TMP-Marian senior kicker Drew O’Brien is taking his skills to Fort Hays State. The two-sport all-stater signed a letter of intent yesterday to play football for the Tigers.
O’Brien was a four-year starter on the Monarchs soccer team and earned all-state honors as a goal keeper last fall. He played football for the first time this past fall and booted three field goals of 45-yards or longer and more than half of his kickoffs went into the endzone. O’Brien was 19-of-24 on extra points. He also had a 38-yard punting average with a long of 60 earning him all-state honors in 3A by the Kansas Football Coaches Association.
SURPRISE, Ariz.– The Royals’ optimistic outlook for 2012 took a serious hit on Wednesday, when it was announced that $7 million catcher Salvador Perez is to have surgery on his left knee.
The Royals had announced on Tuesday that Perez had a lateral meniscus tear; the surgery will take place in the next few days at a location to be determined.
Perez, 21, met with reporters on Wednesday afternoon in the clubhouse, leaning on crutches and answering questions with the catcher who’ll likely replace him, Brayan Pena, acting as translator.
“I’m very sad. It’s my first year, and I was very motivated, and it’s very painful. But hopefully I can bounce back and I’ll be fine,” said Perez, who was injured while warming up pitcher Jonathan Sanchez prior to Tuesday’s Cactus League game against the Reds.
“I was catching Sanchez in the bullpen, and I felt something funny in my knee, but I didn’t expect that it was something very dangerous,” he said. “But right now they told me that it was way more than I thought it was. It was a pitch inside, so I was trying to move in, and that’s when my knee tweaked. My spike got stuck, and … my knee moved out of place.”
The club said that no timetable will be set for Perez’s return until the medical team performing the surgery determines the severity of the injury. The meniscus cushions the knee between the femur and the tibia, and Perez’s tear is on the outside. That type of surgery typically requires several weeks’ recovery before a player is game-ready.
Although his knee was sore, Perez was able to get into his crouch, and he caught Sanchez in the first inning but then was taken out of the game. Head athletic trainer Nick Kenney sent Perez for an MRI, which revealed the injury.
Perez said he’d never had problems with the knee.
“Usually meniscus injuries are very fixable, and there’s really not any long-term ill-effects, assuming the surgery goes well and the rehab goes well,” general manager Dayton Moore said. “We know what a great worker Salvy is, and he’ll do everything in his power to get back and ready to go.”
The Royals have dodged the injury bullet with two of their other prize youngsters, first baseman Eric Hosmer and third baseman Mike Moustakas, both of whom hit the dirt in Monday’s game. Hosmer tweaked his right shoulder and Moustakas was drilled in the right knee by a pitch, but both were pronounced OK. Perez isn’t as fortunate.
“It’s really a freaky thing, but the important thing is [that] he’s going to get it fixed, and hopefully it’s not too severe when they get in there and we can get him back playing at some point in time this season,” Moore said.
The loss of Perez means that the Royals will rely on Pena as their starting catcher, at least early in the season, or try to make a deal for an experienced backstop. Pena is regarded as a good hitter, but he does not have the defensive or game-calling credentials of Perez.
Last season, Pena shared catching duties with Matt Treanor, who was obtained from the Rangers at the end of Spring Training when the Royals decided that Lucas May had shortcomings behind the plate. In addition, veteran Jason Kendall’s recovery from shoulder surgery was not coming along as fast as expected.
Pena, a switch-hitter, batted .248 in 72 games and was recognized as improving his defensive skills throughout the year. Treanor sustained a concussion in a home-plate collision on July 30 at Cleveland and never returned. Manny Pina came up briefly, but Perez was summoned on Aug. 10, and Treanor subsequently was sold back to the Rangers. Treanor signed this winter with the Dodgers.
Pina is the third catcher on the Royals’ 40-man roster, but he underwent surgery on his right knee on Feb. 27 in Kansas City after tearing the meniscus while catching in batting practice on Feb. 22. He is expected to be out for the rest of Spring Training and possibly beyond.
Moore said that the Royals are scanning the marketplace for more catching depth.
“With Manny Pina going down in almost the exact same situation, we were trying to find some depth already, so we’re going to have to continue to search for solutions and more depth there,” he said.
