THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY MARCH 12, 2009
SPORTS
9B
BASEBALL
BOX SCORE
Wichita State 000 000 000 — 030
Kansas 000 223 08X — 890
**Wichita State Shockers** ab r h rbi
Letourneau lf 3 0 1 0
Jones rf 4 0 1 0
Baez 2b 4 0 -1 0
McKeever 1b 4 0 0 1
O'Brien 3b 3 0 1 1
Lassley c 3 0 1 1
Rosecrans dh 3 0 0 0
Brown lf 3 0 0 0
Hall cf 2 0 0 0
Caster ph 0 0 0 0
Totals 29 0 3 0
**Kansas Jayhawks** ab r h rbi
Faounce lf 4 0 1 2
Price 2b 5 2 3 4
Narodowski ss 3 1 2 0
Afenir c 4 0 0 1
Thompson 3b 4 0 1 1
Lytle rf 1 1 0 0
Heere rf 1 0 0 0
Land 1b 3 1 1 0
Marasco dh 3 0 0 0
Waters ph 0 1 0 0
Burnansky cf 3 2 1 0
Totals 31 8 9 8
**2B-Wichita State: Jones (7) Kansas: Faunce (5); Price 2 (3); Naro-
dowski (3)**
**3B-Kansas: Brunansky (1)**
**HR-Kansas: Price (2)**
Pitchers
Wichita State Shockers IP H R ER BB SO
Flynn (L, 0-1) 3.1 3 2 2 3 5
Banwart 1.0 3 2 2 0 0
Hutson 1.1 2 3 3 2 1
Sossamon 2.1 1 1 1 1 2
Kansas Jayhawks IP H R ER BB SO
Ridenhour (W, 3-0) 8.0 3 0 0 1 5
Smyth 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
T-2:26. A-860.
Freshman pitcher Lee Ridenhour throws a pitch against Wichita State Wednesday evening. He gave up only three hits and had five strikeouts. Jerry Wang/KANSAN
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
notes
Kansas shut out Wichita State for only the third time in the series history. The victory marks the first time the Jayhawks have shut out the Shockers since 1956.
SHUTDOWN
NARODOWSKI ON BASE
Narodowski raised his average to.341 during the streak.
Dating back the last game against Missouri Valley, shortstop David Narodowski reached base seven consecutive plate appearances before flying out to right field in the sixth inning.
Freshman pitches 8 scoreless innings
BY TIM DWYEK
tdwyer@kansan.com
Kansas fans now understand why
This past summer the Minnesota Twins spent a draft pick trying to bring a hard throwing right-hander from Shawnee Mission West High School named Lee Ridenhour into the fold.
Ridenhour threw a gem of a game against the Wichita State Shockers Wednesday night, going eight scoreless innings and allowing only three hits with five strikeouts. Ridenhour, Lenexa freshman, said it was about as well as he could throw, and his teammates and coaches seemed to agree.
"He was absolutely fabulous. That's probably the best outing I've ever seen since I've been here," junior Robby Price said, later mentioning that he'd even put it on the same level as Shaeffer Hall's nohitter that started the season.
For Ridenhour, it was a chance to show Wichita State, who lost a recruiting battle with the layhawks for his services, what they had missed out on.
"What can you say," Ridennour said. "In-state rival, coming in here wearing white pants, all cocky like they own the place. Home pants, like it's their place. Knowing the guys, a couple players on their team, I really wanted to beat them bad. Eight to zero. So, I was happy."
Coach Ritch Price stayed away from the subject of Wichita State wearing home uniforms in Hoglund, but he was more than happy to talk about his prize freshman arm.
"We've been looking for a signature player ever since I got here," Price said. "When you're trying to be a top-25 program, it starts on the mound."
Price compared Ridenhour to former Wichita State pitchers Mike Pelfrey and Darren Dreifort, who both went on to have major league careers — Pelfrey now plays for the New York Mets, Dreifort is retired — in that he had the ability to take a program to the next level.
But that's all in the future. Right now, Price is trying to
take things slowly with Ridenhour, who has unquestionably thrown well enough to earn a spot in the weekend rotation and may be the Jayhawks best pitcher thus far. Price wants to keep Ridenhour as a midweek starter and throw him out of the bullpen on weekends.
however, saying that if a team can win "10 Tuesdays" they can make the NCAA tournament.
There was no question with Price about his talent though.
Certainly since the beginning of the season he has been an impact freshman" he said. "One of the best freshman in the country."
"He is the highest-profile freshman we have had walk on the mound since I have been here.
Edited by Realle Roth
BASEBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"I should do that more often." Price said of his traditional home run. "This one was a lot more enjoyable."
Price's second home run of the season got Kansas (9-3) on the board in the fourth inning. Soon afterwards, the floodgates opened as the Jaiyahws scored double-digit runs in the next two innings, capping off the scoring binge with a three-run sixth inning.
Fittingly, Price finished the scoring in the sixth inning. After a sacrifice fly from senior left fielder Nick Faunce, Price roped a double to the gap in left-center field, scoring two runs and killing any opportunity for Wichita State to remain in the game.
Considering that at the time of the first pitch the weather was at a chilling 30 degrees Fahrenheit, coach Ritch Price labeled this game the
best so far this season for Kansas.
"To play perfect defense, swing the bat, run the bases and pitch like that, that was an outstanding win in every phase of the game," Price said.
For the first three innings, it looked as if the Jayhawks were at the mercy of the Shockers freshman pitcher Brian Flynn. Flynn struck out five batters and it looked like Kansas was in store for a long, cold night.
But on a 1-1 count to start off the fourth inning, Price hammered a home run over the right-field fence to the left of the scoreboard.
"The ball's jumping off his barrel now," Ritch Price said of Robby's increased power. "He's really worked hard to improve his strength."
Flynn never recovered and he failed to retire four of the five next Jayhawks. Sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson pushed his hit
streak to 20 games with an infield RBI single.
That was all freshman Lee Ridenhour needed. He recorded what is easily the best start of his young career. Ridenhour went eight innings, giving up only three hits and one walk while collecting five strikeouts.
"I was able to work in and out," he said. "I was really able to throw it inside effectively for strikes."
Coach Ritch Price even dared to suggest Ridenhour's performance was just as good as, if not better than, Shafer Hall's no-hitter earlier this season. Price said the elements could have made it a rough outing for Ridenhour, but the freshman came through.
"When you take into account the elements, it was a really tough night to pitch." Price said. "I thought he was outstanding."
Senior closer Paul Smyth worked a perfect ninth. Ridenhour said he didn't mind not finishing the game, considering that his pitch count reached 100 after the eighth inning.
"It was OK, as long we got the win," Ridenhour said about not pitching the ninth. "I was real happy with how I threw."
As good as Ridenhour was, Robby's performance after a two-game break had the biggest implications for the Jayhawks. Kansas now leaves for a daunting west-coast trip and Price said bed leave his struggles behind.
"I just try to stay within myself, Price said. "Getting those two days off really cleared my mind, and I got back out there today and did pretty well."
Edited by Andrew Wiebe
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