May 23, 2005

LAWRENCE, Kan. — For the second time in three seasons under head coach Ritch Price, the University of Kansas baseball team qualified for postseason play and will look to improve on its 36-26 overall record as the No. 7 seed at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Tournament, which will be held May 25-29 at Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Ballpark.

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The Jayhawks will take on No. 2 Baylor in the tournament’s opening round at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

For Kansas, the tournament berth is only the second since joining the Big 12 as KU also qualified for the bracket following the 2003 season.

The Jayhawks enter the tournament as one of the leagues’ hottest teams, having won three of their last four conference series. Last weekend the Jayhawks took two-of-three games from Oklahoma State at Hoglund Ballpark, including a 17-3 thumping of the Cowboys, the biggest margin of victory in the series since 1922.

Junior first baseman Jared Schweitzer went 5-for-9 against OSU to raise his team-leading batting average to .372. The Sherwood Park, Alberta, native has hit safely in 29 of his last 30 games, a streak which includes a Kansas school record 24-game hitting streak. Juniors A.J. Van Slyke and Ritchie Price also posted big weekends against the Cowboys, as both went 7-for-13 in the series.

On the hill, junior pitcher Kodiak Quick tied the school record for wins in a season as he picked up his Big 12-leading 10th victory of the year in the series-opening win over OSU. Quick, who will start Wednesday’s contest against the Bears, is 10-5 with a 3.53 ERA this season.

Kansas Jayhawks (36-26; 11-15 Big 12)

at the

2005 Big 12 Baseball Tournament

Site: SBC Bricktown Ballpark (13,066) — Oklahoma City, Okla.

Game Time (CST) — Pitching Match-Up

Wed. (May 25) 1 p.m. — vs. Baylor

RHP Kodiak Quick (10-5) vs. RHP Mark McCormick (7-2)

Rankings: Kansas is receiving votes in the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Poll this week.

Coaches: Kansas head coach Ritch Price is 102-85-1 in his third year at KU and 319-313-1 in his 11th overall year of coaching at the Division 1 level.

Kansas in Tournament Play:

Kansas is 0-2 all-time at the Big 12 Tournament and 5-16 all-time in postseason conference tournament play

Media Coverage

Audio:KLWN (1320 AM)

Gametracker: www.kuathletics.com

Big 12 Tournament Schedule

Tentative Schedule (40-minutes between games)

Wednesday, May 25

Game 1: No. 3 Texas vs. No 6 Oklahoma State, 10 a.m.

Game 2: No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 7 Kansas, 1 p.m.

Game 3: No. 4 Missouri vs. No. 5 Oklahoma, 5 p.m.

Game 4: No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 8 Texas Tech, 8 p.m.

Thursday, May 26

Game 5: Losers of Games 1 and 2, 10 a.m.

Game 6: Losers of Games 3 and 4, 1 p.m.

Game 7: Winners of Games 1 and 2, 5 p.m.

Game 8: Winners of Games 3 and 4, 8 p.m.

Friday, May 27

Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7, 4 p.m.

Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 28

Game 11: Opponents TBD, 10 a.m. (FSN)

Game 12: Opponents TBD, 1 p.m. (FSN)

Game 13: (If necessary), 5 p.m.

Game 14: (If necessary), 7 p.m. or 8 p.m.

Sunday, May 29

Championship Game, 1 p.m. (FSN)