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.

There are all kinds of numbers and statistics in the game of baseball that stand alone and are universally recognized as milestones that dozens of baseball players chase year after year.

Few are as powerful as the .406 batting average delivered by legendary Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams in 1941, the last time a Major League Baseball player finished a season above .400.

Kansas City Royals legend George Brett came close in 1980, finishing that year at .390, but the quest for .400 has remained elusive and, with pitchers only getting more powerful, seems to more of a longshot than ever.

That’s at the Major League level. In college, although hitters top .400 on a much more regular basis because there are fewer games, fewer at-bats and fewer top-quality pitchers, hitting the milestone is still something to write home about, and, this season, the Kansas baseball team has one guy chasing the mark.

His name is Michael Tinsley, he’s a junior catcher from Menlo Park, California, and, with a 2-for-3 effort in a losing effort against Texas Tech on Saturday, he brought his average to exactly .400 for the season.

Tinsley followed that up with a 2-for-4 effort against Tech in the series finale on Sunday and pushed his average to .402 with seven guaranteed games remaining.

KU plays a three-game series at Kansas State this weekend and then will play one game at Wichita State next week before closing the regular season with a three-game set at Oklahoma State.

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: .402

Name: Michael Tinsley

Year: Junior
Position: Catcher
Measurables: 6-foot, 194 pounds
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Multi-hit games: 25

Most recent outing: 2-for-4 in 6-3 home loss to Texas Tech on Sunday, May 8.

Details: Tinsley, who has worked hard on going to the opposite field all season, singled to left on a 2-2 count in the bottom of the first inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Tinsley repeated the feat, singling to left on a 2-2 count with one out. Tinsley also walked in the seventh and grounded out in the fifth and ninth.

Up next: Friday night at Kansas State.