Friday, April 3, 2009
The numbers don’t lie. 17-10 overall record, 1-7 on the road, and 2-3 on neutral sites.
If you do the math, that makes for an undefeated record at home, 14-0. It’s Kansas’ best home start since 2001 and obviously the reason the team (17-10, 3-3) enters this weekend’s series against Baylor (17-7, 5-4) tied for fourth in the Big 12 Conference.
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Kansas vs. Baylor
Three-game series Hoglund Ballpark
Game 1 6 p.m., Today
Game 2 2 p.m., Saturday
Game 3 1 p.m., Sunday
Coach Ritch Price said the team was “Looking forward to the opportunity to come home and to continue to the momentum that we have,” and planned to “try to win another home series in the Big 12.”
Home field advantage is definitely evident throughout the Big 12 and all of college baseball. A staggering 81 percent of games throughout the nation are won by the home team.
Big 12 schools such as Texas, Texas A&M, Nebraska and Baylor all have their own unique and intimidating ballparks. Price said there were some other factors affecting that percentage.
“The way the game’s played, the way the umpiring is called, that’s why you see so many one-run games on the road by opposing teams,” Price said. “Playing at home has to be a huge advantage if you want to be a good team.”
In its first series in the Big 12, Kansas swept then-No. 1 Texas at home. It was a crowning achievement for the program. But then the team lost a series at Texas A&M. Now Kansas has to rebound against Baylor, another top-10 team. Senior catcher Buck Afenir said the constant play against ranked programs has its pros and cons.
“Who wouldn’t want to play a ranked team every weekend on the side of competition?” Afenir said. “But its tough to come out every day to see a top-10 rounder on the mound every time.”
Afenir was referring to the quality of starting pitching the Jayhawks have had to face all season long. The Bears are no slouches, and plan to roll out junior Kendal Volz for the first game of the series on Friday.
Volz pitched for Team USA over the summer. He was the closer for the squad that also had Price on as an assistant coach. Price has seen enough of the right hander to know his team will have to battle on Friday.
“He was one of my favorite players on the team and he’s one of the best pitchers in America, so we’ll have our hands full Friday night,” Price said. “He’s a first rounder and we have to get after him.”
But the main advantage to facing all these top teams every weekend is that Price knows his team is prepared to face top talent.
“I think the great thing about it is, when you go that many consecutive weeks you’re prepared to play against that kind of competition,” Price said.
But being at home could be the advantage needed to combat Baylor’s starting pitching. While Kansas hasn’t been as productive with its lineup on the road, at home it was able to fight off Texas’ starters until the bullpen came in. Again, junior shortstop David Narodowski believes playing at Hoglund Ballpark gives the Jayhawks an edge.
“We play well at home, hopefully we get some fans out to feed off of,” Narodowski said. “Just keep hitting the ball like we did this week, we should be fine.”
— — Edited by Liz Schubauer
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