This is the first baseball update in a few months. Sorry about my long off-season. I was teaching overseas last semester and am only now getting back to a more normal schedule.
Baseball season opens in three weeks. The team will be in Tennessee taking part in the Service Academy Classic. They play four games from February 20th to 22nd, one each against Air Force and Memphis and than two vs. Bradley. Here is the full schedule. The first home series is set for March 3rd and 4th (Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon games) vs. North Dakota. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
There was some good news and some less good news about the team this week. Buck Afenir, the starting catcher, was fined and placed on probation in Lawrence Municipal Court for doing the type of stupid thing young men do at two in the morning when they've been drinking too much. I do not know if Coach Price will temporarily suspend Afenir from the team for this incident but it would not be a surprise. After similar incidents Price suspended Scott Sharpe (2005) and Andy Marks (2007) for several games. Afenir is a key part of the team so hopefully this was just a case of one bad night.
The good news is that the team has moved into the new McCarthy Family Clubhouse. This new facility will help put KU more or less on par with the better supported programs in the Big-12 and will hopefully improve player development and recruitment. The clubhouse cost $2 million, most if not all of which was paid for by donors.