Wednesday, April 15, 2009
OMAHA, Neb. — With Tuesday night’s victory against the Creighton Bluejays, No. 24 Kansas moved to 1-0 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. The Jayhawks hope to improve on that record sometime around mid-June.
That’s when the College World Series will be played here, as it is every year, in the same stadium where the Jayhawks knocked off Creighton by the final tally of 7-6. Junior second baseman Robby Price said he thought the team could make it back.
“Definitely,” Price said without hesitation. “We’re playing real well — we believe in ourselves. We’ve got a lot of confidence, some swagger. I wouldn’t want to be a team that’s playing us right now. We’ve got a little moxie, and that’s a good thing.”
The Jayhawks’ performance Tuesday could serve as a checklist of how to get back to Omaha for the World Series.
They’ll need big-time performances from role players. Check.
Freshman outfielder Jason Brunansky started the Jayhawk scoring with a full-count, two-out, three-run home run in the second inning.
“I wasn’t sure off the bat, but I knew I hit it good so I was trying to beat it out, trying to get a triple out of it,” Brunansky said. “I slipped, so I took a peek up and I saw the center fielder and left fielder just staring at each other and I go, ‘That went out.’”
The Jayhawks will need clutch performances at the plate to be back here. Check.
Kansas’ first six runs came with two outs. Only the deciding tally, in the top of the 10th inning, came with one out, when Robby Price scored Casey Lytle on a sacrifice fly.
Of course, to get to the postseason, the Jayhawks will need their starting pitching to continue to excel. Big check.
The Jayhawks got 6 1/3 strong innings from junior Brett Bollman, who allowed only one earned run on five hits. The outing was the longest of his career, by innings and pitch count.
“That was fantastic,” Brunansky said. “He came out and threw six and a third, just, shining innings.”
There are a couple of boxes, though, that the Jayhawks left unmarked Tuesday night. The bullpen struggled mightily, allowing six runs in only three innings of work. The defense, despite pulling off a few show-stopping plays, committed a season-high four errors, including two in the seventh inning, which led to three Creighton runs.
“They got a leadoff double, and the next guy hammered a ball over Brunansky’s head,” Price said. “But he makes the great backhanded catch in centerfield and takes a double off the board, so that could have started with back-to-back doubles with no outs. So, we made some really good plays also.”
— — Edited by Grant Treaster
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