8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2008
FRIENDS (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
As for Price, a wrist injury limited him to only 22 games during the regular season. Nevertheless, he racked up nine home runs and 33 RBI in his sparse playing time and when the postseason rolled around he was at his best.
In the first three games of the Big 12 Championship, Price was 4-for-6 with three runs, two RBI and the fateful home run in Kansas' 4-3 victory against Missouri. As a result of his scuffle at third with Bond, Price was ejected from the game and suspended from playing in the title game.
In Price's absence, Morrison
whod already gone 4-for-11 in the tournament with two home runs against Oklahoma State entering the title game - continued to swing a hot bat, going 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI as Kansas defeated Nebraska. 9-7, for its first ever Big 12 Championship.
The duo continued to rake in the NCAA West Regional with three home runs and five RBI between the two of them, even though Kansas dropped two of three games in the regional.
"We both played every day, so we were real experienced but at the same time nobody really knew who
Weston White/KANSAN
Senior shortstop Erik Morrison fields a bouncing ball Wednesday night against St. Mary's in a 13-0 victory. Morrison batted 1 for 3, contributing one BBI and one run. Kansas faces Baylor in Waco, Texas, for a three game road trip.
Senior right fielder Ryne Price reaches for a flyball that dropped just over his head Tuesday afternoon against Chicago State University. The Jayhawks defeated the Cougar's 6-4 at Hoglund Ballpark, moving their overall record to 16-9 on the season.
we were yet." Morrison said
FINDING THEIR PLACES
Price and Morrison may have taken a backseat to the senior class in 2006, but in 2007 the Kansas roster was nearly devoid of senior leadership and Price and Morrison were looked upon to lead the team as juniors.
The season began with optimism. After playing his first two seasons at third - where he committed 48 errors - Morrison moved to his natural position at shortstop to form a double play combination with Price, who was still at second base. Expectations were high for Price and Morrison, who combined for 23 home runs the year before as sophomores. However, the season ended in disappointment.
Kansas had four stretches where it lost at least three consecutive games. The Jayhawks had one stretch in particular where they went 8-20. Kansas finished 28-30 overall, its first losing season since 2002.
In reality, the lackluster season was a result of poor pitching and a depleted as well as inexperienced batting lineup. But it was Price and Morrison who took the season the hardest.
"The thing that was the hardest to deal with was the fact that we were just losing all the time." Price said. "Wed lose by a run, wed blow a lead in the eighth, wed have guys in scoring position with no outs and just couldn't get it done."
While Morrison cut his errors to 10 at shortstop, his home runs also dropped to seven. Morrison admitted that with the lack of power bats in the lineup he felt himself pressing at times to get the big hit.
In mid-April in a series at Texas Tech, Morrison's frustrations reached a climax.
Kansas trailed Texas Tech 1-0 in the ninth in the first game of the series when Morrison hit a two-out single. However, he was called out at second attempting to stretch the hit into a double. From his perspective he was safe, so he gave the umpire a piece of his mind, which included a couple magic words that
resulted in his suspension from the second game of the series.
"I've got to at least get thrown out of one game in my college career," Morrison said. "I've always been kind of a hathead and fly off the handle. I've said a lot worse to umpires than that and nothing's ever happened, but I guess he didn't like me too much."
ond base, but there was nothing ne could do but tough it out.
Still, aggravation got the best of him, too.
The weekend after the Texas Tech series, Kansas was playing at Oklahoma and Price finally became fed up playing second base. It happened after a muffed double play exchange between Price and Morrison. The ball was hit to Morrison and Price thought Morrison would turn the double play by himself, but Morrison thought Price was headed to the bag, so he flipped the ball to second. Both Price and Morrison watched, frozen, as the ball fell despairingly to the ground between them.
"After that, I came in and I was like, 'I'm done playing second base after this year.' Price said.
But Morrison's struggles were nothing compared to Price.'
ing on Price and Morrison
FINAL SEASON HOPES
Despite leading the team with 10 home runs and a .956 OPS, his 62 strikeouts - which tied a single season record - and 19 errors at second base seemed to be the only numbers outsiders paid attention to.
While it's had its ups and downs, this year has been much less gruel.
Price's bat was far too valuable to be taken out of the lineup and putting anyone else at second base would have made Kansas' offense even more anemic. So Price, who was a catcher in high school, may have been out of position at sec-
Kansas is currently 29-22 overall and in seventh place in the Big 12. It will be guaranteed a spot in the Big 12 Championship if it remains in the top eight of the conference standings.
Individually, Price now holds the Kansas all-time home run record with 35 in his career while Morrison is second on the all-time list with 30. Before the season, when both players were tied with 24 career homers, Morrison said he wasn't going to let Price beat him, so he's still holding out hope that he'll catch him.
"We've still got a couple series left and anything can happen," Morrison said.
Still, Morrison is holding his own with a .487 slugging percentage and a team-leading 12 stolen bases. Meanwhile, Price has made a successful transition to right field, where he's yet to commit an error and has displayed a rocket arm. At the plate, he leads Kansas with 11 home runs, 57 RBI and a .584 slugging percentage.
With the numbers they're both putting up, there's a good chance each will be drafted in this June's MLB First-Year Player Draft. Last year Morrison was drafted in the 49th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he returned to Kansas to prove he was better than a 49th-round pick and to take the Jayhawks back to the postseason.
"Looking at it, it kind of makes you mad," Price said. "I've never been drafted and I'm sure there's a lot of scouts who don't like me, but hopefully there's one out there who will give me a chance to play after this."
As for Price, he said part of him felt like he'd underachieved his first three years at Kansas, but now that he's put himself in position to be drafted he feels like he's validated his Kansas career.
Neither senior is getting ahead of himself, though. Both Price and Morrison realize that anything short of reaching the Big 12 Championship this season will be deemed another disappointment in their eyes.
"Our ultimate goal is to make a regional," Morrison said. "Now what we're trying to do is finish this thing on a positive note and get ourselves in the Big 12 tournament and keep rolling through there. Once you get there anything can happen."
Indeed. Nobody knows more about the unpredictability of the Big 12 Championship than Ryne Price and Erik Morrison and both are looking for a new story to tell.
Edited by Sasha Roe