Manager Ned Yost noted that the injuries to Perez and Pina are strangely similar in how they happened. Both were reaching for pitches, and both caught their spikes in the dirt, twisting their knees.
“When it happened to Manny, he went down right away,” Yost said. “Sal didn’t even hardly flinch. He came in and said, ‘My knee’s a little sore.’ The trainer checked him, he was squatting fine, and Sal said, ‘I’m fine, time to go.’ When he came back in, he was having problems. … He could squat fine, but when he tried to straighten it out, he was having some pain.”
Among the other catchers in camp are Cody Clark and Max Ramirez, both of whom have considerable Triple-A experience.
Clark, 30, took Perez’s place in Tuesday’s game, and had two hits. Last season he played 51 games for Triple-A Omaha and batted .233 as he shared catching duties with Pina, May and, briefly, Perez. He’s been a solid backup catcher in the organization since 2007.
Ramirez, 27, has grabbed attention in Cactus League play by slamming three home runs, and he leads the team in RBIs, with seven. A right-handed hitter, he’s played 45 games in the Majors, with the Rangers, with a .217 average. He’s caught in Triple-A since 2008.
But aside from them, the catching cupboard in the organization is rather bare, experience-wise.
The Royals thought so much of Perez that, after just 39 games of big league time, they signed him to a five-year, $7 million guaranteed contract through 2016, with club options for the following three seasons. If all the options are exercised and all the performance bonuses are achieved, the deal could be worth $26.75 million.
During his seven-week stay in the Majors last year, Perez earned respect from the pitchers for his ability to analyze opposing hitters, manage a game, cover the position and throw. In addition, he hit much better than anticipated — .331 with 21 RBIs and 13 extra-base hits, including three home runs.
The Western Athletic Conference boys basketball team has been announced and Hays High has one first team pick in junior Derek Bixeman, the only non-senior on the first five. Bixenman averaged 10.6 points and led the Indians in assists this season.
Dodge City’s Trey Hallman is Player of the Year and the Red Demons Dennis Hamilton is Coach of the Year.
All-WAC First Team
Trey Hallman-Dodge City
Jake Curran-Great Bend
Jace Bowman-Great Bend
DeVondra Livingston-Liberal
Derek Bixenman-Hays
Player of the Year Trey Hallman-Dodge City Coach of the Year Dennis Hamilton-Dodge City
All-WAC Honorable Mention Jace Larson-Dodge City
Osvaldo Villareal-Liberal
Austin Terpstra-Garden City
Isiah Bradshaw-Dodge City
Braden Taylor-Garden City
CLASS 3A – SPORTS ARENA, HUTCHINSON BOYS
1st: Scott City 61, Nemaha Valley 47 3rd: Central Heights 61, Rock Creek 45 Semifinals
Nemaha Valley 50, Central Heights 47
Scott City 64, Rock Creek 49 Quarterfinals Central Heights 61, Pittsburg Colgan 50
Nemaha Valley 51, Conway Springs 46
Rock Creek 49, Moundridge 41
Scott City 72, Beloit 63
GIRLS
1st: Silver Lake 51, Burlington 47, OT 3rd: Hillsboro 42, Atchison County 38
Semifinals Burlington 52, Hillsboro 38
Silver Lake 56, Atchison County 46 Quarterfinals Burlington 62, Holcomb 47
Hillsboro 48, Caney Valley 39
Atchison County 31, Beloit 27
Silver Lake 55, Garden Plain 49, OT
CLASS 2A – BRAMLAGE COLISEUM, MANHATTAN
BOYS
1st: Sterling 71, Meade 49 3rd: Berean Academy 50, Madison 38
Semifinals Meade 71, Madison 50
Sterling 50, Berean Academy 44 Quarterfinals Meade 51, Ell-Saline 28
Madison 47, Ness City 43
Berean Academy 37, Lyndon 36
Sterling 64, Jefferson North 62, OT
GIRLS
1st: Jefferson County North 51, Olpe 40 3rd: Republic County 48, Central Plains 47 Semifinals Olpe 57, Central Plains 46
