Breaking News

Jayhawks hope to regain swagger

By Josh Bowe

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

What a difference a week makes.

Last week, Kansas (15-10, 3-3) was on the ultimate high after sweeping then-No. 1 Texas. Now, after being swept themselves by Texas A&M, the Jayhawks have returned back down to Earth and are now facing the difficult challenge of finding the momentum they gained against the Longhorns.

“We’re down and disappointed. There’s no doubt about that,” coach Ritch Price said after Sunday’s 6-5 loss to the Aggies. “We just got to keep playing, man. Keep playing, keep grinding.”

photo

Photo by Ryan Waggoner

Junior pitcher Brett Bollman attempts to pick off a runner at first base during KU's game against Western Illinois last week at Hoglund Ballpark. Following victories over Texas and Western Illinois, Kansas lost to Texas A&M.

While the midweek series against Northern Colorado (8-15) — which starts today at 3 p.m. — should help get things back on track, the last midweek series against Texas A&M was thought to do the same.

Last week Kansas scored 21 runs in two games against Western Illinois but only 13 in their three games against A&M. While the difference in each team’s quality of talent is obvious ­­— the Aggies are a ranked Big 12 opponent — Price wasn’t able to make adjustments to his lineup over the weekend with such a young team.

“I’ve got to get some of those young guys more experience,” Price said. “So if I’ve got guys really struggling I can make some changes to my lineup.”

The relief for many of the players is that they are expected to win their games against Northern Colorado. The combination of less talent and the return to Hoglund Ballpark has junior shortstop David Narodowski excited to get his groove back.

Key Statistics

40-Number of strikeouts against Texas A&M

22-Total hits against Texas A&M

.438-David Narodowski’s batting average the last eight games

0-Number of errors for right fielder Brian Heere

“The midweek series we know we can win,” Narodowski said. “They’re not the Big 12 conference.”

Price’s players can rest easy knowing they won’t have to play another conference game until the weekend. The Big 12 has a staggering five teams ranked in the top 25, and the Jayhawks just finished play two of them.

The past two weeks Kansas faced off against ranked teams such as Arizona State, Texas, Texas A&M and once ranked San Diego State. Price has often said those two weeks we’re the “toughest in America.” But what was once though to be the most brutal part of this year’s schedule never ends.

Kansas’ next two Big 12 series are against two other Top 25 teams.

“We’ve still got No. 8 Baylor coming up, and then we’ve got Oklahoma State, who’s in the Top 25,” Price said. “The reality is we’ve got about three more weeks of it.”

Which is why this week’s series against the Bears will be even more important.

Price said it’s difficult to focus on one aspect of the game to work on against Northern Colorado. All components of the game will be tweaked and tuned starting this afternoon.

“We have to play better in every phase of the game,” Price said. “We’ve got to get good starting pitching, we’ve got to play outstanding defense and we’ve got to be more competitive at the plate.”

After the sweep by the Aggies, the Jayhawks really do need a fine retooling. Kansas only hit .224, with an ERA of 5.33, while also committing five errors this past weekend. That’s a recipe for disaster that could see the Jayhawks slide even further in the Big 12 as the season progresses.

But the focus is on Northern Colorado right now, and Narodowski expects the losing streak to end at three.

“We’ll bounce back because we just lost three in a row,” Narodowski said. “Nobody wants to keep losing.”

KU Scouting

Pitching

It was impossible to expect the starting pitching for the weekend rotation to produce like it has all season. Freshman Lee Ridenhour had his first bad start of the season, and junior Shaeffer Hall was the only starter to throw a quality start. Look for junior Brett Bollman to continue his trend of starting midweek games and watch for his trend of pitching well in those starts to continue.

3/5 stars

Offense

Even though this rating might be a little low considering the offense almost pulled off two comebacks, the key word is almost. Coach Ritch Price even acknowledged that the strikeout total has reached embarrassing level. But junior David Narowdowski seems to be unaffected by the poor swinging. He now has a team-high tying 33 hits and raised his average to a season-high .333.

2/5 stars

Momentum

It was the highest of the highs for the Jayhawks. Nothing could have stopped them. Except for a visit to College Station, Texas. Texas A&M did a number against Kansas and the players realized afterwards that the undefeated Big 12 record is now a distant memory. Beating a small school out of a small conference should boost Kansas’ confidence, even if it is just a little.

— Josh Bowe

North Colorado Scouting

Offense

The offense really produced in its last series against Nebraska, putting up 23 runs in two games. It’s led by senior Kevin Sandberg, who has 10 home runs and 29 RBI in 23 games. Sandberg is also hitting .330 for the Bears in the designated hitter spot.

Stars: 4/5

Pitching

While the offense has been putting up an impressive eight runs per game, the defense has been allowing even more, giving up more than 12 runs per game. A lot of the blame for that staggeringly high number lies with the pitching staff. Not a single pitcher has an ERA below 5.00, the lowest being Joe Sawicki, who is 0-1 with a 5.95 ERA.

Stars: 1/5

Momentum

The Bears are coming off a big victory against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The victory bumped their record to a still lowly 8-15, but Northern Colorado has shown it can compete with top-flight competition. The Bears split a four-game series last year against the same Texas A&M Aggies that just swept Kansas.

— Tim Dwyer

— — Edited by Susan Melgren

Comments

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Advertisement