R THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN NEWS MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2006 BASEBALL Ryne helps team earn victory BY SHAWN SHROYER sshroyer@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTWRITER The defensive carousel on the right half of the Kansas infield finally came to an end on Sunday. After missing 18 games with a broken bone in his hand, sophomore Ryne Price reclaimed his spot at second base. Bandall Sanders/KANSAN Sophomore infielder Ryne Price squares up to bunt in the sixth inning of the Jayhawks' series —clinching 9-6 victory over the Missouri Tigers at Hoglund Ballpark Sunday. Price returned to the lineup Sunday for the first time since February 24, after missing 18 games because of a wrist injury. Coach Ritch Price said he thought Ryne's return to the lineup made all the difference in Kansas winning its first Big 12 series of the year. "I actually thought that if he hadn't played, we might not have won today." Coach Price said. "It just puts our lineup so much better one-through-mine and, not only that, it makes our offense a lot better defensively." Saturday's game showed that the Kansas defense needed Ryne back. With a runner on first base and two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Missouri senior infielder Trevor Helms hit a hard ground ball up the middle. Senior second baseman Jared Schweitzer fielded it and tossed it to second base. The only problem was senior shortstop Ritchie Price wasn't there yet, and the ball skipped over to sophomore Erik Morrison at third base. Had Morrison not thrown out Missouri sophomore infielder Brock Bond at the plate, the Tiers would have added to their 2-1 lead with the error. With two outs in the top of the seventh, an error by freshman first baseman Preston Land gave Missouri an opportunity for a two-out rally that it didn't capitalize on. "Yesterday was the first day that we got exposed on the right side of the diamond, defensively." Coach Price said. Although coming into Sunday day with only a .205 batting average, Ryne made his first major contribution in five weeks at the plate, lacing a single between Missouri's shortstop and third baseman in the bottom of the second inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ryne made his presence known on the base paths. Ryne was walked by Missouri senior Travis Wendt and was helped to second base by junior Dylan Parzyk's sacrifice bunt. While on second, Wendt attempted to pick Ryne off, but overthrew the base and Ryne moved up to third. A double by Ritehie sent Ryne across the plate for Kansas' fifth run of the game. "They weren't holding us on real well, so I was just trying to take advantage of that." Ryne said. In the field, Ryne didn't make any spectacular plays, but he didn't look like an infelder that hadn't played in more than a month, either. in the top of the second, a ground ball ricocheted off of first base past Schweitzer, but Ryne was there to keep the ball from going any farther. The next inning, Ryne recorded his first assist since Feb. 24, against Belmont. Coach Price said the pitchers would be able to throw with more confidence with the defense behind them, now that Rvne was back. "I think the fact that they know they can throw a ground ball, we can turn double plays all through the infield is a huge thing for the pitcher to know," Price said. - Edited by Janiece Gatson BASEBALI 'Hawks inconsistent offense leads to split series BY ALISSA BAUER abauer@kansan.com KANSAN STAFF WRITER Friday — Missouri 3, Kansas 0 Missouri pitcher Nathan Culp (6-2) didn't give up a walk until the top of the ninth inning. It was his only walk of the game in the Missouri 3-0 victory. Allman had two of them. Culp struck out the next two Jayhawks, clinching a complete game, three-hit shutout Friday night against Kansas (18-11, 2-5). The Kansas offense was inconsistent on Friday. Culp threw for the complete game and the victory, surrendering only three hits. Of the three, sophomore outfielder John "I went in and got a couple hits, but it's all about winning ball games." Allman said. "It's not about one person in the lineup. It's got to be about the whole team as a lineup." Kansas coach Ritch Price said the reason for offensive inconsistency on Friday was more about how well Culp pitched. Kansas starting pitching balked three times on Friday, setting