Jefferson County North 61, Republic County 43 Quarterfinals Central Plains 46, Oakley 35
Jefferson County North 81, Madison 29
Olpe 59, Meade 29
Republic County 38, Lebo 35
CLASS 1A DIVISION I – WHITE AUDITORIUM, EMPORIA BOYS
1st: Ashland 67, Udall 55
3rd: Hoxie 55, Burrton 49 Semifinals Ashland 64, Hoxie 57
Udall 34, Burrton 32 Quarterfinals Ashland 51, Lawrence-Seabury Acacemy 50
Hoxie 68, South Gray 59
Burrton 55, Lakeside-Downs 49
Udall 69, Centralia 64, OT
GIRLS 1st: Hoxie 55, St. John 45 3rd: Waverly 60, Spearville 59, 2OT Semifinals Hoxie 68, Spearville 56
St. John 54, Waverly 43 Quarterfinals Hoxie 71, Centre 29
Spearville 51, Pike Valley 43
Waverly 46, Centralia 36
St. John 44, Caldwell 17
CLASS 1A DIVISION II – GROSS COLISEUM, HAYS BOYS 1st: Frankfort 62, Otis-Bison 53, 2OT 3rd: Fowler 46, Hope 41 Semifinals Frankfort 50, Fowler 39
Otis-Bison 54, Hope 47 Quarterfinals Fowler 67, Cunningham 31
Frankfort 74, Crest 60
Hope 43, Wheatland-Grinnell 23
Otis-Bison 63, Greeley County 51
GIRLS 1st: Wallace County 48, Central Christian 46 3rd: Wetmore vs. Ingalls 55, Wetmore 42 Semifinals Wallace County 46, Wetmore 45, OT
Central Christian 51, Ingalls 50 Quarterfinals Wetmore 40, Logan 29
Wallace County 53, Norwich 45
Ingalls 70, Colony-Crest 24
Central Christian 60,Victoria 46
Fort Hays State baseball’s struggles continued on Saturday in Joplin, Mo., as they were swept by Missouri Southern in a doubleheader by scores of 12-4 and 11-1. Missouri Southern, ranked No. 24 in NCAA Division II, swept the four-game series, moving to 15-1 overall and 8-0 in the MIAA. Fort Hays State dropped to 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the MIAA with the losses.
Game 1: Missouri Southern 12, FHSU 4 FHSU claimed an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Jay Sanders RBI groundout, but it was all Missouri Southern from that point as the Lions scored two in the bottom of the second, two in the third, two in the fourth, and six in the fifth on their way to a 12-4 win.
Connor Beer allowed six runs over four innings in his start for FHSU. Four of the six runs allowed were earned. Chase Newman did not fair well in relief, lasting just a third of an inning while allowing three runs. Kyle Leroy surrendered the final three runs and did not record an out.
Jesse Hart was the only Tiger to hold the Lions scoreless, pitching the final 1 2/3 innings of the game.
Brett Macari recorded an RBI on a groundout in the fourth, an inning where the Tigers got two runs benefitting from an MSSU error. Luke Kordsmeier had a solo home run in the sixth.
David Reese was the winning pitcher for MSSU. Just one of his four runs allowed were earned. He struck out three and walked one in six innings of work.
Game 2: Missouri Southern 11, FHSU 1 Missouri Southern jumped out to a 4-0 lead early with three runs in the first and one in the second. FHSU pulled within three at 4-1 in the top of the fifth on sacrifice fly RBI by Sheldon Howell, but that was all the scoring for the Tigers in the game.
The Lions pulled away with three in the fifth, one in the sixth, and three in the seventh to force the 10-run rule after seven innings. Nathan Zimmerman started for FHSU and allowed five of the runs (four earned). Alex Ellison and Tayler Davis each allowed three in relief.
Ethan Stenger threw a complete game for Missouri Southern, striking out five without walking a batter.
Fort Hays State plays a four-game series at Lincoln University next weekend in Jefferson City, Mo.
The Tiger softball team opened the conference portion of their schedule on Saturday afternoon with a pair of wins over Washburn. FHSU had to come from behind in both games, winning by scores of 6-5 and 5-2. The Tigers are now 14-6 (2-0 MIAA) on the year.
