Rotation being sorted out
With his team not scheduled to play again until Friday’s 1 p.m. matchup with Coastal Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Kansas University baseball coach Ritch Price will have a rare four days of preparation time.
During that time, the Jayhawks coach plans — among other things — to examine the possibility of tweaking his starting rotation.
Traditionally this season, Price has gone with a weekend rotation of junior left-hander Shaeffer Hall (Friday), sophomore right-hander T.J. Walz (Saturday) and freshman right-hander Lee Ridenhour (Sunday), although the coach Monday said he would consider juggling the order in an effort to create the best matchups entering this week’s regional tournament.
“I’ll get a copy of the stats and the rosters, break down how many right-handed hitters and left-handed hitters each of those teams has and how we might match up best against them,” said Price, whose team is grouped with North Carolina (the region’s No. 1 seed) and Dartmouth (No. 4), in addition to Coastal Carolina.
While much of Kansas’ success this season has come courtesy of its starting pitching, the Jayhawks struggled mightily in that area in Oklahoma City at the Big 12 tournament.
“That was probably one of the first weekends that we didn’t play very well in a long time,” Hall said of the team’s starting rotation. “Our pitching staff … we’re still going to go out there and do our thing. We’re still confident in our abilities. And hopefully we’ll have the (same) success that we’ve had all year.”
KU’s RPI lagging
Despite putting together a formidable regular-season resume — recording sweeps over then-No. 1 Texas and then-No. 17 Oklahoma State and finishing fifth in the ultra-competitive Big 12 Conference — Kansas entered the week as an NCAA bubble team at least in part because of its lagging RPI rating.
The Jayhawks finished the regular season with 13 victories against ranked opponents, but are rated just 53rd in college baseball’s most recent RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), a formula that ranks teams based on their winning percentage, opponents’ winning percentage and opponents’ opponents winning percentage.
Price said Kansas’ RPI likely was hindered by three or four lower-quality opponents.
“(We’re) actually going to contact the NCAA, and we’re going to try to figure out which teams those are,” Price said. “And I’ll be real blunt with you, we’re going to get them off our schedule. Because we should have been a lock to get (into the NCAA Tournament), and the only reason we weren’t a lock is because we were 50 when we should have been 30 or somewhere in there.”
Price on mend
Injured Kansas second baseman Robby Price said Monday that he’s confident team trainer Ken Wainwright will have him ready to play in Friday’s opener against Coastal Carolina.
“The first time I hurt it last year against Missouri, I didn’t think I was going to be able to play that next weekend, and he got me on the field,” said Price, who was forced to leave Saturday’s game against Baylor after re-injuring his left shoulder while making a diving play up the middle. “So hopefully he can work his magic again and get me back out there.”
Price, the team’s No. 2 hitter, is batting .302 with a .451 on-base percentage.
Oklahoma City ? Price: Big 12 tougher than any regional
Assuming the Kansas University baseball team hears its name called during this week’s NCAA Tournament selection show — which will air Monday at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN — the Jayhawks can take solace in the fact that, wherever they end up, it probably won’t be as unforgiving as what they just endured.
Citing the abundance of talented teams at this week’s Big 12 tournament, KU coach Ritch Price on Saturday said the upcoming NCAA regional — strange as it sounds — could very well be less competitive than what the Jayhawks just endured.
“There won’t be a regional in America as tough as this tournament is,” said Price, after Kansas closed out an 0-3 performance at the Big 12 tournament Saturday with an 8-4 loss to eighth-seeded Baylor. “That’s the reality of it. You look at Baylor, who comes in here as the No. 8 seed, they were preseason top 10 in the country. There’s no regional in America that will be as tough as this is. That’s a valid fact.”
Of the eight teams that competed in the conference tournament, six are currently ranked in at least one national poll and seven have been ranked during some point in the season.
And despite his team’s rough week in Oklahoma City, Price said he feels the experience of playing against Big 12-caliber teams on a regular basis has prepared his team to bounce back heading into the national tournament.
