THE UNIVERSITY DARYA KANSAN THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2009 SPORTS 7B BASEBALL Senior closer recovers in 6-3 Kansas victory Home run stakes Jayhawks to lead; Smyth closes it out BY JOSH BOWE jbowe@kansan.com Paul Smyth won't admit there was a monkey on his back, but the senior closer can at least look back at his early struggles now with a smile. Smyth finished off a 6-3 Kansas victory yesterday afternoon against North Dakota (0-6), completing a two-game sweep and finally putting a number next to his name in the save column rather than the loss column. "It took a little bit longer than I wanted it to." Smyth said with a smile. "It always feels great to break into it, and I'm ready to get some more now I guess." It wasn't as pretty as Tuesday night's six-run victory, but some of the same story lines in that game — pitching and early runs — appeared in some form yesterday. Except for one difference. This time the Jayhawks finally got a ball over the fence. Sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson's three-run home run in the first inning propelled Kansas (4-3) to five runs during the first two innings. "I thought it was a relief because we haven't put up the big power stats." Thompson said. "It turned out to be a big hit for us, helped us win the game so that's the most important thing." Even coach Ritch Price admitted he was worried about the lack of pop in the Jayhaws' batting order thus far. He believes the next step in Thompson's maturation is the development of consistent power. "It was good to see Tony go big fly," Price said. "One of the things him and I have talked about is that he's got to hit double-digit home runs to take himself to the next level of the player he's trying to get to." After junior second baseman Robby Price's RBI single in the bottom of the second made the score 5-0, the Jayhawk bats didn't put up much of a fight the rest of the way against Sioux starting pitcher Mike Lueck. They scored one run for the rest of the game and collected three more hits. Luckily, junior starting pitcher Travis Blankenship (1-0) quieted the North Dakota bats, allowing only three hits, no walks, one unearned run and three strikeouts through five innings of work. "I thought he did a nice job today against their left-handed hitters,” Price said of the left-handed transfer from Johnson County Community College. “Because he has that unique delivery, he gives himself an advantage when facing left handers” Blankenship was able to stay ahead in the count against the Sioux hitters. He said he was able to be more aggressive towards the strike zone, especially with an early lead. "I was more excited than anything." Blankenship said. "I had a lot of backup from the guys, run support. It made it a lot easier to go out there and throw strikes." After North Dakota scored two runs in the seventh inning to make things interesting, the one-two combo of sophomore Brett Bochy and Smyth closed the door in the eighth and ninth innings. Smyth said he has put his two blown saves in his first two outings in the past and out of mind. "It's something I've done my best to forget," he said. "That's something that you just try to put behind you and get off to a fresh start. I was confident that I was going to be able to do so." — Edited by Andrew Wiebe Sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson high-fives sophomore right fielder Brian Heere. Thompson crushed the Jayhawks first home run of the season, driving in two runs on the hit before crossing home plate. Kansas used five early runs to earn its fourth victory of the season. Weston White/KANSAN BASEBALL Junior pitcher Travis Blankenship throws a pitch during Kansas' game Wednesday afternoon against North Dakota. Blankenship pitched five innings, striking out three batters in a 6-3 victory. The junior transfer throw first pitch to 13 of the 17 batters he faced. Blankenship throws 13 first-pitch strikes in 5 innings against North Dakota Pitcher gets a jump on hitters Weston White/KANSAN BY TIM DWYER tdwyer@kansan.com Coach Ritch Price said it was absolutely necessary for junior starter Travis Blankenship to jump ahead of hitters in the count if he wanted to be effective. Apparently, the message stuck. Blankenship faced 17 hitters through five innings last night