1
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2006
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5B
Joshua Rickel/KANSAN
Senior pitcher Serena Settlemier winds up in the top of the fifth inning in the first of two games against Missouri State Wednesday afternoon at Arrocha Ballpark. Settlemier pitched the entire game, finishing with four strikeouts and was 1-for-2 at bat.
Softball
CONTINUED FROM 1B
"I feel like we came out flat today," Bunge said. "We didn't come out here with the energy that I thought we would and that showed."
Moppin continued her dominance at the plate with a 2-for-2 effort. She drove in one run, coaxed a walk and scored twice.
"Lately, I've been going to the plate telling myself to let the ball get deep, see the ball, and have a good top hand." Moppin said. "I am seeing the ball well, and trying to jump on the first pitch I like."
Game two saw senior pitcher Kassie Humphreys (5-6) work her magic in a 3-0 shutout of the Bears.
Humphries threw seven masterful inings of softball. She allowed
four hits while striking out eight and walking one.
Bunge said that her team was getting solid pitching and doing some good things offensively, but that the defense wasn't contributing like it should.
"This team prides itself in being sound," Bunge said. "We are a good defense that is simply not playing well. We often look like the Bad News Bears out there, and we need to clean up our defense before we get into conference play."
Kansas cleaned up the defense in the second game, committing only one error. With Humphreys sending the Bears down in fashion, the Jayhawks continued to pound the ball for nine hits, but scored only three runs.
— Edited by Timon Veach
- BIG 12 MEN'S BASKETBALL
Conference title does not guarantee NCAA title
BY ERIC JORGENSEN
ejorgensen@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
In fact, it rarely means NCAA tournament success. Only four Big 12 Tournament champions have made it past the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.
The trend has been the following: win the Big 12 Tournament championship, watch the NCAA championship on television.
If history is any indication, the Big 12 Tournament championships do not translate to NCAA tournament championships.
Bob Burda, assistant Big 12 Conference commissioner for communications, said teams that were fighting for a good seed in the NCAA tournament could play harder
than teams that already had guaranteed spots in the tournament.
"It's tournament time, and some teams are playing for their lives," Burda said.
There are a few exceptions to this trend. Oklahoma won the Big 12 Tournament in 2002 and Oklahoma State in 2004. Both advanced to the Final Four, but lost in those semi-final matches.
In the Big 12's 10 years of existence, no team from the conference has been the NCAA champion.
The conference's last national champion was the 1988 Kansas team that featured the likes of Danny Manning, Chris Piper, Milt Newton and Scooter Barry. That team belonged to the now extinct Big Eight conference. It defeated then Big
Eight-champion Oklahoma in the national championship game.
The last time Kansas was the Big 12 Tournament champion was the 1998-99 season, completing a three-year sweep.
However, those three seasons ended in NCAA Sweet 16 and two second round tournament losses.
No Big 12 North team has ever been the Big 12 Tournament champion, while also advancing to the Final Four.
The 1999-2000 Iowa State team, led by Marcus Fizer and Jamaal Tinsley, beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship, but then lost in the Elite Eight to Michigan State.
Big 12 tournament champions vs. NCAA tournament results;
Edited by Lindsey St. Clair
Kansas results in the Big 12 tournament and the NCAA tournament:
| Year | Champion | NCAA Tournament Result |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1996-97 | Kansas | Lost in Sweet 16 to Arizona |
| 1997-98 | Kansas | Lost in second round to Rhode Island |
| 1998-99 | Kansas | Lost in second round to Kentucky |
| 1999-00 | Iowa St. | Lost in Elite 8 to Michigan St. |
| 2000-01 | Oklahoma | Lost in First 4 to Indiana St. |
| 2001-02 | Oklahoma | Lost in Final 4 to Indiana |
| 2002-03 | Oklahoma | Lost in Elite 8 to Syracuse |
| 2003-04 | Oklahoma St. | Lost in Final 4 to Georgia Tech |
| 2004-05 | Oklahoma St. | Lost in Sweet 16 to Arizona |
Sources: big12sports.com, Kanaas Athletics Department
Sources: big12sports.com, Kansas Athletics Department,
cyclones.com, soonersports.org, okstate.com
Year Big 12 tournament result
1996-97 Champion
1997-98 Champion
1999-00 Lost in second round
2000-01 Lost in semi-final
2001-02 Lost in championship
2002-03 Lost in final
2003-04 Lost in semi-final
2004-05 Lost in final
NCAA tournament result
Lost in Sweet 16 to Arizona
Lost in second round to Rhode Island
Lost in second round to Kentucky
Lost in second round to Duke
Lost in Sweet 16 to Illinois
Lost in Final 4 to Maryland
Lost in championship to Syracuse
Lost in Elite 8 to Georgia Tech
Lost in First Round to Bucknell
Source: Kansas Athletics Department
MLB
10th-inning error allowed the tiebreaking run to score, and the Nationals dropped to 1-6 in spring training with one tie. On Tuesday, the Nationals were routed by Florida 22-12.
Embarrassed manager says it's time to change
IERA, Fla. — Jim Bowden was angry at the Washington Nationals following their 7-4, 10-inning loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
Center fielder Marlon Byrd's
"I have been embarrassed the last two days," Bowden, the Nationals' general manager, said. "There's going to be major cuts in the next 48
hours. It's time to take it to another level."
Washington tied the score at four in the ninth inning. After Byrd's error in the 10th, Junior Spivey hit a two-run single.
"I just don't know why we can't throw and catch the ball" Nationals manager Frank Robinson said.
The Associated Press
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