Troubled times continue for Bluejays
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
So much for the Bluejays using the spring break to try and figure out how to get back on track.
The Bluejays get a vacation for spring break all right in the Gold Rush State, but it'll be spent playing the likes of Point Loma Nazarene and Concordia Universities.
Toting around a glum 5-12 record, getting back on track is something that would suit coach John Sparks and the Bluejays just fine.
Hand it to the Bluejays though, if there is an RPI rating for KCAC baseball teams, they'd likely be toward the top of the list for playing grueling competition.
Tabor has run into about everybody but Fort Hays State, Cowley County and perennial powerhouse Wichita State.
With the Shockers stumbling on hard times themselves, the Bluejays can say they faced arguably the state's best baseball team March 19 in Lawrence, the Kansas Jayhawks.
Definitely a learning experience for the Bluejays, the top 30-rated Jayhawks got off to a quick start, punishing the Bluejay pitching rotation.
By the time the Jayhawks had cruised to a 16-2 win, they'd gone through five Bluejay pitchers.
Starting pitcher Shawn Bechtold had the roof fall in on him in the bottom of the first inning, surrendering four runs off four hits, including a two-run shot to center field by Casey Spanish.
Bechtold lasted three and one-third of an inning before Nathan Fish came on at a desperate time, facing a 6-0 deficit.
Fish escaped the bottom of the fourth without any further damage being inflicted on the Bluejays.
Sadly, the Jayhawks did their share of knocking Fish around too, the bottom of the fifth, breaking the game wide open with a seven-run eruption.
In the meantime, Jayhawk starter Don Czyz kept the Bluejay offense in neutral, holding them to a scant pair of hits while fanning seven batters.
The Bluejays finished the game three-for-30, leaving seven runners stranded on board.
When Tabor was finally able to break up the shutout in the top of the sixth, its incline had grown to 13-0.
Down 0-1 in the count to Jayhawk reliever Ryan Jakubov, Chance Miles decked a two-out single to score Grant Brubacher.
The only flaw the Jayhawks could manage on the day was Jakubov loading the bases up for Mike Fouquet.
Fouquet joined Miles as the only Bluejays with RBIs, a run coming off a free pass to first base.
Tabor's trio of hits came from Miles, Tim Hein and Tyler Marsh.
Bechtold was charged the defeat, giving up nine hits six runs despite striking out a Jayhawk.
Results of the Bluejays' spring break games in California were not available at the time of publication.
Likely to return home either today or Friday, the Bluejays turn around Saturday and travel to Leavenworth for a doubleheader with the St. Mary Spires.
Tabor returns home April 1 for a pair against the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes, the start of five consecutive home games.
