BASEBALL
Orel Hershiser signs with the Cleveland Indians. Page 2B
GOLF
Crenshaw wins Masters. Page 3B
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1995
Byrd leads 'Hawks to win over Cyclones
SECTION B
Sophomore pounds Iowa State with nine hits during weekend
By Andrew Gilman
Kansan sportswriter
It wasn't by choice, but Iowa State did too much "Byrd" watching this weekend.
Kansas sophomore centerfielder Isaac Byrd went 3-for-3 with two RBI yesterday as he led Kansas to a 8-3 victory over the Cyclones at Hogland-Maupin Stadium. He finished the three-game series 9-for-11 with seven RBIs.
Byrd paced a Kansas team that for the second consecutive day resembled the team that won 40 games in each of the past two seasons.
And for the second consecutive game, the Jayhawks combined good pitching and timely hitting and earned a victory. The Jayhawks beat the Cyclones 18-1 Saturday.
Kansas battled back from three runs down and overcame six errors to put down Iowa State yesterday.
"It's a sign of progress when you can play bad and win," Kansas coach Dave Bingham said yesterday. "In the last two seasons, we've played bad and won a lot. This year we've just played bad. It's a sign that the team is beginning to grow."
Byrd's triple in the seventh inning drove in the go-ahead run and junior pitcher Jamie Splittorff showed flashes of the brilliance that had led him to a career 17-3
record coming into the season. He pitched his first complete game of this season, limiting the Cyclones to just three runs and none after the second inning. He improved his record to 3-5.
"One thing that I've been good at the last three years is being able to stay in ball games," Splittertroff said. "I think I did a pretty good job, but this club needs to win more than I do."
And with Kansas at 10 games
under .500 (13-23 overall, 4-9 in the Big Eight Conference), Splittorff's performance was what the Jayh a w k is needed. He waited out Iowa State and allowed his team to come back by getting a few breaks..
"He's very
ing up one run for the victory on Saturday, the Jayhawks have given the impression that they are starting to come together.
"The pitching has kept us in it
the last two games," Splittorff said.
"The guys are a lot more
loose and are having fun."
Junior second baseman Josh Kliner hit his fourth home run, a two-run shot in the eighth inning that helped put the game away.
"He's very smart," said Iowa State coach Bobby Randall. "I thought he out-smarted us, and we got beat."
He frustrated Iowa State by stranding 13 Cyclone runners, picking off two more and getting two double-play balls.
"I think it's gradually coming back," Bingham said of Splittorffs form. "His stuff is getting better and better."
And after a weekend when senior shortstop-turned-starting pitcher Dan Rude went seven innings in his first start ever, giv
Dave Bingham
Kansas baseball coach
By r'd's offense boosted the Jayhawks all week end long.
"He gives us one more guy in the lineup that runs and plays pressure baseball," Bingham said of Byrd. "He just gives you good at bats."
And the Cyclones never had Byrd in hand. He hit two home runs on Friday in a 11-4 loss, scored three runs Saturday to go along with his three RBIs and scored a run when Iowa State overthrew third base on his seventh-inning triple.
"I've been able to get a lot of fastballs," Byrd said. "I've been able to hit the gaps real well."
BOX SCORES: Boxes from the Kansas-ISU series; Page 3B
Valerie Crow / KANSAN
Jamie Spittorff throws a pitch against Iowa State during yesterday's game. The Jayhawks beat the Cyclones 8-3
Nebraska 11. Kansas 3
KANSAS
NERRASKA
| | ab | r | h | rbi |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 2b Richins | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| cf Reyes | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1b Wenger | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| c Johnson | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
|rf Fitzmorris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| f Morgan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3b McCann | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
dh Herrera | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
ss Hubler | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | ab | r | h | rbi |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 2b Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| cf Knicely | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| b Rentzell | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| c Dunham | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|rf Allcorm | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| if Offenbacker | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 3b Echo-Hawk | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
dh Hslnnmn | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
ss Viola | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Softball team splits Cornhusker series
**Kansas** IP H R ER BB SO
Blood 3,1 6 6 6 1 0
Robinson 0,2 2 2 2 2 0
Hamer 0,1 3 2 3 1 0
**Nebraska** IP H R ER BB SO
Blackwood 5,0 5 3 1 1 0
E Johnson, McCann, Knicely, Viola LOB Kansas 3, Nebraska 7 **2B Allcom (2)**, Echo-Hawk, Viola **3B McCannon** **NR Offenbacker** **SB Blackwood**, Knicely
By Robert Moczydlowsky
Kansas sportswriter
The Kansas softball team did its best Jekyll and Hyde routine this weekend at Jayhawk Field, splitting a four-game weekend series with the No. 14 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
"We'll get up some emotion and excitement in one game and then come out and look like a totally different team in the next game," Kansas coach Kalum Haack said. "I'm happy that we got a split against the No. 14 team in the country, but we've been playing lousy. I just don't know what to tell them. I've really tried everything."
Kansas started the weekend with a come-from-behind, 3-2 win on Saturday. Nebraska jumped out to a 2-0 lead early, and Kansas managed only one run after the first six innings.
Freshman Kristina Johnson led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple, and then scored on sophomore Charlene Reyes' double. Reyes was sacrificed to third, bringing sophomore Heather Richins to the plate. Richins laid down a bunt, and Reyes slid safely under the tag.
Saturday's second game marked the beginning of what would become a weekend-long second game collapse.
