Friday, February 23, 2007
When the Jayhawks left for Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday for a weekend series at Stanford, they were treated to a 60-plus degree sendoff. When they canceled their series against the Bison of North Dakota State on Wednesday, they were treated to a 60-plus degree practice.
This evening the Jayhawks would like to be treated to a 60-plus degree game.
“It’s actually the first time I’ve been depressed since I’ve been here,” Coach Ritch Price said.
“It’s been a tough three days. To look outside and see the sun, have it be in the 60s and not be able to play has been pretty tough to take.”
Kansas (7-1) pushed back its series against North Dakota State four times before finally canceling it on Wednesday despite the weather being in the 60s and sunny. Now the Jayhawks are forced to take on the Cardinal with three less games of preparation than expected.
Stanford (4-5) opened the year on the Top 25 Collegiate Baseball.com poll before taking losses from powerhouses like Texas and Cal-State Fullerton. With early experience like that under their belts already, the Jayhawks will likely be affected by their 11 consecutive days without a game.
“To be real honest, I think that has happened,” Price said about his team taking a step backward. “It’s one of those things that we’ve talked to our players about trying to make sure we prepare properly before we get outside to play Stanford.”
Although the Jayhawks were able to use the outfield on Wednesday and before they left on Thursday, even using the soaked infield to take batting practice, Price knows the time lost on bad weather will hurt.
“That’s the thing about baseball, you can’t simulate it,” Price said. “No matter how hard you work inside or in the cages, you have to play at game speed. You have to see 90, 91, 92 in order to be able to hit that kind of velocity.”
Price said that he contacted both the T-Bones and the Kansas City Royals about using their fields to get a couple of games in against North Dakota State. Snow still stood on the T-Bones’ field and Kauffman Stadium was repairing the warning track, so neither venue ended up as a possibility.
He even tried all the local and community ballparks in order to better prepare for the Cardinal, a team that won its regional last year before losing in the super regional to the eventual World Series champions, Oregon State.
“This will have been two weeks since we’ve played,” Price said. “Obviously they’ve got a huge advantage and we have to try and find a way to overcome it.”
The Jayhawks’ arsenal may not look the same as the squad that took two of three from the Cardinal last season, but they’re still bringing plenty of power to the Sunken Diamond this weekend.
Senior outfielder Kyle Murphy led the offensive attack the last time his team was able to take the field, going a strong 5-10 in the South Dakota State series. Murphy still leads the offense at .381 while junior outfielder John Allman provides a double threat hitting a close .375 behind Murphy — A double threat Price is hoping to show off in California.
“To go there last year when they were No. 4 in the country and beat them two out of three was one of the best series we’ve played on the road since I’ve been here,” Price said.
Stanford is also a different team than Kansas defeated last season. Instead of an entire lineup of experience that Kansas brought in 2006, the teams are more evenly matched between the two schools this trip.
Freshman shortstop Adam Gaylord leads the Cardinal offense. The rookie is hitting .355, has five RBI and has started every game. Freshman pitcher Jeffery Inman (1-1), however, is the only Stanford starter with a victory.
After pushing back an entire week’s worth of games, the Jayhawks are ready to hit the field and get back on the road to making progress.
“For us, each year that we’ve gone out there, we’ve gotten better on Saturday and better on Sunday,” Price said. “We certainly hope that’ll be the case this weekend.”
The first pitch of the series goes out at 7 p.m. at Stanford.
Kansan sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@kansan.com.
— Edited by Will McCullough
Kansas makes it two in a row ...
Stanford Cardinal sweep Jayhawks
Baseball: Big innings doom chance to win
The Jayhawks left the weekend series with three more notches in its ...
Baseball’s comeback not enough for win
Baseball faces K-State tonight after losing to Missouri last weekend. Next year’s ...
Baseball to face North Dakota State
Coach Ritch Price says the team has to do well this weekend ...
Baseball team returns winless from series
Stanford’s lefty Michael Jarman struck out 14 batters in its victory Sunday, ...
Lost and found
After skipping summer league baseball, Kyle Murphy has returned with regained confidence ...
Baseball scrapes by North Dakota
The Jayhawks won 5-3, but against a poor pitching team.
Baseball team to face Missouri this weekend
Kansas has the opportunity to place in the top half of the ...
Jayhawks focus on performance at the plate
The baseball team is preparing to pump up the offense for a ...
Battle of the birds
The baseball team gets today’s game and Wednesday’s match-up with Baker to ...
Baseball heads to Columbia for Border Showdown
After knocking Missouri out of the conference semifinals last season, the Jayhawks ...
Sooners sweep weekend series against Jayhawks
After a close game Sunday, Kansas falls to Oklahoma, hurting opportunity for ...
Baseball to play Missouri State today
Coach Price moves to set up a schedule similar to the Major ...
Batting is crucial for young Jayhawks
After sweeping North Dakota this week, the baseball team prepares for a ...
Home field advantage
After a four straight losses, the baseball team will return home this ...
Baseball takes series at Missouri
The Jayhawks won their first series at Taylor Stadium in 28 years.
Baseball doesn’t control its postseason
The Jayhawks' hopes are dependent on how Oklahoma, Baylor and Texas Tech ...
Senior Ryne Price to play right field
Although Price’s position has changed, his philosophy hasn’t.
Jayhawks unable to make another comeback against ...
Kansas loses to North Dakota despite momentum in the seventh inning.
Baseball team looks to refocus on defense
After having one of the best fielding percentages in the nation, the ...
Jayhawks fail to rally, lose series
The momentum from a ninth-inning upset on Friday failed to carry the ...
Baseball looks to get back on track
After losing seven seniors after last season, the new lineup is trying ...
Texas A&M's defense gives Kansas problems in ...
The Kansas baseball team dropped its eighth-straight game on Saturday.
Missed chances lead to baseball loss
The Kansas baseball team faced its toughest competition of the season so ...
Baseball team to face Missouri State
The Bears have won five of their last six games despite hitting ...
Kansas baseball won’t overlook Western Illinois
Coach Ritch Price wants to give freshmen players more time on the ...
Jayhawks break record for most hits and ...
The baseball team now sits just one game shy of .500, at ...
Four Jayhawks selected to the Majors
Player credits success in draft to coaching staff.
Kansas baseball looks to rebound in Minnesota
The Jayhawks head to Minneapolis, Minn., this Friday for the Metrodome Tournament.
Jayhawks enter season with experience
Putting last season’s disappointment behind them, team members look forward to a ...
Players eager to build on 2008 success
The team finished 39-24 (15-12) and ranked No. 5 in the Big ...
Baseball set for home opener against Creighton
Freshman Alex Cox will lead the Jayhawks at the mound.
Kansas baseball looking to finish strong
After a season of ups and downs, Jayhawks expected to exceed preseason ...
Baseball team aims to tire opposing pitchers
Jayhawks get players on base, but struggle to bring them home
Coach starts small to dream big
Coach Ritch Price reflects on his experiences throughout the years that led ...
Big-league crowd
Baseball prepares for pitching duel with No. ...
This weekend series is crucial if the Jayhawks want to make the ...
Jayhawks drafted into the Major Leagues
Between the draft, summer leagues and contract negotiations, the baseball team had ...
Baseball fails to sustain momentum against Missouri ...
The Jayhawks lost 5-1 to the Bears Tuesday.
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID