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THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ACE ON THE MOUND
KANSAS HEADS TO FORT WORTH
The Jayhawks begin conference play against TCU
OUTFIELD
INFIELD
Smith and Conner McKay are part of one of college baseball's youngest outfield. As the veteran of the group, junior outfielder Tucker Tharp has provided some consistency. Kansas also has sophomore Michael Suiter, who is the reigning Big 12 Baseball Player of the Week.
BATTING
The Jayhawks infield has been good for the most part, but they've had a couple of innings this past weekend against Niagara where they committed some unnecessary errors and couldn't throw out players at times. Kansas looked better against Jackson State and hope it carries over in Big 12 play.
OUTFIELD
INFIELD
Reigning Big 12 Baseball Player of the Year Michael Suiter has a .438 batting average, which is the most by anyone on the team. But Kansas hasn't sent many baseballs beyond fences this season. Senior first baseman Alex DeLeon and sophomore outfielder Dakota Smith are the only ones on the team with a home run on the year. Kansas must deliver with more power in its first conference series of the season.
BATTING
PITCHING
TCU is very similar to Kansas when it comes to fielding in terms of performance and age. TCU has a young group of infielders with third baseman Jantzen Witte being one of only a few seniors on the team. But sophomore-first baseman Derek Odell and sophomore shortstop Keaton Jones have committed eight errors combined on the season, which could allow Kansas to get a couple of extra battens on base if TCU does not adjust its fielding.
TCU's young outfield outfield has only committed one error this season. The Horned Frogs outfield is consists of junior left field Paul Hendrix, freshman right fielder Boomer White and sophomore centerfielder Cody Jones. Jones and White have done well in the outfield as each have one home run on offense this season.
Senior third baseman Jantzen Witte leads the team in home runs, runs batted in and base hits. TCU has also had some help from sophomore center fielder Cody Jones. However, TCU has not had as much success at the plate, which could be costly with Big 12 games coming up.
Junior Frank Duncan, sophomore Wes Benjamin and senior Thomas Taylor have started in four games and have each pitched at least 22 innings and combine for an earned run average of 2.84. TCU's offense will have a difficult weekend if it falls behind. Outside of the starters, Kansas has received great production from junior Jordan Piche' and sophomore Robert Kahana from the bullpen.
PITCHING
TCU's pitching department draws a lot of similarities to Kansas'. The Longhorns are third in the Big 12 in strikeouts so far this season with 118 this season. Preston Morrison is 2-1 on the year and has an earned run average of 0.90 while Trevor Seidenberger is close to him with 1.65.
— Farzin Vousoughian
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