Baseball season opens for Jayhawks as club heads south for long road trip
By JAY THOMAS Assistant Sports Editor
Vacation starts early for the Kansas baseball team today as the Jayhawks open their 1969 season on the road against St. Mary's College of San Antonio, Tex.
Coach Floyd Temple's crew faces a long and challenging trip which will see them play 11 games in 13 days before returning home April 5. By then, Temple should have a good idea of how his club stacks up after a pre-season shuffle.
"We'll be better this year," said the Kansas mentor before departing yesterday, "but when you're 7-20 the year before, that may not be saying much. I really do think we'll be a pretty fair club though and after our young ballplayers get some experience under their belt, I think we'll be able to play anybody."
These young ballplayers Temple speaks about probably hold the key to KU's fortunes in the Big Eight race this spring. Newcomers like Keith Lieppman, Paul Womble, Biff Temple, Corky Ullom, and yes, basketballer Dave Robisch will have to come through if the Jayhawks are to vacate the conference cellar they occupied last season.
Fielding, pitching get boost
"We're counting on Lieppman (at shortstop) and Womble (at third base) to plug up our infield," said Temple about his slick-fielding rookies. "Along with Snelgrove (Lynn) at second and a better glove team
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1969 KANSAN 7
all-around, this could be one of the best fielding teams since I've been here."
Such a materialization would be greatly welcomed by KU's veteran coach who watched 45 unearned runs cross the plate against the Kansas nine last year.
Temple also trusts his pitching will be improved. "We don't have the depth of pest years but we do have some top-flight arms and as soon as they round into shape we should have a fine staff."
Two of those arms belong to first-year southpaws Ullom and Robisch,who Temple believes can nail down starting spots with more seasoning and control. Both throw hard and only need to find the plate more often to become big winners.
For the present, Temple will call on veterans Randy Strup and Rich Slicker to open the season against St. Mary's and tomorrow's opponent, Trinity.
Stroup, a righthander, led the KU moundsmen in earned run average in '68 with a 2.41 mark and tied with Slicker and the graduated Bill Maddox in number of victories with two. Lefty Slicker fanned 39 foes last year to top the returning hurlers in that department.
Senior righthander Roger Jackson will probably man the fourth spot in Temple's rotation, pitching Saturday against Pan American after Ullom's Friday stint against the same club.
Hitting woes still problem
As has almost traditionally been the case in recent years, hitting remains the club's biggest question mark and probable major weakness. Last season's squad flailed away for a combined average of only .211
and five members of that crew return to starting roles this year. Fortunately, the lone big bat is back in Junior Riggins, who led Kansas in average (.311), homers (3), runs batted in (14) and virtually every other offensive category.
After Riggins, the production drops to John Nelson's .229 and goes as far down as Snelgrove's .184. Lieppman and Womble bring impressive hitting credentials from Ban Johnson league play but have yet to face a steady diet of college-caliber pitching. Skip James, figured to provide some of the necessary punch at first base, was recently declared scholastically ineligible.
This development forced Temple into the pre-season shuffling act that will see its culmination on the road trip. Riggins, originally tabbed for outfield duty, will be platooned at first base with pitchers Slicker and Gary Dickerson. He will also be alternated with flychasers Nelson, Temple, Tommy Anderson, and brother John Riggins, in order to keep his bat in the line-up.
"One reason I'm glad we've got this trip coming up," said Temple, "is that it gives us a chance to find our best combination before we hit the conference trail.
For this reason, Temple places winning second on his list of trip priorities. "We'll be trying to win all right but we won't be too disappointed if we don't. Of course, you always feel bad when you lose but we realize that our main purpose is to get ready for the league race. I'll be satisfied if we can win half of
our games, particularly when you consider the fact that these Texas teams have a month's jump on us."
"By the time we get home, we should know for sure what kind of club we've got."
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