THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2006
SPORTS
CONTINUED FROM 1B
On the mound, freshman lefty Nick Czyz put together his second productive outing in a row. Czyz pitched five innings and allowed just two unearned runs on four scattered hits and two walks. Czyz struck out five batters.
In relief, a few of Kansas' other inexperienced pitchers kept Tabor hitters at bay. Freshman left-hander Ryan Anthony, sophomore right-hander Matt Lane and junior right-hander Ryotaro Hayakawa allowed just two runs in four innings on six hits and one walk.
The Jayhawks will need to continue to work together if they want an NCAA tournament bid.
"We're just trying to get everybody in there, get some experience, some at-bats," Milner said. "It's a good midweek game before K-State."
If Kansas gets an NCAA Regional bid this season, one key reason will be the Jayhawks' ability to win the games on its schedule that, on paper, they should win.
"That's what we need down the stretch," senior outfielder Gus Milner said. "We need everybody clicking on all cylinders, especially if we're trying to do something special toward the end of the year."
Early nonconference losses
have hurt the Jayhawks before. In 2005, Kansas lost games to Northern Colorado and Austin Peay. Turning those two losses into victories would have given the 2005 Jayhawks 38 victories and a much more attractive NCAA Regional résumé.
This season, the Jayhawks got an early wake-up call as to how easily teams could sneak up on opponents that didn't come ready to play each time they took the field. In the final game of the Hawaii-Hilo series on Feb. 4, the Jayhawks fell to the Vulcans, 8-6. Kansas hasn't overlooked a non-conference opponent since.
"Those games, when you lose to a team that's under .500 or has a low RPI, those are devastating to your program when you play in a major conference like we do," Kansas coach Ritch Price said.
Randall Sanders/KANSAN
Three weeks later, Kansas faced Belmont and Lipscomb in the Music City Challenge and, despite being the team's fourth road trip in as many weeks, the Jayhawks came out on top in both games.
The Jayhawks' first four games of March were a three-game set against Western Illinois, and a midweek meeting with Baker. Kansas won all four games, outscoring the two teams 53-9.
- Edited by Meghan Miller
BOXSCORI
Freshman pitcher Nick Czyz throws against Tabor College in the fourth inning at Hoglund Ballpark Wednesday evening. Czyz tallied his second victory of the campaign, giving the Jayhawks five innings, allowing two runs on four hits while walking two batters and striking out five.
Tabor College 4 (14-21)
Player AB R H RBI
J. Craig, c 3 0 0 0
J.D. Poplin, 2b 5 0 3 3
K. Peterson, cf 4 0 0 0
K. Miles, ib 4 0 1 0
C. Hillman, ss/3b 3 1 2 1
T. McKim, dh 3 1 0 0
T. Schafer, ph/ss 1 0 0 0
E. LCalel, f 1 0 0 0
J. Cooper, ff/fl 3 1 1 0
T. Bauerle, 3/bp 3 1 1 0
S. Kosugi, ph 1 0 0 0
J. Ball, rf 4 1 2 0
Totals 35.4 10 4
Kansas 14 (27-15)
Player AB R H RBJ
B. Simpson, lf 3 3 2 1
N. Faunce, lf 2 0 0 0
R. Price, ss 5 1 3 2
M. Baty, cf 3 1 1 1
M. Kurfy, cf 3 0 0 0
J. Schweitzer, 2b 4 2 1 2
G. Milner, rf 4 2 2 1
P. Land, 1b 2 1 2 3
R. Kalling, 1b 1 1 1 2
J. Ellrich, dh 5 0 1 0
B. Afinir, c 3 2 0 0
A. Spitfaden, c 1 0 0 0
D. Parzyk, c 0 0 0 0
M. Berner, 3b 3 1 1 0
Totals 39 14 14 12
Loss; Villalovos (0-1)
Source: kuathletics.com
Win: Czyz (2-1)
Baseball
CONTINUED FROM 1B
"Once you get up nine or 10 runs, then the umpire's zones start getting a little bigger. There's more alcohol and stuff like that," senior outfielder Gus Milner said jokingly.
