After starting two sophomores and a freshman on the mound during weekends last season, Kansas now boasts one of the most experienced rotations in the Big 12.

Junior left-hander Nick Czyz and sophomore left-hander Wally Marciel anchored Kansas’ weekend rotation last season and are the incumbents to do the same this season. However, unlike last year, Kansas has a handful of worthy candidates to choose from, so Czyz and Marciel will have to earn their spots in the weekend rotation.

“There’s three weeks of games before we go to Texas and each time those guys walks on the field, they’re competing for one of those starting jobs,” coach Ritch Price said.

Also throwing their names in the hat to claim a weekend spot are senior right-hander Andres Esquibel, junior left-hander Sam Freeman and sophomore left-hander Shaeffer Hall.

Esquibel led Kansas with seven victories last season, while switching between starting and relief duties. Although he’s the only right-handed candidate to start for the Jayhawks, his value as a setup man out of the bullpen may prevent him from starting on weekends.

Freeman, a transfer from North Central Texas College, was a strikeout machine last season with 50 strikeouts in 50.2 innings. Price said Freeman fit the profile of a true starter, with high velocity, a good slider and possibly the best changeup on the team. All of which certainly bode well for Freeman, assuming he can acclimate to pitching in the Big 12.

Hall, another addition to the Kansas staff via transfer, was an innings eater at Jefferson College last season. En route to a 10-1 record, Hall pitched 83 innings, throwing six complete games. Considering how Kansas’ starters didn’t toss a single complete game in 2007 and rarely pitched late into ballgames, Hall’s stamina could be a welcome addition to the Kansas rotation.

Unfortunately, the candidates have only been able to audition indoors, in batting cages, rather than on the diamond.

“We’re doing the best we can to prepare ourselves as far as throwing live in the cages and stuff like that,” Czyz said. “But we’re really looking forward to getting outside.”

As for the incumbents, Czyz and Marciel, they’ve already run the gauntlet of pitching in the Big 12 and will be expected to improve upon their numbers from a year ago.

Other than his 4-8 record Czyz had a solid sophomore season, starting all 14 of his appearances. He was second on the team with a 4.60 ERA, 62 strikeouts and 72.1 innings pitched.

Marciel began 2007 as a reliever and midweek starter, but by season’s end, he found himself in the weekend rotation with the lowest ERA on the team – 3.94. His freshman campaign was capped off when he was named second team all-freshman by “Ping! Baseball.”

These five candidates will get their first chance to claim a spot in Kansas’ weekend rotation in this weekend’s five-game series with Hawaii-Hilo. However, with only three games per weekend thereafter, two will be moved in midweek starting roles.

Of course, no matter who Kansas’ top three starters are after this weekend, in about a month a familiar face will be thrown into the mix.

Junior lefty Andy Marks was the third member of last season’s weekend trio, but he’s been out of commission since the fall when he had surgery on the labrum in his throwing shoulder.

Marks hasn’t experienced any setbacks in his rehab and Price said he hoped his top pitcher from a year ago would return by late March, when Kansas heads to Bradenton, Fla., for a spring break tournament.

Last season, Marks led Kansas with 91 strikeouts, the eighth most in a season by a Kansas pitcher, and tallied a 3.28 ERA over his final six starts. When he does return, Price expects to pitch him in the Friday slot.

If all goes according to plan, there will be one less spot in the weekend rotation open to the other five candidates. In the meantime, the candidates will use the competition as added motivation to make up for Marks’ absence.

“He’s a huge loss for us,” Czyz said, “but we brought in a couple guys and there’s some guys who need to step up a little bit and kind of fill his role and take some innings away from him until he gets back.”

—Edited by Russell Davies