Jayhawks open 2019 at USC Upstate

USC UPSTATE
Feb. 15-18
3 PM, 1 PM, 12 PM, 11 AM
Spartanburg, S.C.
Cleveland Harley Baseball Park
ESPN+ (Mon)
Listen
Kansas Notes

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas baseball team travels to Spartanburg, South Carolina, to open up the 2019 campaign against USC Upstate, Friday, Feb. 15 – Monday, Feb. 18, at Cleveland Harley Baseball Park.
 
Friday’s contest marks the first time the two teams will meet on the diamond in the history of the two programs. The series concludes Monday with an 11 a.m. (CT) start time that can be seen on ESPN+.
 
All four games of the weekend can be heard on the Jayhawk Radio Network via KUAthletics.com/Radio with Nick Springer calling the action.
 
QUICK HITS

  • Kansas’ all-time record: 1,912-1,843-18
  • Head coach Ritch Price’s record in Division I: 709-688-4
  • Price’s record at Kansas: 492-460-3
  • Kansas and South Carolina Upstate meet for the first time in the history of the two programs on Opening Weekend (Feb. 15-18).
  • For the fourth time in five years, and 11th time in the Ritch Price era, the Jayhawks will open the season with a true road contest.
  • The season-opener marks the 15th time in the Price era that KU has started its campaign away from Hoglund Ballpark, with 2018 being the only year the Jayhawks hosted their first game of the season at Hoglund Ballpark.
  • Kansas is 76-50-3 all-time in season openers and 10-6 under the direction of Price.
  • The Jayhawks have not won a true road series to open up a season since 2007 when it swept Hawaii-Hilo in a four-game set (KU won four-straight against BYU on a neutral site in Arizona to start the 2014 campaign).
  • Kansas holds an all-time record of 139-102-1 (.576) in the month of February.
  • Twenty-four of the Jayhawks’ 56 games slated for 2019 will be against 2018 NCAA Tournament teams, including six against squads that advanced to the College World Series.

 
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Junior righty Ryan Zeferjahn became the first Kansas baseball player to earn a Preseason All-America Team recognition from Baseball America when the publication announced he landed on its third team. Zeferjahn was one of 42 players from around the country representing 35 different schools to be honored.
 
PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12
Junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn earned his second preseason recognition when the league’s coaches voted him to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team. The team consists of 18 players from across the conference with Zeferjahn earning one of the six pitching spots.
 
KANSAS PICKED EIGHTH
With 22 letterwinners, five position starts and two starting pitchers returning from 2018, the Big 12 Conference coaches picked the Jayhawks to finish eighth in the annual preseason poll.

  1. Texas Tech (6)
  2. Baylor (2)
  3. TCU (1)
  4. Texas
  5. Oklahoma State
  6. West Virginia
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Kansas
  9. K-State

 
PRICE NAMES 2019 CAPTAINS
Head coach Ritch Price announced that James Cosentino, Ryan Cyr and Rudy Karre will represent the 2019 squad as captains. The trio is each holding the honor of captain for the first time in their careers and represents what the Kansas baseball program is all about.
 
“All three players have been model student-athletes in our program since the day they walked on our campus,” Price said. “They exhibit all the qualities we look for in a captain.”
 
THE DEAN OF BIG 12 BASEBALL
Kansas head coach Ritch Price is the most tenured skipper in the Big 12 Conference as he has coached in 404 league games – 260 more than any other current coach.
 
1. 404 – Ritch Price, Kansas (17th season)
2. 144 – Tim Tadlock, Texas Tech (Seventh season)
3. 142 – Jim Schlossnagle, TCU (Seventh Season)
4. 140 – Randy Maze, West Virginia (Seventh Season)
5. 139 – Josh Holliday, Oklahoma State (Seventh Season)

USA, USA, USA
The Kansas baseball team represented the United States at the International University Sports Federation’s (FISU) Sixth World University Baseball Championships (WCB) in Chiayi City, Taiwan, July 6-15, 2018. The Jayhawks were just the third team (Cal State Fullerton, 2015; Iowa, 2017) to represent the country as a collegiate national team and the first to wear the red, white and blue in the WCB. KU played six total games and finished with a record of 3-3:

  • July 5 vs. HONG KONG – W, 16-1 (6)
  • July 6   vs. JAPAN – L, 1-5 (7)
  • July 9   vs. RUSSIA – W, 12-2 (8)
  • July 10 vs. CHINESE TAIPEI – L, 7-8 (12)
  • July 13 vs. KOREA – W, 3-2
  • July 14 vs. KOREA – L, 4-7

 
JAYHAWK DUO INVITED TO SPRING TRAINING
Two former Kansas baseball players got the call to Major League Spring Training as non-roster invitees. Blake Weiman of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Stephen Villines of the New York Mets will be learning from the big-league guys in their month-long stint in Florida. Both Villines and Weiman were drafted in the top-10 rounds of the 2017 MLB Draft and have perfect their crafts all the way to their respective Double-A affiliates.
 
FOUR DRAFTED IN 2018
The Jayhawks saw four players get their names called in the 2018 MLB Draft: righty Jackson Goddard, third round, Arizona Diamondbacks; closer Zack Leban, 12th round, Miami Marlins; Devin Foyle, 17th round, Oakland Athletics; and Brendt Citta, 38th round, Pittsburgh Pirates.
 
UP NEXT
Kansas returns to Lawrence for its home opener Wednesday, Feb. 20 against Omaha at Hoglund Ballpark. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.

FOLLOW
/KansasBaseball
@KUbaseball
@KUbaseball

KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.