College Baseball 360 » Hoglund Ballpark http://collegebaseball360.com baseball news, college baseball stats, sean stires, pete lafleur, college world series video, college baseball podcast, Fri, 14 Feb 2025 21:33:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.38 Top College Baseball Moments Of 2009 #13 http://collegebaseball360.com/top-college-baseball-moments-of-2009-13/ http://collegebaseball360.com/top-college-baseball-moments-of-2009-13/#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:50:00 +0000 http://collegebaseball360.com/?p=2115

Kansas Sweeps #1 Texas

(With the end of the year fast approaching, we’re counting down some of the top moments from the 2009 college baseball season.  We’ll have one a day through New Year’s Eve.)

The first conference series of any season is always big, and it’s even bigger if your conference opener happens to be against the number one team in the nation.  That’s what the Kansas Jayhawks faced when they opened their 2009 Big 12 slate at home vs. Augie Garrido’s Texas Longhorns.

At 10-7 Ritch Price’s Jayhawks were having a solid season heading into the March 20 opener, and they had shown flashes of brilliance.  Schaeffer Hall tossed a no-hitter a month earlier in the season-opener vs. Air Force.  Kansas split two games with #21 Arkansas that same week, and they did win one of three games against Arizona State as one of their final tune-ups prior to league play.

However, non of that could have forecast what the Jayhawks were about to do to the Longhorns at Hoglund Ballpark:  Sweep a 3-game series…but that’s exactly what they did.

Kansas beat Texas by finals of 5-4, 4-3 and 4-3.  Three games, three wins decided by a total of three runs.  The Jayhawks had won a total of nine Big 12 Conference games in 2008, but they were a third of the way to that total after the league’s opening weekend.

KU got solid starting pitching all weekend, but it was their bullpen that really came through in the clutch.  Here’s a game-by-game look at how the ‘Hawks’ pen performed:

Game 1-Friday, March 20: 3 pitchers (Travis Blankenship, Brett Bochy & Paul Smyth) combine for 1 1/3

Paul Smyth saved all 3 KU wins over Texas.

Paul Smyth saved all 3 KU wins over Texas.

perfect innings with 2 strikeouts in the 5-4 win.  Smyth induces three flyouts in the 9th inning for his 4th save of the season.

Game 2-Saturday, March 21: 5 pitchers (Cameron Selik, Blankenship, Bochy, Colton Murray, & Smyth) combine to scatter four Longhorn hits over 4 innings in the 4-3 victory.  For the second straight game they issue no walks.  Smyth again finishes for his 5th save.

Game 3-Sunday, March 22: 3 pitchers (Blankenship, Murray & Smyth) hold the Longhorns without a run for the final  2 1/3 innings of the series in another 4-3 KU win.  Smyth gets his 3rd save in as many games, while Lawrence native Travis Blankenship earns his 2nd straight win in relief.

The 3-game KU Bullpen Totals: 7 2/3 IP – 5 H – 5 K – 0 BB – 0 Runs

Kansas pitching staff held the 3,4 & 5 batters in the Texas order (including pinch-hitters) to a

Travis Blankenship earned two wins in relief.

Travis Blankenship earned two wins in relief.

.212 (7-for-33) average with 4 RBIs in the 3-game set.

The Kansas offense over the weekend was a team effort as well as 8 different Jayhawk batters accounted for 11 RBIs in the three games.  Four different players had an RBI in the game one and game three victories.

Prior to the weekend, the Jayhawks had never swept the Longhorns in a 3-game series.  In fact, they had never even put together three straight wins at any time against Texas.  KU also started 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 1994.

The three wins over the Longhorns proved to be crucial for the Jayhawks.  They stood with a 37-22 overall record prior to the NCAA Tournament after going 0-3 (including a loss to Texas) in the Big 12 Tournament.  However, they were 15-12 in conference play.  But when the names were announced for the 64-team NCAA field Kansas was announced and sent to the Chapel Hill, NC regional.

Without the three wins over the eventual College World Series runner-up the Jayhawks likely would have missed an NCAA berth.

Other Top Moments Of 2009

14.  Bryce Brentz Has An April To Remember

15.  Clemson’s Kyle Parker Does Double Duty

16.  #1 Arkansas Beats #1 Arizona State

17.  Rhode Island Beats Miami And Oklahoma State

18.  Kansas State’s A.J. Morris beats Arizona State’s Mike Leake

19.  North Carolina’s Mike Fox Wins His 1,000th Game

20.  Illinois Shocks #1 LSU In Baton Rouge

21.  Alabama’s Kent Matthes Launches Longballs

22.  Freshman Levi Michael Starts In North Carolina’s Season Opener

23.  LSU Opens The New Alex Box Stadium

24.  Oregon Brings Back Baseball

]]> http://collegebaseball360.com/top-college-baseball-moments-of-2009-13/feed/ 0 Kansas Unveils 2010 Baseball Schedule http://collegebaseball360.com/kansas-unveils-2010-baseball-schedule/ http://collegebaseball360.com/kansas-unveils-2010-baseball-schedule/#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:31:12 +0000 http://collegebaseball360.com/?p=644

The University of Kansas baseball team will play a tough schedule in 2010 that includes 30 contests against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season.

KU will play 13 games against teams ranked in Baseball America’s 2009 final Top 25 poll, including Louisiana State and Texas, the clubs that participated in the College World Series final. The schedule, announced Thursday by Head Coach Ritch Price, also includes 25 games at KU’s Hoglund Ballpark, one at historic Rosenblatt Stadium in its final year of existence, as well as one at Kauffman Stadium – home of the Kansas City Royals.

Complete 2010 Kansas Schedule (PDF)

Kansas Head Coach Ritch Price

Kansas Head Coach Ritch Price

“Our players are really looking forward to our 2010 schedule,” Price said. “It’s going to be one of the toughest in America, but we’re looking forward to some of the special places we get to play.”

Kansas opens the season at home for the first time since 2002, with a three-game series against Eastern Michigan, Feb. 19-21. KU’s annual game against Wichita State in Lawrence will be Feb. 23, wrapping up the team’s first homestand of the year.

KU will participate in the Peoria Spring Training Classic in Peoria, Ariz., at the spring training home of the Seattle Mariners. After one game at 2009 College World Series participant Arkansas in Fayetteville, the Jayhawks return home to host Iowa and Tabor, before a grueling stretch that ends with the Big 12 series opener at Baylor, March 26-28.

Between March 12-28, the Jayhawks will play 10 games away from Lawrence, including a three-game series at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., against defending national champ, LSU.

After a five-game homestand to start the month of April, the Jayhawks will be on the road for nine-straight contests, beginning with a non-conference game against Creighton at Rosenblatt Stadium on April 7, and ending with a non-conference match up with Missouri at Kauffman Stadium on April 21.

Following the Missouri game at Kauffman Stadium, KU will play 10 of its final 17 games in the comforts of Hoglund Ballpark, including home series against Big 12 foes Texas Tech (April 23-25), Missouri (May 7-9) and Oklahoma (May 21-23). KU will also host in-state rival Kansas State in the first game of a three-game series.

“Our 2010 schedule will prepare our team to compete in the Big 12 Conference and, if we’re successful, our RPI should qualify our team for the NCAA Tournament, and help us reach our goal of being a Top 25 program,” Price said.

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