Something clicked for Kansas University’s baseball team over the weekend.
After two heartbreaking losses to Texas A&M, the Jayhawks rallied to win the third game convincingly. Then, to prove it was no fluke, Kansas battered Wichita State before a huge crowd on Tuesday.
“The things we were doing early, like strikeouts, were like a contagious disease,” Randall said. “That was negative. Now we’re starting to feed off our success, our positives, instead of the negative part of it. I can feel it in the spirit of the players. Like Tuesday night. We were down 3-0, and nobody was, like, ‘Come on, let’s go.’ There was a calmness there. Nobody panicked. It was a change, a transformation.”
KU (19-15 overall, 6-9 Big 12) hopes to keep riding the wave this weekend, when it returns to league play against Nebraska (19-11, 7-8). Game times are 6:30 tonight, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Beltzer Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.
The biggest change in the Jayhawks has been offensive. But NU will counter with the best pitching staff in the Big 12. Nebraska leads the league with a team earned run average of 2.98. Kansas ranks fifth with a 4.39 team ERA.
“We’ll be challenged more this weekend than we have been, but that kid for Wichita State was no slouch,” Randall said. “I feel good about our direction. Our players really feel better. Our offense will have to do some things this weekend, but I’m hopeful that what we’ve done in the last couple of games means we’ll be able to handle that.”
The turning point for Kansas came just after the Missouri series. Kansas won the opener with Mizzou, 3-0, but went on to lose the next two as part of a four-game losing streak.
“We beat Missouri that one night, and I couldn’t go to sleep,” Randall said. “I kept thinking, we can’t keep dropping popups. We can’t keep striking out. But over that period of time, we got a lot of good work in over spring break. My feeling, and the feeling of the team, is that paid off. We finally understand how to execute offensively, and how to do that in a game. I’m sleeping a lot better these days. I even slept in to 8:30 this morning.”
In many statistical categories, the Jayhawks and Huskers are nearly even. KU is hitting .296 as a team, compared to NU’s .297. KU has 10 hits per game to Nebraska’s 10.3. Kansas has a league-leading 70 stolen bases this season compared to NU’s 68.
“If they have an advantage,” Randall said, “it’s ERA. But I like the way we pitch.”
Tonight’s starter was undecided by Thursday. It likely will be either Rusty Philbrick (2-3, 5.15 ERA) or Jeff Davis (4-2, 5.40 ERA). Brandon O’Neal (1-1, 3.00 ERA) will make his third start on Saturday, and Pete Smart (6-5, 3.03 ERA) will go Sunday.
Kansas will travel to Wichita State on Tuesday, then play host to Oklahoma next weekend.
— Andrew Hartsock’s phone number is 832-7216. His e-mail address is ahartsock@ljworld.com.
