahead basket on a reverse layup with 90 seconds remaining. He was fouled on the play too, missing that free throw but making four others down the stretch. A 3-pointer by Hopson — his only one in six attempts — also
Kentucky, however, couldn't have been much colder from long range, connecting on just two of 22 attempts, contributing to season-worst 35 percent field goal shooting.
The Wildcats got their usual solid games from freshman superstars John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, but it wasn't enough.
Wall had 19 points, while Cousins added 15 points and 14 rebounds. Six of those points came on successive trips down the court as he made two free throws, then scored on two straight fastbreak dunks, both off passes from Wall. That tied the game at 65 before the Vols pulled away at the end.
Tennessee missed its first six shots and was down 4-0 early, but the Vols got back-to-back 3-pointers from Prince and Bobby Maze, igniting an 18-0 run.
Kentucky went more than five minutes without a point before Wall added two free throws to make it 18-6. Kentucky connected
on just two of 14 early shots from the floor — both by Cousins, who opened the game by dunking an alley-oop pass from Darius Miller, then grabbed an offensive rebound and heaved the follow through the net.
The Wildcats, whose only other loss came last month against South Carolina, have outperformed last year's NIT team in virtually every way except one. That team knocked off Tennessee in Knoxville, behind Jodie Meeks' UK-record 54 points.
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