APARTMENT GUIDE 3
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Sophomore third baseman Jon
BY MIKE \
mvernon@k
MONDAY,APRIL 4,2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The Kansas base brought its four-ge
brought its four-ge streak to a scream of screwing, as the jayhawks won two of three games over No. 19 Baylor at Hoglund Ballpark this weekend.
The Jayhawks showed signs that their young roster is maturing and improving during their three-game hitting spree.
"I think we were growing up," coach Ritch Price said. "Now that we've played over 20 games, our younger guys are starting to mature."
That maturation process began to show in game one of the series on Friday evening, when their bats responded well after getting but out at Missouri State in their
we are coming to play in the most innning, hitting a line-drive home run that sailed just over the right field fence.
"I think it really helped out to get that one run on the board early," Waters said. "It kind of puts a message in the other dugout too; now they're battling uphill."
Senior pitcher T.J. Walz, had an impressive performance on the mound, holding the dangerous Baylor offense to only one earned run off of three hits in 7.2 innings pitched. Walz threw career-high 127 pitches and also struck out 11 batters in the day.
ing start to the season, made a tweak in his windup to fix a body tilt issue, and has been dominant ever since.
"I've been able to locate the fastball a lot better, and I'm not getting behind batters near as much so I can attack with the slider," Walz said. "[The change in mechanics] has made all the difference."
The Jayhawks came out strong again in the second game of the series on Saturday. Kansas struck first again when sophomore catcher Alex DeLeon hit his team-leading third home run of the season.
"Everyone wants to end the game on a hit, that's always fun, and I wanted to do it," Macias said. "It's nice to end in a walk still; I'll take the win any day."
After taking the first two, the lajayhawks experienced some growing pains going for the sweep in game three. The lajayhawks whiffed on a huge opportunity Sunday to build momentum against tough competition.
"We could have done something really special today, and made a huge statement going forward," Price said.
While the teams young roster has begun to show signs of maturation, Sunday's loss showed that there still plenty of room for improvement as the Jayhawks' season goes on.
"I feel good in how competitive we were the first two games of the series. I'm disappointed in the performance today and rightfully so," Price said. "We don't have enough experienced players in the dugout, and quite frankly were not tough enough yet."
Edited by Emily Soetaert
and fought back to manage five hits Sunday. However, it was not enough to combat Nebraska's 12 hits during Sunday's game against Jayhawk pitchers freshman Kristin Martinez and senior Allie Clark.
Clark pitched the complete Saturday game, allowing seven hits, four runs and no strikeouts. Sunday, Martinez pitched six innings and Clark closed the final inning. Martinez started well with three
SEE SOFTBALL ON PAGE 8A
FOOTBALL
Kansas benefits from familiarity between coaches, players
Football coach Turner Gill oversees his team during the first full practice of the spring season April 1. Gill said it was too early to determine which players would step up as leaders.
Jeff Jacobsen/KANSAS ATHLETICS
BY KORY CARPENTER kcarpenter@kansan.com
■ Turner Gill changed the practice format this year, with two full teams participating at once on adjacent fields. The goal is to get each player more reps throughout the spring, leading to better production and speed in the fall.
Kansas football opened up the spring season with its first full practice Friday afternoon. Coach Turner Gill and staff will conduct 15 practices throughout the month of April before concluding with the annual Spring Game on April 30.
It's too early to tell which players will step up as leaders. "We didn't have any pads on," Gill said after practice. "When we get pads on and get one or two scremmages in, then you can kind of see how guys will rise to the top with that opportunity."
NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE OPENING PRACTICE
- Familiarity helps after a full year in Lawrence. Coaches have seen what the players can do in game situations and can better anticipate what the players can do in off-season workouts.
- From a leadership standpoint,
■ The quarterback position is still in question. A decision on a starter could be made by the end of spring, but the coaches are more than willing to wait until summer to decide on the opening-day starter.
Mecham, who played in six games in 2010, said he liked the new practice format. "It keeps practice at a fast pace" he said. "Last spring we had nine quarterbacks; now we have three, so it's just a lot more reps. More chances to prove yourself."
nobody really stood out on day one. However, Gill said he could see tight end Tim Biere being able to step up as a leader.
Returning quarterbacks Jordan Webb and Quinn Mecham got much stronger in the off-season, something Gill credits to work ethic and the Kansas strength staff
Freshman quarterback Brock Bergland, who returned home to Colorado last month after arriving in Lawrence in January, will still have an opportunity to compete for the starting job when he returns in the summer.
All jobs are open. "We don't want anybody getting complacent." Gill noted. "We stated to them that we're going to have competition." Gill also said that, although last year's individual performances will be taken into consideration, nothing is set in stone heading into camp.
The strength and conditioning program was altered this year. Gill told his strength staff that workouts should focus on making
- The array of running-back recruits the staff has brought in only gives Sims motivation. "It just makes me work harder," he said. "They're bringing them in to help us as a team. I respect that."
James Sims, who led the team in rushing during his freshmen year, said the workouts were harder than last year's.
players more explosive and mentally tougher. He said he thought they did just that. Also, off-season workouts included more running and more weight training compared to last year.
Sims was also seen fielding punts, something he said he hoped to do this year.
"I hope to be the best running back in the Big 12, be an All-American again and lead the team to a Big 12 championship." Sims said of his goals for this year.
Senior wide receiver Daymond Patterson said he thought the staff
■ Quality, not quantity. With only 14 seniors on the roster, Patterson said this was the best group of seniors he has been around at Kansas.
According to Patterson, the biggest difference in year two is the familiarity within the coaching staff and players, which is huge in football.
really pushed the team in the weight room this off-season, improving the players' mental toughness. "We were being tested mentally," he said. "That's what we need, because I felt that's where we fell short last year a lot of times. Mental toughness."
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Prinz Kande has moved from safety to linebacker.
Former wide receiver Keeston Terry is now practicing at safety.
- Kevin Young and Keba Agostinho have both switched from defensive end to defensive tackle. Turner Gill spoke after the season of recruiting fast defensive ends, bulking them up, then moving them inside to defensive tackle Agostinho and Young look to be the first players making the switch.
Edited by Helen Mubarak