Hawks drop second straight in Lincoln
A fourth inning grand slam by Nebraska catcher Mitch Abeita doomed Kansas to an 8-6 defeat.
Saturday, April 19th, 2008
LINCOLN, Neb – In what began as a pitchers’ duel, the offenses of Kansas and No. 9 Nebraska traded blows Saturday afternoon. However, for the second straight day, the Cornhuskers were the last men standing.
Despite drawing first blood again in game two of the series, Kansas (24-18, 4-10) couldn’t keep up with Nebraska (28-6-1, 13-3-1), losing, 8-6, and dropping the series in front of the third largest crowd in Nebraska history. A grand slam by Nebraska catcher Mitch Abeita in the fourth not only put the Cornhuskers on the board, but it changed the outlook of the game.
“He swung the bat good last night, too,” Kansas coach Ritch Price said of Abeita. “When we got behind in the count, in a fastball count, he railed it.”
Abeita’s grand slam was the highlight of the afternoon, but the Jayhawks were the ones producing runs early.
Kansas loaded the bases in the top of the second – one runner reaching on a hit by pitch, which was the first of the season for Nebraska right-hander Thad Weber (7-2) – but managed only one run on a sacrifice fly by freshman third baseman Tony Thompson.
In the top of the fourth, Weber hit yet another Jayhawk and, again, the boys in blue parlayed it into a run. Senior right fielder Ryne Price was the victim on this occasion and, after going from first to third on a single, he was driven in by Thompson.
That was the lone run of the inning for Kansas, but the Jayhawks were a judgment call away from having a second.
With junior first baseman Preston Land on second and two out, junior center fielder Nick Faunce singled to left field. Without a second’s hesitation Land rounded third for home, but Nebraska left fielder Nick Sullivan’s throw was on target.
Land slid feet first into home, around Abeita, and appeared to beat the tag, but home plate umpire Curtis Alexander punched him out. Land hotly contested the call before coach Price shoed him away and took over the argument.
To no avail, Alexander’s call stood and so did the score, 2-0, in Kansas’ favor.
“By the looks of it, I definitely thought he was safe,” said senior designated hitter Casey Larson, who was behind home plate on the play. “It’s different from an umpire’s view, but from what I saw, I thought he was safe.”
All the while, senior right-hander Andres Esquibel (3-3) was cruising for the Jayhawks. Through the first three innings, he faced the minimum. But in the fourth, the wheels fell off.
A miscommunication on a sacrifice bunt put runners on first and second for Nebraska, but it would only get worse from there for Kansas. A walk juiced the sacks and Abeita brought everybody home, unloading on an Esquibel delivery for a grand slam to left field.
“You can’t set the table for them,” Price said. “They put the ball in play, they compete and do a really nice job of that. They’re not as physical as some of the Nebraska teams have been in the past, but they’ve got tremendous team speed and they execute their offense. If you put runners on base, they find a way to produce runs.”
With that, Nebraska took a 4-2 lead. However, Kansas displayed it’s own firepower.
In the top of the fifth, senior left fielder John Allman beat out a would-be inning-ending double play and came home on junior catcher Buck Afenir’s sixth home run of the season, which tied the game 4-4.
But that was as close as Kansas would get as the Cornhuskers continued to pester Esquibel. Nebraska scored three runs the next two innings to pull ahead, 7-4.
In 5 2/3 innings, Esquibel was roughed up for seven runs, all but one earned, on six hits and three walks in the losing effort. His counterpart, Weber, lasted five innings, allowing four runs while striking out seven. As a staff, Nebraska struck out 11 batters with left-hander Zach Herr tacking on the 11th while earning his third save of the season.
“They’ve all got lots of movement and they throw lots of strikes,” Thompson said. “They usually get ahead of batters, so if you let them get ahead of you, they’re going to bury you later in the count.”
Down but not out, Kansas threatened again in the eighth on a solo shot from senior designated hitter Casey Larson. The home run was his first of the season and cut the deficit to 7-6.
“I had a walk and kind of got things going a little bit and got a little bit of confidence in myself,” said Larson, who’d been 0-for-7 with six strikeouts in the series prior to his home run.
But Nebraska added a run in the bottom of the inning to put the game out of reach, pleasing the 8,697 fans in attendance who ventured over to Haymarket Park following Nebraska’s spring football game. Kansas looks to salvage the series Sunday at 1:05 p.m. The game is scheduled to air on tape delay at 6:30 p.m. on CBS College Sports (Sunflower 143).
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