Game 1: Fort Hays State 6, Washburn 5 The Tigers found themselves down 5-0 after the top of the fourth inning, but battled back with three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to get the 6-5 victory.
Maddie Holub and Adriana Wortley got back-to-back singles with two outs in the fourth inning and both would come around to score on a double of the fence by Amanda Vaupel. Chelsey Rottinghaus came up next and legged out an infield single and advanced to second on a bad throw by the Lady Blue shortstop, which also allowed Vaupel to score.
The offense put together another strong inning in the fifth, led off by a single from Christine Moses. Madison Putman then reached base by an error to give the Tigers two base runners with no outs in the inning. After the next two batters were retired, Holub came back around and hit her fifth home run of the season to give FHSU the 6-5 lead.
Holub would take care of everything else from the pitching circle, where she struck out 15 Washburn batters and allowed just five hits and one earned run. Holub picked up the win, improving her record to 8-4 on the year.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 5, Washburn 2 Fort Hays State again had to come from behind in the second game, getting down 2-0 after allowing Washburn one run in both the first and second innings.
FHSU had chances of their own early on, stranding base runners in three of the first four innings before breaking through in the fifth. The Tigers were aided by a Washburn error that allowed Holub to reach, but FHSU also got three hits in the inning and scored five runs to go up 5-2. The main damage was when Putman hit a two-RBI single, which scored Breanna Beckerman and Rottinghaus.
Kaitlyn Shattleroe pitched the first five innings and picked up the win, improving to 6-1 on the year. She allowed nine hits but just two earned runs. Holub came in to pitch the final two innings and picked up her second save of the year.
The Tigers play at home again next weekend, facing Central Missouri on Friday afternoon at 3pm.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Baylor sharpshooter Brady Heslip hit a pair of 3-pointers to keep No. 3 Kansas at bay, and Perry Jones III finished with 18 points as the No. 12 Bears beat the Jayhawks 81-72 on Friday night to reach the Big 12 tournament title game.
Quincy Miller added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Pierre Jackson had 11 points and seven assists for the Bears (27-6), who will play No. 5 Missouri or Texas for the championship.
Baylor lost to the Tigers in its only previous Big 12 title game.
Tyshawn Taylor had 20 points for Kansas (26-6), which used a big second-half charge to briefly take the lead. But the Bears hung tough down the stretch, and Heslip’s two 3-pointers — one with 2:03 remaining, the other with 1:12 left — allowed them to hang on.
No team from Texas has ever won the Big 12 tournament.
Baylor will get another chance.
The last time the Jayhawks lost to Baylor was in the quarterfinals of the 2009 conference tournament, when they were also the top seed. Now they’ll spend the rest of the weekend waiting for their seeding in the NCAA tournament, where many expected them to receive a No. 1 spot.
Thomas Robinson finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for Kansas. Elijah Johnson added 15 points but was 1 of 6 from beyond the arc, while Jeff Withey added 11 points.
Baylor took a 15-8 in the opening minutes and, with the exception of a couple flurries by the Jayhawks, managed to hold the advantage all the way to halftime.
Jones looked as if he never left the Sprint Center after his epic 31-point outing against Kansas State in the quarterfinals. He had 10 points and five boards by halftime, once going way up for an alley-oop jam off a pass from Pierre Jackson that seemed headed for the cheap seats.
Kansas pulled even at 22 when Taylor scored with 8:23 left in the half, but Miller — who also had 10 points at the break — responded with a deep 3-pointer. It was the start of a 14-5 surge by the Bears that A.J. Walton capped with a 3 of his own.
Walton, hit with a technical foul in the opening minutes, had eight first-half points.
The Jayhawks trailed 43-35 when the teams hit the locker room, and they were fortunate it was that close. Robinson, the Big 12 player of the year, was held to five points and a single lonely rebound in 13 minutes, forced to spend the final five on the bench because of foul trouble.
The Bears kept building on the lead in the second half, going ahead 53-40 on Quincy Acy’s basket with 16:32 left. Little did they know it would be their last one for a while.