and threw 13 first-pitch strikes. Price said it was the only way Blankenship (1-0) would see success this season. "That's the way he has to pitch," Price said. "He hovers around 84-86 so he's one of those prototypical soft lefties. He has to get ahead in the count in order to get guys to chase his breaking ball. I thought he did a really good job against their lefties today when he spun the ball away from them." Blankenship's ability to attack the strike zone allowed him to throw his slider and changeup. With a fastball that sits in the mid-80s, Blankenship does not have the ability to overpower hitters at the Division 1 level, like he may have been able to last year pitching for Johnson County Community College. "When you get out ahead," Blankenship said, "you're able to use your slider, change, really stretch the strike zone out because they're going to be trying to take out pitches and get ahead." Blankenship's job was made easier by a first-inning Tony Thompson three-run homer over the 2006 Big 12 Champions sign in left field. That was followed by a two-run second inning that gave Blankenship, who needed only 27 pitches to get through a perfect first three innings, a 5-0 lead. "Any time you can get a five run lead like that it really allows your pitcher to throw strikes," Price said. "That's what Travis strength is. He's not a top velocity guy. He's a guy that's got to pitch to contact and get the ball hit so it gave him some margin of error." "That takes a lot off me to get strikeouts and one unearned run. some run support," Blankenship said. "I can go out there and just work on some things, get after hitters and not be afraid of working around or getting to fine with hitters. I can just go right after them." — Edited by Realle Roth It was that ability to get after hitters that led to Blankenships terrific outing in his first start as a Jayhawk. He finished with five innings pitched, three hits, three BOX SCORE North Dakota 000 102 000 -342 Kansas 320 010 000 -691 NORTH DAKOTA Lagein 2b Sadler lf Magner 1b Cook dh Gudmunson 3b Krivarchka rf Nelson ss Marek lf Bakhit 2b Totals AB R H RBI 3 1 1 0 4 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 4 0 0 1 4 1 1 1 3 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 29 3 4 3
KANSASABRHRBI
Faunce lf5000
Heere rf4121
Price ss4011
Narodowski ss4110
Thompson 3b4113
Waters dh4110
Land 1b3121
Lincoln c3000
Afneir ph1000
Burnansky cf3110
Totals35696
E — North Dakota: Gudmunson (5); Bakhit (1). Kansas: Murray (1) 2B — Kansas: Land (2) HR — Kansas: Thompson (1) PITCHERS NORTH DAKOTA IP H R ER BB/SO Lueck (L, 0-2) 8.0 9 6 5 1/3 KANSAS IP H R ER BB/SO Blankenship (W, 1-0) 5.0 3 1 0 0/3 Murray 1.1 1 2 2 2/0 Bochy 0.2 0 0 0 1/1 Smyth 1.0 0 0 0 0/1 T-2:08.A-700. BOCHY CONTINUES STRIKEOUT STREAK The first batter sophomore Brett Bochy faced in his one inning of work sat down three strikes later. It continued a remarkable trend for the sophomore relief pitcher. Bochy has made seventeen career appearances for the Jayhawks, striking out at least one hitter in 16 of them. THOMPSON ENDS HOME RUN DROUGHT Sophomore Tony Thompson only needed one swing to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. This time he did it with an exclamation point, sending a ball screaming over the left-field wall with two men on in the first inning. It was his third home run in the streak, and it broke a six-game long home run drought for the Jayhawks. Tim Dwyer The Logan Doctor of Chiropractic program includes extensive study in science, physiotherapy, nutrition, radiology, clinical sciences, chiropractic techniques, business training and extensive clinical rotations. Doctor of Chiropractic Are You Ready to Accept the Challenge? Students also have the opportunity to combine their chiropractic education with a unique Master's degree in Sports Science & Rehabilitation (MS/DC). Specialties Within Chiropractic: General Practice - Sports Rehab * Pediatrics * Geriatrics * Radiology * Acupuncture - General Prach • Neurology • Orthopedics • Research • Personal Injury Contact Logan University at www.logan.edu for an intro packet to your future as a Doctor of Chiropractic. LOGAN COLLEGE OF CHIPROPRACTIC UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS www.Logan.edu Chesterfield (St. Louis area). Missouri 800-533-9210 1