KU catcher Michael Tinsley’s quest to finish the season above .400 took a blow and a break on Saturday in Manhattan.
Tinsley, who was removed late in the game for some extra rest heading into Sunday’s huge series finale, was part of [a KU offense that struggled for most of the night in a 12-2 loss at Kansas State.][1]
Outside of freshman outfielder Devin Foyle, who had three of KU’s six hits in the game, the Jayhawks were shut down and never really threatened to pick up a victory that would have been both huge for the weekend and the Jayhawks’ chances for qualifying for the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City.
KU, which fell back to a half game behind the Wildcats for the eighth and final spot in the conference tourney, now has four conference games remaining in the regular season and one match-up with Wichita State, giving Tinsley five more guaranteed games to finish at or above .400.
We won’t be there for all of Tinsley’s at-bats, but we will track his chase for .400 in this blog right here, as he attempts to become the first Jayhawk since Joe DeMarco in 1997 (.439) to finish a season above .400 and just the seventh Jayhawk to accomplish the feat since 1971.
Let’s take a look…
Updated Batting Average: .393
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**Name:** Michael Tinsley
**Year:** Junior
**Position:** Catcher
**Measurables:** 6-foot, 194 pounds
**Bats:** Left
**Throws:** Right
**Multi-hit games:** 25
**Most recent outing:** 0-for-3 in 12-2 road loss at K-State on Saturday, May 14.
**Details:** The Wildcats held Tinsley hitless for just the 10th time all season and only the second time since April 5. He grounded out twice and flied out once before being replaced behind the plate by sophomore Tanner Gragg. Tinsley now needs a 3-for-4 effort in today’s series finale to pull his average back up to .400.
**Up next:** Game 3 of the Sunflower Showdown, 1 p.m. today at Kansas State.
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2016/may/15/kansas-baseball-stumbles-ksu/
