KU Baseball to Begin 2005 Campaign in Hawaii

Feb. 2, 2005

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The University of Kansas baseball team will open the 2005 campaign on a nine-game road trip as it travels to Hilo and Kona, Hawaii, to take on the University of Hawaii-Hilo in a six-game series before traveling on to Stanford to take on the Cardinal in a three-game set in Palo Alto, Calif.

Last season, KU opened with a road trip to Hilo and took five of seven games from the Vulcans. Hawaii-Hilo emerged victorious in the series opener, but the Jayhawks rebounded to win five of the remaining six games in the series. During the series, KU outscored the Vulcans 63-39 and tallied nine or more runs in four games.

Kansas and Stanford met for the first time on the baseball diamond in 2004, with the No. 4 Cardinal completing the three-game sweep at Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto, Calif. In the final game of the series, the Jayhawks took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth before Stanford was able to rally for seven runs in the inning to win the game 10-6. The Cardinal enter this season ranked No. 5 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and No. 6 by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.

Kansas junior pitcher Kodiak Quick joins the Jayhawks this season after pitching the previous two years at Stanford.

The Jayhawks return five starters and 22 letterwinners from a season ago, including All-Big 12 outfielder Matt Baty (first team), catcher Sean Richardson (second team), shortstop Ritchie Price (second team) and pitcher Mike Zagurski (honorable mention).