In fact, a month or so ago, you could have called them the 10-Cent Infield and received few, if any, rebuttals.

Kansas University’s ascension from the Big 12 Conference baseball cellar in late April to a berth in the league tournament is directly related to the improvement of its infield.

“Early on, we weren’t very good,” KU senior pitcher Mike Zagurski said candidly, “but I’ll take our infield over anybody in the country now.”

KU coach Ritch Price began the season with two freshman infielders in second baseman Ryne Price, his second-oldest son, and third baseman Erik Morrison. As if being first-year players wasn’t difficult enough, both were playing new positions.

Young Price, as Free State High fans know, was the Firebirds’ catcher the last two seasons. Transitioning from catcher to second base is an unusual switch. I know Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros did it, but he’s a likely Hall of Famer. There may be others, but surely not very many.

Morrison, meanwhile, was a shortstop at Arroyo Grande High in California. Price moved him to third to fill the shoes of departed Travis Metcalf, who was so good with the glove that he was voted the Big 12’s best defensive third baseman by Baseball America magazine.

Metcalf, incidentally, is playing third base these days for the Texas Rangers’ Class A farm team in Bakersfield, Calif. At last check, he was leading the Blaze in home runs and RBIs.

In another move, last year’s second baseman, Jared Schweitzer, was shifted to first base to replace Ryan Baty who was talented enough to play in the minor leagues last summer, but since has retired after suffering a concussion and now has designs on a KU law degree.

Schweitzer, a junior, appears to have found a home at first. The 6-foot-1 Canadian – he’s from Sherwood Park, Alberta – has made only three errors and leads the Jayhawks in batting with an average over .370. Shades of Hall of Famer Rod Carew, probably the best known major leaguer who moved from second to first and thrived.

Ritchie Price, the KU coach’s oldest son and namesake, was the lone infielder returning at the same position, yet he had struggled in the field, too, during the first two months of the season.

A check of the numbers shows that during his first two years as the Jayhawks’ starting shortstop, Price posted steady fielding percentages of .954 each season. At this stage of the spring, however, his percentage is .925. But it had been worse than that.

All coach Price could do in March and April was hope his infielders eventually would jell.

“It usually takes 25 to 30 games for an infield to become stabilized,” Price said. “Now the big thing is we need to play like we have for the last month.”

No one is ever going to confuse this year’s KU edition with a great fielding team. Regardless of how they fare in next week’s Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City, they are going to finish with the most errors in the league. The bulk of those errors, however, was committed in March and April.

“The difference between this team and the one a month ago,” senior catcher Sean Richardson said, “is confidence. We’ve got a swagger now.”

So much swagger that even though this only is the second time Kansas has qualified for the conference tourney since the Big 12 was born in 1997, the Jayhawks are looking beyond Oklahoma City.

“Our goal is to reach the NCAA Tournament,” Richardson said. “That’s what we’re shooting for.”

Now that the fielding has caught up with the decent pitching and steady hitting, Richardson’s may not be just woofing.