PAGE 26E AUGUST,1996
KUED • SPORTS
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
Jayhawks pin hopes on offense
BY ANDREW HARTSOCK
JOURNAL-WORLD SPORTS WRITER
If the rest of the Kansas University baseball team follows Josh Kliner's lead, the Jayhawks could be in for a heck of a season.
"Josh Kliner put up great numbers than nobody could ever match. His average went from .298 to .438 in one year," second-year coach Bobby Randall gushed. "All we need is for four guys to do that."
Kliner, KU's second baseman last spring, won't be around to show the way. Kliner, now playing in the Arizona Diamondbacks' system, became KU's sixth All-American after hitting .438 as a senior, a figure that led the Big Eight and ranked No. 8 nationally.
Thanks in part to Kliner, the Jayhawks of '96 hit a school-
- BASEBALL
best .324 as a team en route to a 26-30 record overall. Trouble was, that offense was balanced by an unsightly 7.39 team earned run average.
"We counted them up. We lost 11 games when we scored nine or more runs," Randall said. "That turns your season around. That was always a nemesis for us."
It's bound to be this year, too.
Though KU lost its top two hitters in Kliner and Isaac Byrd now in the St. Louis Cardinals organization and a senior on the KU football team -its next five return. KU's best pitcher, Casey Barrett, is back, but three of its top five, and the bulk of its starters, are gone.
"We may end up being a very effective pitching team," Randall said. "I won't say we
have to outscore people, but we do have a chance to be another good offensive team. I still like our team on the field. Our pitching staff, for two
prep ranks to bolster the pitching staff. He signed a huge class of 15 players. Of those 15, nine
years in a row, will be a big question mark. This year will be ability and youth. We'll still lack experience."
Randall dipped into the
See Randall, page 28
FILE PHOTO
Bobby Randall coached KU to a 26-30 record in his first year.