2B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ATHLETICS CALENDAR
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 22, 2006
*Women's Basketball at Texas Tech, 7 p.m.
Lubbock, Texas
+ Swimming and Diving at Big 12 Champion
Ships. All day, Columbia, Mo.
THURSDAY
Swimming and Diving at Big 12 Championships. All day,
Columbia, Mo.
Prayer to watch: Danielle Herrmann. At the team's last meet at Iowa State, the freshman finished second in the 100 lM and won the 150 breast to lead the team to a 183-114 victory.
Herrmann
*Softball vs. Fresno State, Palm Springs*
Classic: Noon, Palm Springs, Calif.
FRIDAY
*Baseball vs. Belmont, Music City Chal-
lettes 2 a 3, Nashville Tenn.*
+Softball vs. Cal State Fullerton, Palm Springs Classic, 5 p.m., Palm Springs, Calif.
*Swimming and Diving at Big 12 Championships. All dav, Columbia, Mo.*
Track and Field at Big 12 Indoor Champion ships, All day, Lincoln, Neb.
SATURDAY
★Basketball vs. Lipscomb University, Music City Challenge, 2 n., mashville, Tenn.
+Softball vs. UCLA, Palm Springs Classic, 3,
p.m. Palm Springs, Calif.
+Softball vs. UC Santa Barbara, Palm Springs Classic, 10:30 p.m., Palm Springs, Calif.
Track and Field at Big 12 Indoor Championships, all day, Lincoln, Neb.
+Men's Basketball at Texas, 8 p.m., Austin,
Texas
- Swimming and Diving at Big 12 Championships, All day, Columbia, Mo.
+Tennis at Arkansas, 1 p.m., Fayetteville,
Ark.
*Women's Basketball vs. Missouri, 11 a.m., Allen Fieldhouse.*
SATURDAY
Softball vs. Pacific, Palm Springs Classic, 1,
p.m., Palm Springs, Calif.
◆ Tennis at Tulsa, Noon, Tulsa, Okla.
*Baseball vs. Vanderbilt, Music City Challenge, Noon, Nashville, Tenn.*
Road warriors craving home
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
BASEBALL
When Kansas gets home from Nashville, Tenn., this weekend, the team will have traveled more than 14,000 miles in non-conference mad trips.
The Jayhawks spent the past
Price, one of three team captains, said he hated flying and was more than happy about this weekend's short flight and the home series that will come next weekend. Although this is the third consecutive season Kansas has spent the cold-weather days of the preseason in sunny states, this year has been different because of the little time the lavhawks have spent at home.
Of the 21 non-conference games coach Ritch Price scheduled to come prior to the Big 12 portion of the season, only four will be played at Hoglund Ballpark. Those don't even begin for another week and a half.
It's time for a home game.
Price said those highly-ranked opponents didn't come to Lawrence, citing weather and the lack of an airport as reasons. That has added to the difficulty of the Jayhawks early-season slate.
"We're all pretty excited to come home, sleep in our beds," senior shortstop Ritchie Price said. "Plus I think it makes it hard for some of our guys during the week."
three weeks on the West Coast and posted a 7-4 record in games in California and Hawaii.
Beside the cold temperatures last weekend, Lawrence's weather has been impeccable for baseball. In fact, the team has not spent a single day inside since practice started in January.
Coach Ritch Price said tha
being outside for the length of the preseason was incredibly rare in Kansas, and he remembered last year when his club didn't practice outside for more than a handful of days.
"The home team wins 66 percent of its games," Price said, acknowledging how tough it was to go on the road to face nationally-ranked, warm-weather opponents.
In the 2005 campaign, Kansas played 28 pre-conference games. 15 of which were at home.
In the meantime, Kansas will continue moonlighting as a warm-weather team, working in atypical 50- and 60-degree temperatures before the home opener against Western Illinois next weekend.
This year's road trips, however, had a huge hand in the Jayhawks' RPI ranking jumping to 26th after their season-opening trips. That success could play a big role in gaining an NCAA Tournament bid at the end of the season. Of the 10 teams that Kansas faces this preseason, four are nationally ranked.
SPORTS
—Edited by Matt Wilson
Football recruits Free State player
The Kansas football team received a commitment from local product Christian Ballard for the 2007 season.
Ballard played defensive end last year at Free State High School in Lawrence. He made a non-binding oral commitment to Kansas before his final high school football season. He is a junior this year at Free State.
Ballard is expected to be one of the top-ranked seniors in the state of Kansas next year.
The Kansas women's golf team finished seventh out of 14 teams Tuesday in the Central District Invitational at River Wilderness Golf Club in Parrish, Fla.
Jayhawks place in middle of pack at golf tournament
The Jawhaws were consistent throughout the tournament.They shot a 307 in the first round, a 309 in the second round and a 306 in the final round.
The Jayhawks were fourth out of six Big 12 Conference teams at the event. Kansas finished ahead of Kansas State, who finished 13th, and last-place TexasTech.
Baylor won the tournament, while Nebraska came in fourth and Missouri placed fifth.
No home field advantage here
Stephen Bergman
Carolina Kostner, of Italy, performs her Women's Short Program in Turin, Italy, during the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on Tuesday. She is in 11th place after the short program.
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