Verzeichnis
Sports
Calendar
College
BASEBALL
Kansas State vs. Oklahoma State, 9 a.m., Big 12 Tournament at Oklahoma City
Kansas vs. Texas, 12:30 p.m., Big 12 Tournament at Oklahoma City
Professional
GOLF
Golfweek National Pro Tour at Firekeeper Golf Course, finish of Rd. 2
Today’s line
NBA playoffs
Favorite Line Underdog
THURSDAY
Miami 3 Indiana
Sunday
San Antonio 5 Oklahoma City
Baseball
College
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Wednesday-Sunday at Oklahoma City
Games Wednesday
NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez gave Will Smith a rude welcome to the major leagues Wednesday night, hitting two homers off the rookie to back another strong start for Andy Pettitte and lead the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 8-3.
A-Rod snapped a 52 at-bat homerless drought and drove in three runs for New York. Curtis Granderson also connected off Smith and the Yankees scored three times in the fifth with help from some inept relief pitching.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Jacob House and Scott Arthur had two hits and three RBIs apiece and Daniel Mengden pitched 6 2-3 strong innings, leading two-time defending champion Texas A&M to a 10-4 victory over Kansas in the Big 12 tournament Wednesday.
The second-seeded Aggies (42-14) won their eighth game in a row and improved to 11-1 in May. They’ll play Thursday night against Texas or Missouri. The Jayhawks (22-34) play the Texas-Missouri loser on Thursday afternoon.
Texas A&M used a four-run fifth inning to break open the game.
MAYETTA — Wind can, indeed, halt a golf tournament.
Once gusts howled to more than 50 mph Wednesday, the second round of the Firekeeper Tradition was suspended around 4 p.m.
Second-round play in the Golfweek National Pro Tour event will resume at 8 a.m. Thursday. Cuts will be determined upon conclusion of the round, though the tournament was shortened to a 54-hole event, with the final round scheduled Friday at Firekeeper Golf Course.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Big 12 player of the year Josh Ludy hit two home runs and drove in six runs to lead top-seeded Baylor to an 11-1 victory against Kansas State in the conference tournament.
Ludy connected for a two-run shot in the fourth inning and a three-run home run in the fifth, both to left field. He then drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth on Wednesday.
The game ended because of the mercy rule after seven innings.
Charlie Weis has lived the past month as a man of the people, and right now the people want to know about the jerseys.
The last coach removed the players' names as a symbol of selflessness (or something), which offended some Kansas fans almost as much as the team’s 2-10 record. So when the new coach mingles with the masses, as he did Wednesday in Topeka, it’s not uncommon for someone to ask about his position on the divisive issue of uniform lettering.
Weis answers in good humor, though it’s clear he’s gotten this one before.
So often when a new college coach is hired, much is made of the pending change in culture.
Charlie Weis was reminded of the expression Wednesday when his statewide tour swung through Topeka.
"I’m just going to re-word that a little bit,’’ Weis said. "Any time you have a coaching change, things are different. That comes with the territory. So rather than really changing the culture, what it really is is getting the organization to know your personality and your way of doing business.’’
OK, so Seaman’s baseball players probably know they're the top seed for this weekend’s Class 5A state tournament at Wichita State University.
The 20-2 Vikings also know they drew a team with a losing record — 9-13 Lansing — for their first-round game at 11 a.m. Friday.
But Seaman’s players got very little, if any, of that information from Viking coach Steve Bushnell.
"We put the teams on a bracket, we erased the seeds on the left side, we erased the records on the right side and the only number that really matters is game time," Bushnell said.
Seaman softball coach Jay Monhollon hasn’t hidden recent history from his players, but he also hasn’t made a big deal out of the fact that the Vikings have been to the Class 5A state tournament five straight seasons and lost five straight first-round games.
His main focus has been on giving his 19-3 team its best chance to end that streak in Friday’s 7 p.m. first-round state game against No. 3 seed Hays (20-2) at the Two Rivers Youth Complex in Wichita.
Washburn Rural and Olathe Northwest are used to playing in the championship game of the Class 6A state softball tournament, having done so in three of the last four seasons.
There also has been plenty of drama in the series, with two one-run games in those three state finals.
This year, however, the drama will be right out of the gate, with the third-seeded Junior Blues (19-3) drawing the Ravens (18-4) in a 1 p.m. first-round game Friday at Blue Valley West.
Shawnee Heights’ softball team has hit the ball, and hit it for power, through most of the 2012 season.
That may be the key for the 16-6 T-Birds in the Class 5A state tournament, starting with an opening-round game against No. 2 seed Wichita Carroll (20-2) at 5 p.m. Friday at the Three Rivers Youth Complex in Wichita.
Shawnee Heights, which lost in the first round at state a year ago, enters the state tournament with five regulars hitting at least .368 and the T-Birds hitting .355 as a team.
WICHITA — Two-time defending champion Hays certainly gets the nod as the boys team favorite for this weekend’s Class 5A State Outdoor track and field meet, which will be contested at Cessna Stadium, beginning 7:45 a.m. Friday.
But Seaman boys coach Scott Petersen expects his Vikings to make some noise in the two-day meet.
Baseball
COLLEGE
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY AT OKLAHOMA CITY
GAMES WEDNESDAY
Game 1 — Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma, 9 a.m.
Game 2 — Kansas State vs. Baylor, 12:30 p.m.
Game 3 — Kansas vs. Texas A&M, 4 p.m.
Game 4 — Missouri vs. Texas, 7:30 p.m.
GAMES THURSDAY
Game 5 — Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 9 a.m.
Game 6 — Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser, 12:30 p.m.
NEW YORK — Robinson Cano homered, Phil Hughes beat Kansas City for the second time this month and the New York Yankees — still looking to bust out with the bats — eked out a 3-2 victory over the Royals on Tuesday night.
EX-ROYALS ON MLB ALL-STAR CELEBRITY SOFTBALL ROSTER: There will definitely be a Kansas City Royals flavor to the All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball game which will be played on July 8 at Kauffman Stadium. George Brett, Bo Jackson and Mike Sweeney will play in the softball game. Festivities will begin at 4 p.m., with the All-Star Futures game leading off the schedule.
