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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014
PAGE 5B
BASEBALL
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Kansas senior catcher Ka'iana Eldredge misses Oral Roberts junior infielder Matt Brandy with the tag at home plate to allow the Golden Eagles to score during the Jayhawks' 8-7 home opener loss.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Kansas enters conference play with confidence
SHANE JACKSON
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sports@kansan.com
Coming off their disappointing 8-7 loss in their home opener to Oral Roberts, the Jayhawks remain confident as they start conference play. They come into Big 12 play with the third best nonconference record at 12-4, after being picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason coaches' poll. The teams with the top two nonconference records are Texas Tech (15-3) and Texas (14-4).
"I think the players are the
ones that took it personally," said coach Ritch Price. "When you coach in the league for as long as I have there are perceptions about certain schools. Our perception is we are a basketball school. We just grind and compete every day, and if we continue to play the level we are at right now we will finish in the top four in the league."
The Jayhawks start off conference play in Austin, Texas, against the Longhorns (14-4) who are a proven conference powerhouse, winning seven regular season
conference championships dating back to 1997.
"From the beginning when we got that ninth seed, you take it personally," said starting catcher Ka'iana Eldredge. "I think every guy in the clubhouse is trying to prove them wrong. You come to Kansas to be underdogs, to play against the big time powerhouses like Texas."
Offensively the Longhorns are led by senior outfielder Mark Payton. He is the lone starter with a batting average of .413, and a team best 11 RBIs.
"Once a guy gets on first, they like to bunt him over," said starting pitcher Robert Kahana. "Their whole mentality is pitching. They are going to try to get as much runs as they can and rely on their pitching."
On the mound, the Longhorns have a team ERA of 2.05. Parker French will pitch in game one. The junior righty has a 1.07 ERA and a 2-1 record in four starts. Game two will be junior left-hander Dillon Peters. Peters has a 1-1 record and an ERA of 2.00. Sunday's starter will be Lukas
Schiraldi, who has a 2-1 record with a 4.00 ERA.
"Their caliber of pitching will be right at the level of what Stanford had," said Price. "It's the hardest place in America to score. Not only do they have great arms, but they have one of the biggest ballparks in college baseball."
For the Jayhawks, Wes Benjamin will take the mound on Friday night. The junior lefty is undefeated with a 2-0 record and a 4.79 ERA. Kahana pitches Saturday afternoon. The right-handed junior has 1-2 record with a 4.84 ERA.
Frank Duncan is pitching in game three. He has a record of 2-1, an ERA of 2.01, with a team best 31 strikeouts.
"If you are going to win a series in the conference like ours, you have to get three great starts," said Price. "Even if you get two, most likely you are going to find a way to lose only one game."
Game one will be Friday with the first pitch thrown at 6 p.m. Games two and three are on Saturday and Sunday, and both have a 1 p.m. start time.
Edited by Katie Gilbaugh
SOFTBALL
Jayhawks gear up for second straight home game series
AMIE JUST/KANSAN
Senior outfielder Alex Jones cheers on her teammates from the field.
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The last team Kansas takes on is former conference foe, Nebraska (15-8). The Cornhuskers are ranked 14th nationally for the week. Nebraska is coming off of a close loss to Fresno State. Kansas leads the all-time series with Nebraska 54-52, but Nebraska has won the last four straight contests between the two schools. The last game came in April of 2011 where Nebraska won 7-1.
Kansas (17-7) heads into its second straight home series this Friday on a six-game winning streak. The Jayhawks will face Northern Illinois (NIU) twice, Jackson State and Nebraska.
Jackson State (5-16) is coming off of nine straight losses. Its first loss of the streak came against Kansas in the Jackson State tournament back on Feb. 22. In that game, the Jayhawks defeated the Tigers 9-0 with help from Kansas junior pitcher Alicia Pille throwing her first career no hitter and freshman catcher Harli Ridling hammering
third game of the Jayhawk Invitational with first pitches scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on March 14 and 15.
Northern Illinois (7-9) is coming off three straight losses, one to Wichita State and two to University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Kansas plays NIU for the first and
Edited by Alec Weaver
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