Thursday, April 19, 2007
WICHITA — When coach Ritch Price arrived in Lawrence five years ago, he had a goal in mind pertaining to the in-state powerhouse to the south, Wichita State.
While looking over the program, Price said he wanted to make sure his team played .500 or better reach time the two teams met.
For the first time since his arrival, Price and the Jayhawks finished their series against the Shockers at Wichita State without achieving their goal.
Kansas fell to No. 10 Wichita State (31-9), 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Unlike the slugfest that took place nearly a month ago to the day, both the Jayhawks and Shockers trotted out a pair of quality starts from Andres Esquibel and Tyson Fugett, respectively. Although both left after three innings of work with a no decision, both left with zeros on the scoreboard and one hit apiece.
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I kind of try not to pay attention to that and just try to go out there and do my job. They’re 10th in the country they’ve got some good pitchers.
- Andres Esquibel
“We should’ve buried the first guy,” Price said about Fugett. “The first guy’s throwing 79 miles an hour, he’s almost under the radar gun. He really had us off balance, we were popping balls up on him because we can’t wait that long.”
Still, Kansas cracked the scoreboard first Wednesday night, using the Shockers third pitcher. Left-hander Anthony Capra entered the game in the top of the fifth in a jam. Jayhawk first baseman Ross Kelling stood at home plate with a full count while junior right fielder Brock Simpson was at second after a leadoff double.
With one pitch, Capra struck out Kelling, but he wasn’t as lucky with Simpson. Simpson stole third and scored when Capra threw a wild pitch to the fence.
Better prepared after what must have been a stressful entrance, Capra struck out the side the Jayhawks’ next time up. He didn’t surrendered a single hit to the Jayhawks.
“I kind of try not to pay attention to that and just try to go out there and do my job,” Esquibel said. “They’re 10th in the country they’ve got some good pitchers.”
Capra was just one of several pitchers that brought their ace material to the mound on Wednesday. After Esquibel’s exit, lefty Wally Marciel threw three more scoreless innings. He surrendered a hit to the first batter he faced.
“It’s a tough loss, no doubt about that,” Price said. “I couldn’t have asked our pitchers to do any better job today, they were absolutely outstanding for us.”
Like Marciel, junior right-hander Hiarali Garcia also gave up a hit to the first Shocker he faced.
The Shockers that pounded out 18 runs against the Jayhawks in March sealed the deal with just two on Wednesday when Gillaspie singled past a diving Ryne Price to knock in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.
““We came in here just trying to redeem ourselves, trying to play as hard as we can” Esquibel said. “It was tough, it’s tough to lose by a run.”
Sophomore catcher Buck Afenir singled in the top of the ninth as the Jayhawks looked for the comeback, but pinch runner Nick Faunce was caught stealing at second to end any threat.
Kansan senior sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@kansan.com.
— Edited by Mark Vierthaler
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