Sports Taking on Oakland The Jayhawks continue their series with Oakland at 3 p.m. today at Hoglund Park. Kansas has won two of the four games in the series. The University Daily Kansan 1B Pitcher fires up'Hawks Amande Kim Stairrett/Kansan Kansas sophomore infielder Matt Baty was tagged out by Oakland's Ryan Heath as he attempted to steal third base at Hoglund Ballpark. Baty scored two runs out of four attempts at bat in yesterday's 7-2 win against Oakland. Kansas crushes Oakland at home By Shane Kucera skucera@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter Junior pitcher Mike Zagurski came out throwing heat to lead Kansas to its third straight victory on a near-freezing daw. The weather did not affect the Jayhawks' performance as they defeated the Oakland Grizzlies to improve to 10-7-1 on the season. Zagurski continued to impress as his record improved to 2-0. He retired the first four batters of the game and went five and one-third innings, striking out seven Grizzlies. He said he was unfazed by the weather. "It was definitely cold, but it wasn't a big factor in the game." Zaurski said. The Jayhawks' offensive effort was enough for a victory, despite leaving 10 runners on base. Sophomore infielder Matt Baty led off the game with a base hit. Kansas then played small ball, with a sacrifice bunt by sophomore infielder Ritchie Price that led to junior catcher Sean Richardson driving in the first run of the game. Kansas pulled away in the second inning with hit by Price, Richardson and junior outfielder Andy Scholl. Two errors on the same play by Oakland led to more Kansas runs and extended the lead to 4-1. The Jayhawks did not strike again until the eighth inning when a line drive single by Price brought in two runners. Sean Richardson followed with a sacrifice fly to make the game 7-2. Price and Richardson finished the game with three RBIs each. Kansas held the Oakland to one run in the last seven innings of play. Junior right-handed pitcher Andrew Rebar and freshman pitcher Sean Land combined to hold Oakland scoreless SEE PITCHER ON PAGE 6B Kensan File Photos Kansas freshman guard Nick Bahe attempted to wrestle the ball away from his Colorado opponents on Jan. 25. The game concluded in a 78-57 Javhawk victory. Walk-on works way onto court Freshman turned down home-state school to wear Jayhawk uniform By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter By the time there was 7:38 left in the game, Kansas basketball fans may have thought it was all some sick practical ioke. It was Feb. 15, and Kansas was in the process of getting blown out in Lincoln by the 14-point underdog Nebraska Cornhuskers. Senior forward Jeff Graves was not in uniform, Nebraska had an 18-point lead, and Bill Self had unloaded his rarely-use reserves off the bench just minutes into the game. At that point, few were surprised when freshman walk-on guard Nick Bahe threw his hat in the mix. Coach Self was running out of options. Not much was expected from Bahe, a Lincoln, Neb., native who had logged just 34 minutes and scored only five points this season. "Obviously I had a lot of family and friends there to watch," Bahe said. "Most importantly, I was going in there hoping I could provide a spark." Self's gamble nearly paid off. Bahe ignited his sluggish teammates with the energy he always displays. He hit two three-pointers to cut the deficit to 12. Nick Bake gave it his all, but the Jayhawks still lost by 19. "I came in expecting this to be a year to watch and learn." Bahe said. "I talk a lot, I bring a lot of energy to the game. I try to do just little intangible things to help the team. I think that's what Coach Self likes right now and I'm going to continue to do that." Bahé's attitude and energy fit in perfectly with Self's idea that the hardest Giving it his all is what Babe does best. It always has been. It's what made him the Gatorade Player of the Year in Nebraska last season. It what's made him a two-time All-State quarterback. It's what gown him on the floor this season. workers in practice will earn their way onto the floor come game time. It's also what drew attention to Bahe from college coaches while he played at Lincoln Southeast High School. Bahe was scouted by the Jayhawks long before Bill Self arrived. He attended his first Kansas game on a recruiting visit during his junior year of high school, and was blown away. Former coaches Roy Williams and Joe Holla-day invited him to walk-on at Kansas, and when Self stepped in, Bahe was still welcomed with open arms. about being a part of that," Bahe said. "I just thought, 'Man, how could you pass up an opport- "After you see something like that and the coaches think you're good enough to play at that level, it obviously fuels a lot of fire to work harder and it makes you excited tunity to come here?" He was also being offered scholarships from Ohio University, Bowling Green, Boise State and Cal-Poly. Wednesday, February 25, 2004 In addition, Nebraska presented the same walk-on offer as the Jayhawks. The Cornhuskers SEE WALK-ON ON PAGE 6B Milestone victory for Colorado coach By Jesse Newell jnewell@kansan.com Kansas sportwriter A senior night show was too much for Kansas, as No.13 Colorado ran away with a 75-56 win. The Buffalo senior team of Kate Fagan, Randie