Kansas hosts the #7 Baylor Bears this weekend in a key Big-12 conference series. Baylor is in third place in the Big-12 with a 5-4 record. Kansas is tied for fourth place at 3-3.
Probable Starters
Friday 6PM: Shaeffer Hall (2-2, 2.27 ERA) vs. Kendal Volz (2-2, 3.00 ERA)
Saturday 2PM: T. J. Walz (2-0, 3.90) vs. Logan Verrett (7-0, 2.25)
Sunday 1PM: Lee Ridenhour (3-2, 2.79) vs. Willie Kempf (2-1, 3.86)
Media
KU will provide a free audio and video webcast of all three games. Just visit kuathletics.com, go to schedule and log in from there. KLWN AM-1320 will broadcast Friday and Sunday’s game. Brian Hanni and Tom Hedrick calling the games. The Saturday game will be played at the same time as the Women’s NIT National Championship game at Allen Field House. Parking might be an issue on that day. The basketball game tips off at 1PM and first pitch for the baseball game is 2PM. Go Hawks! A lot of good mojo will be on campus Saturday.
Series in a nutshell
Baylor is damn good and they always beat on Kansas. Baylor owns a 33-5 lead in the all-time series. Kansas has only won one series from Baylor and that was in 1997. Beating Baylor would be pretty huge for the Jayhawks.
What makes Baylor so good? They are a well balanced team. BU averages 7.3 runs a game. Their team batting line is .302/.393/.478. Obviously the Bears hit for a lot of power. They have 48 doubles and 30 homeruns in 25 games. Their starting pitching staff is solid. Senior Kendal Volz, the Friday starter, was listed as the #6 pro prospect by Baseball America in the preseason. A Freshman phenom, Logan Verrett, will get the start on Saturday. Verrett is 7-0 on the year with shockingly good numbers. The Bears looks much more vunerable on Sunday. Willie Kempf will only be making his third start of the season and so far his numbers are good but he struggles with control (14 walks in 16.1 innings). BU has gone 3-3 in Sunday games so far this year. Baylor surrenders 5.6 runs a game so the Jayhawks will be able to score The trick will be getting past Volz and Verrett and into the BU bullpen. Full BU statistics found here.
Kansas has one factor working strongly in its favor this weekend - location. Kansas is 14-0 at Hoglund. Friday will mark the first time Baylor plays outside of Texas. Baylor is only 2-4 this year in games played when the tempature is under 60 degrees, which will likely be the case on Friday and Sunday. Baylor is a great ball club but I have reasonable hope for Jayhawk success this year.