/ SPORTS / WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
KANSAS AT MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY
BASEBALL REWIND
Key inning
The first
The Jayhawks needed a victory and got the game started in an ideal fashion. After Kansas' offense produced a quick run in the top of the first, redshirt freshman Thomas Taylor took the mound and easily retired Missouri State in order in the bottom half.
Game to remember
Redshirt freshman Thomas Taylor
Taylor pitched, by far, his best ballgame in his career at the University. He dominated the Bears for five innings, allowing only one hit — a single — in the fourth inning. The youngster also struck out a career-high eight batters while boasting great control of his fastball and curveball.
Taylor
Game to forget
Senior pitcher Travis Blankenship
Though the rest of Kansas' pitchers consistently threw strikes, Blankenship didn't have the same success. The Jayhawks' reliable lefty faced four batters in the eighth, but recorded only one out — giving up two hits and one walk. All three batters came around to score after fellow reliever sophomore redshirt Matt Kohorst also struggled to find the strike zone.
Blankenship
From the stat book
11-6
For a pitcher struggling with his command, nothing is more important than getting ahead of
a batter by throwing the first pitch for a strike. And redshirt freshman Thomas Taylor fired strikes to 11 of the 16 batters he faced Tuesday.
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In perspective
With the must-have victory Tuesday night, the Jayhawks shook off their disappointing three-game sweep over the weekend. With the rest of the week off until they head to Lincoln to face Nebraska, Kansas now has the momentum it needs to focus on winning another important Big 12 series.
BASEBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
coach Price said, who also called Taylor's performance the best of his career. "He was able to mix in his breaking ball for a strike and still finish hitters off with his fastball."
Kansas added single runs in the sixth and seventh on RBI by Lytle and senior Brett Lisher, extending the cushion to 6-0. Even when Taylor left the game, senior Wally Marceli picked up where he left off, throwing scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh.
But the surplus of runs was essential because the Bears nearly made a comeback identical to the March 31 matchup. Aided by four walks in the eighth – two coming with the bases loaded - Missouri State narrowed Kansas' lead to 6-3.
Sophomore Colton Murray was forced to enter the game, where he easily recorded the final two outs of the inning and ended the threat.
"I wasn't expecting to go in at all, but all of a sudden they started scoring runs, so I got ready to go," Murray said.
The ninth wasn't as easy — the Bears slapped back to-back singles and scored a run on a balk by Murry. But Kansas' new closer settled down, closed
out Missouri State's threat and earned the save.
Murray said that when an opponent threatened to rally late in the game, he and his fellow teammates in the bullpen didn't get plagued by nerves
- they aimed to rise to the occasion.
"We want to stop it," he said. "We want to be the guy to go out there and get it done."
GAME NOTES:
Top of the order to ya'
Kansas' top three hitters - Lytle, junior center fielder Brian Heere and Robby Price - combined to go 5-for-12 Tuesday. The trio also combined to score a total of five runs, drove in four, stole three bases and walked. With his two-hit evening, Price also extended his hitting streak to 18 games.
Waiting for the weekend
Pitching coach Ryan Graves took Taylor out of the ballgame in the fifth not because he was tiring, but because the layhawks plan on saving him to pitch this weekend in Nebraska.
Edited by Megan Heacock