Freshman pitcher Heather Hamer made her first career start, giving up five runs
in just 3 1/3 innings of work. The only Kansas highlight in a 6-0 defeat was the four-for-four plate performance by Richins.
On Sunday, the Jayhawks battled bitter cold wind and red-hot Nebraska hitting.
Kansas capitalized on four Cornhuskier errors on their way to a 6-5 first-game win, scoring the winning run when freshman Michelle Hubler's infield ground ball was bobbed.
The Cornhuskers did their scoring with the long ball, sending four Jayhawk offerings into the weeds beyond the outfield wall.
The torrid Nebraska hitting continued in the second game, when Nebraska leadoff hitter Amy Offenbacker opened with a home run.
The Cornhuskers scored runs at will, and the game was stopped in the fifth innning when the Nebraska lead reached eight runs. The final score was 11-3.
"It all comes down to pitching," Haack said. "When they made a mistake, we fouled it off or took it. When we made a mistake, they hit it off of the fence, or over the fence, or through the fence. We have a lot of work to do on our aggressiveness."
Kansas will play a rescheduled game at Wichita State tomorrow afternoon.
**BOX COREDS:** Boxes from the Kansas-Nebraska games; PSB 32
Edmee Rodigues /
KANSAN
Kansas sophomore Bianca Kirchhof serves to Colorado's Cam Monroe during one of her matches yesterday.
Kirchhof, who is undefeated in the Big Eight Conference with a record of 3-0, beat Monroe 6-3, 6-3.
Kansas tennis remains undefeated in Big Eight
By Robert Mocyddlowsky
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas' Nora Kova played the last home match of her career yesterday, leading the No. 33 Jayhawks to a 8-1 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes.
"Have I ever lost on these courts?" she asked Kansas women's coach Chuck Merzbacher. "I don't think so, but I can't remember."
As the match drew to a close, Koves realized she had accomplished an incredible feat.
"Wow. That's unbelievable," he said. "Undefeated at home. Wow, we need to tell everybody about that. Wow. That's all I can say. That is one powerful statistic."
Merbacher wasn't sure either, and he and Koves started to recite nearly every match she has played. After approximately five minutes, they made up their minds.
After a pause and a second of reflection, Merzbacher laughed and spoke excitedly.
"No, I guess you haven't ever lost here," Merzbacher said. "You lost once at Alvamar, but that's it."
Besides being undefeated on the Allen Field House Courts, she is a three-time All-American and the alltime Kansas tennis leader in winning percentage (.834).
Her 122 career wins are second only to four-time All-American Eveline Hamers, and last year Koves won the NCAA doubles title with Rebecca Jensen. This year she won the National Clay Court championships and has been ranked as high As No. 2 in the Rolex singles rankings.
Merbacher announced that starting next year an award in Koves' and
Hamers' name would be given to the Kansas player with the most singles and doubles wins in each season. Koves was unaware of the new award, and after a short speech she seemed to be at a loss for words.
Koves may have highlighted the afternoon, but Kansas' win over Colorado was by no means a one-woman show. Junior Jenny Atkerson, sophomore Bianca Kirchhof, and freshman Maria Abatogoul all posted straight set victories and remained undefeated in Big Eight play with a record of 4-0. Overall Kansas is 11-11 and in sole possession of the Big Eight lead.
"I guess it really won't hit me until next year when I come out to watch the team," Koves said. "It's really kind of sad. But I still have some matches to play. I just really wish that they were at home."
"We were smokin' today," Merzbacher said. "Jenny and Maria had really solid matches, and things went from there. We want to keep everybody playing well, against K-State this week and then against Iowa State and Nebraska."
For the No. 14 Kansas men's team, yesterday's match against Colorado was more of an indication of where the team is going rather than a reflection of where it has been.
When the Big Eight season began the Jayhawks were struggling, and their second straight Big Eight title appeared to be in jeopardy.
Now the Jayhawks are 4-0 in the Big Eight, and yesterday's 5-2 win cemented a No.1 seed for Kansas at the conference tournament April 21-23 in Oklahoma City.
See TENNIS, Page 3B
BRIEFS
Washington receives award
The Center for the Study of Sport in Society and the National Consortium for Academics and Sports honored Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington with one of its 1995 Giant Steps Awards on Thursday.
The awards are given annually in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day. They recognize individuals and organizations who have provided support for
young people to realize their academic and athletic potential.
Other award winners were: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, former NBA star; Donna Lopiano, the Women's Sports Foundation's executive director; Geno Auriemua, Connecticut women's basketball coach; and student-athletes Phillip Castillo and Tanya Hughes.
Golf teams warm up for Big Eight
As a last warm-up for the Big Eight Conference tournaments, the Kansas men's and women's golf teams hit the road today.
The men begin competition today at the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif. They will play on the
The Kansas track team ran into some stiff competition this weekend at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. The Jayhawks had finishers in the top six places in nine different events, highlighted by the performance of the
Pasatiempo Golf Course.
The women will play their Big Eight warm-up at the Susie Maxwell Berning Golf Classic against several conference teams.
The Jayhawks are playing at the classic today and tomorrow in Norman, Okla.
Relay team takes second in Texas
Kansan staff reports
men's distance medley relay team. Chris Gaston, Joe Pickett, Matt Norton and Michael Cox teamed up for a second place time of 9 minutes,40.72 seconds,the third fastest time in Kansas history.