Milner went 2-for-4 with an RBI on the night.
"It's like any other game," Milner said. "If you watch a football game on TV and it's 45-0, you kind of turn it off. So the tough part's staying in focus and getting it over with."
By game's end, only four Jayhawks starters remained in the game.
Gus Milner senior outfieldderi
Kansas kicks off its in-state rivalry series against Kansas State on Friday at Hoglund Ballpark. Saturday and Sunday's match-ups will be
"Ounce you get up nine or 10 runs, then the umpire's zones start getting a little bigger. There's more alcohol and stuff like that."
played in Manhattan.
Baseball notes:
Although Kansas has beaten its last two opponents handily, outscoring Missouri State and Tabor by a combined 33-11, the Jayhawks tallied only nine more total hits than the Bears and Blue Jays.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B BIG 12 BASKETBALL
K-State signs new guard
— Edited by Timon Veach
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Young, a 6-foot-2 scorer from Orlando, Fla., becomes the second player to sign with Huggins after 7-foot-3 center Jason Bennett pledged his services last week
MANHATTAN — Junior college guard Blake Young, one of the top remaining unsigned players in the nation, signed a national letter of intent Wednesday to play for Kansas State and new coach B胡uggins.
"Obviously, we are delighted
with the audition of Blake to our team," Huggins said in a news release. "I think he will give us that added dimension of being able to push the ball up the floor and create easy baskets for us. I also think he can be a tremendous de-
lates to any level."
Blake's athleticism allows him to play almost anywhere in the country. He really saw the need at Kansas State for a guard that could really score the ball."
"On top of that, he's a great kid."
fender in the aggressive style we want to play.
Young was third nationally among junior college players in scoring last year, averaging more than 23 points per game and leading Daytona Beach (Fla.) Community College to a 25-5 record.
Several recruiting services listed him among the top 10 junior college players in the country.
Huggins took over at Kansas State last month after turning the Cincinnati Bearcats into a national power during 16 sometimes-stormy years.
Brad Underwood Daytona Beach coach
He had maintained contact with Bennett, another Florida product and the No. 5-ranked center in the nation according to Rivals.com, after Cincinnati refused to extend Huggins' four-year contract rollover following his arrest and conviction for drunken driving in 2004.
"Blake is a very versatile guard who has the ability to play both guard spots," said Daytona Beach coach Brad Underwood, who played at Kansas State from 1984-86. "He is what I describe as freakishly athletic. He is very difficult to guard, which trans-
That paid off when Bennett
signed a national letter of intent on April 12, the first day of the spring signing period.
As for Young, Huggins joined the fray a few weeks ago and beat out the University of Washington, Creighton and St. John's, schools that had
been recruiting him for months.
"Blake's athleticism allows him to play almost anywhere in the country," Underwood said. "He really saw the need at Kansas State for a guard that could really score the ball. Plus, he wanted the opportunity to play for coach Huggins."
The Wildcats finished 15-13 last year but lose only one starter and no backups who contributed significantly. Only little-used guard Curtis Allen has defected since Huggins' arrival.
Several media outlets have reported this week that Kenny Williams, a 6-foot-8 junior college forward who signed with Kansas State in the fall, will not have enough credits to qualify for a Division I scholarship.
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April 17th - April 21st is KU ENERGY WEEK
Join energy conservation experts from Chevron Energy Solutions on April 20th for energy saving workshops.
Learn practical ways on how you can make a global impact by saving energy locally at home and on campus.
Meeting Location:
Kansas Room of the Kansas Memorial Union
Meeting Times:
Thursday April 20th at 10:15 A.M.
12:15 P.M. and 2:15 P.M.
Refreshments will be served.
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