March 14, 2016

Kansas Welcomes Murray State for Midweek Action

Watch Game 1
Watch Game 2Notes Game NotesRadio ListenStats Live StatsCalendar ScheduleRoster RosterTickets TicketsLAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas baseball team wraps up its nine-game homestand as it takes the field against Murray State, March 15-16, in a two-game midweek series at Hoglund Ballpark.

The Jayhawks (6-7) are riding a three-game winning streak after beating North Dakota, Saint Louis and Purdue in the Millard Management Classic this past weekend (March 11-12). The Racers (7-10) arrive in Lawrence boasting a .317 batting average and scoring 8.1 runs per contest. First pitch both days is slated for 3 p.m., and can be seen on ESPN3 with an audio broadcast available on the Jayhawk Radio Network via KUAthletics.com/Radio.

QUICK HITS

Kansas enters the two games with an all-time record of 1,841-1,756-17.
Head coach Ritch Price is in his 22nd season as a Division I head coach with a record of 637-603-3 (.514).
Price is in his 14th year at Kansas with a record of 421-374-2 (.530), and is just 18 wins from becoming KU’s all-time winningest coach (Floyd Temple, 438).
The Jayhawks are coming off a 3-0 weekend in the Millard Management Classic where they outscored their opponents, 20-4, averaging 6.7 runs per contest.
Kansas batted .302 with four doubles, a triple and two home runs during its three-game winning streak while holding its opponents to a .178 batting average.
KU and Murray State have never played a game against one another in the history of the two schools, but the Jayhawks hold an all-time record of 11-1 against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
Price is 5-1 all-time against the OVC.

SERIES HISTORY
Kansas and Murray State have never played a game against one another in the history of the two programs. However, the Jayhawks hold an all-time record of 11-1 against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference while head coach Ritch Price is 5-1 all-time against the OVC.

RACERS’ HEAD COACH KEVIN MOULDER
A Murray State alumnus, Kevin Moulder is entering his second season as the Racers’ skipper. In his first season, Moulder led Murray State to a 16-40 record. Before arriving at his alma mater, Moulder spent the previous seven seasons as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Saint Louis. While at SLU, he helped lead the Billikens to three-straight Atlantic 10 regular-season championships, two A-10 tournament championships and a pair of NCAA Regional appearances. Prior to SLU, Moulder served on the pitching staff at Central Missouri.

SCOUTING REPORT
Murray State travels to Lawrence with a record of 7-10 and 1-2 in the Ohio Valley. The Racers hold a .317 batting average including 43 doubles, five triples and 19 home runs for a .493 slugging percentage and .423 on-base percentage. Outfielder/infielder Adam Bauer has started all 17 contests for Murray State and leads the team with a .400 average (26-for-65). Outfielder Brandon Gutzler handles most of the run production with a .385 clip (25-for-65) including seven doubles and team-high five home runs. Gutzler has driven in a team-high 24 RBIs and leads the squad with a .723 slugging percentage in 16 starts. On the mound, Kansas will face RHP Austin Dubsky in game one with game two’s starter TBA. Dubsky is 0-2 on the season in three starts and has thrown 15 innings for a 7.80 ERA. He has given up 15 runs off 20 hits and 10 walks with opponents hitting .313 off him.

STRAIGHT DEALIN’
Senior lefty Ben Krauth was named the Big 12 Conference’s Pitcher of the Week after a remarkable performance Friday night (March 11) against North Dakota. Krauth (1-2) kick-started KU’s perfect 3-0 weekend when he threw the first complete-game shutout of his Jayhawk career in a 7-0 win over the Fighting Hawks. Krauth hit and then picked off the first batter of the game and after that, it was all domination. The southpaw cruised through nine innings in 112 pitches, tying a career-high nine strikeouts. He gave up four base hits, including two infield singles, and walked one batter. With that effort, he became the first pitcher in the Big 12 this season to toss a complete-game shutout. In fact, no one else in the league has even tossed a complete game. If that wasn’t enough, he is also the first Jayhawk to accomplish that feat since Jordan Piche´ threw a one-hit shutout at Baylor in 2014 (April 25).

GOTCHA
Senior lefty Ben Krauth has one of the best pickoff moves in the country. In four starts, Krauth has picked off five base runners and leads the nation* in that category among pitchers. Only one player has picked off more runners than Krauth, Evansville catcher Boomer Synek (6). Two other pitchers in the nation have tallied four pickoffs in UNC Asheville’s Jordan Carr (LHP) and East Carolina’s Jacob Wolfe (6). *Please note, Big West, NEC, Southland and Summit conferences yet to report updated stats.

‘KARRE’-ING THE TEAM
Freshman infielder/outfielder Rudy Karre has come into his own as the Jayhawks’ lead-off man. In three games of the Millard Management Classic (March 11-12), Karre made 11 trips to the plate and led Kansas with a .714 slugging percentage and a .727 on-base percentage. He scored a team-high five runs, drew two walks, was hit twice and drove in two RBIs. He led KU in average, slugging, runs scored, hit-by-pitches and on-base percentage among three-game starters over the weekend.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
For the first time this season, Kansas saw its three weekend starters each turn in a quality start to pave the way for a perfect 3-0 mark in the Millard Management Classic. The trio of senior lefty Ben Krauth (Friday), freshman righty Jackson Goddard (Saturday) and sophomore southpaw Blake Weiman (Saturday) combined to throw 21 and 1/3 innings of a possible 27, giving up 14 hits, three earned runs and five walks, all while striking out 14 batters. The threesome combined for 1.27 ERA while the whole pitching staff boasted a 1.33 ERA on the weekend.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks hit the road for one final non-conference weekend series at Stanford, March 18-20, before opening up Big 12 play at home against West Virginia (March 25-27).
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