Thursday, April 23, 2009
KANSAS CITY, MO. — The division began behind home plate as if it were a state line. On the third base side at the newly polished Kauffman Stadium sat the bulk of Kansas fans while the Missouri faithful mainly resided opposite their foes on the first base side.
Sure, there were a few thickets of crimson and blue among the Tiger supporters and a couple of rogue gold T-shirts on the other side, but not enough to suggest a cessation of baseball’s 318th Border (Showdown).
The warm, spring weather and shiny stadium screamed perfection although the game itself would be far from it. In fact, Kansas committed three errors — two in the first four innings.
“My only disappointment of the game is that we were sloppy defensively,” coach Ritch Price said. “That’s something we haven’t been doing, we’ve been playing well defensively.”
Kansas’ jittery start resulted in no runs to lead off the game but it would produce an early 3-1 deficit in the midweek, non-conference tilt. When searching for answers for his team’s uncharacteristic defensive start, Price simply summed it up: nerves.
“That infield’s perfect, you can’t blame any of those errors on that infield,” Price said. “That thing is like a golf course. I think it was nerves.”
And as if the Jayhawks needed reminding of their surroundings, the stadium’s Major League residents appeared on the massive, crowned LED screen before sophomore right fielder Brian Heere was up to bat to lead off the bottom of the sixth. In crystal clear high definition, Joakim Soria Mexicuted the last Cleveland batter of the night, activating music, cheers and “ROYALS WIN” blown up on the scoreboard.
But then the inning began. Heere crushed a triple to lead off and erupt half of the viewing populace. Kansas turned in two quick outs before sophomore left fielder Casey Lytle was hit by a pitch and sophomore designated hitter Jimmy Waters singled in a run and advanced Lytle to second.
And then senior first baseman Preston Land stepped up to the plate. Any jitters from being held up in traffic on the way to the ballpark and playing in a park that is far from amateur were erased with the ping of a left-field home run. The result: a 5-3 lead that would eventually become 7-3 before the groundskeepers took the field, signaling it was all over.
Kansas fans didn’t need perfection to bellow out their “Rock Chalk” chant.
“That was awesome man,” Price said. “I got goosebumps.”
And with two consecutive midweek wins at both the site of the College World Series and the site of The Show, Kansas looks like it might be able to crush its nerves on any stage.
— — Edited by Heather Melanson
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