Baseball: Florida Spring Classic

by James Quinn on Mar 21, 2008 10:43 AM CDT in Baseball

Bumping this back up to squeeze it in between the basketball games - JQ.

The Kansas baseball team is in Florida this week and I don't know if they have every played as many games in as short a span of time as they have scheduled over the next five day. Wednesday at 2PM Kansas will play Illinois. About 94 hours after this game gets underway the Jayhawks should be wrapping up their final and eighth game of the trip! Eight games in less than five days.

Florida Spring Classic
Wednesday	2PM	Illinois	Lost 11-9
Thursday	9:30AM	Dartmouth	Win 8-6
Thursday	12:30PM	Central Connecticut State	Win 7-6
Friday	1PM	Ohio State	Lost 16-5
Friday	6PM	Maryland - Baltimore Co.	Win 4-1
Saturday	1PM	Northwestern	CCD
Saturday	~4:30PM	Northwestern	CCD
Sunday	8AM	Northwestern	Win 12-11

The preview for these games will be on the short side for a few reasons. There are too many of them! There is only so much a blogger can do. I thought of providing each team's RPI rankings and record, but in truth, by the time KU plays them so many additional games might have already been played that these rankings will be badly outdated. Bkm and I will be updating games in the comments section throughout the week, and probably carrying on some conversations at KUAthletics.com again, so best to check in these locations for starting pitchers, game results and updated information.

Media Black Hole
Sadly KU will not be sending a radio crew to Florida to cover these games. I understand from Mike Cummings the school was not sure the facilities at all the fields would support audio webcasting. If I learn of any method of following these games aside from gametracker I will pass it on.

Individual game previews below

Quick previews and Bkmhoxx' prospect reports
Illinois (2007 NCAA record and final RPI: 28-27, #138)
Illinois enters today's play with a 5-5 record and an RPI of #124. I am expecting to see Shaeffer Hall get this start. Illinois is one of the better teams KU will face this weekend. The Illini will use call on Kevin Manson (1-0, 3.55 ERA).

One of the most exciting players KU will face in this tourney will be Sophomore SS Brandon Wikoff. Wikoff batted .286 with a HR and 25rbi as a Freshman. This year he has started off at .320 with 7rbi and 2sb. He is very flashy and still has plenty of time to add to his draft stock. Another strong sophomore for Illinois is OFer Kyle Hudson. Hudson batted .351 with 28rbi and 16sb and is batting .364 with 5rbi and 4sb so far this year. He is also a WR for the football team and played in the Rose bowl. A very talented athlete.
A few others with an outside chance: Daniel Webb OF; Ryan Hastings 2B; Ben Reeser RHP; Kevin Manson RHP.
Illini in the pros: Curtis Granderson, Brian Roberts, Scott Spiezio.

Dartmouth (2007 NCAA record and final RPI: 8-29, #281)
Dartmouth enters the week at 3-5 with an RPI of 230.

This Ivy League school has very little offense and a few decent pitchers. Kyle Zeis is the closer and has a high strikeout ratio but looks like he has little control. Last year he had 31K in 26.1ip and has continued this year with 10K in 6 innings thus far. Russell Young is a senior LHP standing 6'4, and weighing 205. Young has a 0.75 ERA with 16K in 12 innings. Sophomore Robert Young LHP has a good pitchers build (6'2,240) and is doing well this year too.

Central Connecticut State (2007 NCAA record and final RPI: 26-26, #188)
CCSU enters the week at 2-8 with an RPI of 288. Rough start for a program that has not been awful at all during the last five years. The Blue Devils went to the NCAA tournament in 2003 and 2004 and their head coach has a record of 207-162 during his nine years at the school.

