Goliath vs. Goliath
With no Cinderella team in the Final Four, any of the power house teams, including Florida, could win it all.
FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
10A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 12A
》SOFTBALL
Jayhawks firing on all cylinders
Senior pitcher leads attack
BY EVAN KAFARAKIS
The Kansas softball team plays host to the Baylor Bears this weekend.
The series begins Saturday at Arrocha ballpark at 2 p.m. and continues Sunday at noon.
The lajahawks are on an eight-game winning streak and are looking to continue their winning ways against their Big 12 Conference foe.
The Bears were ranked 12th in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll and got on a hot streak of their own after winning six straight games.
This weekend's games are the beginning of a five-game home stand for the Jayhawks, who have played 29 away games and seven home games so far this season.
The team leader is senior pitcher Kassie Humphreys, who is looking to pass coach Tracy Bunge for fourth on the Kansas all-time strikeouts list. Humphreys needs only four more strikeouts to achieve it.
On the season Humphreys is the Jayhawks ace pitcher with a 1.50 ERA and 129 strikeouts.
The defense has been solid as of late, not giving up a single run in three straight games.
Quality defense has been a major help to the offense this season.
Crisisto also has at least one consecutive hit in 13 straight games.
Sophomore Stevie Crisosto is leading the way for the offense posting a. 364 batting average.
She also leads the team with eight doubles, a triple and 10 stolen bases.
Fellow sophomore teammate Elle Potterf or is swinging a big stick for the Jayhawks leading the team with seven home runs on the season and a 612 slugging percentage.
Kansas leads the all-time series against Baylor 20-11, including a victory in the 2006 Big 12 Championship last season to win its first ever postseason title.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Kansan sportwriter Evan Kafarakis can be contacted at ekafarakis@ kansan.com.
The Kansas softball team returns home after 10 games on the road. A pair of victories against Big 12 rival Baylor Bears would continue Kansas' eight-game winning streak.
- Edited by Trevan McGee
》 ON THE DIAMOND
Baseball travels to Border Showdown
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Andres Esquibel, junior pitcher, leads the Jayhawks in wins with a 4-2 record in 12 appearances. The baseball team will need solid pitching to defeat the Tigers this weekend.
BY ALISSA BAUER
Thus far in the Jayhawks' Big 12 season, however, the tune has changed a bit. Missouri, this weekend's host for the Border Showdown series, strides into tonight's game with the upper hand.
Red-hot through the month of March, Missouri (20-7, 2-1) snapped its 14-game win streak in Lincoln, Neb., on Sunday after a 16-1 loss at the hands of the Huskers. Apparently still shaken up from the series finale, the Tigers dropped their second game in a row to Creighton on Tuesday night, 4-3.
The last time the Jayhawks and the Tigers got together, Kansas was busy knocking the Tigers out of last season's Big 12 Conference tournament semifinals.
Missouri is 10-0 at home this season. Kansas (15-15,2-4) has dropped four of its last five and still needs its first Big 12 series victory.
"I still really like our team," coach Rich Price said. "I like our team chemistry, and I like how we've been going about our business. We're still hustling, we're still playing hard, we're still being competitive and yet
Taylor Stadium has been quite favorable to its home team, which has won eight of its last 10. Kansas, on the other hand, is looking to kick-start its conference season after winning only three of its last 10.
we are at that point where we have to win the series"
Kansas will need to step it up at the plate. Price mentioned the need for sophomore first baseman Preston Land and junior right fielder Brock Simpson to fulfill the roles they claimed last season. Neither one is close to the .300 mark, although Price said on Thursday that he believes they will be soon. Though they and others have struggled, Price isn't looking to rearrange.
"One of the things I'm trying not to do is jerk guys in and jerk guys out," Price said. "I think when you do that rather than things getting better, it gets worse. There's no doubts we've got guys really struggling."
Even so, the Jayhawks have the advantage heading into the weekend. Kansas is hitting .289 as a team, led by junior left fielder John Allman. His .398 average has been the
MEN'S BASKETBALL
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 9A
NCAA honors Rush
Sophomore guard Brandon Rush was named to the Wooden Award All-American Team. Rush joins nine other players including Texas' Kevin Durant and Texas A&M's Acie Law IV. He is the first Kansas player named to the post-season team since Wayne Simien in 2005.
Rush averaged 13.8 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game this season. Also a standout defender, he usually guarded the other team's best player. Rush's biggest shot this season came just last week. Against Southern Illinois in the Sweet 16, he drove for a lay-up with 25 seconds left that helped seal a 61-58 Kansas victory.
This award is just one of the honors Rush has received this season. He was also a First Team All Big 12 member, AP Honorable Mention All-American and a member of the NCAA Tournament West Regional All Tournament Team.
Mark Dent
DO THE DREW
Chamberlain remains king
Durant, Oden can't surpass 'the Stilt'
BY DREW DAVISON
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
DDAVISON@KANSAN.COM
— are the two best freshmen ever to play college basketball. No doubt, their numbers are impressive; both had great seasons and deserve "All-American" next to their name.
A lot has been made of Texas' Kevin Durant and Ohio State's Greg Oden being named to the All-America team earlier this week. During the course of the basketball season people have said they - Durant and Oden
While they are just freshman, just think if Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell or Oscar Robertson could have played when they were freshman. The NCAA didn't allow freshman to play until 1972.
While Durant and his Texas Longhorns' folded up early in the NCAA tournament, Oden and his Buckeyes' miraculously escaped two defeats — Xavier and Tennessee — and snuck by Memphis to make it to the Final Four in Atlanta — which begins Saturday.
Chamberlain scored 42 points and grabbed 29 rebounds as a freshman in 1955, leading the Kansas freshman squad past the varsity squad. Today, were all ooing and awing if Durant or Oden scores 25 and brings down 12 boards. In his day, Chamberlain doubled that production.
Ohio State and Georgetown features some of the best big guys in college basketball — Oden and Georgetown's Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green. Oden has been great, but I don't see how Ohio State can win this game. The Hoyas should reach the championship.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to take anything away from Durant or Oden, both had unbelievable seasons. You just have to think, though, that if Chamberlain played as a freshman, his numbers would be untouchable. Russell and Robertson would have put up stellar numbers as well, obviously.
In the other semifinal game Florida and UCLA - Florida should cruise to a double-digit victory like it did in last year's championship game.
Now, on to the Final Four.
So, Florida and Georgetown. I'm taking Georgetown, simply because it came out of the most difficult bracket — also, Green and Hibbert are the best post players in the country. The Hoyas have proven they are capable of winning it all, and they will be cutting down the nets in Atlanta.
Davison is an Overland Park senior in journalism.
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— Edited by Will McCullough
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