Because of Easter Sunday, Texas' baseball series against KU in Lawrence begins tonight and ends Saturday. And because of impending law school exams, this preview will be woefully short and lacking in any decent substance. With deepest apologies, let's do some bullet points:
- Kansas enters the weekend as the definition of "average." They are one game over .500 in league play and one game over .500 overall. But that big-picture view ignores the fact that the Jaykawks have recently begun playing their best ball of the season; since following a sweep at the hands of A&M with a loss to Missouri State to end March, Kansas is 9-4 with three straight Big XII series wins over Baylor, Nebraska, and Mizzou
- The name T.J. Walz may be familiar to some, as he has been a stalwart of the Kansas pitching staff for the last few years. He is finally a senior, and he continues to be a leader among KU hurlers. He'll get the Friday start and brings in a 3.32 ERA. The Jayhawks' #1 starter right now is Thomas Taylor, who will face Taylor Jungmann tonight.
- Kansas' leading hitter is sophomore Jake Marasco, and he's only hitting .300. The team average is .254, so look for the 'Hawks to have some trouble scoring runs against the stellar Longhorn pitching.
- Augie is going with the same rotation as last weekend--Jungmann-Green-Stafford.
- You have to pay for video on the Kansas website, but it is available if you're so inclined. First pitch tonight is at 6 PM CDT.
- As we mentioned earlier this week, Oklahoma State plays at A&M this weekend. The Cowboys are one game back of the Longhorns and Aggies, so with a series win Texas will definitely pick up some ground on one team or the other.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday, April 21, 2011 - 6 p.m. Central
Texas: RHP Taylor Jungmann (8-0, 1.11 ERA)
Kansas: RHP Thomas Taylor (4-1, 2.84 ERA)
Friday, April 22, 2011 - 6 p.m. Central
Texas: RHP Cole Green (2-3, 3.27 ERA)
Kansas: RHP T.J. Walz (5-3, 3.32 ERA)
Saturday, April 23, 2010 - 1 p.m. Central
Texas: LHP Sam Stafford (5-0, 1.39 ERA)
Kansas: RHP Tanner Poppe (1-4, 3.26 ERA)