SPORTS
10
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE KANSAS RELAYS BEGINTODAY
WWW.KANSAN.COM
ASHWORTH: BEASLEY PUT KANSAS RIVALRY IN THE HEADLINES
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16,2008
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BASEBALL
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Jayhawks defeat Baker in 11-6 rout
Senior outfielder John Allman reaches out to touch the plate during a sacrifice fly by senior shortstop Erik Morrison during Tuesday's game against Baker at Hoglund Ballpark. The sacrifice fly gave the Hawks an early 2-0 lead. The Hawks defeated the Wildcats 11-6 in the non-conference matchup.
Jon Goerina/KANSAN
Batting, pitching seal the deal in Tuesday's victory
BY TYLER PASSMORE
tpassmore@kansan.com
The Jayhawk bats lit up the Hoglund Ballpark scoreboard Tuesday night against Baker and the Jayhawks did so with a team effort. The Jayhawks shut out the Wildcats in the top half of the first inning and set the stage for things to come. The Jayhawks would also set the tone in the bottom of the inning.
In the bottom of the first, senior right fielder Ryne Price hit a double to right field that scored freshman outfielder Brian Heere. The Hawks would continue to do damage with the next batter to the plate.
Senior shortstop Erik Morrison hit a sacrifice fly that scored senior left fielder John Allman.
fifth.
The Jayhawks would end the inning with two runs. The Jayhawks had 21 different batters come to the plate and scattered 13 hits for 11 runs. Staying consistent, the Jayhawks would go on to score two in the third, four in the fourth and one in the
Ryne Price went 3-3 with two doubles and increased his batting average to an impressive.338.
"I thought last weekend was the worst I have swung all year," Price said. "I felt good again today, so hopefully I can continue it through Missouri State and Nebraska this weekend."
While the Jayhawks hit the ball well Tuesday night, they also got a solid pitching performance from a number of Jayhawks. The Jayhawks started the game with six shutout innings and never allowed the Wildcats to get into the game. Senior Hiarali Garcia started the game and threw three innings, allowing no runs and only two hits. Garcia earned his second win of the year and raised his record to 2-0 on the season.
The Jayhawks ran a number of pitchers out from the bullpen after that, with good innings from freshman Brett Bochy and junior Daniel Manos.
The Wildcats fought back against a 9-0
KU lead right before the seventh-inning stretch with timely hitting and costly errors. The leadoff batter, senior first baseman Aaron Westerhouse, led off with a single through the left side and would later score.
With two outs in the inning, senior Dusty Griffin delivered a single up the middle that would score two more runs. With three runs in the inning already, the Wildcats got three more runs off an error to left field and would put six runs on the board to finish the inning.
"In baseball, sometimes these things happen," senior Matt Berner said. "Having the young guys in there, you just have to get through it. Thankfully everything worked out."
The Jayhawks would add two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, which would end up being enough. With the 11-6 victory, the Jayhawks won their fourth in a row.
—Edited by Russell Davies
CONTINUED COVERAGE ON PAGE 10B
MEN'S GOLF
Jayhawks place eighth in invitational Team hopes strong finish gives momentum into Big 12 Championship
BY BRYAN WHEELER
bwheeler@kansan.com
Kansas' eighth-place finish in the River Landing Intercollegiate is the best finish for the spring season. The Jayhawks head to the Big 12 Championship on April 25.
The men's golf team finished eighth in the River Landing Intercollegiate during the weekend. This marked the jayhawks best finish of the spring season. With a three round score of 881, Kansas finished 30 strokes behind tournament champions Duke.
Courtesy of Jeff Jacobsen/KANSAS ATHLETICS
"We faced our toughest competition of the year and played pretty solid," coach Kit Grove said. "It's a step in the right direction going into the Big 12 Championship."
The Jayhaws competed against three top-25 teams in the country as determined by the Golfweek/Sagarin PerformanceIndex. The tournament was also Kansas' last competition before the Big 12 Championship April 25 to April 27.
The team was led by its freshman duo of Brad Hopfinger and Nate Barbee. Hopfinger finished tied for 16th place with a three round score of 217. This was his sixth top-30 finish of the year. Hopfinger recorded the third-best round of his career, with five birdies in the third round and a score of 69.
"I wasn't doing well at first, but I started to hit the ball straight and putted a lot better," Hopfinger said.
Also competing for the Jayhawks were juniors Zach Pederson and Walt Koelbel. Pederson finished tied for 45th place with a three round score of 223. Pederson recorded a third round score of 72, which marked the fourth time he had finished on par or better.
Barbee finished tied for 20th place with a three-round score of 218. Barbee has finished in the top-20 four times this year.
