Big 12 Champions Travel to Corvallis Baseball Regional
May 30, 2006
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
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Team: Kansas (42-23, 13-14 Big 12)
Event: 2006 NCAA Baseball Tournament
Dates/Times:
Friday, June 2
Game 1: #2 Kansas vs. #3 Hawai’i, 2 p.m.
Game 2: #1 Oregon State vs. #4 Wright State, 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 3
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 3 p.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 4
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 8 p.m.
Monday, June 5
Game 7: If necessary, same teams as in Game 6, 4 p.m.
Location: Corvallis, Ore.
Stadium: Goss Stadium at Coleman Field
Capacity: 2,000
Internet: All KU games on GameTracker at KUathletics.com
Radio: All KU games on KLWN (1320 AM) and online at KUathletics.com
Pre-game show starts 15 minutes before first pitch
Play-by-play by Brian Hanni and Jud Easterday
Series: KU is 3-8 vs. Hawai’i and have never faced Oregon State or Wright State
KU Coach: Ritch Price (12th season, 4th at Kansas)
Record: 361-338-2 overall and 144-110-1 at KU
KU in NCAA’s: 5-5 in two appearances (1993 & 1994)
Oregon State
A year after appearing in the College World Series, the Oregon State Beavers won the Pacific 10 for the second year in a row with a 16-7 conference record. The Pac-10 does not hold a post-season tournament.
Head coach Pat Casey is in his 12th season at the helm of the Beaver program and has a 551-364-5 overall record and a 380-251-4 mark at OSU.
Beaver All-American Dallas Buck (11-2) and Jonah Nickerson (9-4) lead an OSU staff that has a 3.53 ERA. Offensively, the Beavers are led by outfielder Cole Gillespie (.370, 11 HR, 50 RBI) who was named the Pac 10 Player of the Week this past week. OSU has a .302 batting average while fielding at a .973 clips.
OSU hosted both Regionals and Super Regionals last season.
Hawai’i
While KU’s last NCAA berth came in 1994, the Hawai’i Rainbows earned its first trip to the tournament since 1993. UH earned an at-large berth after finishing the year 43-14 and 17-6 in the Western Athletic Conference. The `Bows lost to Fresno State in the WAC championship game and join the Bulldogs as the lone two WAC schools to make the tournament. Despite winning 14 of their last 15 conference games, including 10 in a row to end the regular season, the Rainbows finished second in the regular season as well.
Hawai’i is coached by Mike Trapasso, in his fifth season (148-132) at the helm of the Rainbow program. Trapasso was was named WAC Coach of the Year while junior RHP Steven Wright (11-2, 2.30 ERA) earned the WAC Pitcher of the Year. Justin Frash (.368, 3 HR, 53 RBI) leads a team that hit .296 on the year.
Wright State
Like KU, Wright State is making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1994 after defeating Butler in the Horizon League Tournament. Head coach Rob Cooper is in his second season at the helm of the Raider program and holds a 56-58 overall record after leading WSU to the NCAA’s for the second time in school history.
WSU junior RHP Joe Smith was named the Horizon League’s Pitcher of the Year after not allowing a run in conference play and recording 12 saves and a 3-0 record in 29 appearances. The Raiders hit .302 as a team and have five regulars hitting above .310.
Leading Off
The University of Kansas (42-23) will travel to Corvallis, Ore.., as the No. 2 seed in a four-team NCAA Baseball Tournament Regional. No. 22 Kansas received an automatic berth into the field of 64-teams after winning its first Big 12 Championship with a 9-7 victory over Nebraska on Sunday. KU will face No. 3 seed and 25th-ranked Hawaii (43-15) at 2 p.m. central time on Friday, June 2 at Goss Stadium.
Quick Hits
-This marks KU’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1994.
-KU’s Big 12 Championship game victory was its first conference tournament or regular season win since claiming the regular season Big Seven crown in 1949.
