6
Wednesday, April 7, 1976
University Daily Kansan
MacDonald led KU in hitting last season
MacDonald struggling to regain hitting form
By JOHN HENDEL
Sports Writer
Last season, Kansas' baseball hitting power was Ron MacDonald and a prayer for errors. This season the story is different as Hawks except MacDonald have been hitting.
Last week's series with Nebraska, though, may have signaled the return of MacDonald to the realm of hitters. He has been one of four hits for five hits, including two home runs.
Until that series, MacDonald was deep in a slump, something the Jayhawks can't
"When a player gets in a slump, the first thing he does is to think about it, then he worries about it, then he starts to change his mindset," Coach Hawk coaches Floyd Temple said yesterday.
MACDONALD AGREED that his
macdonald beaded by thinking too
much about the slump.
"My timing was off and I was lunging at the ball."
"I set high goals for myself each season, and when I wasn't hitting well, I started worrying about it," he said. "I tried to remember some things and that really messed me up.
Temple said MacDonald had been hitting a ball well, but that he was hitting it directly.
"When you have something that works
"When you are in a slump you have to fight your wav back out of it.
"You can't change, you have to go back to the old way. It worked before; the hills will stay there."
MacDonald certainly had something working well last season when he led the team in six offensive categories as a freshman.
HE WAS THE TEAM leader in batting average (.372), home runs (5) and his 17 runs batted in tied him for the team lead with Randy Trout.
MacDonald's 48 hits, 26 runs scored and three triples also led the team.
"Last season could have been better," he said. "My batting average was high because we played easy teams like Baker and Northwest Missouri State early in the
year. I only had three good series against Big Eight teams."
He said he had been hitting the ball as well as he had last season for about the last test.
"I always seemed to hit the ball right at someone," MacDonald said. "I knew the line drives would start to drop. A few have come in now and that's helped my confidence."
TEMPEL IS IMPRESSED with his second baseman and his ability to play the guard.
"Ron is a sound ballplayer, he doesn't have outstanding range or speed, but playing second, he doesn't need the range he needed at short last season," Temple said.
Fielding was the only area where MacDonald needed improvement last season. But this season, the move to second base on shortstop seems to have erased those problems.
"Second base is a lot different than shortstop," he said. "I didn't have the arm to play short so I would rush my throws and consequently commit errors."
Another thing Temple likes about MacDonald is that he is a good team player. That's evident when talking to him. All he wants to talk about is the team, not himself.
"The TEAM'S ATTITUDE is good. The guys on the team want to win, we know we have the talent to win," he said. "The pitches are nice and hitting are all better than last year."
The champion of the Big Eight this season will be determined by a tournament in May.
"We will be primed for the tournament," MacDonald said.
Track and field's leading couple, Mark
and Franklin Lutz, is coming to the Kansas
"We definitely have a chance to win the tournament."
SUA Film Chairperson Interviews
But right now, Missouri poses the biggest problem for the Jayhawks. The Tigers come to Lawrence for a three-game series this weekend.
Lutz, a former KU spinner, is expected to enter the men's open 100-meter and 200-meter决赛, while his wife, better known as Stephanie, will enter the women's open 800-meter run.
"We're really looking forward to Missouri, we'll really be up as a team," MacDonald said. "I played with a couple of kids and went out the sunnner, so I want to do well against them."
If MacDonald can keep up the pace he set in the Nebraska series, he doesn't have to. But he's a lot tougher.
Lutzes to enter Kansas Relavs
The two runners married early last year, and each is currently competing for the Pacific Coast Club while attending Long Bench (Calif.) State. Neither will be competing for the PCC at the Relays, though.
Interviews for 1976-77 Film Chairperson positions will be held on Tuesday, April 13. If you are interested please sign up in the SUA office for an interview time by Monday. April 12.
POSITIONS AVAILABLE:
Bob Timmons, meet director and head track coach at KU, said the addition of the Lutzes greatly strengthened the open division of the Relais.
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"Having competed for KU in the Relays, Mark is well known and popular in this area," Timmons said. "While he isn't widely known on a national scale, I think most of the fans in this area realize just how tough he is. He's a tremendous competitor."
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Her specialty is the mile in which she is the current American outdoor record-bolder and the world leader indoors. She also holds the American mark in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:08.5, good enough to rank her sixth in the world.
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Tad Scales, a KU pole vaulter, yesterday suffered an injured knee and bruises when a motorcycle he was driving struck a parked car.
Scales injures knee in wreck
Scales didn't know the extent of the knee injury and was unable to say how long he was recovering.
""It could come around tomorrow, or it could be a couple of weeks. Looking at it now, I'm thinking it's going to happen.
Scales said the accident occurred as he was trying to avoid a car coming from the opposite direction in his lane. Scales said he was running up and jumped to jump the curb but didn't make it.
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