KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2011 / SPORTS
7A
BASEBALL
Kansas at 4-4 after loss to UC Riverside in extra inning
BY MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
Another impressive pitching performance was put to waste by a lack of run support in the Jayhawks' extra-inning loss to UC Riverside in Surprise, Ariz., The 2-1 10th inning loss for the Jayhawks was their second extra-inning loss in eight games played so far this season. With the loss Kansas falls back to .500 at 4-4.
UC Riverside scored the go ahead run against the Jayhawks in the bottom of the 10th inning after senior Tony Nix hit an RBI single to center field that scored senior Ryan Goetz, off senior pitcher Scott Heitshusen.
Freshman pitcher Alex Cox, making just his second collegiate start, had quite an outing Thursday. Cox pitched six innings, and gave up six hits and three walks for one run. Cox managed to get out of jam after jam as the game went on, and showed the ability to get himself out of some tough situations.
"Alex had one heck of a performance," senior outfielder limmy Waters said. "That's one of the better performances I've seen out of a freshman."
Kansas came into Thursday's game hitting a lowly .180, and things didn't change for the Jayhawks against UC Riverside. Kansas managed to score only one run off four hits, continuing to give their pitching staff very little run-support.
At the helm of the batting problems is senior leader Jimmy Waters, the Jayhawks' top batter last season. Waters has not been able to give the Jayhawks any kind of spark at the plate, is batting .129 after nine games, and has just four hits in 31 plate appearances. Waters attributes some of his early
season struggles to opponents pitching to him differently.
"I think I've done a pretty good job of laying off most of it outside the zone," Waters said. "I just gotta find a way to hit the ball."
Along with Waters, two other senior leaders have yet to get things going at the plate in outfielder Casey Lytle and shortstop Brandon Macias. Lytle is hitting .156 with only two runs scored and one run batted in. Macias only has one hit in 24 at-bats so far this season for an average of .042.
If the Jayhawks hope to get back over .500 after this weekend and for the remainder of the season, Waters believes there is a simple sounding, but not so easy, fix to the team's early season woes.
"Plain and simple we have to hit the ball," Waters said.
— Edited by Sarah Gregory
Jimmy Waters, a senior outfielder, hits a foul ball Tuesday afternoon against Southern Utah. Waters, the Jayhawks' top batter last season, has not been able to give the team any spark at the plate and is batting .129 after nine games.
Ashleigh Lee/KANSAN
LACROSSE
Kansas to take on Colorado squads
BY BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
This weekend, the lacrosse team (3-2) will travel to Boulder, Colo. for a showdown with the University of Colorado and University of Northern Colorado.
"Northern Colorado is about even on our level of competition. Colorado ranked fourth in the nation versus our 75th ranking," coach Dennis Shults said. "It'll be a very tough game."
Since both of these games are non-conference, they will have no long-term implications on the Jayhawks' playoff eligibility.
The Jayhawks are coming off a triumph victory in Iowa, where they beat the Hawkeyes 15-10 and virtually won the division title.
The team is still led by Francis Enright, a senior from Winnetka, Ill., who has had 12 goals and 9 assists this season.
During the team's practices this week, Shults has been working a lot on the squad's penalty kill, specifically the players' positioning during the kill.
The Colorado squads will test
"You always want to win them all, but I think if we come back one-and-one, then it was a good weekend," he said.
Looking at the big picture, Shults sees this weekend as a way to get the University more recognition on the national stage.
Kansas thoroughly this weekend and Shults said he would be happy to come away from the weekend with one loss and one victory.
"A win against Colorado would definitely get us recognized on the national level," Shults said. "It's one thing I talk about a lot, the level of respect that we don't get, so I think it would definitely get us some respect."
This early in the season, one of the more challenging aspects for the Jayhawks is that they have not played a home game yet. After this third weekend out of town, the Jayhawks will stay put for a while with games against St. Cloud State, Arkansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma, starting on March 11 against St. Cloud State.
— Edited by Caroline Bledowski
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