“I think one of the great things that this league does is it teaches you to overcome adversity and have a short-term memory,” said Price. “If you can’t handle adversity during the course of a 56-game season, this league will bury you.”
Price hopes to be on field for regional
Kansas second baseman and No. 2 hitter Robby Price is hoping a shoulder injury in Saturday’s game won’t result in any missed game time heading into this week’s NCAA regional tournament.
After making a diving stop up the middle in the first inning against Baylor, Price, who has suffered from a partially separated shoulder throughout the season, remained on the turf, writhing in pain before being helped off the field by the team’s medical staff.
“He’s going to work with our trainer all week, and his goal is to be on the field Friday (the first day NCAA regional tournaments begin),” said the elder Price. “If anybody can do it, he can. He’s got a big heart, even though he’s the smallest guy on the field.”
Despite the lingering shoulder problems, Price entered Saturday’s game batting .303 with a .453 on-base percentage and earlier in the week was named an all-Big 12 honorable mention selection by the league’s coaches.
Baylor’s Smith states case for NCAA berth
Before the start of the Big 12 tournament, the thought of an NCAA Tournament bid going to Baylor — a team that stumbled to a 27-23 record after closing its conference season with 10 straight losses — was more than a little far-fetched.
But after a somewhat surprising performance in the conference tournament, during which the Bears beat top-seeded Texas and fifth-seeded Kansas, BU coach Steve Smith on Saturday stated his case for Baylor’s NCAA inclusion.
“I think that you got to look at the body of work,” said Smith, who defended his team’s rough finish to the conference season. “If the beginning of the season’s not important, why play it? That’s how I feel about it. I think we’ve earned it. I don’t think we’re asking for anything; I think we’ve clearly earned it.”
At least one Big 12 coach didn’t disagree.
“Oklahoma was in the same situation a year ago,” said Price, whose team finished 1-3 against the Bears this season. “They come in as the eighth seed here, they win two out of three, and they go to a regional and play Arizona State for a regional championship and prove that they belong. Everybody said that they were out, and they won two and got in. And I feel the same way about Baylor.”
“When Baseball America calls the Big 12 the best conference in the country, top to bottom, I certainly feel they’re deserving.”
Oklahoma City ? Ridenhour to face Baylor again
Representing the last line of defense in the Kansas University baseball team’s quest to avoid a winless Big 12 tournament, Lee Ridenhour will take the mound at 9 a.m. today against eighth-seeded Baylor.
And without question, the freshman righthander will be hoping things go better than they did in his last outing against the Bears — a day in which winds reached 30 miles-per-hour and blew forcefully out of KU’s Hoglund Ballpark, creating a not-so-pleasant day for Ridenhour and the rest of the team’s pitching staff in a 21-9 KU loss.
“In my opinion, it’s the only time I thought that after (an opponent) got after him, he didn’t compete,” said KU coach Ritch Price, before the start of Friday morning’s practice at Bricktown Ballpark. “He couldn’t leave the ball up. He couldn’t pitch (inside) with the way the wind was blowing to right. He had to pitch down and away, and he wasn’t able to locate it.”
The result was a rare off-day for the former Shawnee Mission West standout, who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 31st round of last June’s free agent draft before deciding to attend Kansas.
Ridenhour gave up six runs on seven hits — including back-to-back first inning home runs — before being pulled after the third inning, with the Jayhawks trailing, 6-5.
“I didn’t think I threw terrible,” said Ridenhour, who is 6-2 with a 4.37 earned-run average this season. “I think I threw three innings and I struck out five guys, so it wasn’t that my pitches were bad. But if I got a ball up, it was a home run.”
This time around, weather conditions should be a bit more agreeable, as temperatures are expected to be in the mid-70s with limited winds.
