Tuesday, April 8, 2008
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What do Kansas and Northern Colorado have in common? For starters, both teams have just one win in their last eight games.
Well, either the Jayhawks or the Bears have to put a notch in the win column today. At 6 p.m. Kansas (19-16) welcomes Northern Colorado (8-22) to Hoglund Ballpark for the first leg of a two-game midweek series.
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"We’ve got to get some momentum going back in our dugout."
—Ritch Price, baseball coach
Like Kansas, Northern Colorado is coming off a weekend sweep, but the Bears shouldn’t be taken lightly. Two of Northern Colorado’s victories this season came against Texas A&M, which swept Kansas two weeks ago, and one came against No. 2 Arizona State.
As if that isn’t enough, Kansas starters’ subpar pitching will keep the Jayhawks and coach Ritch Price from underestimating the Bears.
“We’ve got to get some momentum going back in our dugout,” Price said. “Those are two huge games now.
“The second thing is, the guys that we start (today) and Wednesday have an opportunity to move into the weekend rotation if they pitch well. The door’s been left open for someone to emerge.”
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The first pitcher Price will send out to the mound tonight is sophomore left-hander Shaeffer Hall (2-1). Although his 4.95 ERA is far from dazzling, it is the second best on the team and if he can give the Jayhawks a quality start, Price may have to consider moving him into the weekend rotation.
Stepping into the box to face Hall is a timid Northern Colorado offense that’s averaging fewer than five runs a game.
Of the Bears’ regulars, only infielder Chad Murray is batting over .300 while first baseman Kevin Sandberg is Northern Colorado’s biggest threat on offense with a team-best four home runs and .405 on-base percentage. Catcher Erik Whinery is the only other Bear hitting over .265.
As for the Jayhawks, they too are looking for more production out of their offense.
“The five guys in the middle of our lineup, they’ve got to knock runs in when we’ve got opportunities to do so,” Price said.
Senior left fielder John Allman, junior catcher Buck Afenir, senior right fielder Ryne Price, senior shortstop Erik Morrison and junior first baseman Preston Land have occupied the heart of Kansas’ order and had a rough weekend at Baylor.
Other than Ryne Price, who went 5-for-12 with six RBI and two home runs, the rest of the group hit .176 with just six RBI for the weekend.
Five of those RBI came from Morrison and his two-home run performance on Sunday, which coach Price hopes is a sign that Morrison has snapped out of his slump.
“We’ve got to stay positive, we’ve got to fight through it,” Price said.
— Edited by Mandy Earles
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