THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY MARCH 7, 2007
SPORTS
9B
Anna Faltermeier/KANSAN
Freshman infielder Robby Price gets tagged out at third during the game against Tabor Tuesday. Price hit 3-for-3 in the Jayhawks' 18-2 victory.
BASEBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Price blasted a solo shot to righ field to tie the game. Fellow junior outfielder Brock Simpson singled through the right side of the infield just in time for senior designated hitter Ross Kelling to collect the second home run of the inning, and a 3-1 lead.
Another three-spot in the bottom of the third gave Kansas a comfortable 6-1 lead, and showed that the team putting hits together at the right time.
"I think that's just a result of us getting the chance to be outside for three straight days," coach Ritch Price said. "I like this team potentially offensively. I think we can be as good as we were a year ago once we get everybody playing."
However, in the following pair of innings, Kansas failed to score and left five base runners on in the fourth and fifth innings alone.
Each team broke its short scoring drought in the sixth.
Tabor knocked in another run off the bat of infidel L.D. Poplin.
On the other hand, Kansas exploded.
Although Kansas maintained a four-run lead into the bottom of the sixth, the Jayhawks booked insurance with an 11-run inning.
Sixteen Jayhawks stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, kicked off by a lead-off walk to freshman third baseman Robby Price, who would also reach base later in the inning after being hit. He
scored each time.
"I didn't even realize I scored twice," Robby Price said. "That was a pretty interesting inning. We just put a few hits together and scored a few runs."
When the dust cleared, the Jayhawks had a commanding 17-2 lead and would score once more before the game was finished.
Junior left fielder John Allman also scored twice in the longest half inning of the season, highlighted by seven of the 20 hits Kansas racked up on Tuesday.
Six layhawks had multi hit games en route to collecting 20 on the day. Kansas also walked six times and was hit by a pitch six times to round off the blowout.
Maricel (2-1) picked up the victory, after tossing just 4 2/3 innings in the start. He was followed by four relievers, who surrendered one run combined.
"I thought we played better defensively and I thought some guys did some great things on the mound," coach Price said. "It was a good team win."
Kansas will play host to Baker University (5-3) today at 5 p.m.
Kansan sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@kansan.com.
Edited by Katie Sullivan
Price brothers power victory
BY SHAWN SHROYER
For the past couple seasons, Kansas fans have enjoyed seeing two Price brothers in the same lineup. Tuesday evening, the new Price combination put together its first impressive joint outing in front of the lahayk faithful.
The new duo consists of junior second baseman Ryne Price and freshman third baseman Robby Price and, in an 18-2 drubbing of Tabor, they set the tone for the Kansas offense.
"It builds confidence, especially going to Arkansas," said Robby, of his 3-for-3 day at the plate. "It's good to get a few knocks and get a little confidence before the weekend."
Robby recorded Kansas' first hit of the game in the bottom of the first inning with a single. He wasn't on first for long, though, as he stole second base, his second in the last two games.
His aggressiveness got him into trouble later in the inning when he was thrown out attempting to steal third base for the final out in the inning.
Robby, who came into the game batting .245, singled in his next two at-bats, boosting his batting average to .288. In addition to his three singles, he walked and was hit by a pitch, improving his on-base percentage from .327 to .415.
Although Robby went through a stretch earlier in the season where he went 3 for-18, his father, coach Ritch Price, knew it would only be a matter of time before Robby's numbers picked up.
"Robby's been one of the best players every place he's played his whole life." Ritch said. "He got off to a little bit of a slow start, but I have no doubt when the season's over, he'll be over 300. He may lead our team in hitting."
As Robby gained confidence with each at bat, brother Ryne continued to take the ball everywhere on the field.
Ryne's first turn to bat came in the second inning and before Tabor pitcher Philip Unruh knew what hit him, the game was tied, 1-1, as Ryne's third home run of the season sailed over the right center-field fence.
Three innings later, Ryne added another extra base hit to his total with a double to right field. For the game, Ryne was 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs and a walk. Although Ryne has put together a strong first month of the season with a .294 batting average and a .588 slugging percentage, this season has been a relief for him. After missing 40 games last season, Ryne has started all 15 of Kansas' games this season.
"It's a lot better than sitting on the bench," Ryne said. "Being able to contribute and help our team win, that's what I came here to do and it sucked last year not being able to do it."
Of course, if anyone is happier to have Ryne's stick in the lineup, it would have to be his coach.
"Ryno's one of those guys who's really physical with the bat", Ritch said. "In one swing, he can impact the game."
Game notes
In addition to Ryne and Robby, a couple other Free State High School products got into Tuesday's game. Junior Matt Lane and freshman Max Ellenbecker entered the game from the bullpen. Lane threw 1/3 1/2 perfect innings, striking out one, while Ellenbecker gave up one hit and struck out one in one inning. Junior infielder Matt Berner came off the bench and went 1-for-2 at the plate with an RBI.
