Kansas baseball sweeps

By Ryan Greene     May 14, 2007

Ryan McGeeney
Kansas University baseball players high-five after their 15-4 rout of Chicago State. The victory Sunday at Hoglund Ballpark completed a four-game sweep for the Jayhawks.

As if an impending week of final exams hasn’t put enough pressure on the Kansas University baseball team, some outside results cranked up the cooker Sunday afternoon.

A 15-4 pelting of Chicago State gave KU an expected four-game sweep and its fifth straight victory. And while the Jayhawks didn’t move in the league standings this weekend, Sunday losses in Big 12 Conference play by Baylor and Oklahoma put KU in an opportunistic spot with only a three-game home swing this weekend against Nebraska remaining.

“I really believe that if we win the series against Nebraska, we’ll make the tournament and finish above .500,” KU coach Ritch Price said. “And from that standpoint for me, when you’re rebuilding after losing the seven seniors, I feel good about the way that things ended up.”

The Jayhawks (27-28 overall, 8-15 Big 12) are a half-game behind the Sooners and Bears for eighth place in the league standings. KU, though, needs to jump just one of them to secure a spot in the Big 12 tournament, which it won a year ago.

While a couple of victories and some outside help probably will be required for Price’s hope to come to fruition, one guarantee is KU will have a little extra bounce in its home finale thanks to its weekend rout of Chicago State.

Ryan McGeeney
KU freshman infielder Steve Cochran throws from third after outing a Chicago State runner in the final play of Sunday's game at Hoglund Field.

The Jayhawks outscored the Cougars, 45-7, in the four-game set.

“I think the thing for us was, it was a chance for us to pound somebody and beat somebody they’re supposed to beat,” Price said of the team with the second-fewest victories (3) in Div. I play this season. “For me, personally, it was a chance to play my whole roster.”

While the backups cleaned up, the starters were as solid Sunday as they had been the 48 hours prior. Sophomore lefty Andy Marks, working on just three days rest, gave up two earned runs and struck out six in five innings. Those six punchouts gave him the school’s sophomore record for strikeouts in a season (89) – a record which had stood since 1990.

“I mean, 15 runs : you’re probably going to get a win every time,” Marks said. “It was the shortest rest I’ve been on pretty much in my career, so it was nice to have the guys score so many runs for me.”

Kyle Murphy, John Allman and Buck Afenir each collected two hits and two RBIs for KU, as the offense was pretty spread out. The only other Jayhawk to drive in multiple runs was junior reserve Eric Snowden, who roped a pinch-hit double late in an eight-run sixth inning for the Jayhawks, which all but sealed the run-rule victory and sent the players home early.

Now, on top of the semester’s end, the Jayhawks have nearly five days of anticipation for the season’s vital stretch. While having a mid-week game would be ideal, this is one point in this season rife with rescheduling where one was, well, not scheduled.

“It’s gonna kill us, there’s no doubt about it,” Price said. “You can look at the weeks we haven’t done very well in conference, and those have been the weeks we’ve had rainouts on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“As I told everybody when the season started, the guys that carried our club a year ago graduated, and the returning players were major contributors, but they weren’t the guys that carried the club. Now it’s going to be the weekend where the pressure’s all on them. And I think that’s a part of their development process.”

KU red-shirt freshman Max Ellenbecker, a 2005 Free State grad, Sunday made his fourth appearance on the mound. The left-hander threw a scoreless sixth inning, surrendering just one hit and striking out one.

In his four appearances this season, Ellenbecker has yet to allow an earned run, has given up just three hits and has struck out five.

Kansas baseball sweeps

By J-W Staff Reports     Feb 5, 2007

? Kansas University sophomore catcher Buck Afenir went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, and junior John Allman added a two-run triple as Kansas University completed a five-game baseball sweep of Hawaii-Hilo with a 9-2 victory Sunday afternoon at Simmons Field.

The Jayhawks improved to 5-0, while the Vulcans drop to 0-9.

Afenir, who hit four home runs all of last year, took an 0-1 pitch deep to center field in the top of the fifth.

Starting pitcher Andres Equibel scattered eight hits over five innings, allowing two runs for his first victory.

KU will play host to South Dakota State in a three-game series beginning at 3 p.m. Friday at Hoglund Ballpark.

Kansas baseball sweeps

By J-W Staff Reports     Jan 27, 2003

? Kansas University’s baseball team swept a doubleheader Sunday with Hawaii-Hilo, 5-3 and 6-0, to close its season-opening series.

KU junior Ryan Baty, who pushed his team-leading batting average to .619, led the Jayhawks (4-2) offensively. The Wichita native went 4-for-7 in the twinbill, driving in one run and scoring once.

Senior Lance Hayes was 2-for-3 in the nightcap, tripling in one run and scoring twice.

Sophomore Kenny Falconer started the first game and did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. Falconer left the game in the sixth inning after surrendering three runs on four hits, allowing Hilo to knot the game at 3.

Senior Ryan Jakubov finished the inning and faced two hitters in the seventh to record the win after the Jayhawks broke the tie with two runs in the top of the seventh.

Freshman Eric Peterson, a Free State High graduate, pitched the last two outs of the seventh to pick up his first save.

Senior Kevin Wheeler tossed seven scoreless innings in Game Two, allowing just two hits and striking out four. The Omaha, Neb., native picked up his first career win by throwing 59 pitches, recording 14 groundball outs.

Kansas next will face Arkansas-Little Rock Feb. 7-9.

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