KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 / SPORTS
VOLLEYBALL
3B
Hawks end losing streak, win Border Showdown
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Junior outside hitter Allison Mayfield bumps the ball Wednesday against Missouri. The Jayhawks defeated the Tigers 3-1. Kansas is now 11-1 when winning the first set. The victory is also the first time Kansas has beaten the Tigers at home since 2003.
BY IAN CUMMINGS icummings@kansan.com
Kansas stopped a five-match skid going into its match against the Missouri Tigers last night, winning 3-1 in a Border Showdown volleyball match.
In front of an unusually vocal crowd, senior outside hitter Karina Garlington led the Jayhawks with 22 kills as they improved their all-time record against the Tigers to 33-49.
"We were able to get some momentum back under us," said Garlington. "Playing at Horejsi was great."
She said that the team would have an opportunity to get another win on the road on Saturday, when Kansas plays Texas Tech.
"We're going to get some fire under us," she said.
Kansas held the lead throughout the first set, hitting with better efficiency and out-blocking Missouri 2-1. Brianne Riley, freshman defensive specialist and recent rookie of the week, did not play in the match, as she suffered a minor head injury in Saturday's game at Colorado.
Instead, freshman defensive specialist Jaime Mathieu started in the libero position. Garlington said that Mathieu did a great job and that she enjoyed seeing the freshman play.
"Oh my gosh, she's just a little firecracker," she said. "She has such a game face, she doesn't let anybody push her around."
she had been working hard to gain coach Ray Bechard's confidence. Kaiser went on to score 16 kills with no errors and recorded the highest efficiency of anyone in the match.
Missouri took an early lead in the second set, but Garlington scored 11 kills to help the Jayhawks win. Altough Kansas scored the first
Kaiser said that she was seeing more time on the court because
point of the third set, Missouri's outside hitter Brittney Brimmage scored a kill, that gave her team the lead it needed to win 24-26.
The Jayhawks jumped in front of the Tigers early in the fourth set. Although the Tigers crept close several times, the Jayhawks took the set and the match 25-21.
Bechard said that, overall, the
Javhawk offense performed unusually well, reaching a season-high .340 hitting efficiency, siding out successfully 66 percent of the time.
"That's a big, big number. And we needed that, too," he said. "Because they were hitting on our side, too."
— Edited by Dana Meredith
MLB
Rangers score last minute win 6-5 against Mariners
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Taking over for Jamey Wright in the eighth with two runners on, Cortes started with nine consecutive balls. The first walk loaded the bases and the second forced home a run before Julio Borbon hit an RBI single and a wild pitch allowed the tying run.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Mitch Moreland raced home from first base with the winning run after a wild pitch and a throwing error on a strikeout with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the AL West champion Texas Rangers over the last-place Seattle Mariners 6-5 Wednesday.
Quiroz retrieved the ball, but threw wildly into right field trying to get Cruz at first. Moreland never stopped running and beat the throw home by right fielder Ichiro Suzuki.
Neftali Feliz (4-3), the third Rangers reliever, struck out one in a perfect ninth.
Moreland reached on a two-out walk in the ninth off Dan Cortes (0-1). Pinch-hitter Nelson Cruz then struck out, but reached on a wild pitch that bounced past catcher Guillermo Muiroz.
The Rangers had scored three runs in the eighth to tie the game at 5-all, scoring on a bases-loaded walk and another wild pitch by Cortes.
After Jorge Cantu and Jeff Francoeur had flyouts to start the ninth, Moreland walked and Cruz,
Cortes had been the first Seattle reliever since 1993 to open his major league career with consecutive appearances without allowing a runner when he struck out four while retiring the first six batters he faced. Things went much differently in the right-hander's third game.
who has hit three game-winning homers this season, pinch-hit for Esteban German.
Quiroz's throw was to the infield side of the bag, and first baseman Justin Smook was set up on the foul side. Suzuki made a strong throw home, but Moreland beat it.
Moreland had entered the game in the second when David Murphy left because of a strained left groin. The team said Murphy was having an MRI exam.
Smoak, the rookie first baseman sent to Seattle when the Rangers acquired left-hander Cliff Lee on July 9, homered for the third straight game against his former team. He hit a two-run homer in the first off Rich Harden, who might have made his last start for Texas.
Franklin Gutierrez hit a two-run double in the fifth to make it 4-1, chasing Harden, who allowed four runs and six hits.
Smoak's homer was a 412-foot shot onto the hill in straightway center field, almost identical to his homer the night before. He has 13 homers this season.
The Mariners led 5-1 after Quiroz had a double in the sixth and scored when Suzuki reached on an error by shortstop Andres Blanco.
Texas (88-70) can still reach 92 wins, the mark that team president and co-owner Nolan Ryan had set as a goal before the season with a sweep in the upcoming four-game home series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Texas signed Harden last winter to a free-agent deal for $6.5 million with a chance to earn another $2.5 million in performance bonuses. There is an $11.5 million mutual option for 2011 with a $1 million buyout for the Rangers.
The Mariners (61-97) have to split their four-game home series against Oakland to avoid their second 100-loss season in three years.
Harden has been on the disabled list twice this season and is 5-5 with a a 5.58 ERA that is the highest in his career. It is unlikely that the right-hander will even be on Texas' playoff roster.
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