Wirt and Tera Bjorklund scored a combined 51 points in their final home collegiate game, helping coach Ceal Barry to her 500th career coaching victory. "It's a great milestone," Kansas intercham club Lynette Woodard said of It was also a record-setting night for Fagan, who set a new Buffalo record for three-pointers in a career. Her fifth long-range shot sealed the mark, and after an announcement of the record at the 11:50 mark, she followed with a sixth three-pointer, scoring a team-high of 20 points. Barry's accomplishment. "Her team had all the motivation to come out here tonight and try to get this victory." Colorado had eight three-pointers compared to Kansas' four. "We didn't want them to get away with the three-point shots they did the last The Jayhawks came out ice cold from the floor, opening the game making just three of their first 22 shots. time we played them," Woodard said. "But they still drained some on us." "We had some open looks, but couldn't hit the shots," Woodard said. The Buffaloes took advantage, with a Bjorklund lay-up extending the Colorado lead to 25-10 with 8:25 remaining. Still, amidst the emotion of the game and the altitude of Colorado, Kansas found the energy for a run late in the first half Trailing by 18 points, sophomore for ward Tamara Ransburg connected for two off an offensive rebound and junior guard Larisha Graves hit a shot off the break to starta Kansas rally. After trading scores, freshman forward Lauren Ervin provided a putback, and sophomore guard Erica Hallman followed with a line-drive three and a floating one-hander to give the layhawks a 13-2 run and make it a 38-31 deficit into halftime. Kansas trimmed it to a five-point deficit early in the second half, but ran SEE MILESTONE ON PAGE GB Colleges do not use replay but that could change as early as next year because the Big 10 Conference wants to implement the system during its conference season. Under the Big 10 proposal, instant replay would be used at all conference games. Non-conference games at home would utilize instant replay if the game was televised and the visiting team consented. By Joe Bant jbant@kansan.com Kansan staff writer "They will decide it's not for college football or they will take it to the next level," Allen said. Big 10 may implement play review next year No other football conference has plans to use instant replay next year, but Tim Allen, associate Big 12 Conference commissioner, said the trial case could determine whether the NCAA would adopt instant replay for all its conferences. Using instant replay to review officiating has been a part of NFL football since 1999. Now it may be coming to college. He said there was talk in the Big 12 about instant replay, but nothing formal that would lead to a proposal like the Big 10's. Allen said that next year's deal was only available to the Big 10. University of Kansas defensive coordinator Bill Young has some experience with instant replay. Before coming to Kansas in 2002, Young was a defensive line coach with the Detroit Lions. A significant problem would be the cost, Young said. It would be costly because it would require a variety of cameras and equipment to ensure that officials had enough shots to review the play adequately. Young said he supported any measure that would make the game better, but instant replay at the college level would have some problems that the pros didn't share. He questioned whether college teams and their stadiums would have the ability to handle the equipment costs. Instant replay is not a subject without controversy. It has faced opposition at the NFL level and now Kansas fans have mixed feelings about using replay at college games. "Whatever play takes place, both teams should know exactly what happened," Patel said. "A national championship shouldn't be decided on human error if we have the capability to correct that." The Big 10's proposal and the NFL replay system have several differences. Unlike the NFL, the Big 10 would not allow coaches to provoke reviews by challenging plays. Young said he liked replay in the NFL and would probably support it in college if it was feasible. He said that replay should not be taken as an insult to officials because they did a tremendous job. Mike Irvine, Chicago freshman, said adding replay would make college football too much like pro football. He said it would diminish the uniqueness of the sport. Instead, the conference's officiating department would assign a technical advisor for each game. The advisor would have the sole authority to use the replay feature. The conference would use the television sponsors' cameras to provide the video for the reviews. It has not released the exact penalties or situations where review would apply. Vishal Patel, Shawnee senior, said he thought it would be a great thing if replay came to college. The Big 10 proposal has not been finalized and the conference declined to comment until then. The NCAA Football Rules Committee has formally recommended the proposal be enacted. The Division I Championships and Competition Cabinet will act on their recommendation. "It'd take away the innocence of the college football game." Irvine said. —Edited by Amanda Kim Stairret TALK TO SPORTS: Contact Henry C. Jackson or Maggie Newcomer at SPORTS@KANSAN.COM