thursday, april 8, 2004
sports
the university daily kansan
3B
SOFTBALL: Team mistakes lead to loss
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Kansas has struggled throughout the season with stringing hits together, and had been in a bit of a hitting slump until Sunday's game against Texas Tech.
The game started out badly for the Jayhawks, with the team going three up-three down in their first at-bat. Missouri scored one after center fielder
Leanne Bowers reached on a single. A hit and a steal moved Bowers to third. She scored on an error by the third baseman.
"What Missouri did really well today was to take advantage of the mistakes we made," Bunge said.
put three down in innings four-six as well.
Missouri added three runs in the second as well as one run each in innings four, five and six. Kansas sent three up and Kalka
Kansas will next be in action against Texas A&M on Saturday.
The Jayhawks will play a double-header with games scheduled for 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Texas A&M is currently ranked third in the Big 12 with just one loss.
—Edited by Kevin Flaherty
GREENE: Red uniforms correspond with 3-0 record
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here are some individual needs that may not come to mind so quickly.
J. R. Giddens Must Avoid Sophomore Slump — Giddens' numbers in the NCAA Tournament and offensive improvements over the course of his freshman season speak for themselves. After averaging 15.8 points in four NCAA Tournament games, his breakout into the national spotlight will draw a ton of attention from NBA scouts next season.
Some draft experts are already predicting that Giddens will enter his name following next season, but if J.R. wants to be drafted as high as he possibly can, two things are apparent. First, he needs to become tougher on defense.
Giddens is extremely quick and light on his feet, but in the tournament, most notably against Pacific, he had a tough time fighting through perimeter screens. He will also have to become more of a slasher and a ball-handler. Towards the end of the season, Giddens developed more confidence in creating his own mid-range jumpers but defenses will be more prepared for his deadly three-point touch. The most important thing for Giddens, though, is continuing to excel in what worked for him this season —
his flashy dunks and perfect, rainbow threes. All he needs is a little more shine to his all-around game.
"The Hawk" Has To Soar — Aaron Miles isn't Superman. His ironman performances at the end of the season with everyone else injured went quite unnoticed, but he needs some help next season. Self defines incoming freshman guard Russell Robinson as a combo guard who can become a reliable backup point guard.
However, sophomore Jeff Hawkins was relied upon heavily by Self off the bench early in the season. In the first 13 games of the season, Hawkins played an average of 15.2 minutes per game but only averaged 3.9 minutes per game the rest of the season. In the beginning of the season, Hawkins was a reliable defender and ball-handler. He was even good for a few solid offensive outings, including 19 points in a Dec. 1 victory at TCU. If Hawkins can show some consistency, both in game situations and practice, he'd be able to give Miles more breathers.
Seeing Red Again? — Maybe this is just a personal pete peev, but the blue uniforms need to go. The Jayhawks lost their last six games when they busted out the blues. It might be karma's way of telling Self that the red uniforms should appear more often. Kansas was 3-0 in its redduds, plus they looked pretty sweet. And while on the subject of uniforms, Aaron, where'd the headband hibernate to?
Secret Agent No. 44 — What's the most important piece to Kansas' success next season? David Padgett. Self said last week that Padgett had a "nice" freshman season. It's true, he did. But he needs to have an outstanding sophomore season. Without Jeff Graves, Padgett will be relied upon to pick up most of the lost production and minutes. His 19.2 minutes per game average from this season must balloon to around 27 to 30 next year.
Adding some meat to his frame will help. Padgett showed vast improvements offensively as the season advanced, including his deadly top-of-the-key iumpshot.
That will help as Wayne Simien will more than likely be facing consistent double-teams on the offensive end and sometimes even triple-teams. Padgett will not have the luxury of picking up early garbage fouls, either. Everyone knows what Simien, Langford, Miles and Giddens are all capable of. Now it'll be time for starter No. 5 to step up.
Greene is a Vernon Hills, Ill., senior in journalism
ASEBALL FANS: Atmosphere ideal for fans
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Casey Wright (left), Overland Park junior, and Paul Clune, Overland Park junior, celebrated after the Kansas' Sean Richardson hit a home run in the first inning of last night's game against Wichita State. "We're huge fans," Wright said.
Annie Bernethy/Kansan
The first fans began entering Holcomb Ballpark just past 5 p.m., nearly two hours before the game time. The concession areas were still being set up as the early-comers wandered in. Warm-ups were in full swing amid the clink of aluminum bats, and AC/DC and Guns'n Roses set the soundtrack over the loudspeakers.
The fans filed in students and faculty, families with little kids - smiling and waving as they passed familiar faces.
"Everybody's relaxed," said Abby Sidesinger, Gladstone, Mo., senior. "We're all here to have a good time."
Buselt said he'd also been to most of the games since his freshman year and that he appreciated baseball fans because they were into the game.
Sidesinger, a former The University Daily Kansan copy editor, said she had been to almost all of the home baseball games since her freshman year. She said she had found that the relaxed state of the fans was the big difference between baseball and other sports.
"My roommates and I joke that Hoglund Ballpark is our 'happy place,'" Sidesinger said.
His words rang true as Kansas offered a four-run outburst in the bottom of the first to take a 4-3 lead.
"We've got good hitters," said Eric Buselt, Wichita senior. "We're still in this."
Last night, the mood of the crowd never deflated. Even when Wichita State's first two batters hit homeruns, Kansas fans kept their optimism.
"You don't have as many people coming just because it's the place to be," Buselt said.
Hesaid it was bittersweet coming to Hogland because it is where he lost his state championship game in high school, but it was worth it to support Kansas.
Other fans were attending a Kansas baseball game for the first time.
Luke Casey, Overland Park freshman, said he had tried to go to games before, but his schedule had always stopped him. He said he thought he picked a good
game to make his first.
At the beginning of the game, Casey said he thought Kansas could pull off the upset, but it wouldn't affect the fun he had just coming.
"It feels like summertime," Casey said. "Walking into the park, seeing the concession stands, watching them warm up."
"I didn't come to see them win or lose," Casey said. "I just came to be at a baseball game."
For Casey the victory that capped the night off was just a bonus after a good time at the ballpark.
Edited by Paul Kramer
BASEBALL: Offensive explosion results in victory
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the top of the sixth as Drew Moffit, senior outfielder, hit a two run home run off Don Czyz for a 5-4 lead.
Once again the lead was short lived as the Jayhawks scored eight runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away. The inning was highlighted by Metcalf's 13th home run on the year and Baty
added two more RBI. Baty finished 2-4 and scored three runs. Metcalf also had three RBI on the day and finished 2-3.
"The number 10 team comes in here, and we are here to make sure that the Hog is a tough place to play, and right now it is," Baty said.
Junior Ken Livesey got the victory for the Jayhawks. Livesey pitched two innings of no hit
baseball to secure the victory.
The victory moves the Jayhawks to 23-14-1 and the Shockers drop to 16-5.
Up next for the Jayhawks is another highly ranked ball club as the 'Hawks will face 15th ranked Texas A&M Aggies this weekend at Hoglund Ballpark. The first pitch on Friday is at 6 p.m.
Edited by Kevin Flaherty