Friday, April 20, 2001
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
No-pressure hitting helps team
By Brent Briggeman sports@kanson.com Kanson sportswriter
Hitting is contagious, and, for the time being, the Kansas softball team has come down with the bug.
Kansas rightfielder Leah Tabb awaits the pitch that resulted in her ninth home run of the season. The 'Hawks defeated Missouri 6-1 yesterday afternoon at Ivnhawk Field. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
Winds gusted as hard as 40 miles per hour from dead centerfield, but it didn't matter as the Jayhawks collected 11 hits and blew past Missouri 6-1 at Jayhawk Field yesterday. The win was the Jayhawks' seventh in a row.
Kansas spread its production throughout the lineup as every starter collected a hit. Coach Tracy Bunge said the distribution took pressure off individual players
when you have relaxed hitters, you have better hitters," said Bunge, whose team improved to 27-20 over all and 7-4 in the Big 12 Conference. The loss dropped Missouri to 25-22 and 4-7.
"Nobody is going up there with the feeling that they have to carry the load." Bunge said. "They know if they don't get it done then somebody behind them will."
Junior rightfielder Leah Tabb proved Bunge's theory correct. With Big 12 Player of the Week Courtney
Wright batting behind her, Tabb slipped one over the left field wall in the second inning for her ninth home run of the season. The shot tied Tabb with Bunge and former Jayhawk Shannon Stanwix for the single-season school record.
Both Tabb and Wright, junior shortstop, finished the day with two hits.
"I didn't think it would get out." Tabb said. "Coach thought it would; she had to tell me to slow down. I was trucking around second; I really didn't know."
The 'Hawks' offensive outsturt was against a Tigers' pitching staff that came into the game with a 2.09 ERA and a .237 opponents' batting average.
kansas pitching, on the other hand,
held Missouri in check all afternoon.
Freshman Kara Pierce improved to 18-7 and allowed four hits and one run in six innings. The Tigers didn't collect their second hit off Pierce until the sixth inning.
Sophomore Kirsten Milhoan threw a hitless seventh and preserved the win.
Iowa State will be the next hurdle for the Hawks, who sit alone at third in the conference.
Although the Cyclones (12-21 and 1-7) are last in the conference, they are playing their best ball of the season. They beat No. 12 Iowa on Wednesday and narrowly dropped a game to No. 14 Nebraska yesterday.
Every conference victory is crucial for Kansas at this point as Nebraska and No. 6 Oklahoma loom on the horizon.
"Weknnow where wearright now." Bunge said. "We cannot look past
Iowa State at all, and I don't think anyone on this ball club will do that.
— Edited by Leita Schultes
Missouri 000 0010 - 14 0
Kansas 022 1100 - 611 0
WP. Pierce, K. 17, 7-LP, Falk, S. 20, 15
2B Campbell, Ka (13), 12-B Muscer, C (4). HR-Tabb, L, (9). SB-Ugruhart, M, (6) CS Garvey, E, (6). MR乌格, M, (5).
BOX SCORE
Missouri 000 001 0·1 4 0
Kansas 003 110·5 11 0
Bowling team rolling through nationals
By Brandon Stinnett
Phase one of the Kansas men's bowling teams' three-part quest for a national championship went as planned last night at the Intercollegiate Bowling Championship in Grand Rapids, Mich.
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The layhawks eptened the three-day event intent on securing a first-round bye in today's double elimination portion of the tournament. Kansas finished round-roin play in sixth place with the top eight teams earning byes. The tournament is a 16-tem team field.
"We're pretty happy with how we performed today," coach Mike Fine said. "We did a really good job."
By Brandon Stinner
Although Kansas didn't dominate the way it did at the Midwest Sectional Qualifier in March, the Jayhawks aren't hanging their heads. Senior Tom Partridge said the team struggled, picking up spares and picking the right spots on the lane to bowl.
"We didn't tear it up by any means," Partridge said. "But I think we know what we did wrong and can fix it."
Kansas will face the winner of No. 11 Saginaw Valley State and No. 14 Utah State tomorrow at 12:40 p.m. The Jayhawks must win three straight matches to reach the finals tomorrow. Otherwise, it would take at least five consecutive victories in the losers' bracket to advance—a challenge Fine said that he hoped to avoid.
“It’s very important,” he said. “We need to stay in the winners’ bracket
for as long as possible."
Partridge said winners' bracket or losers' bracket made little difference to him; the Jayhawks just needed to stalive.
"I think just getting to Saturday is a good accomplishment," he said. "Obviously, if we can get there without any losses, it's a bonus."
Fine said that he thought the Jayhawks could overcome any challenge thrown at them, but the high-caliber opposition created problems.
"We bowled really well, but this is tough competition," Fine said. "It's a tough format and challenging lane conditions."
The format during last night's round-robin competition benefited Kansas' team cohesiveness. Five bowlers from each team bowled two
frames that were tallied into one game score.
That same format will be carried into today's double-elimination competition.
"Itdoesn't the help us as much as it hurts other teams that are more individually focused," Partridge said.
— Edited by Courtney Craigmile
ROUND ONE SCORES
(total pins)
Washington State --- 6542
Western Illinois --- 6464
Nebraska --- 6349
St. John's --- 6198
Oklahoma State --- 6233
Kansas --- 6085
Central Missouri State --- 6030
Florida State --- 6001
Michigan State --- 5946
Michigan State --- 5928
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