8B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2006
BASEBALL
Group shows team support at home
Carly Pearson/KANSAN
Brian Bender, Overland Park sophomore, shouts during Tuesday night's baseball game at Hoglund Ballpark. Bender is a well-known heckler at Kansas home games.
BY RANDALL SANDERS
sports@kansan.com
KANSAN Guest Writer
"Baseball doesn't get the fan support that basketball and football do, so we do the best we can to let the team know we support them," Brian Bender said. The Overland Park sophomore is widely acknowledged by members of the group as the ringleader. Bender and the rest of the self-proclaimed becklers take their work seriously.
For most of the crowd at Hoglund Ballpark, "root, root, root for the home team" is a lyric from baseball's anthem. For a small group of students in the bleachers along the third base line, it's a mission statement.
“Before the games, I print out statistics, pages from the other team's media guide — whatever I need to prepare.” Bender said.
Bender distributes the information he finds to the fans around him, including bits from each player's media guide page. Together, fans in the section bellow their support of the home team and their
The heckling ranges from banging on the bleachers in time with shouts of "Let's go Jayhawks!" to shouting at opposing players about their hobbies and statues.
general disapproval of the visitors.
Two players in particular got the full treatment during the Texas Tech series: freshman outfielder Roger Kiesnick and freshman infielder Willie Rueda.
"We did a good job during the Missouri series, and we really stepped it up during the Texas Tech series. We had a lot of fun with Roger and his great smile and Willie and his kid size and all those guys." Bender said "And this North Dakota State team, everyone's biography says they like video games. It's too easy sometimes."
The hecklers maintain that it's not all about making the other team feel unwelcome. It's also about supporting the home team.
"This is a passionate team, and we love watching them," Dave MacKay, Shawnee senior, said. "We have a lot of respect for these guys and the energy they bring to the field that emu-
lates from coach Price."
The team's loyal fans said increased fan support like theirs would help the team immensely.
For MacKay, part of the draw is the intimacy of the sport and Hoglund Ballpark.
"If baseball got the fan support that basketball and football do, like the team got during the Wichita State game, the school would have to expand Hoglund," Erick Walker, Houston freshman, said.
"The park is small enough that we know the players from both sides can hear us." MacKay said. "And I don't mean any disrespect to the basketball players, but I can strike up a conversation with Matt Baty if I run into him outside the park. You can't do that with the players from the other sports."
Whatever their reasons, most of the group agrees: it's all about the players and letting them know that they have low, unwavering fans.
Defeat
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
The sophomore right-hander threw just two outs, but the Bison would not allow another run for the next six innings while the Jayhawk offense ceased to a halt.
"The players go out there and do all the work," Bender said. "We're just trying to support them."
Edited by Lindsey St. Clair
Sophomore right-hander Shane Bushland's longest outing before Tuesday's game was just over two innings. On Tuesday, he tossed seven innings against the Jayhawks, allowing just one run and three hits.
What hurt in the end was their defense. The Bison committed six errors on Tuesday night.
"Baseball's a weird game," Baty said. "We hit the ball pretty hard, it was just going right at guys. We didn't have our best stuff tonight, and we got down pitching early. But when you come back and win a game, that shows a little character."
Kansas, however, returned the sloppy play and racked up three errors.
"We came out really flat tonight, and it showed," Czyz said. "We're lucky to be walking out of here with a win, kind of an embarrassing way to go into this weekend."
The Jayhawks play the Bison at 3 p.m. at Hogglund Ballpark.
Injury Update
Sophomore second baseman Ryne Price will undergo surgery on his wrist on Friday to repair a broken hammock bone. Coach Ritch Price said his son could be back as early as two weeks.
Senior first baseman Jared Schweitzer is expected to be back in the lineup this weekend against Oklahoma State. Schweitzer dislocated his shoulder at Wichita State on April 5.
Edited by Lindsey St. Clair
Fans
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Both agreed that the intimacy between the fans and players set Kansas baseball above men's basketball and football, but they really loved Kansas baseball for different reasons.
"It's KU and baseball; put that together and I'm in heaven," Bender said.
MacKay said the members of the team were what he liked most about Kansas baseball. He said Price was an inspirational coach and all the players showed tremendous passion every time they took the field. MacKay said that if Kansas basketball fans were the "Sixth Man," then Kansas baseball fans were the "Tenth Man."
Although Tuesday's comeback may rank high on their list of Kansas baseball memories
this season, both singled out Kansas' 3-2 victory against Missouri on April 4 as their favorite Kansas baseball moment of the year.
"So far, it's got to be Erik Morrison's home run on the Saturday game against Mizzou and then John Allman making that circus catch to win the game," Bender said.
As for their expectations for the team in the postseason, neither tried to hide their travel plans for June to follow the team throughout the NCAA tournament.
"I'm going to be an optimist and say they're going all the way," MacKay said. "I don't think anybody can stop them. NCAA champs all the way."
"I've got family in Omaha," Bender said.
— Edited by Matt Wilson
Brian Bender, Overland Park sophomore, and Erick Walker, Houston freshman, wave their arms at Tuesday night's baseball game. Bender and Walker are known as hecklers at Hoglund Ballpark.
BOX SCORE
North Dakota State Bison (2-25)
Player H R B RBI
Greg Plecki, cf 1 2 1 0
Greg Magadanz, ss 2 3 2 0
Matt Mosey, 2b 1 4 0
Jared Sullivan, f 4 2 0 2
Ryan Langlais, 1b 4 0 0 1
Luke Otto, r 4 0 0 0
Cory Swantendes, dh 4 1 0 0
Cory Ruffer, c 4 1 0 0
Sean Thin, 3b 3 0 0
TOTALS 33 7 4 4
Kansas Jayhawks (23-13, 6-6 Big 12 Conference)
Player AB H R RBI
Brock Simpson, rf 4 1 0 1
Ritchie Price, ss 5 0 1 0
Matt Batty, cf 5 1 1 0
Jostin Eilrich, dh 3 0 1 0
Erik Morrison, 3b 3 0 1 0
John Allman, ff 3 0 1 1
Preston Land, 1b 1 0 1
Mary Palm, yy 0 0 1
Ross Kelling, 1b 0 0 0
Buck Afin, c 2 0 0 1
Nick Faunce, pr 0 0 0 0
Dylan Parzyk, c 0 0 0 0
Matter Berner, 2b 3 2 0
TOTALS 29 4 5 3
Win - Don Crzy (5-0)
Loss - Mitch McNich (1-3)
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