This small school actually has a few decent players. Most of which are pitchers. Junior LHP Ken Kerski went for 3.36 in 69.2ip and 48K last year Senior RHP John Tesseyman had a 2.79 era in 61ip with 36K last year and has started off strong again this year. Senior LHP Matt Gianini had a 3.00 era in 69ip with 69K. Sophomore Kyle Zarotney hit .397 with 4hr and 18rbi and stands 6'7 and weighs 205. Others that may have a shot: Senior Jak Kidd and sophomore 1B Tommy Meade (6'4, 215)

Ohio State (2007 NCAA record and final RPI: 38-24, #70)
The Buckeyes are probably the most talented team the Jayhawks will face in the tournament. They were picked to challenge for the Big-10 championship this year but have gotten off to a sputtering start. They enter the week with an 8-5 record and an RPI of 120. I expect Price will throw Marciel in this game.

This will be the best team KU faces in this tournament but I still think KU should win this game. The Buckeyes have Junior 1b/C Justin Miller who batted .342 with a HR and 49rbi last year. He has started off this season batting .349 with 10rbi. He seems to be a high average guy that knows how to hit and score some runs. Jake Hale is a 6'7 200 pound junior pitcher who has been drafted twice by Cleveland and Toronto. His numbers are decent but I think he was drafted mainly because of his frame and his potential. He had a 4.25era last year with 48K in 65.2ip. Other names worth watching for: Sr Outfielder Tony Kennedy; Jr Outfielder and pitcher JB Shuck; Sr pitcher Dan Delucia (coming off Tommy John surgery last year but has good potential if he can get through it); Fr Ryan Meade can throw 90 mph already; Fr pitcher Drew Rucinski; So pitcher Eric Best (6'4, 235); Fr pitcher Dan Wolosiansky (6'5, 212).
Buckeyes in the pros: Nick Swisher.

UMBC (2007 NCAA record and final RPI: 13-40, #286)
The Retrievers were among the least competitive programs last year, and so far the RPI is showing them no additional love in 2008. That said, they do enter the week with a 5-8 record, so they are winning some games. Additionally, John Jancuska is in his 30th year as their head coach (!), and during that span has built an overall winning record of 637-616. So this might be a trap game.

This team doesn't have much but they do have one very nice batter in Senior 1B Will Delawter. Delawter batted .365 with 6HR and 38rbi last year and has started off very hot batting .526 with 4HR and 16rbi so far this year. Pitcher Eddie Bach also looks like he could have some decent stuff with his strikeout rates. (17ip and 20K's last year).
UMBC in the pros: former Royal Jay Witasick.

Northwestern (2007 NCAA record and final RPI: 17-36, #210)
KU finishes the week with three games vs. the Wildcats, and this might be an interesting series. Northwestern did not perform well last year, but so far they have looked much better in 2008. They enter the week with a 4-5 record and are knocking at the Top-100 door with a RPI ranking of 104. If Northwestern plays well during the week they may come into this series with some momentum and confidence. I expect Price will use Czyz and Freeman for two of the three games in this series. The third starter is the real mystery today. Price might bring Shaeffer Hall back on short rest, or he might go all the way down to #8 on his starting pitching depth chart. That decision might not be made until game day.

Eric Jokisch is a LHP that was drafted by Cleveland in the 39th round. He stands 6'3, 175 and thus far has a 3.32era with 15K in 19ip. He seems to be the only for sure prospect on this team although they do have a few others that stand a chance. The Northwestern bats aren't too shabby. Sr second baseman Jake Owens; So 1B Jake Goebbert; SR OFer Mike Kalina; Fr OFer Nate Roberts; Sr OFer Aaron Newman.
Northwestern in the pros: Joe Girardi and Mark Loretta.

KU has a very good chance to rack up a nice bag of wins this week. Ohio State probably is roughly on the same level as KU and Illinois and Northwestern are decent teams, but if each of these matchups is looked at in isolation I favor the Jayhawks one through eight. If KU finishes the tournament with six wins, I will be a bit disappointed. Seven wins would cause a little excitement. A sweep is probably too much to ask for, but it is certainly possible. KU has a very deep pitching staff, an attribute which will play to their advantage in situations such as this tournament. One thing is certain, Price will be stretching his roster to the breaking point. Look for a lot of bench players to step up this week.

