| Kansas (22-26, 7-14 Big 12) at Samford (27-21, 12-6 Southern) | |
| When | May 11-13 |
| Where | Birmingham, Ala. // Joe Lee Griffin Field |
| Watch | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| Radio | 101.7 FM/1320 AM + Jayhawk Sports Network |
| Live Stats | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| Notes | Kansas | Samford | Big 12 |
| Social Media | @KUBaseball  | @kubaseball | Facebook   |
| Probable Starting Pitchers | |||||||||
| Day | Kansas | Samford | |||||||
| Thu. 4 p.m. CT | RHP Collin Baumgartner (5-1, 4.18 ERA) | RHP Jacob Cravey (8-2, 3.54 ERA) | |||||||
| Fri. 4 p.m. CT | RHP Hunter Cashero (2-1, 6.19 ERA) | RHP Brody Westbrooks (3-2, 5.18 ERA) | |||||||
| Sat. 12 p.m. CT | RHP Sam Ireland (4-6, 6.86 ERA) | RHP Will Lynch (3-4, 5.98 ERA) | |||||||
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Kansas baseball travels to Samford this weekend for its final non-conference series of the season. The Jayhawks have only six games remaining in the regular season.
Kansas (22-26, 7-14 Big 12) is coming off a three-game series at home against Texas. KU nearly won the series with a ninth-inning rally on Sunday. The Jayhawks scored two runs in the ninth and had the tying and go-ahead runs on base with two outs, but a strikeout ended the game at 7-6. Kansas won game one of the series on Friday night, 10-4, before dropping Saturday and Sunday’s contests.
KU freshman Kodey Shojinaga continues his stellar rookie season in which he is hitting a team-best .389 on the season. He has the second highest batting average in the Big 12. The Honolulu, Hawaii, native currently has a 14-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 25 of the last 26 games. Over the last 14 games, he is slashing .433/.493/.500 with four doubles, eight RBIs, 16 runs and nine walks.
Graduate pitcher Collin Baumgartner has also had a strong year in his final season of college baseball. He has started the first game of every weekend for Kansas and leads the team in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts. He is 5-1 with a 4.18 ERA this season and has allowed three runs or less in eight of his 12 starts.
Jayhawk sophomore Chase Jans has consistently hit all season and boasts a .339 batting average. Jans leads the team in RBIs and is second in hits, slugging percentage and OPS. He currently has a 13-game on-base streak and has hit safely in 12 of those 13 games. He is hitting .404/.439/.702 (23-for-57), with five doubles, four home runs, 21 RBIs and 15 runs scored over the last 13 games.
Kansas and Samford have met in baseball six times, with the teams playing a three-game series in Birmingham in 2016 and in Lawrence in 2017. Samford took two out of three games in both of those series to lead the all-time series 4-2. The Jayhawks won the most recent game in Birmingham by a score of 9-5 on April 24, 2016. With the game tied at 5-5 in the ninth inning, KU freshman pinch-hitter Ty Denzer hit a grand slam to give the Jayhawks the lead.
Samford (27-21, 12-6 Southern) currently sits in first place in the Southern Conference. The Bulldogs have won five of their last seven games and have posted a 19-4 record at home this season. Samford is led offensively by Jayden Davis who is batting .374 this season with 20 extra-base hits. As a team, the Bulldogs have hit 77 home runs on the year in 48 games.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
All three games this weekend will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to the game on KLWN (101.7 FM/1320 AM) and the Jayhawk Sports Network on KUAthletics.com and the Kansas Jayhawks app.
Live statistics can be found here, while live updates will also be provided on the team’s official Twitter page @KUBaseball.
UP NEXT
Kansas heads to Lubbock to play its final regular season series of the season at Texas Tech. The three-game series begins on Thursday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. CT.
