Sports
PETER J. HOGAN
The University Daily Kansan
Reoccurring problem Former Kansas forward Jeff Graves was fined Wednesday for missing practice for the Kansas Cagerz. Another missed practice would result in expulsion.PAGE 2B
1B
BASEBALL
Friday, April 23, 2004
'Hawks head South
Kansas will look to end skid against Baylor
Senior pitcher Ryan Knippschild pitched against Texas A&M on April 11. The Kansas baseball team takes on Baylor tomorrow and Sunday in Waco, Texas.
Kansan File Photo
By Ryan Colaianni
rcolaianni@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
After falling to the Wichita State 6-5 Wednesday night, the Kansas baseball team moves back into Big 12 Conference play this weekend when it travels to Waco, Texas to face the Baylor Bears for a three-game series beginning tonight.
The Jayhawks are struggling recently, as they were swept last weekend by Oklahoma State, dropping them to 2-10 in the conference. After Wednesday's loss to Wichita State, the team 24-20-1 and tied with Kansas State for last place in the Big 12.
Baylor is coming off a 2-0 loss to Dallas Baptist on Wednesday. The Bears come into the series with a record of 16-22 and a 6-8 conference record.
The Bears went 2-1 in a three-game series against Texas A&M earlier in the
season while the Jayhawks went 1-2 in three games against the Aggies. Baylor went 1-1 in two games against Oklahoma State while the Jayhawks were swept.
The Bears are led by Mike Pankratz, who is hitting .319 on the season with 25 RBI. On the mound the Bears have
SEE SOUTH ON PAGE 6B
Freshman filling team's closer role
By Ryan Colaiani
rcolaiani@kansan.com
Kansan sportwriter
Sean Land is not even mentioned in the pitching outlook in this year's Kansas baseball media guide.
Yet, Land, a freshman, has developed into one of the team's most dominant pitchers and has become the team's most effective closer.
"He is big, strong and physically mature," said Kansas coach Ritch Price. "He has also shown the mental toughness that kids don't have as a freshman."
Land has surpassed all expectations through the team's 41 games this season, compiling a 3-1 record with an ERA of 4.58. Land also is the only freshman on the traveling roster.
During his senior season in high school Land went 7-3 with an ERA of 1.50. He has gone through a transition
Land
from the starter role that he had in high school to the closer role that he currently holds.
"When I close, my adrenaline is pumping so much that I feel that I can throw harder for maybe one or two innings," Land said.
In Sunday's series-ending game against Texas A&M, Land came in during the fifth inning with the outcome in doubt and pitched the remainder of the game to get his third victory of the season.
"If you watched the Texas A&M series, every starter they threw out there was throwing 89-92," Price said. "He has the potential to do that for us to be a dominant guy."
Showdown against Sooners this weekend
Victory would help softball make playoffs
By Jonathan Kealing
jkealing@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Still, a victory against No. 17 Oklahoma during the weekend would move them a little closer.
Kansas softball's 3-8 Big 12 Conference record will not do much toward the team's hope of making post-season play.
With two victories against Arkansas on Wednesday, the Jayhawks have improved their overall record to 27-23-1. Oklahoma has a 33-16-1 record, including going 7-6 in conference play.
The Jayhawks will have to cut back on their errors if they hope to beat the Sooners. Kansas has seven errors over its last three games.
Senior Kara Pierce and freshman Kassie Humphreys are both expected to pitch a game this weekend, with Pierce likely to pitch Saturday. Pierce and Humphreys' records stand at 15-10 and 12-9, respectively.
"Friday we'll try and get some defensive work in," Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said. "We wanted to practice on Tuesday, but it started to rain at the beginning of practice."
For much of conference play, Kansas has had to depend on its pitching to keep it in games. During conference play, Kansas leads the league in issuing strike outs. The Jayhawk pitcher have issued 84 strike outs; on 22 occasions the batters were caught looking.
Pierce is in fifth place for strike outs. She has issued 49 K's in just 35.1 innings of work. The four league hurlers in front of her have at least 57 innings of work each.
"Friday we'll try and get some defensive work in. We wanted to practice on Tuesday, but it started to rain at the beginning of practice."
Tracy Bunge Kansas softball coach
"I'm not really a strikeout pitcher. I just go out there and try to get outs," Pierce said after a game a few weeks ago
Pierce said after a game a few minutes. Fortunately for her teammates, even if she does not see herself as a strike out pitcher, the Big 12 batters do.
Kansas has recently pulled itself out of a hitting slump that had affected the entire team. In the two games against Oklahoma, Kansas collected 10 hits, including two homers and a double.
"It seems like players are finally starting to come out of it," Bunge said. "It hasn't been just one player, it's been different players every game."
Kansas will play at 2 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be available via LiveStats which can be accessed by going to kuathletics.com and following the links of the softball game.
In the last five games, the Jayhawks have recorded 28 hits and have a batting average of .204. They are 3-2 in those games. In the five preceding games the Jayhawks recorded only 14 hits and had a batting average of .130. They went 1-4 in that time.
- Edited by Louise Stauffer
Freshman pitcher Kassie Humphreys gave a high-five to teammate Jessica Moppin, sophomore infielder. The Jayhawks take on Oklahoma this weekend in Norman, Okla.
Ball and chain
Colin Dutton, Los Angeles junior, tried to clean the mud off his hammer with his hands yesterday near Memorial Stadium. The University of Kansas hammer throw team practiced despite the muddy conditions caused by rainy weather. The Kansas track and field team will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, to participate in the 95th annual Drake Relays from April 22 to 24.
Brent Carter/Kansar
Faculty mentors help athletes
By Joe Bant
jbant@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A couple years ago, University of Kansas faculty and athletics administrators concluded that an aspect of the University's student-athlete academic support program needed improvement.
Athletes have plenty of resources available to them in the Athletics Department and lots of support from coaches and tutors, but their relationships with faculty were lacking, said Paul Buskirk, associate athletics director for student support services.
As a result, athletes weren't as connected to the rest of the University as they should have been, Buskirk said, and the department felt it needed to correct that.
The result was a new faculty mentoring program, one that allowed faculty to work and develop relationships with athletes. The program was developed in Fall 2002, but it has only reached four sports — baseball, softball, football and swimming and diving. Buskirk said these sports were selected because they had a lot of freshman at the time.
"Now we have an opportunity to go one-on-one with certain people who can really give us insight."
Ryan Baty Senior infielder
"The problem with faculty is we tend to spend most of our time in our own departments," Carlin said.
Diana Carlin, chairwoman of the steering committee for the program, said the lack of expansion was due to the lack of faculty participation. She said she didn't think the problem was that faculty were unwilling to participate, but that they were unaware.
In addition to chairing the program, Carlin works as a faculty mentor for the football team. She said her job consisted of more than just academic help and counseling. It is about helping athletes develop personal connections outside of sports, she said. Carlin said she had become friends with a number of the players she'd worked with during the years — some that go all the way back to when she started in 1988.
started in 1964 to their weddings." Carlin said. "I've bought baby gifts for their children."
She said those relationships were one of the rewards she got out of being a part of the program.
Participating athletes have also reacted positively to the program.
"Now we have an opportunity to go one-on-one with certain people who can really give us insight," said Ryan Baty, senior infielder for the baseball team.
SEE FACULTY ON PAGE 6B
TALK TO SPORTS: Contact Henry C. Jackson or Maggie Newcomer at SPORTS@KANSAN.COM