Kansas sweeps Oklahoma State. A look back in images.

by James Quinn on Apr 13, 2009 8:31 AM CDT in Kansas Jayhawk Baseball

Kansas' sweep of #20 Oklahoma State dramatically improved their standing in the Big-12 race. KU moved from a tie for 7th place up to a tie for fourth place. Kansas travels to Texas Tech next weekend. Hopefully the Hawks can stay hot on the road.

	Big 12	Pct	Overall	Pct
Oklahoma	8-4	.667	28-8	.778
Texas	9-6	.600	24-8	.750
Baylor	9-6	.600	23-10	.697
Kansas State	7-5	.583	26-9	.743
Kansas	7-5	.583	23-12	.657
Texas A&M	8-7	.533	21-14	.600
Texas Tech	7-8	.467	16-22	.421
Missouri	6-9	.400	17-19	.472
Oklahoma State	4-8	.333	21-14	.600
Nebraska	4-11	.267	16-18-1	.471

After the jump, pictures which tell this weekend's story line.

Friday night at Hoglund had a festive feel. There was a "throwback" theme to the night, although I was unclear if the 60's the 70's or the 80's were being celebrated. Baby Jay borrowed some of my old pants for the night.

The real story of the night was Shaeffer Hall, here getting the jumbo tron treatment on the scoreboard. Shaeffer pitched a five hit complete game to set the tone for the series.

T.J. Walz kept it rolling on Saturday. Walz struck out a career high 10 batters while recording his fourth victory of the year. OSU went into Sunday frustrated at the plate and rag armed in the bullpen.

Sunday's game was played in horrible conditions. It was cold and windy. There was a rain drizzle for almost the entire game, puncuated by the occassional steady downpour. Still the game went on the the Hawks fought through. It took 10 innings to get the third victory 4-3. Rally caps and adrenaline kept the home dug out warm through that last rally.

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Comments

Thanks for the updates

Sounds like Walz was named Big XII Pitcher of the Week too…

I’d love to follow college baseball more closesly, but I just haven’t found the time. How many of the ten Big XII teams have you had a chance to see this year? And if you’ve seen most of them, how would your rankings differ from the current standings?

by hiphopopotamus on Apr 13, 2009 8:45 AM CDT reply actions

Hey Hip,

The best way to follow college baseball, maybe the only way, is to get down to the park. This year KU has had almost all their games broadcast either on the radio or on a web cast. But nothing substitutes for seeing the actual games and only a few are telecast each year. Plus Hoglund is a lot of fun when the weather is nice.

I have seen KU, TU, BU and OSU live, and I saw the aTm series via video webcast. I’d rank those teams in this order:
1. aTm – By a fair margin. Great rotation. A LOT of great bats. And, unlike many, I don’t see more bullpen problems than other teams there.)
2. BU – Very well balanced but not as deep as aTm, or KU for that matter. Injuries could really kill them quickly.
3. TU – Even though KU swept them. I’ve been following them since and it looks like the Hawks got them at the right time. Longhorns have gone 9-3 against the beakless Big-12 teams.
4. KU – Great rotation, good bullpen, good infield defense. Not enough consistent bats. A lot of fight on this team. I am loving this season.
5. OSU – Horrible defense. They seemed like a team full of entitlement. You have to play the games, not just read the pre-season polls.

Of the other teams, I think only OU and KSU are potentially better than mid-pack. MU has two good starting pitchers. TTU plays well at home and has a pretty good rotations but a subpar offense and little roster depth. NU is in free fall. I’m a believer in the Bat Cats. Good slap hitting. A phenomenal ace pitcher. A lot of team speed (which never slumps). Reasonable roster depth. OU is the biggest surprise to me this year. They have recovered pitchers from injury and built a good staff. Their offense absolutely rocks. They have been playing great baseball too long to just say they are just hot.

So, just my opinion here, listed in roughly the right order.
Top teams – aTm and BU.
Next batch – TU and OU.
Mid Pack – KSU, KU, OSU
Struggling but alive – MU, TTU
DOA – NU

www.rockchalktalk.com for pretty good KU baseball coverage

by James Quinn on Apr 13, 2009 9:07 AM CDT up reply actions

Appreciate the update...

I’d love to get out there more, but not being in Lawrence anymore really limits the chances…

by hiphopopotamus on Apr 13, 2009 12:27 PM CDT up reply actions

Creighton

I think an interesting game will be vs Creighton on Tuesday. They have split this season with K State and walloped Nebraska in a mid week game 15-0. We cannot take them lightly.

by Kansas28 on Apr 13, 2009 9:37 AM CDT reply actions

Creighton, Missouri State and Wichita State

normally have the better teams in the MVC. All three are down this year. Just the same they all are tough mid-week opponents.

The game will be played at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. If the weather is nice at all there should be a good crowd there. I know more than a few KU fans will be tailgating before the game.

www.rockchalktalk.com for pretty good KU baseball coverage

by James Quinn on Apr 13, 2009 11:17 AM CDT up reply actions