4B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN BASEBALL
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2006
'Hawks look for supremacy
By SHAWN SHROYER
sshroyer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
When sophomore outfielder John Allman said it, some reporters laughed it off. Did he seriously think Kansas was the best baseball school in the state? But, in reality, was it any more outrageous than declaring Wichita State the best basketball school in Kansas because it went deeper into this year's NCAA Basketball Tournament?
At least in baseball, the two schools get to settle the debate on the field. Today, Kansas has the chance to claim the title as perhaps the top baseball program in the state, but Allman didn't offer the Shockers any more bulletin board material.
"I think Wichita is a great team and, nothing against them, I just believe in what we're doing here," Allman said. "I think that we're a great team and we're going to go in tomorrow and play a good ball game."
It's hard to blame Allman for getting so excited after beating Wichita State last week. Kansas is in position to sweep the season series from Wichita State for the first time since 2000. Bobby Randall was Kansas' head coach at the time and the Jayhawks have split every season series with the Shockers since Ritch Price took over in 2003.
Wichita State also leads the all-time series against Kansas, 36-22. Though it will take Kansas years to catch up in that regard, there's no denying how big a sweep of Wichita State this year would be to Kansas.
"We want to be the best program in the state and in order to do that, you've got to be better than Wichita State." Price said
Kansas has all the momentum coming into the game tonight. The Jayhawks have won four of their past five games, while the Shockers have lost six of their past eight games. Kansas is coming off its first conference series victory of the season while Wichita State just dropped its second straight conference series.
As if either side needed any more motivation, senior outfielder and Wichita native Matt Baty is hoping to return to the Kansas lineup tonight after missing the Jayhawks' past 18 games.
"They'll have five to six thousand people there and, after you win the first one, their fans come out and support them," Price said. "They'll be trying to rally around their club."
Allman said the return of Baty, one of Kansas' co-captains, would give the team even more incentive to beat Wichita State.
"If Matt Baty's going to be back in the lineup, we're all going to be fired up."
Allman said.
With the NCAA regionals scheduled to begin in June, the schools also may be compared according to their postseason success.
Although the Jayhawks' series victory against the weekend came against another bitter rival in the Missouri Tigers, Price said he expected the atmosphere in Eck Stadium to get his team's adrenaline pumping again.
When asked to predict which team would be better in that respect by season's end, Allman held back.
"Right now we're taking it one game at a time, so we're not going to look that far ahead," Allman said.
— Edited by Matt Wilson
Women's lacrosse has division title potential
BY ALEX ROSE
arose@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The KU women's lacrosse team rebounded from a 15-5 loss and defeated Truman State, 10-7, in the second game of the afternoon on Saturday. The loss came against defending league champion Lindenwood University.
The Jayhawks completed a busy weekend by returning home on Sunday to take on division rival Nebraska.
Team captain and leading scorer Lisa Allen led the Jayhawks on offense. Allen, a Highlands Ranch, Colo., native, reached a personal milestone in
the game against Nebraska by scoring the 100th goal of her collegiate career. She became the second Jayhawk to reach this mark — and she's only a sophomore. The KU record for goals in a season is 124.
The Jayhawks used six first-half goals to earn a convincing 10-2 victory, avenging last year's loss to the Cornhuskers, which kept the Jayhawks out of post-season play.
The weekend's competition improved the team's record to 14-4 with only three games left to play in the regular season.
The Jayhawks conclude their regular season play with three games next weekend: the University of Chicago and
the University of Iowa on the road and Oklahoma State in Lawrence.
The team has enjoyed the most successful season in the history of the program, and the prospects for the future are beaming. KU women's lacrosse coach David Wiley said he attributed much of this year's success to the increased versatility of the offense.
"Last year we had two proven scorers on the team," Wiley said. "This year we have half a dozen."
Optimism for next season's team will also present an opportunity for the Jayhawks to ascend into the upper echelon of the national women's lacrosse
landscape.
"Both to help our chances at competing for national championships and to lure recruits, we do need to step up our level of opponents we schedule for next year." Wiley said.
The club needs Nebraska to defeat Missouri this weekend in Columbia, Mo., for the possibility of a division title this season. Even without the unlikely Nebraska victory, Kansas could still secure at least second place in the West Division of the Central Plains Women's Lacrosse League with a victory against Oklahoma State on Sunday.
— Edited by Lindsey St. Clair
This too shall pass
Damian Dovaraanes/The Associated Press
Members of the UCLA Men's basketball team return on Tuesday to Los Angeles International Airport. The UCLA Bruins bid for its record 12th NCAA men's basketball title ended with a 73-57 loss to the Florida Gators last night in the final in Indianapolis. The Bruins trailed 36-25 at halftime and were unable to mount a challenge to the Gators (33-6) in the second half.
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