Kansas catcher Michael Tinsley is chasing that magic mark of .400 at the plate and we'll track his sprint to the finish right here.

Junior catcher Michael Tinsley’s chase for .400 took a pretty big hit on Tuesday night, when he finished 0-for-3 during the Jayhawks’ 7-6 loss at Wichita State.

Tinsley, who has been in a bit of a mini-slump since watching his average climb above .400 in the final game of KU’s series with Texas Tech, struck out twice and also scored a run in the loss to the Shockers.

He now will need to finish the season on a major hot streak if he’s going to get back above the magic number.

KU, which sits a game and a half behind the Wildcats and Baylor Bears for the eighth and final spot in the conference tourney, now has three conference games remaining in the regular season (Thursday through Saturday at Oklahoma State), giving Tinsley just three more guaranteed games to attempt 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: .386

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 7-6 road loss at Wichita State on Tuesday, May 17.

Details: Tinsley scored a run in the loss, but also struck out twice during his hard-luck night. As has been the case throughout his recent cool stretch, Tinsley hit a couple of balls right on the sweet spot but also right at WSU defenders. He clearly continues to see the ball well but needs to see the ball start finding some gaps again if he’s going to make a run at .400.

Up next: 6:30 p.m. Friday at Oklahoma State.