Kansas Ready for Midweek Tilt with Omaha

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Tickets TicketsLAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas baseball team welcomes in Omaha, Wednesday, April 13, for a midweek matchup at Hoglund Ballpark.

The Jayhawks (12-18) look to gain momentum after dropping its last two games of the weekend set as they welcome in Omaha (17-15), winners of three of its last eight games. First pitch for the contest is slated for 6 p.m.

JAYHAWK RADIO NETWORK
The game against Omaha can be heard on the Jayhawk Radio Network with Mitchell Glessner calling the action.

ON THE WEB
KUAthletics.com/Radio

MOBILE
Kansas Jayhawks app – search “Kansas Jayhawks”

ESPN3
The game against the Mavericks can also be seen on ESPN3 with Steven Davis (play-by-play) and Kevin Wheeler (analyst) on the call and Alex Krzemien (producer) leading the production.

ON TV
Amazon Fire TV; Apple TV; Chromecast; Roku; Xbox One; Xbox 360.

ON THE WEB
WatchESPN.com; ESPN3.com

ON MOBILE/TABLET
WatchESPN app; ESPN app

QUICK HITS

  • Kansas enters the midweek game against Omaha with an all-time record of 1,847-1,767-17.
  • Head coach Ritch Price is in his 22nd season as a Division I head coach with a record of 643-614-3 (.512).
  • Price holds a record of 427-385-2 (.527) at Kansas, and is just 12 wins from becoming KU’s all-time winningest coach (Floyd Temple, 438).
  • The Jayhawks are 4-2 in true midweek games this season and have outscored their opponents 61-49 in those contests.
  • Kansas is 2-0 against Omaha with its last win against the Mavericks coming by way of a 6-5 decision, April 10, 2002, in Lawrence.
  • Price prides himself on having one of the toughest teams in America and proving him right, the Jayhawks lead the Big 12 Conference in hit-by-pitches. Kansas has worn 40 pitches this season – three more than any other team in the conference – and averages 1.3 per game.
  • Junior catcher Michael Tinsley is one of three Jayhawks riding current six-game hitting streaks – freshman Rudy Karre and senior Ryan Pidhaichuk are the others. During that span, Tinsley is batting .450 with three doubles, six runs scored, six walks, a .600 slugging percentage and a .577 on-base percentage. He ranks third in the league in doubles (12) and is just three off the pace of the conference leader at 15.

SERIES HISTORY
Kansas and Omaha have met two times in the history of the two programs. The first meeting came on April 24, 2001, where the Jayhawks won 6-4 in Lawrence. The following year on April 10, 2002, the two teams played again with KU taking another win, 6-5.

KANSAS CONNECTIONS
Kansas redshirt-sophomore Jon Hander and freshman Ty Denzer will look in visitors dugout and see a few familiar faces from their high school days. Hander played for Washington High Scool where he took on Alex Schultz at Lincoln High in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Denzer played for Chanhassen, and took on Riley Sweeney when he played for Chaska. Sweeney’s team beat Denzer twice, 5-1, and 8-4.

MAVERICKS’ HEAD COACH BOB HEROLD
Bob Herold is in his 16th season as head coach of the Omaha baseball program and helped guide the Mavericks to back-to-back Summit League titles in 2013 and 2014. Before Omaha transitioned to NCAA Division I, Herold led his squad to its first NCAA Division II College World Series appearance in 2007. The Mavericks went on to claim the regional title after a perfect 4-0 record in the tournament. Under Herold’s guidance, UNO won a school-record 45 games in 2006 and again in 2008. Prior to his tenure as head coach at Omaha, Herold played for the Mavericks and served as an assistant coach from 1975-78. Herold played seven professional seasons in the Kansas City Royals organization, the Mexican Leagues and in Colombia, South America. Additionally, he served as an assistant coach at Louisville in 1974 and at Creighton from 1995-97. Herold has experience coaching at the professional level where he managed eight seasons in the Royals’ farm system.

SCOUTING REPORT
Omaha enters the midweek contest with Kansas with an overall record of 17-15, but has won just three of its last eight games. The Mavericks hold a .298 team batting average with 53 doubles, eight triples and 18 home runs to go along with a .384 on-base percentage. Omaha scores an average of 6.3 runs per game and has six different players over the .300 mark. Cole Gruber leads the way with a .389 average (49-for-126) with six doubles, a triple and a home run. Clayton Taylor does most of the damage with a .331 clip, seven doubles, eight home runs and 49 RBIs – ranks second in the NCAA. On the mound, Omaha holds a team ERA of 5.36 and allows its opponents to a .302 average and 6.1 runs per game. Kansas will see righty David Flattery on the mound to start. The sophomore has seen 30 innings of work and holds a 4.50 ERA and 0-2 record.

LEADING THE WAY
In his first plate appearance as the Jayhawks’ new leadoff man, senior right fielder Joe Moroney blasted his first career home run to lead off the game against then-No. 6 TCU (April 8). Moroney became the first player at Kansas to lead off a game with a home run since Tucker Tharp accomplished the same feat against Kansas State, April 25, 2012 and helped the Jayhawks defeat the Horned Frogs, 4-3, in that Friday night contest.

LEFTY ACE
For the fifth-straight start, senior lefty Ben Krauth struck out at least nine batters – a first for a pitcher in the Ritch Price era – en route to winning back-to-back Friday night conference games. Combined in his last five starts, Krauth has thrown 38 innings and allowed just five earned runs for a 1.18 ERA. During that span, he has struck out 50 batters and averaged 10.0 strikeouts per start, all while holding opponents a .178 batting average. He leads the Big 12 Conference in innings pitched (55.0), shutouts (1) and complete games (2); ranks second in strikeouts (62), sixth in opponent batting average (.178) and seventh in ERA (2.29).

WATCH OUT FOR TINSLEY
Junior catcher Michael Tinsely earned a spot on the 2016 Johnny Bench Award watch list, bestowed annually to the top Division I collegiate catcher. Tinsley leads the Jayhawks with a .333 average, 12 doubles, 20 RBIs and is 4-for-5 in stolen bases. His 19 runs scored rank second on the team, while his 38 hits is six more than any other player.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks hit the road to continue Big 12 play at Texas, April 15-17 at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. All three games of the series can be seen on the Longhorn Network, while fans can also tune into an audio broadcast on the Jayhawk Radio Network via KUAthletics.com/Radio.

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