The 20 hits Kansas collected in Tuesday's game were the most since May 20, 2005, against Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks defeated the Cowboys, 17-3.
Kansan senior sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@kansan.com.
Kansas 18. Tabor 2
Edited by James Pinick
Tabor 100 001 000—2 7 z
Kansas 033 00(11)10x—18200
Unruh, Villalovos (5), Yoder (6),
Blackwell (7) and Huston; Marceli,
Lane (5); Hayakawa (7); Garia (8);
Ellenbecker (9). W — Marciel, 2-1.
MLB
L — Unruh. 2B — Tabor: Bailey,
Poplin, Dick; KU — Land, Ellrich,
Morrison, Ry. Price, Southers,
Servais. HR — Ry. Price, Kelling.
Records — Kansas 10-5, Tabor 7 7.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Red Sox prospect shows early promise
JUPITER, FLA. — Daisuke Matsuzaka had an easy time in his first spring training outing against major leaguers.
Dice-K allowed two hits in three scoreless innings and struck out three Tuesday for the Boston Red Sox in a 14-6 rout of the Florida Marlins at Jupiter, Fla.
"My readiness for the season is difficult to judge from the outside," Matsuzaka said through a translator. "I'm probably 40 to 50 percent there."
Before a sellout crowd of 8,044, including some who began lining up for tickets at 5 a.m., Matsuzaka threw a fastball that topped out at a brisk 151 — that's kilometers per hour, as measured by Japanese TV. It translates to 94 mph.
"He's definitely got the ability to be a dominant pitcher," Florida's Dan Uggga said. "He's got the stuff, he's got the command. He has done it in Japan, and there's no reason he couldn't do it here."
Florida learned right hander Josh Johnson has an irritated ulnar nerve that will likely force him to miss at least the first two months of the season. Johnson said his arm first hurt while he was lobbing a ball Jan. 19.
"It if was real bad, I'd probably be out for four months," he said. "It's good to know exactly what it is."
At Bradenton, Fla., NL. batting champion Freddy Sanchez sprained a ligament in his right knee and left the Pittsburgh Pirates' 11-10, 10-inning loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Sanchez was injured when the Phillies' Rod Barajas slid into his knee as he was turning a double play at second base in the fourth inning. A test showed a mild sprain of the medial collateral ligament.
"As of right now, it just feels like a bruise or something like that," Sanchez said. "It's nothing big."
"I'm taught to go hard to second to break up two, and that's what I did." Barajas said. "I didn't come up high, and my spikes weren't up. I slid the way I've always been taught. Unfortunately, he didn't get out of the way."
At Phoenix, Oakland's Mike Piazza was hit just above his left elbow by a pitch from Kansas City's Brian Bannister, and the designated hitter came out of the Athletics' 3-2
Sanchez, who hit. 344 last season,
is day-to-day. He didn't complain
about the slide. Barajas thought
Sanchez did not do enough to get
out of his way.
"He got it pretty good," said Piazza, who initially put a thick bag of ice on his elbow. "I'm just going to ice it again, see how it feels and go from there. If everything's all right, I'm sure it will calm down in a day or two."
Piazza has a bruised left triceps. Impressions from the seams of the baseball were visible on his elbow in the clubhouse after the game. Piazza doubled earlier to raise his spring training average to .444, third-best among As regulars.
In Tucson, Ariz., pitcher Javier Vazquez and the Chicago White Sox agreed to a $34.5 million, three-year contract extension through 2010. Vazquez will get $12.5 million this season, the final year of his current contract, and $11.5 million in each of the following three seasons.
Vazquez gave up four runs and six hits in three innings of a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies, who got a long, two-run homer from Brad Hawpe.
KU DAY WEDNESDAYS
MARCH & APRIL
loss in 10 innings.
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Outside of Woodland's performance, the rest of the team struggled, finishing 10th in the 15-team field. Coach Ross Randall said in a release that he was disappointed the team didn't play well after winning the All-American last week.
Drew Davison
MEN'S GOLF Woodland wins third tournament of year
Jayhawk senior golfer Gary Woodland won his third golf tournament of the season Tuesday at the Louisiana Classics Golf Tournament held at Oakbourne Country Club in Fayetteville, La.
Woodland shot a three-round total of 205, including a final round score of 70. Woodland also won the Kansas Invitational and All-American Golf Classic earlier
this season.
Does Science Progress Through Blind Chance or Intelligent Design?
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Department of Physics and Astronomy
DR. SHELDON GLASHOW Nobel Laureate in Physics-
Friday March 9,2007 at 6:30 PM Spencer Museum of Art
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