SAN
009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY APRIL 22, 2000
SPORTS
THURSDAY APRIL 23,2009
7B
ANSAN
saturday
ed
BASEBALL
Weston White/KANSAN
Junior second baseman Robby Price turns a double play at base二 Wednesday night against Missouri. Kansas won 7-3 after coming back in the bottom of the sixth inning with four runs to go ahead. Senior first baseman Preston Land's three-run home run was the biggest blow.
'Rock Chalk' chant rallies Kansas
Motivated by fans, atmosphere, Jayhawks defeat Tigers at Kauffman Stadium
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
The Kansas Jayhawks leaned against the railing of their dugout at Kauffman Stadium and waved their hats at their teammates on the field, trying to will them back to the dugout with their 7-3 lead intact late in the ninth inning.
"Rock chalk, Jayhawk, KU."
It's a superstition that the team partakes in nearly every inning of every game, but this time there was a new aspect. Behind the Jayhawks dugout, roughly 2,000 Kansas fans roared a familiar chant.
"It was a great atmosphere to come out here and pitch with all the fans getting up," Bochy said. "And it's a huge win to get a win over a rival like that."
Senior first baseman Preston Land hit what proved to be the game-tying home run in the sixth inning. It was his third of the season, and it made the night a whole lot sweeter for the Kansas fans — and more bitter for those clad in black and gold.
was just, huge, you know, to hear that and the game's not even over. To have that confidence going on with the fans is just a great feeling as a program."
The Jayhawks, who haven't had a crowd larger than 1,200 at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, fed off the energy and closed out the
win with style. Sophomore right-hander Brett Bochy struck out Missouri leadoff man Austin Holt for the victory.
The Jayhawks have gone 19-2 in the park they affectionately call "the Hog," but they still didn't see support like this until Wednesday night. Even the seniors were aided by the chant, one that they haven't heard this season. Senior catcher Buck Afenir struggled to find the words to describe the emotions.
"It's an adrenaline rush, for sure. Any time you hit a ball out of a major league park it feels really good," Land said. "But when there's a bunch of KU fans here and a bunch of MU fans here not wanting to see the other team win, and I hit the ball that puts us ahead, you know, it was huge. It
"That was awesome, man. It was awesome," he said. "I was telling somebody as were walking off the field that it was just — just, it
Junior shortstop David Narodowski played in his first Border Showdown game, and even though the game was at a neutral site, the level of support surprised him.
was a really good feeling."
The Jayhawks are 2-0 at Kauffman against the Tigers, and coach Ritch Price is loving the success.
"That gave me goosebumps, when I heard the chant," Narodowski said. "It was so loud. If we could get that at the Hog, that would be awesome."
"I don't know if we'll call this Hoglund Park East, yet," Price said. "But it's a great feeling to come in here and play."
Edited by Carly Halvorson
MLB
Cardinals pitcher relies on sinker
BY R.B. FALLSTROM
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Pounding his new favorite pitch, the sinker, Joel Pineiro dominated the New York Mets without a single strikeout.
Pineiro carried a six-hitter into the ninth inning and Albert Pujols had two hits and two RBIs in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-2 victory Wednesday night.
"I'm going to trust it all year," Pineiro said. "It's going to be the pitch I go to every time."
The Cardinals backed him with a robust offense that beat up on John Maine, scoring five or more runs for the seventh straight game.
Joe Thurston and Skip Schumaker had an RBI apiece for the Cardinals, who will go for a three-game sweep Thursday with Kyle Lohse opposing Livan Hernandez. St. Louis has won nine of 12 since a 1-2 start, including six in a row at home.
Maine (0-2) matched his career worst with five walks while attempting to fine-tune his delivery. He left trailing 5-1 with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth. The right-hander has a 7.47 ERA and nine walks in 15 2-3 innings.
"A lot of times I'm making the pitches I want to make, I'm just a hair off"
"I know I'm a better pitcher than this," Maine said. "I'm working hard between starts and I'm just not getting the results right now.
"Our starting pitching has to be something we can depend on and count on," manager Jerry Manuel said. "Right now, other than Johan (Santana), for the most part it's been a struggle."
Daniel Murphy had an RBI single in the third and Beltran hit an RBI double off Dennyrs Reyes in the ninth for his third hit. Ryan Franklin earned his fourth save in four chances by getting pinch-hitter Gary Sheffield to pop up for the final out.
The Mets have lost three in a row while putting out scored 15-8.
Manuel also is looking to energize the lineup and said held move Carlos Beltran up two spots to third in the order Thursday, switching places with David Wright.
Pineiro (3-0) retired 13 straight hitters on 35 pitches beginning with the final out of the fourth, all but three of them on ground balls. He was pulled after Wright's lead-off double in the ninth.
The St. Louis defense contributed a couple of nice plays, with Thurston making a diving stab at third with two on and two outs in the fourth to rob Luis Castillo, and shortstop Khalil Greene going deep into the hole to throw out Ramon Castro in the seventh. Left fielder Chris Duncan reached into the stands to snare Murphy's foul fly in the first.
Pineiro pitched to contact, walking two for the first 3-0 April start of his career while improving to 8-2 with a 3.61 ERA in 16 career games at Busch Stadium.
