Baseball

Price, ‘true team’ of Jayhawks depart for NCAA regional

Ritch Price stood outside the home dugout at Hoglund Ballpark late Tuesday afternoon, an hour before Kansas University’s baseball team departed for Louisville, Kentucky — site of Friday’s NCAA Tournament opener against the University of Kentucky.The Jayhawks’ 12th-year coach — whose ...

Cool head, hot hand: Freshman closer Villines quick to make impact for KU

At first glance, Kansas University freshman pitcher Stephen Villines looks a lot like you would expect a first-year player to look — tall, lanky, perpetual smile on his face and not a care in the world. Just be careful, though, if you’re around Villines when “Bulls on Parade” by Rage ...

KU baseball headed to NCAA Tournament

NCAA Tournament 2014Regional scheduleJim Patterson StadiumLouisville, Kentucky• Friday, May 301 p.m. Game 1: No. 3 Kansas (34-24) vs. No. 2 Kentucky (35-23)5 p.m. Game 2: No. 4 Kent State (36-21) vs. No. 1 Louisville (45-15)• Saturday, May 31Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loserGame 4: Game ...

KU baseball’s Connor McKay eager to bust slump

Kansas University junior Connor McKay wishes he could do more to help the baseball team. Perhaps that’s the problem. As the Jayhawks have won 11 of their last 15 games, McKay has been mired in a nasty slump, batting .189 (10-for-53) with just six runs and six RBIs.This is the same player who ...

Healing KU ace Benjamin faces uncertain future

Wes Benjamin’s junior season was right on track.Kansas University’s No. 1 starting pitcher had a 4-0 record to his name, highlighted by a near complete game at Texas in which he struck out four in a Jayhawks win. The 2014 MLB Draft was a little more than two months away, and Benjamin, a ...

Baylor eliminates KU baseball at Big 12 tourney

Oklahoma City, Okla. ? With its second loss in two days, Kansas University's baseball team got bounced from the Big 12 tournament Thursday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.Down three runs in the sixth inning with two outs, Kansas University's baseball team strung together four straight hits to ...

Column: KU baseball’s ‘Proto’ atypical but effective at shortstop

Teammates call Kansas University junior shortstop Justin Protacio by his nickname: Proto. It does not stand for Div. I prototype. At 5-foot-5, nothing about him screams prototype. Everything screamed at him by student hecklers from opposing teams references his height.Protacio didn’t remember ...

KU baseball lands 11 on All-Big 12 teams

Eleven Kansas University baseball players earned All-Big 12 Conference honors, the league announced Tuesday.Senior pitcher Frank Duncan was Kansas’ only first-team selection. “I was particularly thrilled for Frank Duncan,” KU coach Ritch Price said. “He was second-team All-Big 12 as a ...