Taylor started the Jayhawks on an 18-3 push with an easy basket, and after Acy blew a dunk on the other end, Robinson scored underneath. Kansas started to get into transition, where it’s at its best, and Taylor eventually rattled in another 3 to get the Jayhawks within one with 12:52 to go.
The senior guard shrugged his shoulders on his way back to defense, the Sprint Center coming alive with the crowd heavily favoring the school about a 30-minute drive from Kansas City.
Withey’s three-point play and a basket by Robinson gave Kansas a 58-56 lead, its first since midway through the first half — though it was short-lived.
Baylor scored the next nine points, four of them coming on Jones’ first buckets of the second half, and still led 65-60 on a pair of foul shots by Walton with 6:08 left.
Taylor and Robinson managed to get to the foul line for Kansas, but Heslip’s 3-pointer with 2:03 left gave Baylor a 70-64 advantage, and his next 3 with 1:12 go made it 73-66.
The Fort Hays State baseball team could not snap its losing streak on Friday (Mar. 9), dropping a pair of conference contests to 24th-ranked Missouri Southern in Joplin, Mo. FHSU saw a 2-0 lead slip away in game one and fell 5-4, then dropped the nightcap 7-4. FHSU is now 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the MIAA.
Game 1: Missouri Southern 5, FHSU 4 The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when the Tigers took advantage of an error to open the inning. A Ryan Busboom single scored Brandon Hoefler from second base to give FHSU a 1-0 lead. Shawn Lewick worked around trouble in the bottom of the fourth to keep FHSU in the lead. He struck out the last two batters to strand a runner at third.
In the fifth, the FHSU lead grew to 2-0 on a Jay Sanders double and Luke Kordsmeier scored on an error by the right fielder.
Missouri Southern finally broke through on the Tigers in the bottom of the fifth. A one out single scored a run from second, then a double put runners at second and third. An untimely error by Tiger shortstop Sheldon Howell allowed a second run to come in on a grounder, which gave MSSU a 3-2 lead.
The Lions broke through with two more runs in the sixth, both charged to Lewick. An error on a failed pickoff attempt and a wild pitch by relief pitcher Kyle Leroy led to the two insurance runs scoring for the Lions.
They would need those insurance runs as FHSU rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh. An error allowed one run in with two outs and extended the inning to allow Nash Smith to single in another run. But with runners at first and second, Mace Krol struck out to end the game.
Lewick, who has been the strongest pitcher for FHSU this season, was handed the tough-luck loss. He has had two no decisions and now a loss, but has a 3.45 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 15.2 innings of work.
Cody Griebling moved to 4-0 on the season for MSSU with the win. He went the distance, striking out eight over the seven innings.
Game 2: Missouri Southern 7, FHSU 4 FHSU fell victim to the big inning in the second game as Missouri Southern scored six of its seven runs in the second inning. A strong outing from MSSU starter Ryan Wheat, kept the Tigers from rallying until later in the game. After giving up a run in the first to FHSU, he settled in to pitch 7.2 innings. He retired the side in order in four innings following the first.
The Tigers finally rallied for a pair of runs in the eighth on RBI singles by Nash Smith and Ryan Busboom. Mace Krol produced the final run for FHSU in the ninth on an RBI single.
Bo Bergen picked up a save for MSSU in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Andy Lewton took the loss for FHSU in 6 innings of work. Four of the six runs he allowed were earned. He allowed four hits, walked four, and struck out five.
A year after falling in the first round of the 2A state tournament in Manhattan, the Ness City Eagles made the trip back to state looking to better last season’s performance. The Eagles, at 20-3 matched up with the Madison/Hamilton Bulldogs who were also 20-3, in the four vs. five game.
After opening with a pair of Collin Foos free throws, the Eagles led 2-0. Madison answered back with a 6-0 run to lead 6-2. Dalton Gantz gave the Eagles a 9-8 lead with a three-pointer, Gantz poured in seven of his 10 points in the first quarter. The Bulldogs finished the first quarter on a 6-2 run and led 17-13 after one.
Madison opened the second quarter with a 19-13 lead; six would be the largest lead of the game. Madison led 21-15 before the Eagles came streaking back, putting together a 6-0 run to take a 22-21 lead behind four points from Wyatt Beckman. The two teams traded the lead to end the second quarter before Madison’s Tyler Williams scored his ninth point of the game giving Madison a 25-24 halftime lead.
