6B / SPORTS / THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Kansas moves on to play four games in next four days
BY MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
Opportunity lurks for the Kansas baseball team on a business trip to Surprise, Ariz., this weekend. With four games in the next four days, the Jayhawks are sure to have their hands full in the Coca-Cola Classic.
Cora Classier
"The great thing for us is we're going to go where it's warm and where the sun is shining" coach Ritch Price said.
said.
The Jayhawks have only one day to recover from a three-game home stand that ended Tuesday. Kansas won all three games, and Price said he was pleased with how the starting pitchers performed.
"I thought it was important that the starters went deep into the game, and gave us a chance to protect ourselves for the four-game series that starts Thursday," Price said.
The Jayhawks take their 4-3 record into a weekend that's sure to be action-packed, as the Jayhawks will be taking on four West Coast teams, including No.7 Arizona State.
Junior first baseman Zac Elgie and the Jayhawks will take on UC Riverside Thursday at 5 p.m. in its first game at Surprise Stadium. The Highlanders out of Riverside, Calif., are riding a four-game winning streak into the weekend, and will be a threat at the plate against Kansas.
plate against Kansas.
Freshman Alex Cox will handle the arduous task of slowing down the Highlanders' bats. UC Riverside is batting .301 on the season with an average of five runs per game. The lineup for Kansas will also have a tough task, facing UC Riverside pitcher, Eddie Orozco, who has posted an ERA of 1.12 early in the season.
season.
On Friday at 5 p.m. the Jayhawks will square off against the Road Runners of Cal State Bakersfield. Cal State Bakersfield brings an impressive 6-2 record into the weekend. Sophomore pitcher Tanner Poppe will take the mound for Kansas, against an even more potent Road Runners offense. Cal State Bakersfield is currently batting an impressive .337 with a
slugging percentage of 436.
The lights will be bright Saturday at 6 p.m. when the Jayhawks take on No. 7 Arizona State. The game boasts two big-time arms, with Kansas throwing its ace, T.J. Walz, against ASU's top pitcher, Kyle Ottoson. Ottoson is 2-0, with an ERA of 1.38.
Kansas worked hard this past week to get its record back above .500, and the progress it makes this weekend could either vault the Jayhawks in the right direction or leave them meandering around the .500 mark.
Kansas will finish the weekend Sunday at 11 a.m. against an Air Force team that is 3-4 early in the season. Senior Wally Marceli has opened the year strong with an ERA of 2.25.
ing around the 100 stairs
"Depending upon how this weekend goes, I think we have a chance to kind of get on a hot streak here and win some ball games." Elgie said.
— Edited by Corey Thibodeaux
Senior pitcher T.J. Walz throws a pitch during the top of the 4th inning of Monday's game against Iowa at Hoglund Park. Walz pitched for six innings and had eight strikeouts and five walks in the layhawks 5-2 win over Iowa.
Amare and Carmelo combine for 46 as Knicks pound Hornets,107-88
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Amare Stoudemire scored 24 points, Carmelo Anthony added 22, and the New York Knicks rolled to a 107-88 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.
right.
Toney Douglas also scored 24 points in place of an injured Chauncey Billups, outplaying slumping Hornets All-Star Chris Paul in the point guard matchup. Shawne Williams finished with 16 points off the bench, 11 in the third quarter when the Knicks broke
open the game
open the game.
Anthony was held below 25 points for the first time in his five games with the Knicks, but that's only because he sat out the fourth quarter of New York's sixth straight win over New Orleans, matching its longest current winning streak against any opponent.
against any opponent. Jarrett Jack scored 21 points and David West had 16 for the Hornets, who have lost three straight, six of eight and 12 of 16. Paul had 10 assists but just four points on 2-of-7 shooting, following nights of 2 for 12 and 3 for 10 in the previous two losses.
After rallying to beat Miami on Sunday before Orlando blew by them on Tuesday, the Knicks returned from Florida with a complete effort, shredding one of the league's best defensive teams while finishing with one of their own top defensive performances.
defensive perimeter manners.
Up eight early in the third period, New York got a three-point play from Anthony and two baskets by Douglas in an 11-2 run that extended the lead to 63-46. New Orleans cut it to 11, then Williams made two 3-pointers and a layup on a bullet pass from Anthony, and Stoudemire had the other two
buckets in a 12-2 surge that gave New York a 77-56 bulge with 2:46 left in the quarter.
Anthony smiled his way through most of the period, which ended with New York up 82-62, before taking a seat after going 8 of 18. Only Wilt Chamberlain, with 10 in a row in 1959 for the Philadelphia Warriors, had a longer streak of games with 25 points after joining a team, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Sports Bureau.
Jared Jeffries had six rebounds in 24 minutes in his return to the Knicks. Traded last year to Houston at the trade deadline, he
signed with the Knicks on Tuesday after coming to a buyout agreement with the Rockets last week.
Jeffries was the last piece the Knicks brought in during their week of tinkering for the playoff run. There's long been talk that Paul could be the final piece to a potential title contender when he becomes a free agent and eligible to flee the small-market Hornets in 2012.
Paul ignored the fans near the Hornets' bench who were shouting to him before the game that hed be on the Knicks someday. He may be annoyed by the talk, but as
Anthony and LeBron James teasingly reminded him during the All-Star break, it was Paul who added fuel to it with his playful toast at Anthony's July wedding in New York that those two would come join Stoudemire with the Knicks to counter Miami's newly formed Big Three.
Big Three.
Douglas hit all four shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, and scored 10 points in leading the Knicks to a 25-25 lead after one. The Knicks scored eight straight late in the half to open a 12-point lead before Paul made a jumper for his only basket of the half, cutting it to 52-42.