-The University of Kansas baseball and softball teams both won their Big 12 postseason tournament this year, becoming the fourth set of teams from the same school to do so. Both teams entered the tournament as the sixth seed and both became the lowest seed to win the tournament.
-KU re-entered the Baseball America poll at No. 22 while also earning a No. 28 ranking by Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA.
-KU’s 42 wins is the second most in school history, and three behind the school record of 45 set in 1993 .
-Senior Don Czyz was named to the 2006 College Baseball Foundation All- America Team.
-KU’s starting pitchers did not give up a run in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd innings of its four Big 12 Championship games.
-Don Czyz is one appearance shy of tying his own school record for appearances in a season (36).
-RHP Paul Smyth holds the freshman record for appearances with 34.
-Kansas finished the regular season in a tie for fifth with Baylor. The Bears won the tie breaker by beating Kansas two out of three games in Waco, Texas earlier in the season.
-KU’s fifth place finish is its best regular season showing since the league was formed in 1997.
Noting The Big 12 Championship
The University of Kansas won its first Big 12 Championship this past weekend in Oklahoma City, Okla., to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Tournament … KU (42-23) went 4-0 during the tournament while capturing victories against three top 15 teams and Border Showdown rival Missouri … The Jayhawks opened the Championship against #13 Oklahoma and came out on top with a 7-2 victory … Senior RHP Kodiak Quick recorded his Kansas single-season record 11th win on the hill … After a day off, KU came back with an 11-6 victory over #12 Oklahoma State … The Jayhawks used five sixth inning runs to break a 5-5 tie … Freshman Paul Smyth (5-1) earned his fifth victory of the season in relief of LHP Sean Land … Erik Morrison hit two homer in the game while Matt Baty tallied a solo home run for the second straight contest … Kansas and Missouri – both undefeated at 2-0 – hooked up with an opportunity to advance to the championship game … KU jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Tigers eventually tied the game in the top of the eighth inning … The Jayhawks scored an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth and Don Czyz (6-0) recorded his sixth victory of the year to advance KU to the Big 12 Championship game vs. #14 Nebraska … KU jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 2.5 innings and eventually beat Nebraska 9-7 … Freshman Nick Czyz picked up the win while his older brother – Don – picked up the save … The conference title was the KU’s first since winning the Big Seven in 1949 … Matt Baty was named the Big 12 Championship Tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by sophomores Erik Morrison and Ryne Price.
Oregon Connections
The Jayhawks have two close connections to the state of Oregon. First, head coach Ritch Price is a native of Sweet Home, Ore., a town of 8,002 located 35 miles southeast of Corvallis. Price is also a 1978 graduate of Willamette, located in Salem, Ore..
Kansas red-shirt freshman Nick Faunce is a native of Eugene, Ore.. and a graduate of South Eugene where he was coached by Cole Nagler. Faunce has seen action in 14 games this season as a reserve outfielder.
Six Jayhawks Earn All-Big 12 Accolades
Six University of Kansas baseball players earned All-Big 12 honors as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Second baseman Jared Schweitzer and relief pitcher Don Czyz were named All-Big 12 First Team, shortstop Ritchie Price, outfielders John Allman and Gus Milner earned second team honors while senior pitcher Kodiak Quick was named honorable mention.
Playing the Best
Heading into the season, Kansas was faced with one of the toughest schedules in the country. Heading into postseason play, KU has faced 11 teams that made the 64-team NCAA Tournament and posted a 16-17 record. Below is a look at the teams KU has faced, broken down by seed.
#1 Seeds: Clemson (1-2), Oklahoma State (2-2), Texas (0-3), Nebraska (2-2), Oklahoma (2-2)
#2 Seeds: Vanderbilt (2-0)
#3 Seeds: San Diego (0-1), Stanford (2-1), Wichita State (1-1), Baylor (1-2)
#4 Seeds: Missouri (3-1)
