Shockers defeat Jayhawks 6-4
Wichita scores six runs in a single inning to knock off Kansas for the second time this season
Kansas’ loss to No. 14 Wichita drops the Jayhawks season to 25-19. The Jayhawks have fallen to Wichita State twice this season.
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
WICHITA – Twenty-one days served as an intermission, but the major actors from Kansas’ first meeting with No. 14 Wichita State picked up right where they left off Tuesday night.
Just as a refresher, those main players when the Jayhawks and Shockers played April 1 were Kansas sophomore left-hander Shaeffer Hall, senior right fielder Ryne Price and Wichita State right-hander Tyler Fleming. Once again, Hall fell far short of a quality start and Price provided most of the offense for Kansas while Fleming stymied the rest of the Kansas lineup.
One big inning was all Wichita State needed, scoring six runs in the fourth, to complete its season sweep of Kansas with a 6-4 victory at Eck Stadium. With the win, the Shockers improved to 31-7 on the season and extended their winning streak to five games against the Jayhawks, who dropped to 25-19 on the year.
“It’s frustrating to lose any game. I don’t look at it as anything different than losing to anybody,” senior left fielder John Allman said. “We just had one inning where it kind of got away from us and that happens in baseball.”
Hall shut the Shockers out an inning longer Tuesday night than he did in his first start against them, when they jumped on him in the third, but this time around was even more brutal.
Photo by Jon Goering
In sending 11 hitters to the plate in the fourth, six Shockers tagged hits off Hall, including two infield singles by center fielder Ryan Jones, as they burst ahead, 6-1.
Hall walked two more batters in the inning and was pulled with two outs. In 3 2/3 innings, Hall (2-2) surrendered eight hits and walked three and all six runs he allowed were earned.
“He got behind in the count,” Price said. “He’s not quite firm enough to get behind in the count and then have to use his fastball in fastball counts.”
Senior right-hander Hiarali Garcia got Kansas out of the fourth and locked down the Wichita State offense the next three innings, but the Kansas offense was no match for Wichita State’s one big inning.
The Jayhawks jumped out to an early lead with a run in the third, but ran themselves out of additional runs in the inning.
Freshman designated hitter Jimmy Waters led off the inning with a walk, but when senior center fielder Casey Larson doubled to right field, where Shocker Mitch Caster started for the first time and bobbled the ball, coach Ritch Price noticed the relay was lined up with second base, so he waved Waters home. But with a quick relay and a poor turn around third by Waters, Wichita State nabbed him at the plate.
Price said he wanted his players to play more aggressive offensively and that play was a reflection of that approach. Kansas didn’t leave the inning empty handed, though, as Allman drove Larson in with a single to left to put the Jayhawks up, 1-0. The inning ended when Allman was thrown out after taking a wide turn at first.
Allman made up for the baserunning mistake in the sixth, sending his fourth home run of the season just over the left field wall and cutting the deficit to 6-2. The next inning, with a runner on, freshman third baseman Tony Thompson cut further into Wichita State’s lead with a two run blast to left field. It was his third home run of the season and it brought the score to 6-4.
Allman and Ryne Price led the Kansas offense, each going 2-for-4 and accounting for two-thirds of the Jayhawks’ hits.
Tyler Fleming (3-1) kept the Kansas bats in check, striking out three in four innings while giving up one run before he exited the game. He pitched the final 1 1/3 of Wichita State’s first meeting with Kansas, striking out three of the five batters he faced.
Lost in Hall’s lackluster start was a brilliant performance by the Kansas bullpen. In 4 1/3 innings, Garcia and Marcin struck out two and allowed just one hit and one walk, keeping the Shockers off the board.
Price was especially happy with Marcin’s performance. Halfway through last season he struggled just to throw strikes, so eventually he stopped appearing in games. Tuesday was just Marcin’s 10th appearance of the season, but Price said sophomore right-hander Marcin told him a few weeks ago that something clicked in his head and he was ready to pitch regularly again.
“That’s the best Hiarali’s pitched in the two years he’s been at KU,” Price said. “And my boy Thomas Marcin has the best arm in our program and we think he’s through his throwing problem now. We wanted to get him into a big time environment to see if he could walk back out there and be as good as his bullpens were. For me, that was the highlight of the night.”
—Edited by Russell Davies
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