KU Moves Up in National Poll, Ranks No. 21

LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the second-straight week, the Kansas baseball team finds itself ranked among the top-25 in the nation, improving to No. 21 in the Baseball America national poll.
 
Prior to last week, KU hadn’t been nationally ranked by Baseball America since May 5, 2009, and has never ranked higher than No. 20 (March 2003).
 
“I think it is a really nice compliment to our players,” head coach Ritch Price said. “The thing I am most proud of is that I read that Texas Tech was 31-4 at home and we have played 36 road games (including neutral sites). To be in the top-25 and to finish third in our league when you have traveled as much as we have and with how bad the weather has been in the Midwest this entire season, it is a great compliment to the mental toughness of our team.”
 
The Jayhawks finished the regular-season splitting a two-game set at Michigan to finish with an overall record of 34-22, matching their win total from 2013 and winning 11 of their last 13 contests. KU wrapped-up the conference slate sweeping three-straight series (Baylor, then-No. 19 Texas Tech and West Virginia) for a 15-9 record, good for the team’s highest finish in the 18-year history of the Big 12 Conference, third.
 
Kansas enters the 2014 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship as one of five conference teams ranked among the top-25 by Baseball America. The Jayhawks hold the No. 3 overall seed and will kick-off the tournament Wednesday, May 21, against No. 6 seed West Virginia at 9 a.m., at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
 
“I think it speaks volumes about how good our league is,” Price said. “When you look at the RPI of all the conferences in the country, the SEC is No. 1 and the Big 12 is No. 2. I think top to bottom, it is the best the league has been in the 12 years I have been at Kansas.”
 
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