If Kansas University baseball coach Ritch Price had a to-do list for his club, numerous items probably have been crossed off in the past couple of weeks.
After sweeping South Dakota State last week at Hoglund Ballpark, most of the largest issues have been addressed as Kansas heads into a weekend series with Northern Colorado beginning at 3 p.m. today.
Hitting? Check.
Kansas is hitting .318 as a team, with four players, Ritchie Price, Sean Richardson, Gus Milner and Matt Baty, above .400. Against SDSU, the Jayhawks obliterated the off-speed offerings of the inexperienced Jackrabbits pitchers by rounding up 52 runs off of 49 hits.
Pitching? Check.
KU has a team earned-run average of 2.64, and senior pitcher Mike Zagurski posted a career-high 10 strikeouts Friday.
Now, Price said it was time to tweak “technical fundamental issues” and “attention to detail.”
“We’ve tried to clean things up this week,” Price said. “We’re just trying to focus on basic fundamentals of the players and making sure they’re doing things the right way.”
Defense also has become a priority — the Jayhawks have averaged two errors per game.
Northern Colorado (0-6) is winless after being swept by Arizona and Creighton.
“They’re a lot better than their record is,” Price said.
The Bears are playing in their second year of Division One baseball and the third under coach Kevin Smallcomb. Price has known Smallcomb for more than 20 years. The two coached against each other at the junior-college level in California.
Zagurski (2-0) will start today for KU. Kodiak Quick would have started following the regular rotation, but a sore elbow has restricted him to bullpen duty. Quick (3-0) will start Tuesday at home against Southwest Missouri State.
This weekend’s series will end with a doubleheader at noon Saturday, with Clint Schambach (2-1) and Sean Land (1-1) scheduled to pitch for KU.