The Eagles opened the second half on a 9-2 run and took their largest lead of the game at 33-28. Beckman and Collin Foos combined for eight points giving the Eagles a 34-33 lead after three quarters. After outscoring the Bulldogs in the second and third quarters the Eagles jumped out to a 38-35 lead to begin the fourth quarter, but that would be the last time the Eagles would lead in the game.
Madison’s leading scorer Tyler Williams pulled down three offensive rebounds in the final period and poured in 14 of his game-high 25 points helping the Bulldogs outscore the Eagles 14-9 in the fourth quarter as Madison picked up the 47-43 win.
Wyatt Beckman was six-of-eight from the free throw line and had a team high 12 points for the Ness City Eagles. Collin Foos chipped in 10 points and six rebounds and Drew Clarke pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Ness City’s season comes to an end at 20-4.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Elijah Johnson scored a career-high 26 points, and No. 3 Kansas began pursuit of its third straight Big 12 tournament title with an 83-66 win over Texas A&M in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Thomas Robinson, the conference player of the year, finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and All-Big 12 guard Tyshawn Taylor added 16 points for the Jayhawks (27-5).
They’ll play No. 12 Baylor on Friday. The Bears beat Kansas State 82-74 in the quarterfinals.
Khris Middleton led Texas A&M (14-18) with 24 points, though he didn’t get a whole lot of help. Leading scorer Elston Turner was held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.
The Aggies, who beat Oklahoma in the opening round, simply couldn’t contain Johnson, who knocked down five 3-pointers. The junior guard set his previous career high of 23 points early in the year against UCLA, before spending several months struggling with his shot.
He didn’t struggle very much Thursday afternoon.
Kansas didn’t struggle with much of anything.
The Jayhawks have won nine straight overall, including a thrilling overtime victory against Missouri. They improved to 15-1 in their opening game at the Big 12 tournament, and are 14-2 in quarterfinal match-ups, their last loss coming to Baylor in the 2009 quarterfinals.
The same team they’ll face Friday night.
Early on, it didn’t look like things would be nearly so easy for top-seeded Kansas against the No. 9 seed Aggies, who were coming off a victory about 16 hours earlier.
Texas A&M clamped down on Robinson in the post and flustered Taylor in the backcourt while inching out to an early advantage. Middleton provided the offense for the Aggies, scoring 14 of his points in the first half as Texas A&M established a 21-17 lead.
Middleton’s basket with 8:48 left wound up being the high point for the Aggies.
Robinson got on track with a basket inside to start the Jayhawks on a 13-0 run, ultimately giving them the lead for good. Johnson knocked down a pair of 3s during the spurt, and Taylor’s signature floater in the lane with 4:19 left gave Kansas a 30-21 advantage.
Middleton stemmed the tide with a three-point play, but it was only a speed bump for the Jayhawks, who pushed the lead to 38-24 on Taylor’s back-to-back 3-pointers.
They scored on 10 of their first 11 possessions of the second half to put the game away.
Johnson started the clinching run with a jumper in the opening seconds, and after Withey made one of two free throws, Robinson knocked down a 3 from the top of the key — the bruising forward improved his career mark to 5 of 12 from beyond the arc.
Robinson scored again on the Jayhawks’ next possession, and Johnson converted a three-point play before Robinson’s two foul shots made it 53-37 with 15:35 left.
The lead eventually swelled to more than 20 when Robinson made the first of two free throws, stole the ball after missing the second, and made one of two on his next trip to the line.
Robinson even knocked down another 3 with 5:04 remaining, the first time in his three-year career at Kansas that he’s made more than one in a game.
Kansas cruised the final 12 minutes to a comfortable win.
The Jayhawks, who met Texas A&M in the semifinals two of the past four years, improved to 20-1 against the Aggies in the final meeting as members of the same league.
The Aggies head off to the Southeastern Conference beginning next season.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Never fond of conference tournaments to begin with, this sure didn’t change Frank Martin’s mind.
