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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2006
BASEBALL
Freshman pitcher Nick Czyz delivers during the third inning against Baker on Wednesday. Czyz received a no-decision, pitching three innings and allowing one run on three hits while striking out three batters and walking three.
Home sweet Hoglund
Randall Sanders/KANSAN
Solid offense leads Kansas to victory
PAGE 1B
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Freshman infielder Val Chapple and freshman catcher Erik Simimong collipe in the top of the 5th inning of the first of two games on Wednesday. Despite missing the catch, Kansas defeated Missouri State 11-3 and 3-0 at Arrochar Ballpark.
Wednesday night's 10-1 victory against Baker (6-
15), put Kansas (14-4) at a spot even last year's nationa
champion, Texas, cannot claim.
Under coach Ritch Price, the Jayhawks are 48-0 when they chalk up 10 or more runs, and moved to 49-0 after Wednesday night's victory.
A three-run Gus Milner bomb over the left-field fence in the bottom of the third got the game going in the Jayhawks' favor much earlier than last year's bout with the Wildcats.
After failing to drive in a run at home in the past weekend's game against Western Illinois, Milner, senior right fielder, erupted this time, knocking in four runs on four hits Wednesday afternoon.
In the bottom of the fourth, a few of his teammates decided to help out. The extra base hits came as quickly as the wind out of right field as Kansas racked up a pair of doubles coupled with a pair of home runs.
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 2B
"Anytime you can get three or four home runs in a game — that's always awesome," said Milner, who leads the team with a .437 batting average. "Kind of sparks the offense a little bit, gets some confidence in those guys who might not be hitting too well to get some home runs under their belts."
SOFTBALI
Joshua Bickel/KANSAN
'Hawks take both games from Bears
BY JONATHAN ANDERSON
janderson@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The Kansas softball team opened up its home schedule with a sweep of Missouri State at Arrocha Ballpark.
The wind was blowing out for the home opener, and the Jayhawks' batters looked to take full advantage.
The Jayhawks (11-10) routed the Bears in five innings, winning by a score of 11-3. Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said she knew her team would be excited for a windy day at the ballpark.
she shut down the MSU offense and her teammates helped her cause. Kansas scored five more runs in the second inning on four hits and a costly error by the third baseman. One of the hits was a home run by Stanley.
walk to freshman third baseman Val Chapple and another to senior outfielder Heather Stanley. Settler joined the walk parade to load the bases for senior infielder Jessica Moppin, who hit a line-drive single to score Chapple. Stevie Crisosto hit a routine ground ball to second, but another run crossed the plate and, quickly, Kansas was right back in it.
'This is the kind of team that
looks forward to days when the wind blows out," Bunge said. "We have a few girls that can hit the ball out of the ballpark on a consistent basis, and they love to see days like this."
Kansas would score four more in the third and fourth innings to take the eight-run lead into the top of the fifth where Settlemier once
Kansas called on senior pitcher Serena Settierm. Settierm (6-3) struck out four Missouri State hitters while surrendering four hits and walking none.
again closed the door on Missouri State to seal the victory.
MSU came out of the gate hot in the first inning, scoring two runs on three hits and taking advantage of an outfield error by Kansas. However, the Jayhawks wouldn't let the early surge by the Bears get them down. Kansas answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, taking advantage of a lead-off
The Jajahaws continued the offensive barrage by roping ten hits, but committed three errors. When asked about her team's performance on the day, Bunge was disappointed with the enthusiasm.
After Settlemier settled down.
SEF SOFTBALL ON PAGE 58
INTRAMURALS
Enfuego dominates court
Gentry Leitner, St. Louis freshman; Jason Cook, Dodge City sophomore; Colin Feeney, Topeka sophomore; Ryan Harms, Lenexa senior and James Sumaya, Dodge City sophomore, battle for a rebound during an intramural basketball game at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center Tuesday. Enfuego went on to win the game, 95-27.
