6B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2009
BASEBALL (CONTINUED FROM 19)
close game. The Jayhawks raced to a 5-0 lead after the fourth innning. Freshman outfielder Jason Brunansky hit a towering three-run home run in the second, which started the scoring, and Kansas used the small ball it has been known for this season and a couple of spectacular plays in the infield.
"I wouldn't classify myself as a power-hitter," Brunansky said. "Home runs are accidents. That was an accident."
Junior right-hander Brett Bollman pitched strongly in the seventh inning, leaving the team with a 5-1 lead. But the normally reliable Jayhawk bullpen failed down the stretch.
When Creighton came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh, the wheels came off for Kansas. Two errors with two outs in the inning provided fuel for a Bluejay rally — they scored three runs to pull the score to 5-4.
"They've been outstanding," Price said. "But you got to learn from your mistakes."
Junior left-hander Travis Blankenship came into the seventh inning facing a bases-loaded situ
ation with two outs.
Junior second baseman Robby Price finally gave the layhawks the lead for good after his sacrifice brought home sophomore outfielder Casey Lytle.
Blankenship got a strikeout that sent the Kansas dugout into a frenzy.
"It turned out he threw a fastball away," Robby Price said. "I missed the first one, but he came back with it and I was lucky enough to get it to left field deep enough to score the runner."
Sophomore right-hander Brett Bochy closed the door in the bottom of the 10th with two strikeouts, and the layhaws celebrated their 24th victory of the season.
But the happiest jayhawk had to be Waters. After all, how many ballplayers get to come home and live out their childhood dreams?
"It was a great trip; it's fun to come back home," Waters said. "You don't want to go back on the bus with a loss after coming home and seeing people from home seeing you play."
— Edited by Brandy Entsminger
box score
Kansas 031 100 01 01 1 — 7124
Creighton 000 100 32 00 — 681
Kansas          ab r h rbi
Narodowski SS   4 1 1 0 0
Price 2B        3 0 2 1 1
Heere RF       4 1 1 1 1
Afenir C       5 0 0 0 0
Thompson 3B    5 1 2 0 0
Waters DH      5 0 1 1 1
Lytle LF        5 3 2 0 0
Elgie 1B        4 0 1 1 1
Land 1B        0 0 0 0 0
Brunansky CF   4 1 2 3
Totals         39 7 12 7
E-Creighton: VanLeur (1) Kansas: Thompson (4); Narodowski (10); Murray (3); Afenir (2)
Creighton ab r h rb
Knight CF 4 1 0 1
Soto RF 6 0 2 1
Ruf 1B 3 0 1 0
Cafar 2B 3 1 1 1
Roemmich RF 4 0 1 0
Swift 3B 4 2 1 0
Vital C 5 0 1 1
Thornburg DH 2 0 0 0
Dike PH 1 0 0 0
Blair PH 2 0 0 0
Becker LF 5 2 1 1
**Totals** 39 6 8 4
Pitchers
Kansas IP H RER BB SO
Bollman 6.2 6 2 2 1 5
Murray 0.1 1 2 0 1 0
Blankenship 1.0 1 2 2 1 2
Bochy W(3-0) 2.1 1 0 0 3 3
2B-Creighton: Swift (10); Kansas
Narodowski (8).
3B-Kansas: Price (2)
HR-Kansas: Brunansky (2)
Creighton IP H R ER BB SO
Clark 3.0 5 4 4 3 4
Koenigstein 3.0 3 1 1 0 1
Hauer 0.2 0 0 0 0 0
Lackovic 1.0 2 1 1 1 1
VanLeur L (2-2) 2.1 3 1 1 0 1
T-3:32. A-1159.
BASEBALL
Jayhawks show they can win in Omaha
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
OMAHA, Neb. — With Tuesday night's victory against the Creighton Bluejays, No. 24 Kansas moved to 1-0 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. The Jayhawks hope to improve on that record sometime around mid-June.
That's when the College World Series will be played here, as it is every year, in the same stadium where the Jayhawks knocked off Creigh
ton by the final tally of 7-6. Junior second baseman Robby Price said he thought the team could make it back.
"Definitely," Price said without hesitation. "We're playing real well — we believe in ourselves. We've got a lot of confidence, some swagger. I wouldn't want to be a team that's playing us right now. We've got a little moxie, and that's a good thing."
The Jayhawks' performance Tuesday could serve as a checklist of how to get back to Omaha for the World Series.
They'll need big-time performances from role players. Check.
Freshman outfielder Jason Brunansky started the Jayhawk scoring with a full-count, two-out, three-run home run in the second inning.
"I wasn't sure off the bat, but I knew I hit it good so I was trying to beat it out, trying to get a triple out of it." Brumansky said. "I slipped, so I took a peek up and I saw the center fielder and left fielder just staring at each other and I go. "That went out!"
The Jayhawks will need clutch performances at the plate to be back here. Check.
Kansas' first six runs came with two outs. Only the deciding tally, in the top of the 10th inning, came with one out, when Robby Price scored Casey Lyle on a sacrifice飞.
Of course, to get to the postseason, the layhawks will need their starting pitching to continue to excel. Big check.
The Jayhawks got 6 1/3 strong innings from junior Brett Bollman, who allowed only one earned run on five hits. The outing was the longest of his career, by innings and pitch count.
"That was fantastic," Brunansky said. "He came out and threw six and a third, just, shining innings."
There are a couple of boxes, though, that the Jayhawks left unmarked Tuesday night. The bullpen struggled mightily, allowing six runs in only three innings of work. The defense, despite pulling off a few show-stopping plays, committed a season-high four errors, including two in the seventh inning, which led to three Creighton runs.
"They got a leadoff double, and the next guy hammered a ball over Brunansky's head." Price said. "But he makes the great backhanded catch in centerfield and takes a double off the board, so that could have started with back-to-back doubles with no outs. So, we made some really good plays also."
Senior firstbaseman Val Chapple rounds second base for a triple during the double-header against UMKC at Arrocha Ballpark on Tuesday. The Jayhawks run-ruled the Kangaroos 8-0 in the first game.
SOFTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Edited by Grant Treaster
"They were throwing pitches right over the plate," Clark said. "I just waited for one I liked and swung hard."
the team lead for RBI (22).
"Our game plan was to run the bases on their outfielders," coach Tracy Bunge said. "We wanted to force the issue and be very aggressive taking bases."
Hitting aside, Kansas got excellent pitching on Tuesday, highlighted by eight strong innings from Vertelka. The junior hurler pitched in both games, striking out 11 Kangaroo batters while only allowing two hits.
"Sarah pitched very well for us," Bunge said. "For as good as she was in the first game, she was even sharper in the second one."
Freshman Sarah Blair also saw time in the circle, making only her second start of the season. She notched her first win in the
second game, where she pitched four innings, allowing two runs while fanning two.
"Blair was solid today." Bunge said. "She's continuing to adapt to playing at the collegiate level; it was real good to get her some innings."
With the lopsided scores, Blair wasn't the only Kansas reserve to get on the field in game two, as players such as junior outfielders Ally Stanton and Alicia Irwin also saw action. Irwin even notched her first RBI of the season, a double to the right-field gap in the sixth inning.
"It's always nice to get those girls some playing time," Bunge said. "They put in so much time and hard work for us; they really deserve it."
"We're confident." McCaulley said. "We've got some momentum, and we're looking for a sweep down in Texas."
With the two victories, Kansas has won three games in a row and four of its last five. The team will look to keep the ball rolling when they head to Austin to take on No. 20 Texas this weekend.
Edited by Chris Horn
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