Of course, Ridenhour will face the unfortunate task of taking on a Bears team that, having been eliminated from a spot in the tournament’s title game following Thursday’s 9-4 loss to fourth-seeded Kansas State, will be bringing a nothing-to-lose mentality into what will likely be its final game of the season.
“It’s the last day to play for the seniors in their dugout,” said Price. “And for those players that are juniors that are trying to improve their draft status, there’s going to be 25 scouts here making their final evaluations of Baylor’s juniors.
“So Lee’s going to have to be at his best to give us a chance to win.”
Price ‘surprised’ by player of the year
When the Big 12 Conference announced its 2009 baseball award winners on Tuesday, at least one person was rather perplexed with the player of the year selection.
“I was surprised,” said Price of the coaches’ pick of Oklahoma senior catcher J.T. Wise over KU’s Tony Thompson. “I think maybe one of the differences might have been that Tony’s a sophomore and Wise is a senior- and Wise plays catcher, which is a premium position defensively.
“I can understand that part,” he added. “But … personally — and I’m biased — I thought Thompson should have won.”
The statistics don’t necessarily dispute this sentiment.
Wise, the top player on the No. 8 Sooners, finished the regular season ranked second in the Big 12 in home runs (17) and eighth in batting average (.369), while Thompson led the conference in hits (84), home runs (18), RBIs (74), doubles (25) and total bases (163).
Kansas’ sophomore third baseman finished sixth in the league in batting average, meanwhile, at .370.
Despite his gaudy numbers, however, Thompson on Friday insisted he had no qualms with the trophy finding its way into Wise’s hands.
“J.T. Wise is a great player, so I don’t feel bad about it at all,” said Thompson, who this spring tied KU’s single-season school record for home runs. “He’s had an awesome year and been an amazing player, especially when we played him. So I don’t feel very bad about that at all. I figure the best guy won it.”
Stanfield a bright spot for Jayhawks
While many of Kansas’ top players have struggled to find their offensive groove throughout the first three days of the Big 12 tournament, the same can’t be said for reserve infielder James Stanfield — whose recent surge has been one of the Jayhawks’ few bright spots.
After replacing designated hitter Zac Elgie during the sixth inning of Wednesday’s 5-4 loss to Kansas State, Stanfield reached base on an infield single to shortstop. An inning later, he slapped a two-run single to right field that gave Kansas a 4-3 lead, and during the following day’s matchup with Texas, went 1-for-3 as KU’s starter at DH, recording one of only four KU hits against Longhorns ace Chance Ruffin.
For the tournament, Stanfield is a combined 3-for-5 with a team-high two RBIs.
“The whole year, I’ve just been trying to do whatever I could, step in when I’m needed, help out the team as much as I can,” said Stanfield, a freshman from Owasso, Okla. “And now that I’ve kind of got in there, it’s been nice to do what I can.”
Narodowski enjoying recent power surge
Apparently, earning the distinction of the Big 12’s newcomer of the year has put a little hop into Kansas University shortstop David Narodowski’s step.
Or, more accurately, a little pop into his bat.
Narodowski, a junior-college transfer who has been the team’s leadoff batter this season, hit his second home run of the conference tournament — and fifth of the season — Thursday, a solo shot to left-center field that represented the Jayhawks’ first hit in a 9-3 loss to top-seeded Texas.
In Wednesday’s tournament opener against Kansas State, he kicked off the scoring with a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning that gave the Jayhawks an early 1-0 lead.
Following Thursday’s loss, however, which dropped Kansas to 0-2 in pool play and eliminated their chances of advancing to the tournament final, his recent power surge didn’t seem to be too foremost in the mind of the Vancouver, B.C., native.
“They got ahead early in the game, but we had a lot of game left,” Narodowski said of his team’s failed comeback attempt. “The goal was to chip away, try to get one or two runs every inning, hopefully get the deficit cut in half and work from there.”
Longhorns peaking
Back in March, then-No. 1 Texas couldn’t do much right during a three-game sweep at the hands of unranked Kansas.