0 recs | Comment 18 comments

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Scouting in Florida

The Illinois team manager is blogging from Florida. He mentions that there are quite a few scouts at the games. This is not surprising. With so many teams playing on so few fields it is a very economical way for scouts to get a look at several prospects in a day. Anyway, the Jayhawks are used to playing in front of radar guns and clip boards so I doubt any of this will affect their play. This might not be true for some of the other teams in attendance.

Here is picture of the bleachers in Bradenton from earlier this week.

by James Quinn on Mar 19, 2008 2:25 PM CDT 0 recs

Game 1: Illinois

It is 3:45 and I still am getting nothing from Gametracker, however I did just learn that not all the KU players could make it to Florida in time. The team was not traveling in one group and there were several weather cancelations in Dallas. Hopefully the Hawks are playing now and they have a nice roster with which to work.

by James Quinn on Mar 19, 2008 3:49 PM CDT 0 recs

Final Score: Illinois 11 - KU 9

I finally had a chance to see this final score. It hurts to lose a game like this. Illinois is not a bad team, but KU needs to consistantly beat "okay" clubs if they are going to make a case for an NCAA invite.

Here is the boxscore and recap.

Several good individual performances. Casey Larson, John Allman, Ryne Price, Joe Southers and Brett Bochy. The pitching let the team down today. Shaeffer Hall finally had an off start and Bollman could not pick him up. The Hawks scored enough runs to win on most days.

KU drops to 11-8. They play two tomorrow. Let's hope for better results.

by James Quinn on Mar 19, 2008 10:53 PM CDT up 0 recs

prospects

Of the prospects i mentioned above for Illinois
Wikoff went 2-6 with 2 runs scored
Hudson went 2-5
Hastings went 4-4 with a HR, 3 runs scored and 2rbi
Webb was 1-3 with an rbi
Manson went 6.1 innings allowing 3 earned and 5 K's
and Reeser got the save

Beak Em' Hawks!

by bkmhoxx on Mar 20, 2008 10:37 AM CDT up 0 recs

I guess you're feeling pretty full of yourself now

Just Joking! I'm sure you didn't put the whammy on the team yesterday.

I hate this loss, but Illinois and Ohio State look to be the toughest teams KU will play so hopefully the Hawks will split those two.

by James Quinn on Mar 20, 2008 10:54 AM CDT up 0 recs

Game 2 vs. Dartmouth

From the KU athletic department:

Due to rain in the Bradenton area, Kansas has postponed its game with Dartmouth scheduled for 9:30 a.m. CST at IMG Academy Park. The teams are looking at options for making the game up.

The second game is scheduled for 12:30. Hopefully they will be able to play by that time.

by James Quinn on Mar 20, 2008 10:56 AM CDT 0 recs

Final Score: KU 7 - CCSU 6

A real ugly win for the Jayhawks.

Garcia pitched well for three innings and then needed help. Matt Lane pitched 1.1 innings and will get the win. Smyth pitched the final three innings for a save.

KU made it much harder than it needed to be. They committed three errors, one hit batter, two balks and two wild pitches.

Ryne Price had two hits. Afenir two RBIs.

Kansas improves to 12-8 and will play Dartmouth in a few minutes.

by James Quinn on Mar 20, 2008 3:51 PM CDT 0 recs

ccsu prospects

we didnt face any of their good pitching prospects.

Zarotney was 1-5 eith a run scored
Meade was 1-4
Kidd was 2-5 with 2 rbi

Beak Em' Hawks!

by bkmhoxx on Mar 20, 2008 4:12 PM CDT 0 recs

Final Score: KU 8 - Dartmouth 6

Whew, I'm glad we took both games. This was a much more interesting day of baseball than I wanted it to be. Kansas trailed most of this game. They were down 5-0 after three innings.

Esquibel plays bulldog and fights through eight innings for the win. 9 hits, six runs, 1/7 BB/K.

