Saturday, March 1, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Through the first four innings of Saturday’s Music City Classic match up with Xavier, Kansas had managed only one run and it was beginning to look like that might be all the Jayhawks would score for the third straight game. That all changed in the fifth.
Junior first baseman Preston Land stepped to the plate in the top of the fifth with one on and two out and smacked a pitch from Xavier (1-4) right-hander Michael Lucas (0-1) more than 400 feet off the batter’s eye in straightaway center field for his second home run of the season.
The two-run shot handed Kansas and sophomore left-hander Shaeffer Hall (1-0) a 3-0 lead the Jayhawks wouldn’t relinquish. Spurred by Land’s bat and steadied by Hall’s pitching, Kansas (3-5) went on to win, 12-4.
“I knew I got all of it, but I was just hoping it didn’t get caught up in the air and stay in the park,” Land said.
During Kansas’ first offensive explosion against Division 1 competition, the game began as the Land and Larson show.
Kansas put together its first rally in the top of the second with a leadoff double by Land down the third base line. Then, with two out, senior right fielder Casey Larson sent a hard grounder down the opposite foul line for a double of his own that drove in Land.
Still, even after Land’s home run in the fifth, the score remained tight until the Jayhawks broke it open in the eighth. Xavier brought in right-hander Kyle Cowden to start the inning and Kansas’ usual suspects capitalized, tacking on nine runs and forcing two more pitching changes.
With one out and nobody on, Land launched his second home run of the game and third of the season over the left-center field wall. After Kansas’ second out of the inning, its offense was off to the races for an eight-run, two-out rally.
In the midst of the rally, Larson hit another double to plate senior shortstop Erik Morrison and Land came up again to double once more. In all, Kansas sent 13 batters to the plate in the eighth.
“I could breathe a big sigh of relief,” Kansas coach Ritch Price said. “We’ve had some guys who’ve been struggling early. All you hope for is you can string a couple good at-bats together and get a couple base hits to take some pressure off some guys.”
However, before the Jayhawks took command of the game, it was Hall who kept the Musketeers at bay.
After allowing five hits and three runs to Hawaii-Hilo a week ago, Hall bounced back, allowing five hits in seven scoreless innings while striking out four. He was perfect after two and carried a no-hitter into the fourth.
“Last weekend was a little different. It was my first time out on the mound with these guys,” Hall said. “Today I was just comfortable and confident with the guys I had behind me. I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I just went out there and did my thing.”
Hall’s counterpart, Lucas, was nearly as effective, allowing three runs in seven innings, but once the game was handed over to the Xavier bullpen, his efforts were for naught.
When the dust from the game settled, Land had put together a 4-for-5 day with four runs and five RBI to go along with his two home runs, while Larson went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI. As a team, Kansas’ 13 hits were nearly double its output from the last two games combined.
“We feel like we’re right on the edge with our bats because our pitching’s been pretty good lately,” Land said. “For our hitting to start coming around is going to be the big thing for us to keep winning games.”
Kansas plays its final game of the Music City Classic Sunday at 12:05 in the afternoon against Iowa.
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