Thursday, February 5, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Returning pitchers lead Kansas team in ERAs
Mark Corson, sophomore pitcher, takes his turn pitching in the batting cages. The baseball team was practicing yesterday in Anschutz Sports Pavilion. Photo by Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
By John Wilson Kansas sportswrite
Kansan sportswriter
As freshmen, Rusty Philbrick and Mark Corson never expected to become Kansas baseball's top two pitchers last year.
Philbrick recorded a 3-1 record and a 4.71 earned run average during 1997, becoming the fifth freshman in school history to lead the pitching staff in ERAs. He mixes a better-than-average fastball with an improved curveball and change-up.
"Both pitched for us Saturday in a intra-squad scrimmage and looked solid," said Bobby Randall, Kansas baseball coach. "Both will start the season in our top five or six."
Philbrick and Corson were hurried into the Big 12 Conference on a pitching staff that included nine freshmen, but the two performed well enough to capture the top two earned run averages of the team.
"I knew I had to work on my curve because I kept hitting people last year," Philbrick said, laughing. "Coach Kilmer (Kansas pitching coach) and I have worked through the fall and winter on my mechanics and improving my command of those pitches."
Philbrick, who is from Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Mo., said he had been pushed hard by his mother to succeed on the field.
"I got hurt my junior year, and she wouldn't let me give up," Philbrick said. "It sounds kind of soft, but her belief in me is the reason why I am playing Division I baseball."
Corson said he came to Kansas because of the people he had met on his recruiting trip to the University.
"Mark's young and has a good curve," Randall said. "Left-handers who throw strikes will always be effective in college baseball."
Corson (2-3. 4.86) is a big, deceptive left-hander from Boulder, Colo., who looks to change speeds and location.
"I came here to surround myself
"I knew that I had to work on my curve because I kept hitting people last year."
Rusty Philbrick
Kansas pitcher
and the rest takes care of itself."
with my kind of people," Corson said. "We all go out and work hard
Although Philbrick and Corson found success last season, Randall said that spots on the staff were wide open.
"Our pitching staff is more experienced than last season after a tough Big 12 schedule," Randall said. "There are no set positions even for guys like Rusty and Mark. The guys that are successful will play."
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