Spring sports are in full swing, which helped fill the void left by the KU men’s basketball team’s early exit from the Big 12 tournament and the KU women’s team’s wait to find out their fate in the NCAA Tournament.
Both teams are in, of course. And now the preparations begin for their first-round matchups later this week — the KU men are a No. 4 seed and will face 13th-seeded Samford on Thursday in Salt Lake City. And the KU women are an 8 seed and are headed to Los Angeles to take on No. 9 seed Michigan.
All of that, and more, will be celebrated in this week’s Monday Morning Wheaties.
You’ve seen the tomahawks on the back of the Florida State helmets, the buckeye tree leaves on the Ohio State helmets and the paw prints on the back of the Clemson helmets.
Each Monday, we take one last look back at the week that was and hand out different amounts of the iconic breakfast cereal to the Jayhawks’ top performers.
So, be sure to come get your Monday Morning Wheaties and feel free to hit up the comments section — subscribers only for now — with any players you feel we might’ve missed.
Picture on the box
• Softball first baseman Campbell Bagshaw – We’ll have more on Bagshaw’s red-hot recent stretch a little later this week, but we had to get her on the Wheaties box as a primer. The sophomore who came to KU as a walk-on hit the game-winning home run against No. 13 Baylor and made several stellar defensive gems in the field as the Jayhawks swept the Bears in Lawrence over the weekend. That followed her first career home run — a grand slam earlier in the week to beat Wichita State. It’s all about approach and poise with Bagshaw and, right now, her mastery of both has her as locked in as anyone. Look for more on her hot start very soon!
A full bowl
• KU hurdler Gabrielle Gibson – The native of the Bahamas broke the program record in the 110-meter hurdles over the weekend, running a blazing time of 13.07 seconds to win the event at the Black & Gold Invite in Orlando. The old mark of 13.27 seconds was set by Ashley Brown in 2007. And the new mark was also the fastest time in the nation in the NCAA Outdoor sessions to date. Teammate Yoveinny Mota also broke the old record, running a 13.12 to finish second to Gibson.
• Infielders Chase Diggins and Kodey Shojinaga – The reigning Big 12 freshman of the year and transfer shortstop were both monsters in Game 1 of the Jayhawks’ road series at Cincinnati. Diggins and Shojinaga each picked up four hits and four RBIs in the 14-4 Kansas victory. In doing so, Shojinaga recorded his 100th career hit and Diggins’ marks were both career bests.
• Junior softball pitcher Katie Brooks – The Bolivar, Missouri native continued her outstanding season with a 5-hit, 0-run outing in the Jayhawks’ Game 2 win over Baylor on Saturday. Brooks struck out three batters in the game and ran her record to 8-1 on the season. She combined with team ace Kasey Hamilton, who won on Friday and pitched the final two innings in relief, to put up the Jayhawks’ seventh shutout of the season to date.
Nighttime snack
• Junior second baseman Sara Roszak – Known more for her solid glove on the infield, Roszak came through with a big hit over the weekend, driving in the Jayhawks’ only two runs with an RBI single in Saturday’s 2-0 victory. On Sunday, in the Jayhawks’ 1-0 win, Roszak’s bases-loaded walk was responsible for the only run of the day. A former Free State High star from Lawrence, Roszak was known as a dominant offensive player in high school but she has made the adjustment to KU and the college level by utilizing her smarts and steady approach both at the plate and in the field to carve out a key role on this talented team.
• Gracie Mulville – The sophomore tennis player from Thousand Oaks, California, picked up her third consecutive singles win against ranked opponents after knocking off No. 74 Yujia Huang, of BYU, during the Jayhawks’ huge home win over the 35th-ranked Cougars last weekend. Muville defeated Huang 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) to help the Jayhawks pick up a crucial 5-2 victory that improved their record to 5-8 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play. Prior to the win over Huang, Mulville also knocked off No. 58 Vanesa Suarez, of Kansas State, and No. 85, Cristina Tiglea, of Texas Tech, in recent KU matches.
Drink the milk
• Freshman baseball pitcher Dominic Voegele – The 6-foot-2 freshman hurler from Columbia, Illinois, threw six innings and allowed only one run in KU’s 1-0 road loss at Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. He has allowed just one earned run in four of his five starts so far this season. The 2023 MLB Draft pick struck out six batters during six innings of work in the classic pitchers’ duel.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kutickets.com
