Appuhn lifts KU over Eagles

By Steve Rottinghaus     Mar 20, 2001

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
Kansas first baseman Matt Tribble (8) runs down Eastern Michigan's Tony Palazzolo while the Jayhawks' Jon Nelson awaits a throw. KU clocked the Eagles, 13-3, Monday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. Story on page 3C.

Kansas University center fielder Jason Appuhn can no longer be overlooked while batting ninth.

Appuhn, whose batting average ranks second on the team, went 4-for-4 with three RBIs to lead KU to a 13-3 romp of Eastern Michigan on Monday at Hoglund Ballpark in the final game of the Spring Showcase.

“I’d like to move up, but I’ll hit wherever I have to hit to help the team out,” said Appuhn, a sophomore from Omaha, Neb. “If the nine-hole is going to make the team better, I guess I’ll stay there.”

Appuhn singled twice, doubled, tripled, hit a sacrifice fly and stole a base against the Eagles.

“I’ve been trying to stay looser, not have so much tension when I’m up there and seeing the ball better,” said Appuhn, who hiked his batting average to .338. “It’s been helping out a lot. I worked a lot before practice and after practice and during, everything I can do to help me get better.”

KU coach Bobby Randall loves having Appuhn in the ninth slot.

“He’s like a second leadoff hitter,” said Randall, whose Jayhawks improved to 13-11 with their fifth victory in seven games. “He’s in front of (leadoff hitter) John (Nelson) and can really run and that’s why we have him in that spot.”

The Jayhawks bashed 17 hits and capitalized on eight Eagle errors, which resulted in six unearned runs. On Sunday, Eastern Michigan committed no errors in a 9-8 victory over Kansas.

“Their defense wasn’t very good today,” Randall said. “Our pitching, our defense and base-running was probably too much today. At the beginning of the game it was base-runnning, walks and errors.”

The Jayhawks scored twice in the first, second, fourth, fifth and eighth innings. KU tacked on seven runs with two outs in the seventh inning, capped by Appuhn’s RBI double.

KU’s Pete Smart was the winning pitcher. Smart struck out six batters in 62/3 innings to improve his record to 6-0 in seven starts.

“I think Pete lost his concentration a little bit,” Randall said.

Smart cruised early, retiring the first nine batters three on strikeouts. The Eagles (3-13) didn’t score until the sixth.

“I think I started throwing a little harder,” said Smart, a senior from Omaha, Neb. “The ball kept coming up on me and I lost my focus and concentration. It got a little bit ugly.”

Smart, who leads the team with 451/3 innings pitched, was pulled with an 8-3 lead.

“You don’t like the long innings, but if we’re going to score 13 runs I’ll take nine long innings to score 13 runs,” Smart said.

Junior Doug Lantz pitched 21/3 innings of hitless relief for the Jayhawks.

Nelson, Ryan Klocksien, Matt Van Alsburg and Brent Del Chiaro had two hits apiece for the Jayhawks. All of KU’s starters had at least one hit.

The Jayhawks will play Southwest Missouri State at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Hoglund Ballpark. Baylor will visit Hoglund for a three-game Big 12 series, starting on Friday.

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