"I'm going to keep riding that as long as I can," he said. "That's going to be my game plan no matter if I'm at Wrigley Field, Coors Field, whatever field I am."
Pujols, who entered the game tied for the NL RBI lead with 16 along with teammate Ryan Ludwick, had a sacrifice fly in the first and a run-scoring single in the
A lifetime .082 hitter, he also singled in the seventh and drew a leadoff walk and scored in the third.
Maine was in trouble every inning except the fifth, when he retired the 3-4-5 hitters on eight pitches after Pineiro had an eight-
third. He is 5-for-11 with two-homers and 11 RBs against Maine.
pitch top half. Duncan followed Pujols' RBI single in the third with a run-scoring groundout for a 3-0 lead, and Thurston had an RBI triple and scored on Schumaker's single in the fourth to make it 5-1.
928 Massachusetts, Lawrence, KS 843-0611 www.theetcshop.com
BASEBALL (CONTINUED FROM 18)
was on a double-play attempt as Land was falling off the bag.
Junior shortstop David Narodowski, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, said the team wasn't pressing after the inning. The layhawks were held to one run through five innings.
"It was early still, it wasn't slipping away — definitely not," Narodowski said. "I mean we still had five, six innings left. A lot
of at-bats, a lot of innings, no pressure definitely."
Narodowski's two-RBI single in the eighth inning was the clincher that provided much-needed insurance runs. Kansas scored six runs in the final
four innings to Missouri's one.
"I'd like to keep it up here the next four weeks down the stretch."
The energy level from the team was evident as Kansas repeatedly high-fived, yelled and cheered. The culmination of it all was Land's long drive, when the entire dugout exploded in uproaring cheers.
PRESTON LAND Senior first baseman
"It's just exhilarating for every person in the dugout," Price said.
Narodowski hasn't been around to watch Land's previous three seasons. But he's heard the struggles from other teammates and said it was good to see the old Land tonight.
"It's awesome. It's good to see him back," Narodowski said. "He had a rough start to the season, and it's good to see him start hitting the ball, getting guys in, getting some RBIs, hitting the ball out of the park."
The Kansas bullpen made sure that Land's home run would not be in vain. The Jayhawk relievers pitched three-plus innings
"He's been outstanding. He's only had two bad outings all year," Price said.
three plus twins
Freshman Colton
Murray picked up his
second victory of the
season, and junior
left-hander Travis
Blankenship quieted
the Missouri faithful
down the stretch.
three-plus innings.
"He's the only left-hander we have in the bullpen, and he's really special."
But the game was all about Land. From his teammates encouragements to his coach's faith, Land's story of the season, and the game, was all about redemption.
"I'd like to keep it up here the next four weeks down the stretch," Land said. "See if I can continue to help the team win."
Edited by Andrew Wiebe
box score
Missouri 000 201 0100 ~350
Missouri 100 004 02X ~793
Missouri AB R H RBI
Holt 2B 3 0 0 0
Lollis RF 4 0 0 0
Semme LF 4 0 1 0
Folgia CF 4 2 2 0
Coleman C 3 1 0 0
Mach 3B 3 0 1 0
Gray 1B 4 0 1 1
Mach DH 4 0 0 0
Liberto SS 3 0 0 0
PH Ampleman 1 0 1 0
Totals 32 2 5 1
Pitchers
Missouri IP H R ER BB SO
Berger 2.1 2 1 1 1 2 2
Clubb L 3.2 4 4 4 0 2
(1-2)
Gargano 1.2 2 2 2 2 2
Clark 0.1 1 0 0 0 0
What students are saving about Dons
E-Kansas: Price (4) Land (4) Lytle (3). 2B-Missouri: Ampleman (1); Folgia (11) Kansas: Afenir (9). 3B-Heere (3). HR-Kansas: Land (3)
| Kansas | AB | R | HRBI |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Narodowski SS | 4 | 0 | 3 2 |
| Price 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 0 |
| Heere RF | 1 | 2 | 1 0 |
| Afenir LF | 4 | 0 | 1 1 |
| Thompson 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 0 |
| Lytle LF | 2 | 2 | 0 0 |
| Waters DH | 3 | 1 | 1 1 |
| Elghe PH | 1 | 1 | 1 0 |
| Land 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 0 |
| Brunansky CF | 3 | 0 | 1 0 |
| Totals | 28 | 7 | 9 7 |
Early last semester, I began having problems with my car. It was making funny noises and the cruise control stopped working. I didn't know what to do. Normally my dad handled these things for me, but being an out-of-state student made that impossible now that I'm in college. I heard about Don's Auto from some friends and through the Kansan, so I decided to give them a call. I'm so glad I did! They were great! They were very nice and super understanding.
What impressed me most, was that they offered to call my dad and consult with him every step of the way. Now, I always take my car to Don!
**Kansas** IP H R ER BB SO
Bollma 5.1 3 3 2 2 1
Murray W 1.1 0 0 0 0 1
(2-1)
Blankenship1.2 0 0 0 0 1
Bochy 0.2 0 0 0 0 1
T-2:53. A-4102.
-Ally Nienhueser,
-Ally Nienhueser,
KU Sophmore from Nebraska
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