Koelbel had a three-round score of 225
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and finished tied for 54th place. Sophomore Patrick Roth had a three-round score of 236 and finished tied for 79th place.
As a team, the Jayhawks improved during each round of the tournament with scores of 299, 294 and 288 subsequently.
"It was a really solid tournament," Hopfinger said. "It was a really good effort as a team."
Edited by Russell Davies
COMMENTARY
Tough schedule awaits Kansas
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Junior running back Jake Sharp takes a handoff from junior quarterback Todd Reesing. Sharp rushed the ball 10 times for a total of 40 yards for the blue team in Monday's spring game.
Key losses may affect chances at repeat
The official 2008 Kansas football poster was handed out Monday night in Memorial Stadium at the spring game. It features a large visored Kansas player flanked to his right by a scroll that reads, "We're Just Getting Started," and to his left by the 2008 Orange Bowl trophy. On the bottom of the poster players such as Todd Reesing, Kerry Meier and Jake Sharp are shown in football poses surrounded by giant oranges.
The poster has the subtlety of a hammer on glass. It will serve to ratchet up the expectations of the fan base in an attempt to sell more tickets. In this way the poster does its job.
It only takes the educated fan a quick glance to the poster's left to bring them back down to earth, however. It is the team's schedule. At South Florida. At Oklahoma. Texas Tech. At Nebraska. Texas, Missouri.
Folks, it's about time we lower our expectation. The Athletics Department will be only too happy to remind fans that last year's team won the Orange Bowl. That's cool; I will hold the memories of being in Miami the day of that game until I die. I just fear it will unrealistically inflate fan's expectations of this year's team.
Let's leave the past where it belongs and focus on the future. I don't feel like this marketing campaign is doing any favors to the team with the insinuation that another Orange Bowl is a realistic option. Because let's just put all the cards on the table: It isn't.
Last year's schedule was cake. The galaxies aligned. This year it is brutal. Next year's team could be better than last and still finish the regular season 9-3. That is reality. Kansas is not a national championship contender next year. They aren't even a BCS contender. I'm not trying to be the Grinch. This is just reality.
Additionally, there are no guarantees that the 2008 Jayhawks are more talented than the 2007 version. On top of the departing seniors, cornerback Agib Talib and offensive tackle Anthony Collins bolted for the NFL (tangentially, this brings me to the high comedy of the last year's KU football team picture. Check it out if you have a copy. It was distributed at the Spring Game with the words "2008 Orange Bowl Champions" at the bottom. Anyway, take a look at Talib. Every single player and
coach is looking at the camera and either smiling or glaring. Except Aqib, who is looking off to his right into space. I like to think he is already figuratively looking to his future in the NFL, his head no longer with his current team, or maybe wondering whether he will tell pro personnel people about his marijuana use in college. End of tangent).
In my humble opinion, the loss of Collins will prove to be much bigger than the loss of Talib. We all knew Talib was gone after this season. It was easier to plan for life without him. And while I respect his big play ability, not only on defense but sporadically with the offense, the guy was frequently burned by big time receivers at the college level. He is a gambler. A huge gamber.
Sometimes that pays off, like with his interception return for a touchdown ("I felt like Deion!") that might have swung the outcome of the Orange Bowl. Sometimes it doesn't. I think replacing Talib with a lesser talented but more disciplined corner isn't going to be the drop-off people think it is.
Collins is different. He turned himself into a stud in 2007. I attribute much more of the offense's success to the offensive line, anchored by Collins, than I do to the skill position guys last year.
And that isn't to take anything away from Reesing & Company. The Hawks were able to dominate the line of scrimmage last year with one of the country's best left tackles. Are you convinced Kansas will still have a dominant offensive line when Collins is gone next year? I am not. The left tackle position is crucial in this team's passing game.
Plus, this bears repeating: Wise defensive coordinator Bill Young took his act to Miami. I won't even try to predict the significance of this, but it is more than negligible. You don't lose one of the country's best assistants and not experience at least a slight downgrade.
All of these things, and especially the difficulty of the schedule, need, us to back up and re-evaluate things. 7-5 with a lower-tier bowl invitation would not be a disaster. 8-4 would be a really solid season. And considering the circumstances, a 9-3 season would be absolutely stellar. If this team could finish 10-2 with the talent they have and against the schedule they are playing, then as far as I am concerned Mark Mangino can be sainted.
In short, despite the advertising, do not expect another 12-1 season with a BCS berth. Mark Mangino is "just getting started," building this program into a perennial power. But the deck is just too stacked against him this year to expect double digit wins.
— Edited by Daniel Reyes