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SPORTS / WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
MISSOURI STATE 5, KANSAS 1
MEN'S BASEBALL REWIND
Kansas 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Missouri State 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0
Senior shortstop Brandon Macias and sophomore second baseman Kevin Kuntz collide while trying to field a ground ball Tuesday. Missouri State defeated Kansas 5-1.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Senior shortstop Brandon Macias grimaces in pain after a Missouri State player slides into him Tuesday. Kansas was awarded the double play because of player interference.
Jayhawks fail to battle surprising Bears player
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
Kansas' struggles at the plate were led by the three seniors in the lineup, Brandon Macias, Jimmy Waters and Casey Lytle, who finished a combined 0-for-12 with five of the Jayhawks' 10 strikeouts. It was the third time this season that the Jayhawks have finished
The layhawks, whose 3.1 runs per game rank 286th among 292 Division I baseball programs, couldn't get anything going against Johnson. Johnson showed top flight potential — he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays out of high school — but never on a stage like this, and never so consistently across an entire game.
Johnson should have, temporarily at least, cured the many offensive woes of the Kansas lineup. Instead, the ineptitude of the Kansas lineup cured his woes in a frustrating 5-1 loss that Price called "as bad an offensive performance as we've had in a long time"
Missouri State pitcher Pierce Johnson entered the game with a 10.41 ERA. He allowed fourteen runs in his last two starts, spanning 8.1 innings. Over the course of the season, he was demoted from the Bears' No. 2 starter to their No. 3 starter and then to their No. 4. He didn't get into the sixth inning of any start this season and, judging by recent numbers, he hasn't been getting better.
"I don't know how many strikeouts we ended up with," Price said, "but almost every single one of them was on a breaking ball that wasn't even a strike."
with double-digit strikeouts, but the first time that a single pitcher was responsible for all of the carnage.
Kansas managed just six hits, five of them singles, and didn't put a run across until the bottom of the ninth, when it was down five and reeling. Johnson posted career-highs in innings and strikeouts, a product of razor-sharp command and a brutal lack of discipline from the Jayhawk bats.
"We had a hard time seeing his slider," Waters said. "Obviously, we had a hard time seeing it up, and he abused us with it."
"You look at his numbers." Kansas Coach Ritch Price said, "and he walks in here with an ERA of 10-something, and he hasn't gone more than six innings in a game all year. But he located his fastball away and then he was able to use his breaking ball when he got ahead in the count, and we weren't very disciplined."
"We were swinging at balls in the dirt," said junior infielder Zac Elgie. "It's impossible to hit the ball when it's bouncing in there every time."
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
FINAL R H E
1 1 6 1
FINAL R H E
5 5 8 1
Edited by Caroline Bledowski
Senior outfielder Casey Lytle watches the ball fall into his glove for an out Tuesday at Hoglund Ballpark. The Jailhawks lost to the Bears 5-1.
Batting POS AB R H RBI
Brandon Macias SS 4 0 0 0
Jordan Brown CF 3 0 0 0
Jimmy Waters LF 4 0 0 0
Zac Elgie 1B 3 1 2 0
James Stansfield DH 3 0 2 0
Casey Lytle RF 4 0 0 1
Jake Marasco 3B 4 0 0 0
Alex DeLeon C 3 0 1 0
Kevin Kuntz 2B 3 0 1 0
Goals 31 1 6 1
Kansas
Totals
Missouri State
Batting POS AB R H RBI
Aaron Conway CF 5 1 1 2
Kevin Medrano 2B 4 1 0 0
Spiker Helms RF 2 0 0 0
Brent Seifert 3B 3 0 0 0
Brock Chaffin PH 2 0 1 0
Luke Voit 1B 4 0 2 0
Travis McComack SS 3 0 0 0
Brett Marshall C 3 1 0 0
Patrick Drake LF 4 1 2 0
Totals 33 5 8 5
In perspective
Elgie steps up — Coach Ritch Price moved junior first basemen Zac Elgie to the cleanup spot of the Kansas lineup. Elgie responded by being the only Jayhawk batter to get on base three times in the game. If he can continue to hit well at batting fourth, the Jayhawks will have finally found a solid cleanup hitter to consistently drive runs in.
Johnson
Johnson came into the game giving up an average of more than 10 runs per game. Johnson reversed his fortune against Kansa ons Tuesday, pitching a complete game and only giving up six hits for one run.
Marasco
Game to remember
Sophomore Missouri State pitcher,
Pierce Johnson
After opening the season on a tear, Marasco has cooled down considerably, culminating in Tuesday's loss to Missouri State. Marasco went 0-4 at the plate and left three men on base.
Stat of the night
117
r
The amount of pitches it took Missouri State pitcher Pierce Johnson to finish off the Jayhawks. Johnson worked through the Kansas lineup effectively and was able to finish out the game.
Game notes
Sophomore infielder, Jake Marasco
Game to forget
Sophomore Missouri State pitcher, Pierce Johnson
Pierce Johnson's 10 strikeouts against the Jayhawks were the most strikeouts from one pitcher against a Kansas team since Barret Loux of Texas A&M struck out 10 on March 29, 2009. Johnson's complete game was the second thrown against Kansas all season.
Johnson
On to Kauffman
The Jayhawks will move on from the loss with tonight's 5:30 game at Kauffman Stadium against Missouri. This marks the third time the two teams have met in the Kansas City Royals' home. The game will have a home-like feeling for Jordan Brown, Colton Murray, Conner Murray and Thomas Taylor, who are all from the Kansas City area.
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