Kansas University baseball coach Ritch Price’s perfect record at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., will be on the line tonight against an old rival.
Fresh off of a 5-5, extra-inning, weather-induced Tuesday night tie against Grand Canyon at Hoglund Ballpark, the Jayhawks (17-22-1) will renew their series with former Big 12 foe Nebraska (25-15) at the home of the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Tonight’s game will mark the first meeting between the Jayhawks and Cornhuskers on the baseball diamond since April 10, 2011. Shortly thereafter, Nebraska joined Colorado in bolting the Big 12 Conference during the wild and crazy conference realignment era that saw the Big 12 say goodbye to CU, NU, Missouri and Texas A&M and hello to TCU and West Virginia.
Nebraska has spent the past five seasons playing in the Big Ten Conference.
Overall, Price is 14-15 against the Cornhuskers, but his Kansas teams have won eight of their last 10 games against Nebraska, including three straight series wins.
Nebraska enters tonight with a .290 team batting average and 4.61 team ERA. Three players are batting over .300, with junior first baseman Ben Miller at .333 with 11 doubles, five home runs and 28 RBIs. Sophomore infielder Scott Schreiber leads the team with nine home runs and 38 RBIs.
In addition to rekindling the rivalry with the Huskers, tonight’s game also will mark KU’s return to Kauffman Stadium for the first time in five years. After playing at The K semi-regularly, the Jayhawks, who will occupy the third-base dugout tonight, have stayed away from the big-league park.
Kansas has not played at Kauffman Stadium since April 6, 2011, when it won its fourth consecutive game against Missouri in Kansas City.
All-time, KU owns a 4-1 mark in games at Kauffman Stadium, with the only loss coming against the Royals on April 18, 1979, in an exhibition contest.
Tonight’s single, nine-inning contest will be broadcast on the Jayhawk Television Network within the state of Kansas and Kansas City Metro area and on EPN3 outside that coverage area. Steven Davis and former Jayhawk Kevin Wheeler will have the call.