Larson had a great game. 4-5. Robby Price and Buck Afenir both had two hits and three RBIs. Preston Land had two hits. Matt Berner took advantage of some rare playing time and went 1-4 with a run and an RBI. He handled three balls at third without error.

Let's hope tomorrow comes with less drama. Ohio State is probably the best team KU will face.

KU improves to 13-8.

by James Quinn on Mar 20, 2008 6:56 PM CDT 0 recs

Thursday boxscores and thoughts on the pitching

KU recap and boxscore.

Coming into this tournament I knew the Jayhawk pitching staff would be stretched to its limit. That was before the rough handling it received in the first three games. KU still has five more games to play in three days, and I don't know how Price is going to manage his staff.

Shaeffer Hall threw 61 pitches on Wednesday. I expect Price would like to bring him back to pitch the final game against Northwestern. If so, he is off the board.

Brett Bollman threw 68 pitches on Wednesday, and then came in on Thursday to pitch the ninth inning of the Dartmouth game, 9 more pitches. This is probably the most work his arm has gotten in about three years. I expect he will be used again during the trip, but he is in uncharted territory.

Brett Bochy threw 28 pitches on Wednesday. He should be good for a few more appearances this week.

Paul Smyth threw 14 pitches on Wednesday and 54 on Thursday. He can handle a surprisingly heavy load for a closer, but you have to figure Price will only go to him for a few more innings in Florida.

Hiarali Garcia started a game on Thursday and threw 71 pitches. He probably is out until Saturday at the earliest, more likely Sunday.

Matt Lane threw 19 pitches on Thursday. He should be fine for innings over the weekend.

T.J. Walz threw 15 pitches on Thursday. He should be good as well.

Andres Esquibel in all likelihood is done for the week. He was a horse in only his second start of the year, throwing 110 pitches on Thursday. Esquibel and Garcia are the two key long relievers in the bullpen and neither will be able to throw more than a handful of additional pitches during the tournament.

Clearly Price is saving Nick Czyz, Sam Freeman and Wally Marciel for three of the five remaining starts. Assuming Hall takes another start, that leaves one final game needing to be covered. I'll speculate here - Matt Lane or Daniel Manos will start the UMBC game tomorrow?

So, what does that leave in the pen for the next five days? Daniel Manos, Max Ellenbecker and Thomas Marcin are all fresh. T.J. Walz and Brett Bochy are available. Garcia, Smyth and Bollman have already seen a lot of work. Bottom line, either the starters are going to need to give seven or eight good innings each pretty much from here forward - or Manos, Ellenbecker and Marcin are going to need to win some games.

by James Quinn on Mar 20, 2008 9:49 PM CDT up 0 recs

Dartmouth prospects

Ku faced their best pitchers and definitely hit well.
Russell Young is the big senior lefty that i think could have a chance to be drafted. He pitched 8.2 innings and Ku got 8 earned runs off of him but the part that scouts like is that he also struck out 7 Jayhawks. So when you put together a 6'4, 205 frame, a lefty and the ability to strike guys out, then they WILL look at you.
Ku also faced Kyle Zeis (the closer) but he only faced 1 batter so that isnt even worth discussion.

Damon Wright is one guy i did NOT list as a prospect and he tore KU apart. He went 4-4 with 2HR, 5rbi and 2 runs scored. I consider Wright to be a nice college player but i still dont see him being drafted. He batted .303 last year with 1HR, 22rbi and 8sb. He plays center field and does have some speed and size (6'3,205). He has very little power thus far but has shown a decent ability to hit for average (.377 in 06) so i guess someone could take a late round flyer on him. We will have to wait and see how his season progresses.

Will Delawter will be the bat to avoid today in the UMBC lineup.

Beak Em' Hawks!

by bkmhoxx on Mar 21, 2008 8:51 AM CDT up 0 recs

Wright will haunt Esquibel's nightmares!