On Thursday, however, the Longhorns didn’t do much wrong, and it didn’t take long for legendary Texas coach Augie Garrido to identify what the difference was this time around.
“The thing that gave us trouble (in the regular-season series) was that we couldn’t score the run to take the lead,” said Garrido, whose team snapped a four-game losing streak to the Jayhawks. “We hit the ball pretty well in those games, but they made good plays on them.”
Likewise, members of the Longhorns cited a lack of focus during their early-season troubles, which they’ve seemed to put far behind them.
Since falling to the Jayhawks to begin the conference season 0-3, Texas has gone 18-7-1 against Big 12 opponents.
“It was early in the year. We weren’t playing up to our potential,” said UT catcher Cameron Rupp, who was 1-for-4 with a three-run home run Thursday. “We knew coming into this game that if we played and hit like we did (earlier in the tournament), we had a chance to win any game, not just this one.”
Texas, KSU to battle for spot in title game
With its 9-4 victory over Baylor on Thursday night, Kansas State moved to 2-0 in pool play and put itself in prime position to battle for a Big 12 title.
But based on the conference’s tiebreaker rule, which rewards a team by its seeding, the fourth-seeded Wildcats might not even make the title game if they can’t beat top-seeded Texas (currently 1-1 in pool play) on Saturday.
If Baylor, K-State and Texas all finish pool play with 2-1 records, the Longhorns would advance to Sunday’s championship based on their No. 1 seed.
Texas and the Wildcats will play at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, immediately following Kansas’ game against eighth-seeded Baylor.
Okklahoma City ? KU won’t face KSU standout pitcher Morris
Barring some unforeseen change of plans, the Kansas University baseball team won’t face Kansas State standout A.J. Morris in today’s Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City.
After throwing close to 140 pitches in a dazzling 4-1 victory over KU last Friday in Manhattan, Morris, who was named the Big 12 pitcher of the year Tuesday after going 12-1 with a 1.61 earned-run average, will be given a rest day during the Wildcats’ tournament opener against the Jayhawks at 9 a.m. today at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. He will pitch against Baylor on Thursday.
K-State instead will throw Lance Hoge, a senior lefthander who suffered a 9-3 loss to the Jayhawks on Saturday in Lawrence, giving up five runs in just two innings.
KU coach Ritch Price on Tuesday praised the number of quality at-bats his players pieced together in the game — laying off outside and low pitches and forcing Hoge to work within the strike zone.
“It’ll take that same approach (today), because that’s how he pitches,” said Price, who added that Shaeffer Hall (4-6, 4.60 ERA) will start today for KU. “He tries to locate away and locate down, and you’ve got to make him elevate the ball to be successful.”
Wildcats looking forward
Asked this week what his team needed to do to regain its composure following a lopsided series loss to the Jayhawks last weekend, K-State coach Brad Hill didn’t hesitate.
“Short-term memory,” he said, smiling. “All those balls flying all over the ballpark, I hope we don’t see that happening again. KU’s a very good ballclub. They swing the bats extremely well, they’re playing with a lot of confidence right now, and they just flat out out-played us.”
Following Morris’ win in Friday’s series opener, K-State suffered back-to-back lopsided losses, including a 17-7 KU victory Sunday that was shortened due to the Big 12’s 10-run mercy rule.
A good sign?
If past performance is any indication, Kansas looks to be in prime position to make a run at its second Big 12 title in the past four years.
Against the three teams grouped with them in pool play this week — No. 1 seed Texas, No. 4 seed Kansas State and No. 8 seed Baylor — the Jayhawks went 6-3 this season, including a three-game sweep of then-No. 1 Texas and a 2-1 series victory over the Wildcats. (Baylor handed KU two of its three home losses this season in a 2-1 series win).
The Jayhawks also recorded a 2-1 series victory over the tournament’s No. 2 seed, Oklahoma, and finished 2-2 against third-seeded Missouri.
