For a team full of freshman, Kansas is either in for a rude awakening or a promising surprise today.

The Jayhawks travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to face off against the No. 21 Arkansas Razorbacks at 3 p.m today. Coach Ritch Price had very fond words to say for the Arkansas program, but he expects a difficult playing environment.

“It’s an incredible environment to play in, they play in one of the nicest stadiums in America,” Price said.

Price also expects his freshman and other young players to grow in one form or another, good or bad. A lot of players on the current roster haven’t experienced an atmosphere that the Razorback faithful can provide.

“It’s a great environment for our freshmen to go, because they are going to step into an environment they’ve never seen in their life,” Price said. “Their fans are on you.”

Freshman Lee Ridenhour, the top pitcher in this season’s freshmen class, will start tonight. Price said he expected Ridenhour to be nervous.

“We need him to do the same thing that we got from all three guys this weekend,” Price said. “Hopefully he can get through the first couple of innings and let the nerves settle down and pitch well.”

Hall Named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week

After pitching in easily the best game of his career, junior Shaeffer Hall is now reaping the rewards of such a historic performance.

Hall was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 23rd. He is the first Kansas pitcher to win the award since 2006. Hall’s complete no-hit game was only the fifth individual no-hitter in Kansas history and the first in almost 30 years.

Hall is accompanied by Texas A&M third baseman Caleb Shofner in the conference’s weekly awards.

Scouting Kansas

Kansas had an up and down weekend to open the season at best. After a brilliant performance from junior starter Shaeffer Hall to no-hit Air Force as the Jayhawks blanketed the Falcons 5-0, Kansas dropped the next two games of the weekend to Memphis. In each game both starters, sophomore T.J. Walz and junior Cameron Selik, pitched exceptionally well. Certainly good enough for victories, but Kansas’ offense and bullpen failed them. Senior closer Paul Smyth blew a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, and the Jayhawks’ No. 3 and No. 4 hitters in the lineup stuck out with runners in scoring position. Against the Razorbacks, the Jayhawks will turn to freshman phenomenon Lee Ridenhour. In the preseason, Price has raved about the arm of Ridenhour, who will have his work cut out for him with a dangerous Arkansas lineup. Hopefully junior infielders Robby Price and David Narodowski will be able to step out of their funk and put up some numbers against a struggling Arkansas rotation as both hitters are hitting a mediocre .200. Luckily, the bottom of the order has produced exceptionally for Kansas, with sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson leading the team in hitting and RBIs.

Scouting Arkansas

Arkansas, who swept the Washington State Cougars in its season-opening series, climbed to No. 21 in the Baseball America poll released Monday.

Senior outfielder Andrew Darr led the Razorbacks over the weekend with two game-winning hits, one a 10th inning walk-off home run, the other on a squeeze play. Darr’s glove also made a difference. In the half-inning before his walk-off, he climbed the wall to take away what would have been a go-ahead home run for the Cougars. On the season, Darr is hitting .300 with three RBIs, a double to go along with his home run and a .700 slugging percentage.

Even with all that, he may not have been Arkansas’ top hitter of the weekend. Sophomore infielder Andy Wilkins, who last year started 35 of the team’s 40 games as a freshman, led the team with a .444 average and a .615 on-base percentage. His home run and three RBIs tied him for the team lead with Darr.

Senior pitcher Justin Wells played a huge role for the Razorbacks in silencing Cougar bats. He picked up a win and a save while allowing only one hit in 2 appearances and 4.2 innings of work.

— — Edited by Susan Melgren