Hawks and Cyclones dominate statistics
Long before the baseball season started, KU's Floyd Temple was guessing out loud that his Jayhawk baseballers just might become a contender in the Big Eight Conference this year if he found a couple or three players who could plate a few runs. He figured he had the pitching.
Those two or three players have turned out to be Skip James, Paul Womble, and Keith Lieppman and right now the Hawks are very much in contention, though they ride three games back of leader Iowa State in the loss column. Still in Temple's mind is a KU-Iowa State series at Lawrence next week (May 15-16).
11 tries. His average is now an even .500. What's more, he's knocked in nine runs.
With a burst unsurpassed in the Big Eight this year, James, who started the season at first base and then moved to the outfield, went from a place among the league's unranked hitters to the place at the top. His three-game production was seven safeties in
Now, consider Paul Womble, who also switched and went to fight for Temple. He started at third and shifted over to shortstop. With the change, hits started to fall and, more importantly, they fell with men on base. His net for last weekend was seven runs batted in to boost his seasonal total to 12 RBI's and a tie for the conference's lead with Nebraska's Steve Achelpohl and Iowa State's Bob Case.
It was Lieppman who tr aded places with Womble, going to third from shortstop. The only difference is that Lieppman has been hitting pretty well all season. His average now stands at .385, but just as glossy is his run-produce total of 10.
So just a year after but one Jayhawk found a nest among the league's leading hitters, KU has James leading the league at 500, Womble ranking sixth with a 429
mark, and Lieppman listed seventh at .385. In addition, two others, Ken Carpio and John Riggins, are batting over .300.
And the pitching? Color Temple a smiling crimson. The Hawks lead the league, showing a combined staff earned-run average of 2.47. Corky Ullom is second with 1.22, while Bill Stiegemeier is sixth at 2.04. Reliefers Bob Wolf and Bob Kaufman have been exceptional, too, with Wolf showing a 2-0 mark and a 1.59 ERA while Kaufman is 2-1, getting credit for both wins last weekend against Missouri.
Back on top of the individual pitching rankings this week is Iowa State's Mike Gillespie, who now shows a 1.13 earned-run average and a 3-0 record. Big winner, though, is another Cyclone, Larry Corrigan, who is 4-0 for league games. Corrigan,
who also doubles as a catcher,
is listed No. 2 in hitting this
week with his .448 mark.
In the other team categories, Nebraska continues to lead the fielding race with its .967 mark, a level, which if maintained, would go down as the best average for the conference single team fielding averages have been maintained. As it has been all season, Iowa State continues to top the team hitting standings with a club mark of .296. KU is creeping closer with its runnerup .281 average.
Big 8 Hitting
| Player and School | Pos. | g | ab | r | h rb1 | 2b 3b | hr | avg. |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Skip James, Kansas | 1B-CF | 11 | 30 | 6 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 1.50 |
| Larry Corrigan, Iowa State | P-C | 9 | 29 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2.448 |
| Terry Edwards, Oklahoma State | 1B-RF | 10 | 34 | 5 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 1.441 |
| Ead Tadelman, Iowa State | 3B-LF | 8 | 25 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 1.440 |
| Pat Parkhurst, Oklahoma | 3B-SS | 11 | 28 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 0.420 |
| Keith Lieppman, Kansas | SS-3B | 11 | 39 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 0.385 |
| Bill Boyd, Missouri | 1B | 10 | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 1.367 |
| Ron Ralley, Colorado | 3B | 12 | 44 | 6 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 1.364 |
| Mike Cross, Oklahoma State | SS | 10 | 36 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 1 | 1.361 |
| StevePatchin, Missouri | C | 10 | 36 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 1.361 |
| Dlek Mantlo, Kansas State | 1B-P | 10 | 46 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0.361 |
| Nell Stoman, Missouri | CF-3B | 10 | 38 | 6 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 1.242 |
| Forry Wells, Kansas State | SS | 13 | 36 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 0.342 |
| John Stearns, Colorado | C | 10 | 36 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1.233 |
| Gene Stohis, Nebraska | P-C | 9 | 21 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 |
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