On April Fools Day, KU dropped an 8-6, 11-inning decision to Texas A&M in Lawrence, and the Aggies took two of three games in that set at Hoglund Ballpark.

A month-and-half later, the Jayhawks ended their season with a 25-30 overall record, 10-20 in the Big 12. They ended just one game out of eighth place in the league. A&M who else? took eighth and claimed the final berth in the Big 12 postseason tournament.

“That was frustrating,” Randall said. “We didn’t know it at the time that that extra-inning loss to A&M was the key game, but now we know if we had won that, we would have been in.

“But the other frustrating thing is, we lost 19 games by three runs or less. We were 25-30. If we win half of those, we’re 35-20 and it’s a completely different situation. But, you can always play the what-if game.”

Casey Wilson/Journal-World Photo

What if Kansas had scored as many runs as it showed a tendency for in the fall? What if Brandon O’Neal hadn’t been hurt from the start and unable to play until past the midway part of the season? What if ballyhooed freshman Ryan Baty hadn’t been injured? What if?

“That could have made a difference in 10 of those games,” Randall said. “But that’s a testament to the fact we were pitching much better. We didn’t score quite enough. We never covered a poorly pitched game, and you have to do that sometimes.”

The Jayhawks did pitch better. They finished with a team earned run average of 5.35, a far cry from the 7.57 of 1999. They also had 98 stolen bases paced by John Nelson’s school record-tying 42 and limited foes to 65 steals, compared to 143 the year before.

But KU hit just .285 last season and just .265 in the Big 12.

“I really thought we’d score more runs,” Randall said. “John (Nelson) and Brett (Kappelmann) had what I think they consider subpar seasons. Two years ago we didn’t have anything. We had injuries. Guys played bad. We couldn’t get it stopped. But never last year did we get knocked down and were unable to get back up.”

Randall, the eternal optimist, is upbeat about this season and with good reason. Though the Jayhawks will lose two starting pitchers, a starting outfielder and a starting first baseman-DH, the rest of the team returns.

“Last year, we had a small senior class,” Randall said. “Next year, we have nine seniors. We’ve not had that. Because of the draft or whatever, we’ve not had that large of a class. This is the best new talent we have coming in, but you have to have a good nucleus, and this is the best nucleus we’ve had.”

KU’s pitching ace, Pete Smart, returns, as does shortstop Nelson. Smart graduated and considered going to grad school, and Nelson was drafted last spring, but both opted to return for their senior years.

“Those were our two biggest recruits,” Randall said.

Smart went 7-9 with a 4.59 ERA and four complete games. He’ll be joined by Jeff Davis (4-3, 7.32 ERA), Dan Olson (1-1, 4.50 ERA) and Sam Gish (3-4, 5.88 ERA).

“We’ve got a good nucleus coming back from a pitching standpoint,” Randall said. “Pitching was OK but not deep last year. In addition to the guys we’ve got coming back and I’m counting on the maturity of guys like Dan Olson and Davis and the sophomores we’re bringing in some left-handers. We haven’t had that before. We’ve got two juco left-handers and a couple of freshman left-handers. What we need to have happen is, we need two starters to step up, and we need three guys to come out of the bullpen. Hopefully we can find a closer.”

Whoever emerges as the Jayhawks’ top pitchers will throw primarily to Brenton Del Chiaro, who hit .258 last season. Matt Oakes, who spent time at catcher last season, left the team.

“Catcher was a big difference in the team last year,” Randall said. “Brenton Del Chiaro brought a lot to the team. He called all his own pitches. He struggled with his bat at the end of the year, but in the middle of the year he was hitting everything. We’re really counting on him.”

Six of the eight other starting position players also return.

All but guaranteed spots are third baseman Ryan Klocksien (who hit a team-best .351 with 42 RBIs), shortstop Nelson (.308, 21 RBIs) and outfielder Doug Dreher (.315, team-best 48 RBIs).

“Doug and Ryan really blossomed into terrific players before our eyes,” Randall said. “They were fun to watch. The problem with Doug was, he’s our best defensive second baseman, but he’s also our best defensive outfielder. Losing Jason Appuhn to injury, not having him play a game, hurt us at center field and at second. I’m happy with Doug in the outfield. If somebody establishes himself at second, we could put Doug at left, right or center.

“There’s going to be some stiff competition this fall. Appuhn is going to have the edge in center. Jesse Gremminger (.268, 39 RBIs) didn’t have a season he or we expected, but he’s a good switch-hitting outfielder, and if he steps up like Doug and Ryan did, he’ll be a fixture in right field.

“This fall, we’ve got a couple of new guys coming in,” Randall added. “Matt Tribble was a 15th-round pick of the Cubs. He’s a big outfielder or first baseman. Kevin Farmer was Allen County’s best player. And Justin Davis is extremely fast. Those guys will push for playing time.”

The Jayhawks should have plenty of candidates. In addition to the returning players, Randall has a newcomer class that could count as high as 15.

“Since we have nine seniors, we’re bringing in some freshmen to get some experience to fill those holes as sophomores,” Randall said. “We have a chance to lose our whole infield next year. But I like the guys we have behind them. I like the guys we have just about everywhere. I’m looking forward to this fall.”