A hundred and sixty-three miles south on Interstate 35, Wichita State is waiting for revenge.

Two months ago, the Jayhawks did something they normally don’t do against the Shockers: shut them out.

Not only was it a shutout, but Kansas also put quite a few runs on the scoreboard. The 8-0 drubbing of Wichita State was an early highlight of the season and a turning point for Kansas.

But don’t expect the Shockers to be pleased with the Jayhawks when they match up again today at 7 p.m. in Wichita.

“It’ll be a huge rivalry game for them after we spanked them so good at our place,” coach Ritch Price said. “They are going to give it everything they got to try to make sure they even the series for the year.”

Kansas will try to continue its success after winning two out of three against then-No. 9 Oklahoma last weekend. Price plans to start freshman right-hander Lee Ridenhour, normally a weekend starter, because he didn’t pitch past the first inning in Sunday’s game against Oklahoma.

Ridenhour’s last midweek start was the 8-0 shutout. He went eight innings while striking out five in that game.

Price said he hoped this game would snap Ridenhour back into form after he had a rough week.

“I’ll run him out there Wednesday night — give him a chance to redeem himself,” Price said.

Sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson isn’t worried about Ridenhour’s performance. Thompson said Ridenhour had worked wonders all season.

“He’s been great for us. We have the utmost confidence in him,” Thompson said. “He’s going to have good starts, and everyone has bad starts, so you can’t be too disappointed with him.”

Ridenhour has been able to work most of this season using primarily two pitches: his fastball and his slider. He has been working on perfecting his changeup, but against Oklahoma the changeup wasn’t working and the Sooners’ lineup, which is stacked with left-handers, took advantage.

“It’s still part of his development,” Price said. “Until he develops that changeup he still doesn’t have a pitch to attack left-handed hitters with.”

Ridenhour will have to perform well in front of about 7,000 fans for Kansas to have a chance to win tonight.

“They’ll want to beat us pretty good, but we need to go in there and it’s going to be a great game,” Thompson said. “It’s going to be a tough place to play — we need to find a way to pull it out.”

The nonconference game will be huge for Kansas’ NCAA tournament resume.

“It’ll be a hostile environment. There will be over 7,000 people there, rooting for Wichita State,” Price said. “We just have to continue to play like we’ve played these last two weeks.”

— — Edited by Jesse Trimble