Thursday, March 8, 2007
Loyal through the first half of Wednesday’s 24-7 blowout against Baker (5-4) University, Kansas (11-5) fans were scarce by the end of chilly midweek game.
The second longest game of the season, at two hours and 52 minutes, completed the Jayhawks’ four-games-in-four-days run.
The last time the Jayhawks unloaded a beating like Wednesday’s was in the 2004 season against the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee. The back-to-back midweek games played before heading to No. 10 Arkansas this weekend resulted in 42 Kansas runs on 43 hits.
“Those are games you have to dominate when you’re a Division I program,” coach Ritch Price said. “You’re trying to get everyone in the ballgame and in order to do that your players have to swing the bats the way they’re capable of.”
At least the Jayhawks shared the load amongst themselves, as Price kept his word getting his younger players in to Wednesday’s game. Twenty-four of the Jayhawks’ 35-man roster saw time against the Wildcats.
Of the position players, all but five had at least one hit.
Junior shorstop Erick Morrison again led the way for the potent Jayhawk offense, hitting a solid 3-for-4, including a three-run homer, scoring three times and knocking four runs in. Once again, the shortstop was just a triple away from the cycle.
pullquote
That’s kind of the motto, we need to be greedy. We need to be selfish in this game.
- Erick Morrison, Junior shortstop
“I’m not really worried about any of the cycle stuff,” Morrison said. “I mean, it would be pretty sweet to get it. It’s in the back of the mind, but we got the ‘W.’ ”
Like Tabor College the night before, Baker jumped on Kansas first. The Wildcats manufactured a run, driving in lead off batter Ben Mejia with back-to-back ground outs to the right side.
Much like Tuesday night, Kansas exploded with a big inning. A pair of walks put senior centerfielder Kyle Murphy and junior left fielder John Allman on board for a Morrison blast. It was the junior’s third on the season, and gave Kansas a quick 4-1 lead.
Unlike Tabor, Baker found a surge in their half of the second inning. Only powered by two Wildcat hits and kept alive by two costly Jayhawk errors, the ‘Cats put up five-runs and retook the lead, 6-4
Kansas was ready for the task of regaining their lead.
In the bottom of the second, the Jayhawks batted around en route to a six-run inning. Instead of helping with errors the way Kansas did, Baker starting pitcher Joe Kaup hit three batters, two of which scored. Kaup (1-1) would take the loss after surviving only a two inning outing, surrendering 10 earned runs.
Combined with five Jayhawk hits, highlighted by sophomore Preston Land and junior Brock Simpson’s two-RBI singles, swayed the shoot out to 10-6 in the home team’s favor.
The Tabor sequel then resumed. Baker’s five-run second was the only true fight the Wildcats scraped together. The NAIA squad scored once more to the Jayhawks’ 14-run onslaught.
“That’s kind of the motto, we need to be greedy,” Morrison said. “We need to be selfish in this game.”
Sophomore left hander Andy Marks (3-1) picked up the victory in relief. With three even innings, Marks had the longest outing of all five of the Jayhawk pitchers.
Making the most of a game that mercifully ended in a run-rule after the eighth, Price used the game for more than just a victory.
“No, I just feel good that everybody got to play and that everybody got an at bat,” Price said. “I feel bad that Max Ellenbacher was supposed to pitch the ninth inning and the game got out of hand in the eighth inning and that was the end.”
Kansan senior sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@kansan.com.
— Edited by Mark Vierthaler
‘Big innings’ key to success
After losing a traveling series to Oral Roberts, Kansas baseball bounced back ...
Commanding victory builds confidence
Jayhawks hold on to early lead, scoring more points in the first ...
Jayhawks defeat Baker 11-6
The Jayhawks stormed to a 9-0 lead during the first six innings. ...
KU KSU Gameday
Inexperience on bench having some luck this ...
Pitcher Hiarali, who has been called from the bullpen for the past ...
Kansas baseball team beats Iowa
Several home runs led to a 9-5 victory against Iowa this weekend.
Baseball struggles late against Texas
Texas sent all nine batters to the plate in the eighth inning ...
Baseball heads to No. 10 Arkansas
Riding a four-game winning streak, Kansas travels to Fayetteville, Ark. to take ...
Shortstop powers offensive barrage
Junior transfer David Narodowski hit 2-for-2 with two home runs in an ...
Victory over Missouri State is #400 for ...
Coach Price brought home his 400th victory after the Kansas baseball team ...
Foes and friends, Kansas seniors have shared ...
Kansan baseball players Erik Morrison and Ryne Price have a long history ...
Baseball experiences cloudy games in Florida
Almost all the games, victory or loss, were close in score, excluding ...
Jayhawks defeat Bears 15-6
Kansas coach attributes offensive explosion to good at-bats against Northern Colorado pitching.
Home opener breaks winter woes
The baseball team shattered a four-game losing streak with Sunday’s double-header at ...
Jayhawks bash Bluejays by seven runs
Kansas routed Tabor College while giving 19 position players and six pitchers ...
Battle of the birds
The baseball team gets today’s game and Wednesday’s match-up with Baker to ...
Baseball notebook: March 12, 2008
Notes about Kansas baseball after their victory against Tabor College.
Kansas falls to Oklahoma 14-4
The Sooners capitalized on a four-run sixth inning to defeat the Jayhawks
Missed opportunities doom Kansas baseball
Kansas goes 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in a 5-0 loss.
Wichita State baseball shocks Kansas
The Wichita State and Kansas baseball rivalry has never ended with such ...
Offenses explode in Game one against Oklahoma
Kansas outlasted Oklahoma 17-15 in the highest scoring conference game since 1998 ...
Kansas wins easily
8-0 Softball keeps rolling
Kansas Softball makes easy work of Bethune-Cookman, winning in five innings.
Kansas wins 16-0 after rain ends play
Sophomore first baseman Zac Elgie overcomes hitting slump, matching career-high three hits.
Baseball team to face Missouri State
The Bears have won five of their last six games despite hitting ...
Jayhawks continue to enjoy winning streak
Kansas extended its winning streak to six victories Sunday. Senior shortstop Erik ...
Baseball team sweeps Northwestern
The stormy weekend produced one rain delay and three victories for Kansas.
Battle of the Jays
Taylor needs to prove himself when the Jayhawks take on the Blue ...
Despite rough start, Jayhawks defeat Ravens 7-2
Kansas rallies after first few innings against Benedictine College on Wednesday.
Walz tosses 7-2/3 innings en route to ...
Kansas gave Nebraska their first home loss of the season and moved ...
Kansas vs. Missouri Series Recap
The Jayhawks lost their third straight Big 12 series this last weekend.
Huskers win first game of series
Nebraska's seventh inning propels it to a 7-6 victory against Kansas.
Kansas baseball defeats Western Illinois
Second game proves more challenging as the Leathernecks unsuccessfully fight for a ...
Jayhawks take out Wildcats
Jayhawks will head to Oklahoma City Wednesday to compete against Wildcats in ...
Jayhawks fall to Bears 9-8 in Game ...
Price surprised to see high number of runs in both games this ...
Wildcats salvage series finale against Jayhawks
Jayhawks break record for most hits and ...
The baseball team now sits just one game shy of .500, at ...
Missouri baseball takes game two
Preston Land hit a bomb in the ninth inning that nearly cleared ...
Baseball splits series with Northern Colorado
Last season, Northern Colorado defeated Kansas twice, but this year it could ...
Missed chances lead to baseball loss
The Kansas baseball team faced its toughest competition of the season so ...
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
KUnited presidential candidate Libby Johnson and vice presidential ...
1 comment
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID