A&M ambushes Kansas

By Chris Wristen     Apr 10, 2004

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
Kansas University's Matt Baty swings and misses a pitch against Texas A&M. The Aggies blasted the Jayhawks, 14-4, Friday night at Hoglund Ballpark.

This certainly wasn’t how Kansas University baseball coach Ritch Price envisioned his squad responding after pummeling No. 10 Wichita State on Wednesday.

The Jayhawks seemed to be riding a wave of adrenaline and emotion after whooping their in-state rival two days earlier, but none of that positive energy carried into Friday night’s 14-4 loss to No. 15 Texas A&M at Hoglund Ballpark.

Kansas (23-15-1 overall, 1-6 Big 12 Conference) was outpitched, outhit and outworked all night long and never posed a serious threat to the Aggies (28-8, 5-5).

“They played us tonight like they’re the No. 15 team in the country and they beat us in every phase of the game tonight,” Price said. “I’m disappointed in the effort that I got from our club. It seems like we left our energy level and our enthusiasm on the field after Wednesday night, and if you don’t come ready to play in this conference you’re going to get humiliated, and we got humiliated tonight.

“I think in my two years here that’s the most disappointed I’ve been. The one thing we’ve done a really good job of is we’ve come to play every day. This might be one of the few times we’ve walked on the field, and I didn’t think we were ready to play, and we were flat. It was an awful performance.”

Jared Soares/Journal-World Photo
Kansas University players Ryan Baty (10) and Jared Schweitzer (7) catch Texas A&M's Coby Mavroulis in a rundown. The Jayhawks were defeated by the Aggies, though, 14-4, Friday night at at Hoglund Ballpark.

The 10-run loss tied for KU’s biggest deficit of the season, and the 19 hits allowed by KU pitchers were the most given up all year. With 12 strikeouts, the Jayhawks weren’t aggressive at the plate either. Senior first-baseman Ryan Baty was ticked off about all of the lowlights and attributed the woes to the team’s unusual lack of character.

“It was humiliating,” Baty said. “We represent something that’s a lot bigger than us — what’s on our jerseys is bigger than any individual on this team. When you embarrass our institution like that, it hurts. It hurts your pride. It hurts everything.”

Even a focused and determined KU squad likely would’ve struggled Friday against the Aggies considering how well they played. They rocked KU starting pitcher Ryan Knippschild for seven hits and seven runs in the first two innings alone. Meanwhile, A&M starter Jason Meyer allowed just one hit in the first four innings.

“We set the tone early and it wasn’t good,” Baty said. “We dug ourselves a hole we couldn’t get out of. Overall, 1 through 9 tonight, we were bad, and it was embarrassing.”

After a two-run first inning, Erik Schindewolf crushed a three-run homer in the second and helped press the Aggie lead to 7-0. Kyle Kilgo scored for Kansas in the fifth on Ritchie Price’s base hit up the middle.

KU scored a run in each of the last three innings, but never made a legitimate threat because KU relievers Jacob Jean, Andrew Rebar, Ken Livesey and Scott Sharpe were ineffective in a combined three innings. The Aggies scored twice in the seventh, three times in the eighth and twice in the ninth for the final score.

“We’ve got to pitch better in order to give ourselves an opportunity to play against a club as good as that,” KU coach Price said.

Baty said the Jayhawks must be better in all phases of the game in order to challenge the Aggies at 6 tonight in Game Two of the three-game series.

“We can’t shut down, and we’re not going to shut down,” Baty said. “We’ve got too good of people on this team, we’ve got too good of a coach to shut it down. He’s not going to let it happen, and I’m not going to let it happen. You’re going to see a different team tomorrow, and you’re going to see a different team Sunday.”

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