8B
BASEBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY MARCH 12, 2007
Runs come too late for win
Weak sixth inning for the Jayhawks locks in victory for Razorbacks
BY ALISSA BAUER
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Danny Hamblin stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth looking at two teammates on base and one out against them. Hitting 155, the Razorbacks first base man could've been a quick end to a quick inning.
That home run would be all No. 10 Arkansas (13-5) would need to defeat Kansas (11-8), 5-2 on Sunday and complete the series sweep.
Hamlin belted a three-run shot to center field.
"It was just like a couple pitches missed here and there," s o p h o m e
"I think we've just got to keep battling. It's going to come together."
pitcher Andy Marks said. "Before you know it, they've got two guys on and nobody out. A good team like that will always take advantage."
Missed opportunities were the theme most of the weekend, particularly on Sunday. However, for the majority of the game the layhawks, led by Marks, had the same effect on the Razorbacks.
In the opening innings it was apparent that both offenses were merely feeling out the opposing pitchers, coming up with a random hit or walk. Marks sat guys down in order early and Razorback starter Shaun Seilbert struck out the side in the third.
But as the game continued, the hits came on strong, walks became more frequent and errors started showing up. Rims, however, were nowhere to be found.
Until the sixth.
The Razorbacks led off their big inning with a pair of walks. Shortstop Tim Smalling, who had a productive day with a hit, a run and two RBI singled in the first run of the day.
"I felt like I was doing a really good job until I walked those two guys in the sixth inning." Marks said. "Those will always come back to kill you."
Hamblin's blast followed to highlight the four run sixth. The home run was devastating to a Kansas squad struggling to score runs of its own, but Price didn't place blame anywhere. He continued to praise his starting pitcher's effort.
JOHN ALLMAN
Outfielder
"We had a long sixth inning, obviously, with runners in scoring position," Price said. "For whatever reason when he went back out, he lost his command and walked the first two guys and kind of set the tone. But I was really thrilled with him. I think that's as tough and competitive as he been since he's been at our place."
Arkansas put another up in the bottom of the eighth, again off the bat of Smalling, but wouldn't need it. Although Kansas out hit its opponent, 9-8 on Sunday, the Jayhawks simply could not score.
"I think for our guys, you've got to go up there and look fastball and adjust off speed." Price said. "And not get punched out strike three with runners in scoring position. That's the first time we really seen a quality opponent do that."
Price was right, as a quality opponent Arkansas did just that, collecting 31 strikeouts this weekend, 11 of which were on Sunday. A far cry from the seven strikeouts-per-game goal that Price is looking for.
In the top of the eighth, Kansas had switched from preventing the sweep and instead prevented the shut out. Sophomore first baseman Preston Land walked with the bases loaded to score junior left fielder John Allman for the layhawks first run of the day.
Allman led the day's offense. After snapping his 10-game hit streak on Friday night, Allman was productive for the rest of the series. His 3-for-4 performance on Sunday was his seventh multi-hit game of 2007.
Unwilling to surrender, Kansas made a final push in its last at bat. Freshman third baseman Robby Price doubled down the right field line, extending his hit streak to 11 games. Junior outfielder Brock Simpson's sharp groundball to second was ruled an error, but still scored Price.
Though it wasn't enough, Price and his team didn't travel back to Lawrence on Sunday night hauling only negatives. In fact, some of the Jayhawks know their team hasn't even got started.
"I think we've just got to keep battling." Allan said "It's going to come together. We've got all the pieces, we've just got to put them all together. It's just a matter of time before it happens and once it happens we'll start cooking. We're fine, there's no reason to panic just yet."
Kansan senior sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@kansan.com.
Edited by Lisa Tilson
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Kansas fails to end on high note
Starting pitchers' attempts to reclaim weekend series fall short
BY SHAWN SHROYER
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — With the South Dakota States and Western
timidises out of the way and the conference grind fast approaching, Kansas coach Ritch Price is finding out if his current week end starters are the right trio to carry the team for the rest of the
"You've got to stay positive out there when the stuff's hitting the fan."
With any kind of run support behind Czyz on Saturday, Kansas would have been in position to steal the series on Sunday.
for the rest of the season.
Facing No. 10 Arkansas (13-5) last weekend, Kansas (11-8) saw mixed results out of its rotation, comprised of left-handers junior Zach Ashwood and sophomores Nick Czvz and Andy Marks.
Despite their youth, the sophmores stepped up to put Kansas in position to take two of three from Arkansas.
The lajhawks were looking to salvage the series with a victory on Sunday after losing the first two games. Marks gave them every opportunity. After five innings, the Razorbacks had yet to score. Unfortunately, the same was true for the lajhawks.
When Marks came out in the sixth, he finally gave out, being charged with four runs. Those four runs and the loss he was handed overshadowed an otherwise solid outing. He recorded six strikeouts in the first five innings and a seventh in the fateful sixth innning.
"We run two sophomores out there on Saturday and Sunday and when you're playing nationally ranked opponents, you're asking a lot of those guys". Price said.
"I knew if I could keep putting up zeroes that wed score eventually." Marks said, undeterred by a lack of run support. "It's always nice to score first, we've been working from behind a lot, but it just didn't work out today."
NICK CZYZ
Pitcher
Crzyz did everything in his power to make that happen. He threw seven stellar innings, allowing just one run and striking out seven Razorbacks. He allowed a
leadoff single and walked the second batter in the eighth, and was taken out of the game. He was charged with two more runs when they scored later in the inning.
Still with no offensive support, the damage had been done, wasting a gutys performance from Czvz.
"Those are the situations he's going to be in," Price said. "He's going to be pitching against the first or second guys on people's staffs. It was a tremendous performance by him."
"I just stayed confident," CZVz said. "The entire time I just kept telling myself that was the last run that was going to score. You've got to stay positive out there when the stuff's hitting the fan."
On Friday, the eldest of the weekend starters struggled severely. Ashwood gave Kansas four decent innings, allowing two runs, but he didn't survive the fifth.
Crys's performance gave Price even more faith that the sophomore can be one of his go-to guys in big games.
"The concern is our bullpen is our strength and if you take him out of the bullpen than we really short our bullpen on a weekend series." Price said on Friday. "At the same time, we can't continue to keep giving five, six and seven runs up against nationally ranked opponents."
The transfer from Texas Christian University was shelled for five more runs, negating a five-run Kansas inning in the top of the fifth.
Once Ashwood was replaced by junior right-hander Andres Esquibel, Arkansas' bats cooled off. Esquibel pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed an unearned run.
Kansan senior sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at shsroyer@kansan.com.
Esquibel has been dependable out of the bullpen all season and may now be making a push for a starting spot.
In 19 1/3 innings pitched this season, he leads Kansas with a 1.40 ERA to go with his 2-0 record.
Edited by Katie Sullivan
Diamond Studs – Sophomore starting pitchers Nick Czyz and Andy Marks kept Kansas in Saturday and Sunday's games. Excluding the last inning each one appeared in during their respective starts, the two combined for 13 strikeouts in 15 innings and allowed only one run. With some run support, the pair would have made it out of the series with victories.
Diamond Studs
Diamond Dud Sophomore first baseman Preston Land was 0-for-7 after the first two games of the series and didn't start on Sunday. He did come off the bench, though, to record his first hit of the series and drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk.
— Shawn Shroyer
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