His two homeruns and five RBIs account for more than half the total runs scored off Esquibel this whole year. Andres must have felt great finishing the fifth inning by striking out Santomauro with Wright on deck. He was the last guy Andres wanted to face with men on base. Take out Wright's amazing day and KU wins this game by six or seven runs.

Young started strong. KU got to him late. Maybe he was getting tired. I can't imagine Darthmouth has too much bullpen so he was probably left in longer than he could be effective. I was definetly worried when the score was 5-0 and KU was not getting much done against Young.

by James Quinn on Mar 21, 2008 10:36 AM CDT up 0 recs

Final Score: Ohio State 16 - Kansas 5

The less said the better.

KU recap and boxscore.

Marciel, Bochy and Marcin all hit hard.

Morrison hit a three run homerun. Preston Land went 2-4 with an RBI. Casey Larson continued to hit well in Florida. 1-3 with an RBI.

But bottom line, the Hawks were beaten down.

by James Quinn on Mar 21, 2008 4:50 PM CDT 0 recs

Ryne Price - New KU Homerun King!

In the sixth inning of the UMBC game Ryne Price drove a 0-1 offering over the right center feild fence to give KU a 3-1 lead. It was Ryne Price's 30th career homerun, breaking the old record of 29 held by Travis Metcalf.

Congratulations to Ryne on this landmark record. Hopefully it will come in a winning effort.

by James Quinn on Mar 21, 2008 7:31 PM CDT 0 recs

Final Score: Kansas 4 - UMBC 1

KU wins the nightcap. Hats off to T.J. Walz, who pitched a great game when KU needed it most. He gets the win, Paul Smyth pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.

Walz went 6.2 Innings, 7 hits, 1 run, 2/5 BB/K. Great performance from an unexpected source. Walz provides KU with its strongest pitching performance of the tournment so far, and does so when it was most needed.

Ryne Price provided all the offense needed with a two run homerun.

KU improves to 14-9. They are now 3-2 in this tournament. Tomorrow they open their three game seres with Northwestern.

by James Quinn on Mar 21, 2008 8:11 PM CDT 0 recs

KU vs. Northwestern

The first KU-Northwestern game is delayed due to rain.

by James Quinn on Mar 22, 2008 1:25 PM CDT 0 recs

Saturday double-header canceled

Today's doubleheader vs. Northwestern has been canceled. The teams will try to play a single game tomorrow at 8AM CST.

KU added a game in April vs. NAIA St. Mary's. These cancelations give KU two more openings on their schedule. I believe Wichita State can add additional games now as well. It would be great if the Jayhawks and the Shockers expanded their series from two to four games. Home and home double-headers? Or just four individual midweek games?

by James Quinn on Mar 22, 2008 4:26 PM CDT up 0 recs

Final Score: Kansas 12 - Northwestern 11

KU and Northwestern started their game today at 8AM CST (9AM in Florida). Coffee and baseball.

Apparently the pitchers did not have enough coffee. Both starters were knocked out early. Nick Czyz was replaced by Shaeffer Hall in the 2nd inning. His final line , 1 inning, 4 hits, 7/6 runs, 3/1 BB/K. Fielding continued to be an issue. Four Jayhawk errors. Two by Afenir one each by Morrison and Bollman.

Two starters came in for long relief work and did fair well. Shaeffer Hall gave three innings, giving up two runs. Sam Freeman pitched one inning and also gave up two runs on a homerun.

At least the KU bats were awake. The Hawks kept scoring and the combination of Bollman and Smyth shut down Northwestern over the final four innings to seal the win. Smyth pitched a perfect 8th and 9th for the save. Bollman earned the win.

A lot of offense. Afenir had 5 RBIs. Allman, Ryne Price and Larson each had two.

KU finishes with a 4-2 record in Florida. Disappointing, but not Hawaii part deux. The Hawks improve to 15-9. Next up, two at home vs. Chicago State. Tuesday and Wednesday.

by James Quinn on Mar 23, 2008 11:44 AM CDT 0 recs