Thursday’s added game between the Kansas University baseball team and Tabor College was hardly a glamorous in-state showdown.
Only 108 fans witnessed KU’s 16-2 victory against Tabor at Hoglund Ballpark. Most of KU’s starters were taken out midway through the game. Tabor committed four errors, with several more blunders that didn’t show in the box score.
Still, the mismatch served an important purpose for the Jayhawks, who head into Big 12 Conference play with a three-game set at Missouri tonight.
“The big thing for us was to give our freshman the opportunity to play,” KU coach Ritch Price said. “(Don) Czyz needs a chance to start, and we think he has the chance to be a quality Big 12 guy down the road.”
Czyz, a freshman, threw five shutout innings and clearly dominated Tabor’s hitters. He struck out seven, gave up just two hits and walked one. He improved to 1-1 on the season.
“Czyz was good,” Price said. “He took a step forward. That was the first time he’s gone five innings for us.”
Czyz also was pleased with his solid outing, which lowered his ERA to 2.13, second-lowest on the team to Brandon Johnson.
“I felt I did alright,” Czyz said. “I was throwing strikes and letting them put the ball in play and letting the defense work for me.”
Czyz was more than happy to see his offense provide plenty of run support. Kansas (20-6) scored four runs in the first inning, capped by Casey Spanish’s two-run home run. KU added two more in the fourth, seven in the fifth, and three in the eighth to make Thursday’s game a blowout.
KU used 15 position players during the course of the game — and 12 of them recorded at least one hit. Catcher Jake Kauzlarich was the biggest of all the big bats, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Freshman Matt Baty went 3-for-5, bumping his average to .407 this season.
“It was a developmental game for our young guys and an opportunity for them to see live pitching,” Price said.
Thursday’s game was the first of four the NCAA allows teams to play against non-Division One opponents. The Jayhawks will face Baker University next week, Avila in April and Washburn in May.
The Jayhawks face a Tiger squad already 0-3 in conference play, having been swept by No. 10 Texas last weekend. First pitch is set for 6:30 tonight, with a 2 p.m. start Saturday and a 1 p.m. start Sunday.
“We’ve put ourselves in a position to play for something special for the next nine weeks of the year,” Price said. “To be 20-6 at this point in time, I didn’t even think that was possible.”