BY CASE KEFFER
ckeefer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Nicoletta Niosi/KANSAN
There are not many intramural basketball teams on campus that are a legitimate threat to score 100 points every time they play, have a roster with every player taller than 6 feet, or make much higher than 50 percent of their shots. Enfuego boasts all of that, and more. That kind of domination led Enfuego to a 95-27 victory against DC T-Town.
Well before Tuesday's intramural basketball game had even begun, one could see the fear in the eyes of every player on DC T-Town Connection. It was for good reason. They glanced across the court to watch their opponents, Enfuego, warming up with players dunking.
SEE ENFUEGO ON PAGE 3B
There are not many intramural basketball teams on campus that are a legitimate threat to score 100 points every time they play, have a roster with every player taller than 6 feet, or make much higher than 50 percent of their shots. Enfuego boasts all of that, and more.
AP gives Self Big 12 recognition
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Associated Press named Kansas coach Bill Self Big 12 Coach of the Year on Wednesday.
Self led a young Kansas team, which had three freshmen and two sophomores in the starting lineup this season.
Kansas was 22-7 overall and 13-3 in the Big 12 Conference.
Self received 20 of the 24 first-place votes by the Associated Press.
Earlier this week, Self was named Coach of the Year by the conference's coaches.
That conference record was good enough for a tie for first with Texas.
Ryan Colaianni
▼ 'HORN BORN
'HAWK BRED
Jayhawks face tough road in tourney
TRAVIS ROBINETT
trobinett@kansan.com
The Big 12 tournament tips off today and every team in the first round must win for a chance at a NCAA tournament bid.
The first game of the day, which starts at 11:30 a.m. instead of noon this year, matches No. 8 seed Texas Tech against No. 9 seed Kansas State. The winner plays top-seed Texas on Friday. Either team should pose no problem to the Longhorns, and neither team is on the bubble. This may be a game to sleep through.
Next up is No. 5 seed Colorado versus No. 12 seed Baylor. Believe it or not, this could be the best game of the day. Baylor, which didn't play a game outside of the Big 12 this season, is playing its best basketball of the year. The Bears have won two out of their last three games. Their two victories, against Texas Tech and Iowa State, were by a combined 29 points, and the loss came by three points at Oklahoma State.
But Colorado is making its last stand, and must win at least two games to have a legitimate chance to make the NCAA tournament. A Colorado victory would match it against Texas A&M on Friday, which ESPN.com's "Bubble Watch" called a possible NCAA tournament elimination game.
The evening session starts at 6 p.m., with No. 7 seed Oklahoma State against No. 10 seed Iowa State. The winner will play none other than No. 2 seed Kansas tomorrow. Just like the movie "Alien vs. Predator" whoever wins, we lose — not necessarily the game, but it will be a tough situation either way. The Cowboys and Cyclones are arguably the two most dangerous teams playing today.
Oklahoma State is young and improving, proven by its 21-point victory against Texas and its one-point loss to Oklahoma on the road, a game the Cowboys should have won.
It seems unfair that Kansas must play one of these teams when third-seeded Oklahoma will play the winner between the No. 6 seed Nebraska and the No. 11 seed Missouri. Missouri ended its season with a home victory against Nebraska and avoided the embarrassment of finishing last place in the conference. Oklahoma should breeze by either team while Kansas will probably have to play tough to get to Saturday.
Iowa State has two experienced, All-Big 12 guards in Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock, who average a combined 34.7 points and 11.7 assists per game. Don't forget that beating a team three times in one season is a difficult task. Kansas has already defeated Iowa State twice.
Normally, you shouldn't buy into the hype of the Big 12 tournament. Neither of Kansas' Final Four teams this decade won the conference tournament. But this season, if Kansas wins, its most likely road includes Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Texas. With those three victories, the Jayhawks could be a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, which is a much easier place to than a No. 4 or No. 5 seed. For this team, the conference tournament is more important.
Robinett is an Austin, Texas,
junior in journalism. He is
Kansan correspondent editor
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