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Kansas Jayhawks At A Glance
The Red Raiders roll into Lawrence to face a Jayhawks team that is currently 5-9 in conference, good for 7th in the Big 12. Kansas is currently on a 3-game losing streak, but does have a winning record at home. Their 5 conference wins are over OU (twice), at UT, TCU, and at Baylor. However, the Jayhawks are 4th in the conference with an overall batting average of .286, but their pitching is last with an ERA of 6.06. Jayhawk junior Michael Tinsley currently leads the conference in batting average and hits, is tied for 2nd in runs, 4th in doubles, 6th in RBI's, 5th in total bases, and 2nd in on-base percentage. Tinsley will be a player to watch for on the other side, and hopefully his production will be limited by the Tech pitching staff. Along with Kansas' ERA that is 1.2 runs higher than any other Big 12 team, they are also allowing opponents to have a .305 batting average, the only Big 12 team to allow higher than .300. They have allowed more than twice as many earned runs as TCU or OSU, and 50 more than the next team, KSU. KSU has allowed 36 home runs, but Kansas pitchers have allowed 50.
This is a team that Tech should have no problems beating, especially as they work on ending the seasons strong headed into the conference tournament in a few weeks. Good teams are able to exert their will over lesser teams, and Tech should be able to do that this weekend. This series could also help the Red Raiders all but clinch the Big 12. They currently have a 2-game lead on OSU, and a 3-game lead on TCU, owning tie breakers over both teams. OSU plays a non-conference series this weekend against Prairie View A&M. TCU has a non-conference series as well, visiting Penn State. If Tech does sweep Kansas, they would eliminate all but OSU from the race and OSU would have to sweep OU and Kansas without Tech winning any games against West Virginia. The series this weekend will be broadcast and streamed online on ESPN3.
Game 1- Friday 6:00pm - ESPN3
Davis Martin (7-0, 2.28 ERA) vs Ben Krauth (4-4, 3.00 ERA)
Game 2 - Saturday 2:00pm - ESPN3
Steven Gingery (3-1, 3.15 ERA) vs TBD
Game 3 - Sunday 1:00pm - ESPN3
Ty Damron (4-1, 5.40 ERA) vs TBD