Thursday, March 6, 2008
A week ago Kansas was just trying to avoid being shutout. Suddenly the Jayhawks are finding a knack for knocking teams out of ballgames early.
Second baseman Robby Price hits in an RBI Wednesday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. Price was a bat two times and scored two runs while playing against Le Moyne College out of Syracuse, New York. KU beat Le Moyne, 13 to 2.
Already up 4-0 in the bottom of the third, Kansas senior catcher Ryne Price put an end to any thoughts of a Le Moyne (2-7) comeback. Facing Le Moyne left-hander Corey Nelson with the bases loaded, Price brought everybody home with a shot over the right field fence.
The grand slam put Kansas up, 8-0, prolonging the inevitable, which was a 13-2 home-opening victory. Back to .500 for the first time since its second game of the season, Kansas (5-5) is riding a three-game winning streak. In the first three innings of their last two games, the Jayhawks have scored 16 runs.
“It is good to see those guys break out and obviously we took advantage of the wind,” Kansas coach Ritch Price said of the winds that gusted over 25 miles per hour during the game. “That helped us a little bit, but it was a good, solid performance offensively, especially in these conditions.”
But before Ryne put the game out of reach, his brother, sophomore second baseman Robby Price, got the rally started with a walk to lead off the inning. Senior outfielder John Allman followed with a single to right field and junior first baseman Preston Land loaded the bases with a walk.
While no stranger to hitting home runs, Price had never hit a grand slam at Kansas until Wednesday. It marked Price’s second home run in as many games and, more importantly, moved him just three home runs behind Travis Metcalf for the Kansas career home run record of 29. However, he hasn’t been swinging for the fences.
Le Moyne thirdbaseman Crawford steals third base at the top of the first inning. Le Moyne had two hits during the first inning, but left two players on bases after a fly ball was caught in right field. By the bottom of the third inning, Kansas led 10-0.
“No, I haven’t had much success this year with runners in scoring position,” Ryne said. “I was just looking to try to square something up for once and drive in some runs.”
And that’s just what Price did with seven RBI for the afternoon.
In addition to Price’s big day at the plate, fellow senior Allman also broke out for his first big game of the season. Allman, who entered the game batting .172, went off for three hits, coming just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
After hitting a double in the first and a single in the third, Allman capped off his day with a home run to right-center field, his first of the season.
The other starters in the Kansas outfield continued to swing hot bats. Junior Nick Faunce and senior Casey Larson, who went 9-for-16 the last two games of the Music City Classic, each recorded two hits against the Dolphins.
While the Kansas offense dished out plenty of punishment, no Le Moyne pitcher suffered more than Nelson (0-1), who got the start. In 3.1 innings, Nelson surrendered 10 runs on eight hits and five walks.
Opposite Nelson, Kansas starting pitcher, sophomore left-hander Wally Marciel (2-1) fared far better. In five innings, Marciel allowed just two runs on six hits while striking out four.
Considering how Marciel didn’t receive a single run of support in his start last Wednesday against Arkansas, the 10 runs of support he got Wednesday were a welcome sight.
“The bats were awesome today,” Marciel said. “Our hitters are coming along. Johnny had a good game and Ryne had a good game. I just want them to continue hitting.”
Game notes:
Injury updates
Junior catcher Buck Afenir was out of the Kansas lineup for the third straight game with a pulled hamstring, but coach Price said he hoped Afenir would be available for Saturday’s double-header with North Dakota State.
Junior left-hander Andy Marks, who is recovering from a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, finished his bullpen session on Tuesday. The session was Marks’ first since last week, when he was unable to finish a session. Price said the team trainer Ken Wainwright told him Marks’ latest bullpen session was his best one so far.
In attendance
Of the 609 people listed in attendance for Wednesday’s home opener, former Jayhawk Sean Land was among them. Land, who is now in the Minnesota Twins system and is the older brother of current Jayhawk Preston Land, pitched at Kansas from 2004-2006.
—Edited by Jared Duncan
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