THE UNIVERSITY DAILY & ANSAN
SPORTS
3B
BASEBALL
Jayhawks head to paradise
Not quite two weeks into enduring bitterly cold walks to class, icecovered roadways and daily indoor practices, the baseball team headed for warmer temperatures.
The team left Tuesday for the sunny skies and warm beaches of Hawaii. When Thursday's season opener rolls around, the team will be fully acclimated to the forecasted 78 degree Hawaii weather, pushing memories of the Kansas tundra briefly from their minds.
Kansas starts a five-game series against Hawai'i-Hilo Thursday.
Warm it is. Vacation it is not.
"They're a scrappy team," sophomore closer Paul Smyth said. "You're not going there for a vacation. The goal is to go there and pick up five wins. If we're not winning five, then we feel like we've failed."
For the past five years that Kansas has made the trip to Hawaii, coach Ritch Price and his players have made it clear that the trip is all baseball. Price is known for using the trip similarly to the way Major League Baseball uses spring training, because the team travels to Hawaii for quality competition and a chance to get outside in prime
baseball playing weather.
With a 10-1 record in the past two seasons against the Vulcans, the focus is predominantly baseball.
“There’s not a lot of downtime,” junior outfitter Brock Simpson said. “It’s not a vacation at all; we treat it very businesslike.”
Simpson said a typical day in Hawaii involved waking up, eating breakfast and occasional free time before heading to the ballpark for warm ups and game time.
Players are usually able to squeeze some fun into their free time.
"Our hotel was right by the ocean, by this beach," Simpson said, recalling last year's trip. "There was this big stone thing we were jumping off into the water."
"I love to jump off rocks and do things like that whenever possible." Smyth said. "Growing up you're by the coast, you find cliffs to jump off and go swimming in the ocean. It's second nature."
Smyth was the first to take the plunge.
Their break ended that afternoon and the lavahawks headed to the ballpark for the task at hand. But the Vulcans shared more than their good weather with their opponents.
"The Hawaiians are really, really social," Simpson said. "So we were talking with them before the game and we were telling them about it. Come to find out they say that's some of the most shark-infested water in all of Hawaii — big-time tiger sharks. I don't think we'll be doing that again this year. But it was a great time — until we found out."
Coach Price did not join them on the cliff-diving adventure. In fact, he chose to fill his spare hours with baseball. Last season, Price's youngest son, Robby, now a freshman at Kansas, joined the Jayhawks on their trip to Hawaii.
"As wed just finished jumping off the rock and swimming in the ocean, we started walking along one of the streets," Smyth said. "We see Robby and Coach Price. Coach Price is carrying a bucket of balls because he just finished throwing batting practice to Robby. So he's there 100 percent baseball. There's no other question, even in your free time."
Kansan sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@kansan.com.
Edited by Ryan Schneider
BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
In the first two weeks of February the team will take on Texas A&M, which is currently leading the south division, and arch-rivals Kansas State and Missouri. Russell Robinson said those games would get the team ready for March.
"We're not talking about it, but we know each one of these games is going to help prepare us," the junior guard said.
On Monday, Selt was especially pleased with the performance of sophomore guard Brandon Rush and sophomore forward Julian Wright. The two dominated the early portion of the game, and at halftime the other three starters — Robinson, junior center Sasha Kaun and sophomore guard Mario Chalmer's — had only three points between them.
The hot hands of Rush and Wright helped out an offense that has been shooting the ball well since conference play began.
"We said all along we had better shooters than what we shot." Self said. "Hopefully that's just the law of averages prevailing."
He's also coaching the players to take easier shots than the highlight-reel plays they sometimes try to make.
"Basketball is a lot easier game — and it's a lot more fun to watch — when you're making easy plays." Self said he tells the team, "You add up a lot of easy plays and they'll look great."
That's what has happened on the offensive end in the past three games. The team shot 50 percent
against Baylor and 55 percent against Colorado. The 45 percent Kansas shot against Nebraska was weighed down in part by the second half, when the team's backups entered the game.
Now with tougher games on the horizon, the Jayhawks will look to sustain that momentum through the end of the conference schedule and into the tournament. Their coach won't let them do it any other way.
“There’s only like 40 days until the big dance starts,” he said. “It’s not asking too much to be focused for that amount of time.”
Kansan senior sportswriter Michael Phillips can be contacted at mphillips@kansan.com.
Edited by Ryan Schneider
JORGENSEN
(CONTINUED FROM 1B)
games are never easy.
If Kansas can match a stingy Texas A&M team on the defensive side and wear it down on offense with constant motion and attempts to draw fouls, Kansas should be able to grind out a victory.
Texas A&M is as well known for its defense as Kansas, if not more. So, if the final scores are the 50s or low 60s, it is likely the game will be decided in the final seconds. However, if Kansas can really push its offense and get the score into the 70s or 80s, Texas A&M won't be able to keep up and Kansas should win by 10.
The layhawks need a big victory against the Aggies to truly solidify themselves as a team who can defeat anyone. Victories against top-ranked teams like Florida, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M would be an impressive resume for halfway through the season.
Jorgensen is a Baldwin City senior in journalism.
Edited by Will McCullough
feels a little bit more comfortable." Morrison said. "I get more confidence when I come off the infield and go up for an at-bat. I feel confident in what I'm doing. I feel fluid."
BASEBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Coach Ritch Price recruited Morrison to someday fill Ritchie's spot at short and he's already noticed that Morrison is better suited to play shortstop.
"The hardest ball that Erik has trouble with is a ball that's right at him". Price said. "Third base is a reactionary position, but at shortstop he has more time before the ball's on him."
Instead of having to focus extra attention on defense, Morrison has been able to help Robby take over at third base.
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Like Morrison, Robby has had to learn a new position as a freshman. Robby played third base this past summer, but at times still had questions about where he should position himself. He said having Morrison right by his side made it easier to learn the position.
In addition to learning a new position, Robby has had to deal with comparisons to his older brothers. But Robby said living up to his brothers' standards was secondary to contributing as a freshman.
"There's always that extra attention on me," Robby said. "We're just looking for guys to step up and hopefully I'm one of those guys who can get it done."
Not that Morrison needed any reminder of Robby's abilities after years of playing together, but he had no doubt that Robby was going to be fine in his old spot.
As Robby ran across the team's indoor practice facility. Morrison pointed to him and said, "That freshman there is going to be good."
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Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@kansan.com.
Edited by James Pinick
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