THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2006
BASEBALL:19-7
PAGE 1B
Hawks bear down
Senior outfielder Matt Baty slides into third base after reaching base on an error in the third inning against Missouri State at Hoglund Ballpark Tuesday night evening. Baty had three hits, scored three runs and drove in two in the Jayhawks' 19-7 victory against the Bears.
Randall Sanders/KANSAN
Early runs lead Kansas to victory
BY SHIWN SHROYER
sshroyer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Considering Kansas' recent struggles to score runs early in games, a "1" on the scoreboard after one inning in the Jayhawks' favor was a welcome sight.
Against Missouri State, Kansas was up 3-0 after three innings, thanks in part to the top half of its lineup. Sophomore Brock Simpson and seniors Ritchie Price, Matt Baty and Jared Schweitzer were the first four batters in the Jayhawks' order and they struck early and often.
In seven of its past nine games before Tuesday, Kansas had failed to score three runs in its first three innings and hadn't scored more than three runs in its first three innings since March 18 against Baylor. One major reason had been inconsistent hitting at the top of the order.
"It's a pleasure to coach when you've got guys that can handle the bat and guys that can put the ball on the ground and execute it, get themselves in scoring position," Kansas coach Ritch Price said.
Randall Sanders/KANSAN
Price and Baty got the Kansas offense started in the first, and Simpson and Schweitzer followed suit. The four combined to go 10-for-17 with 10 runs and 9 RBI.
With one out in the bottom of the third, Simpson launched his third home run of the season. Two batters later, Baty recorded a base hit and ended up on third base after a fielding error by Missouri State sophomore pitcher Jake Shafer. Baty wasn't on third long; Schweitzer singled to right field to drive him in and give Kansas a 3-0 lead.
Sophomore designated hitter Brock Simpson, right, is congratulated by coach Ritch Price after hitting his third home run of the season in the third inning. Simpson had three hits, three RBI and scored three runs during the game.
The beating didn't end after the third. With two on and two out the next inning, Simpson struck again with a triple, plating freshmen first baseman Preston Land and catcher Buck Alenir. Price returned the favor, driving Simpson in with a double to right-center field.
SEE RUNS ON PAGE 3B
Kansas pummels its way past Missouri State, 19-7
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Last season Kansas was outscored 23-10 the two times they faced Missouri State.
The Jayhawks made sure this year was different Tuesday night.
The Hawks put together their best offensive performance of the season and withstood a late rally by the Bears for a 19-7 victory at Hogglund Ballpark.
"It's to the point that regional seedings are coming up for the NCAA tournament," sophomore outfielder Brock Simpson said. "At this point every game is huge and everybody takes it personal."
Kansas coach Ritch Price said he remembered researching past seasons when deciding if he would take the job in Lawrence
four years ago, and the 20-run games Missouri State would hang on Kansas stuck out.
The Jayhawks beat the Bears twice in his first season at Kansas but had lost the last three before Tuesday night.
Senior outfielder Matt Baty drove in fellow senior Ritchie Price to get his team on the board in the first inning.
"We needed to re-establish that we're going to win on Tuesday nights." Price said.
The Kansas offense delivered a variety of ways to do just that. By game end, eight of the nine Jayhawk starters collected at least one hit.
Baty hit in the third spot in the lineup Tuesday night and continued to set the pace for the offense in the same style he did as the leadoff man.
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 3B
SOFTBALL
Junior pitcher Kassie Humphreys bats against Texas Tech Monday in Lawrence. Humphreys and the Jayhawks take on the Missouri Tigers at 5 p.m. today at Arrocha Ballpark.
Kanson file photo
It's a brand new game that Kansas coach Tracy Bunge played with her lineup this past weekend and expects to continue playing this afternoon against Missouri, when the Jayhawks take on the Tigers at 5 p.m. at Arrocha Ballpark.
Jayhawks working to move past Tigers
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Call it Jayhawk Jumble.
Bunge, Kansas head coach said she wouldn't announce the starting lineup until game time.
