Walz tosses 7-2/3 innings en route to 6-3 victory
Freshman walk-on stymies Nebraska offense; earns coach’s praise
Kansas gave Nebraska their first home loss of the season and moved into eighth place to tie Kansas State in the Big 12.
Monday, April 21st, 2008
LINCOLN, Neb. — Six runs weren’t enough Friday or Saturday, but six runs were plenty for Nebraska native T.J. Walz Sunday.
With Kansas in danger of being swept for the third time in Big 12 play, Walz – a freshman right-hander from Omaha – shut down No. 9 Nebraska to hand the Cornhuskers their first home loss to a conference opponent.
Walz lasted a career-high 7-2/3 innings, struck out five, and held Nebraska (28-7-1, 13-4-1) to three runs while junior closer Paul Smyth protected a 6-3 lead for his seventh save and the only victory of the weekend for Kansas (25-18, 5-10).
Kansas' Robbie Price is greeted by teammates after scoring off of a Buck Afenir hit with two outs in the first inning of Sunday afternoons game at Hawks Field in Lincoln, NE. The Jayhawks held off a sweep by the Huskers, winning Sunday's game 6-3.
“We thought one of two things would happen: He’d come home and pitch in his home state and, if he got out of the first inning, he’d be really good, or he might not get out of the first inning if he let the nerves get to him a little bit,” Kansas coach Ritch Price said. “He’s really calm, cool and poised. It was a great performance by a freshman.”
What was most impressive about Walz was his ability to adjust his approach with the weather conditions. All afternoon, winds blew from 20-30 MPH, taking away the option of throwing his curveball as often as he usually does.
“It wasn’t breaking near as much just because the wind was blowing,” said Walz, who pitched in front of about 30 friends and family members. “I just had a lot more confidence in my fastball location.”
Those in attendance to see Walz got their money’s worth as he went an inning beyond his previous career long outing, throwing 119 pitches. Walz (3-0) lasted deep into the eighth by working out of the few jams he got into.
Nebraska didn’t have its first baserunner until the third inning, but Walz retired the next batter to end the inning. In the fourth, the wind helped catcher Mitch Abeita leg out a double – Walz’ first hit allowed – and Walz walked the next batter, but he induced a groundout to negate the threat.
The Cornhuskers scored their first run in the sixth to cut the deficit in half to 2-1, but Walz shortened the inning by picking off a runner on first.
Walz could have fallen apart in the seventh when he moved a baserunner from first to third with a balk and a wild pitch before the runner scored, but with two straight outs, Walz avoided any further damage.
“He’s the first guy who’ll get upgraded next fall to books and tuition,” Price said of Walz, who’s currently an invited walk-on.
While Walz put the kibosh on every Nebraska rally, his offense was busy manufacturing runs, scoring one run in the first, sixth and eighth innings. Only in the seventh did Kansas put a crooked number on the board.
Senior shortstop Erik Morrison led the inning off with a single after hitting into an inning-ending double play in his previous at-bat.
“I just thought to myself, ‘I’m going to get up at least two more times, and I’m going to have the opportunity to help the ball club win,’” Morrison said.
Morrison’s single sparked a three-run inning for the Jayhawks as they finally jettisoned Nebraska right-hander Aaron Pribanic (3-2) from the game. The single was Morrison’s first of two hits in the game and one of six he had on the weekend.
“It seems like here, more than any other field, the mound is back further, so it seems like you’ve got a little extra time,” Morrison said.
Pribanic retired the second batter of the inning, but walked back-to-back hitters to load the bases and force Nebraska to make a pitching change.
In came left-hander Zach Herr, but the change didn’t have the results the Cornhuskers had hoped for. Junior center fielder Nick Faunce, who entered the game as a defensive substitution, drove Morrison in with a sacrifice fly.
Herr then reloaded the bases with a walk to set the table for senior left fielder John Allman. Allman singled to left field to drive in two runs and put Kansas up 5-1.
Nebraska added a run in the bottom of the seventh, but an RBI double from Morrison in the eighth put Kansas back up by four, 6-2.
The Cornhuskers scratched one more run off Walz in the eighth, but junior closer Paul Smyth came in relief of him to close out the game and clinch Kansas’ first road Big 12 victory since March 16 at Texas. With the victory on Sunday, Kansas is tied with Kansas State for eighth in the Big 12 standings.
“Any time you avoid a sweep is huge,” Morrison said. “But we’re trying not to lose sight of the big picture with what we did. We could have had a series victory very easily.”
— Edited by Daniel Reyes
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