CALENDAR
Professional
BASEBALL
Los Angeles Angels at Kansas City, 7:10 p.m.
College
BASEBALL
Big 12 Tournament
Oklahoma City
Kansas State vs. Baylor, 12:30 p.m.
Kansas vs. Oklahoma St., 7:30 p.m.
High school
TRACK AND FIELD
State Outdoor at Cessna Sta… Continue reading
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kansas State has been one of the best hitting teams in the nation this season. The Wildcats were expected to have a potent offense, so their production hasn’t been surprising.
What has exceeded expectations is the development of the pitching staff. A young rotation has shown steady improvement throughout the season and, bolstered by a strong bullpen, the Wildcats won their first Big 12 Conference baseball championship.
K-STATE’S FISHER UP FOR AWARD GIVEN TO NATION’S BEST SHORTSTOP: Kansas State sophomore Austin Fisher earned a spot Monday in the Brooks Wallace award watch list, one of 14 players up for the honor give to the nation’s top shortstop. Fisher hit .358 in 53 games with 18 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers and 34 RBIs. He led the Big 12 in conference-only batting average at .412. The top-seeded Wildcats begin play in the Big 12 Tournament at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday against No. 8 Texas Tech in Oklahoma City.
KYNARD WINS THIRD BIG 12 OUTDOOR TITLE: Kansas State high jumper Erik Kynard won his third straight outdoor conference title on Saturday in Waco, Texas at the Big 12 Outdoor, when he won the men’s high jump with a clearance of 7 feet, 61/2 inches. No other student-athlete has won three Big 12 Outdoor men’s titles.
He locked in the win when he was the only jumper to clear 7-033/4. He would go on to clear two more bars after that before taking three attempts at 7-081/2 and narrowly missing.
The Big 12 is facing an identity crisis at quarterback, with a lot of different players preparing to take snaps this fall.
Seven of the league’s 10 teams had senior quarterbacks, providing for a lot of changes during spring practice.
“With new QBs, there are always question marks. I mean, you don’t really know until you know,” Baylor coach Art Briles said Tuesday. “The only way to know is to get out on the field with them in the heat of battle and find out how they respond. Yeah, it changes the dynamics of the league 100 percent.”
KU RELIEVER DRAWS BIG 12 ACCOLADE: After earning two saves in Kansas’ series win against No. 19 Oklahoma State, junior reliever Jordan Piché was named the Big 12 Conference’s newcomer of the week on Monday.
Piché worked 62/3 innings and allowed no runs on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts while notching three saves. The junior college transfer ranks second in the Big 12 with a 0.59 ERA and has compiled a 4-1 record with 25 strikeouts in 15 appearances.
Kansas will take on Iowa at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Iowa City and 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
TOPEKA NATIVE LEADS OSU BASEBALL PAST KU: Topeka native and Seaman product Robbie Rea, an Oklahoma State junior, went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer to help the Cowboys baseball team beat Kansas 14-3 on Saturday in Lawrence. No. 19 OSU had a season-high … Continue reading
LAWRENCE — Carolyn Davis leaned forward and then back. Fellow senior Angel Goodrich sat beside her perched forward the entire time with her hands crossed together as platform for her chin to rest on.
The two were in the second of three rows of Kansas players waiting to see what their future held. Would they make the NCAA Tournament?
The first teams were announced at 6:04 p.m., and knees began to bounce and feet began to twitch left and right, as the Jayhawks grew increasingly anxious to see their name.
LAWRENCE — The 6th day of February was when fashionable overkill favoring prohibitive underdogs went viral.
Kansas triggered the sentiment. It lost at TCU.
What had been a mere whisper suddenly swelled into an uproar: This is the year a No. 16 seed beats a No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament!
Well, the time has come. The NCAA bracket was unveiled Sunday.
And, as fate would have it, Kansas was seeded on the 1-line.
“It’s going to happen, a 16 is going to beat a one. Eventually,’’ KU coach Bill Self said.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas State and Kansas tied for the regular-season Big 12 title.
That doesn’t mean they feel very good about themselves entering the league tournament.
The Wildcats lost a road game against Oklahoma State on Saturday, while the Jayhawks were routed by Baylor a few hours later in a game that would have given them the outright title.
Consider it proof that the Big 12 Tournament, which starts Wednesday night at Sprint Center, promises to be among the most intriguing and unpredictable in conference history.