Bunge tested her game for the first time on Sunday in the Jayhawks' 3-2 victory against Texas Tech, when she didn't announce that Kassie Humphreys would be the starting pitcher until right after warmups.
"As a team, the coaches and players can't look ahead," she said.
"It was shocking," the junior
"As a team, the coaches and players can't look ahead."
Tracy Bunge Kansas softball coach
pitcher said. "Coach doesn't do that often, but I felt good though."
Other changes to the lineup included starting senior Ashley Goodrich and sophomore Besty Wilson in the outfield in place of seniors Nettie Fierros and Heather Stanley. Junior first baseman Nicole Washburn also batted second in the lineup rather than hitting in her normal eight spot.
The changes paid off, as Humphreys didn't give up any earned runs and allowed just three hits in seven innings. Goodrich, Washburn and Wilson combined for six hits, two RBI and one run.
Today, Kansas (23-20 overall 4-6 Big 12) will need that type of offensive performance in order to exact its revenge on Missouri, which dominated Kansas Wednesday, 4-0.
Last week, Missouri (20-18, 4-5) did what no other team had been able to do against the Jayhawks: hit the ball well with Humphreys on the mound. The Tigers had their way with the right-hander as they pushed four runs across and knocked her around for seven hits in five innings.
"It was brutal." Humphreys said "I just didn't feel it in my pitching that day."
The opposite occurred for Kansas' offense, which produced only one hit against its border rival. Bunge said that better offensive production would be a major key for the game today.
SEE SOFTBALL ON PAGE 3B
BUNT 'EM OVER
Kansas football prepares for fall
MATT WILSON
mwilson@kansan.com
There are only 136 days until the Kansas football team kicks off its 2006 season against Northwestern State.
But despite the buzz surrounding the KU signal-caller, the most important aspect to watch for during practice this fall will be whether the defense will be able to return to its championship form after losing several key players to graduation and the NFL Draft.
Between now and then, the hottest discussions around town regarding football will be centered on the Jayhawks' quarterback situation. As of now, redshirt freshman Kerry Meier looks like the starter.
Judging by the way last Friday's spring game went for most of the first half, the defense will be just fine. Punt after punt sailed off the foot of junior Kyle Tucker, much to the delight of nobody, including me, in the crowd of 5,200 at Memorial Stadium who came to see a show from the new quarterbacks.
Tucker, who punted for both the blue and white teams, probably couldn't walk the next day. Kansas coach Mark Mangino should be thrilled to see the performance of his defense.
The Jayhawks' projected running back tandem of senior Jon Cornish and freshman Angus Quigley (surprised he's from Texas?) were held under 100 rushing yards on the evening. That bodies well for the upcoming year, especially when only tackle James McClinton is returning on the defensive front that held opponents to 83.3 yards per game in 2005 — third in the nation.
It will be difficult to replace the best linebacking corps in the Big 12 from a season ago. Former starters Nick Reid, Kevin Kane and Banks Floodman all will be lost to graduation. Their fill-ins could be any number of players at this point.
It was tough to judge the secondary in the spring game. It seemed like it covered the wide receivers well, but at the end of the day Meier threw for three touchdowns and freshman Todd Reesing had one. The total yardage between the three quarter-backs — Meier, Reesing and senior Adam Barmann — totaled only 317 yards.
The secondary will return redshirt sophomore cornerback Aqib Talib and redshirt senior safety Jerome Kemp, both of whom were important members of the Fort Worth Bowl champions. Redshirt freshman Darrell Stuckey will probably be the other starter at corner, but his lack of experience won't necessarily hurt Kansas. Talib was an honorable mention all-Big 12 performer last year, his first following a redshirt season.
Mangino and defensive coordinator Bill Young seem to have implemented a system that makes players, rather than vice versa. The defense figures to produce two draft picks this year in Charlton Keith and Charles Gordon, in addition to David McMillan, who was picked in last year's draft.
It's not Miami or USC, but it's a foundation to build on, and building from scratch is something the KU coaching staff has done well in its four years in Lawrence.
- Wilson is a Windsor, Mo.,
senior in journalism.