Apparently hitting their peak just in time for the postseason, Martin’s Kansas State Wildcats cruised into the Big 12 tournament after winning four of their last five. They even had a one-point win at Baylor.
But with Perry Jones III scoring a career-high 31 points, the Bears roared to a nine-point halftime lead and cruised to a 82-74 victory in their first game.
Now Kansas State (21-10), can only wait Sunday to see if they get picked as an at-large entry in the NCAA tournament.
“Now we’ve got to cross our fingers. We’ve put our fate in someone else’s hands,” said Martin. “We’ve got to cross our fingers and hope that what we’ve done is enough and we’re given an opportunity. I told the team, ‘If we are given an opportunity — I think we’re very much deserving of an opportunity — we get one more chance to get it right. If we don’t get it right, then the season will be over.”
The defense was especially brutal against the 6-11 Jones. He went 8 for 8 in the first half and wound up with 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double.
“They set the tone. They came after us and knocked us down and we really never punched back,” said Martin. “That was unfortunate because we’d come a long way in that department this year. For us to revert to that is really frustrating.”
The coach was almost shocked to see his team slip back to bad habits he thought were taken care of in December.
“Was I surprised? Yes. We finished the year off playing well. Our practices were enthusiastic. Guys were excited about having a chance to come here and make a run in the Big 12. That’s why it’s disappointing today.”
Jones was at a loss to explain his big game.
“I guess I was just in the zone today,” he said. “Just being aggressive and more assertive.”
Martin was careful not to diminish the Bears’ good play.
“We were so bad defensively today,” he said. “Baylor was good. They’re a heck of a basketball team. I don’t want to take away from them, their moment, because they won the game. But defensively, we were so selfish today. We didn’t help each other.”
Brady Heslip had 15 points and Pierre Jackson added 13 points and eight assists for Baylor, which shot a sizzling 57 percent while debuting bright, fluorescent yellow uniforms.
Jordan Henriquez, often left unattended in the middle of Baylor’s zone defense, scored a career-high 22 points for Kansas State, which had split with Baylor in the regular season. The 6-11 Henriquez gives the Wildcats something to look forward to in the NCAA tournament and next year as well.
“I’m not into individual performances,” said Martin. “But his growth as a player, his consistency as of late was awesome.”
McGruder had 14 points for Kansas State and Angel Rodriguez had 12.
The Fort Hays State softball team, playing their seventh and eighth games in the past five days, split a doubleheader against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford, Okla., on Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers lost the first game by a score of 10-2 in six innings, but rebounded to get the split with a 5-2 win in the night cap. Fort Hays State has improved their record to 12-6 on the year heading into MIAA play, which opens on Saturday with a home series against Washburn.
Game 1:Southwestern Oklahoma State 10, Fort Hays State 2 (6 inn.) SWOSU jumped on top 4-0 in the first inning of the opening game, taking advantage of a walk and two stolen bases to get out in front. The Bulldogs added two more runs in the bottom of the third before Fort Hays State got on the board. The Tigers scored one run in the fourth and sixth innings, but the damage had already been done and SWOSU hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth for a walk-off run-rule victory.
Kaitlyn Shattleroe pitched the opening 2 1/3 innings and took the loss for the Tigers after allowing six earned runs and walking four.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 5, Southwestern Oklahoma State 2 The Tigers rebounded well in the second game and put together all the offense they needed with a five-run third inning. Taylor Nelson and Callie Wright singled to open the inning, with Nelson coming around to score on an Adriana Wortley double. Amanda Vaupel followed that up with a single of her own, scoring both Wright and Nelson to put the Tigers up 3-0. Chelsey Rottinghaus kept it going with a two-run home run, her second of the year, to put the Tigers up 5-0.
That would be more than enough run support for Maddie Holub, who put together another strong outing from the pitching circle. Holub pitched a complete game, allowing just three hits and didn’t give up a run until the Bulldogs hit a two-out home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Holub struck out 13 SWOSU batters and improved her record to 7-4 on the year.
TMP-Marian senior kicker Drew O’Brien is taking his skills to Fort Hays State. The two-sport all-stater signed a letter of intent yesterday to play football for the Tigers.