a new team record. Junior Sean Land (4-5) was called for the balk twice, freshman Paul Smyth had the third balk. Saturday — Kansas 3, Missouri 2 It barely cleared the left field wall, as nearly 2,000 fans inched forward in their seats to see if Erik Morrison's long fly ball would make it out of Hoglund Ballpark. "In my four years we've never had the back-to-back crowds that we've had this week," Price said. Just four outs away from falling to an 0-2 series deficit, the sophomore third baseman's seventh home run of the year tied the Border Showdown at one game a piece, with a 3-2 Saturday victory. "That's as good as I can hit it," Morrison said. "I wasn't really sure when it left my bat, but I was hoping." A diving catch into foul territory was also needed to seal the victory. Sophomore left fielder John Allman took off after a foul ball. His body slid against the wall as he came up with the third and final out. Kansas overcame three blatant errors, the assistance of four pitchers and a scoring drought that lasted five innings. Missouri third baseman Brock Bond was ejected after he ripped off his helmet to protest an umpire's call at the plate. Bond slid into junior catcher Dylan Parzyk's at home plate glove and was called out. Senior closer Don Czyz (4-0) took the victory after tossing the eighth and ninth innings. Edited by Lindsey Gold BOX SCORE MISSOURITIGERS (16-11)
ABRHRBI
Frey, Evan cf4010
LeBlanc, Bryson ph4000
Taylor, Zane lf1111
Priday, Jacob dh4010
Mense, Hunter rf3001
Bond, Brock 3b4010
Chambers, Derek 1b5120
Helms, Trevor 2b3110
Mach, Kyle ph1110
Field, JC c1000
Lollis, Ryan ph1000
Pietroburgo, Dan c1111
Arndt, Gary ss2012
Cales, David ph1111
Totals358106
KANSAS JAYHAWK5 (20-11)
ABRHRBI
Murphy, Kyle cf3100
Price, Ritchie ss3222
Schweitzer, Jared 1b3213
Milner, Gus rf5021
Morrison, Erik 3b3111
Land, Preston dh4010
Allman, John If4021
Price, Ryne 2b2110
Berner, Matt 2b2000
Parzyk, Dylan c2210
Totals319119
Baseball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B In the same inning, Kansas loaded the bases with sophomore second baseman Ryne Price at the plate. Fresh off the disabled list, Price had already tagged a single in his first at-bat in 18 games. He took a little advice on his first day back from a newly signed recruit, Robbie Price. "My little brother was like 'Hey, first pitch fastball in the next at bat just bang it to left.'" Ryne Price said. "He threw a fastball away so I just pushed it over there." But with the bags packed in the third, Chambers prevented a consecutive hit, diving for his line drive and touching first along the way. The double play was the epitome of solid hitting and clutch defense. This one favored the Tigers. Luckily for the home team, Chamber's play was basically all that favored the Tigers. After Missouri jumped to that quick two-run lead, the team fell silent, until a one-run seventh. For the second day in a row, strong Kansas hitting made for an early Tiger pitcher exit. Freshman right-hander Rick Zagone (2-1) only threw three innings, surrendering four runs off seven hits and taking the loss. Quick, however, tossed a stellar Book. In textbook fashion, Quick went a solid seven allowing three runs before freshman right-hander Paul Smyth stepped in to collect a pair of outs in the eighth. "I was happy with the way things went," Quick said. "They scored a couple in the first and second. They were hitting the ball and I knew they'd eventually hit them to us." when senior closer Don Czyz was called on with runners on in the eighth, his team held a two-run lead which was his job to protect. Uncharacteristic for Czyz, he allowed the Missouri offense to finally spark. The four runs Kansas put across in the eighth, however, made the three runs Missouri scored in the ninth much easier to handle. With the series victory, Kansas can now seriously contend in the Big 12 Conference. A series victory next weekend at home will put the Jayhawks at a .500 record, a sweep would give them a winning record in the Big 12. It's a feat which the Jayhawks have never accomplished in a season. "We win our first series at home against a ranked opponent, and we've already played the two College World Series teams on the road," coach Price said. "We find a way to win the series next weekend then we're at .500 halfway through. We'd be in pretty good shape." Edited by Lindsey Gold