Kansas Jayhawks (0-0) at #9 LSU Fighting Tigers (0-0) at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field in Baton Rouge, LA.

Welcome back Tiger Baseball fans! The boys of summer are back in The Box tonight for the 2015 season opener, and I’m also back to give you the scoop on LSU’s upcoming weekend opponent. Each preview will include a side-by-side stat comparison of the two teams, along with an in-depth look at the opposing team’s coach and program, starting rotation, bullpen, lineup, and defense. Generally speaking, previews are posted the morning of game 1 of that series and occasionally the night prior. All statistics provided in this week’s preview are from 2014 but will be current for each subsequent week. Thanks for reading, and I hope yall enjoy. Here’s to #7

Weekend Media Coverage:
Friday 7:00pm – TV: None, Radio: 98.1 FM, Online: ESPN3.com
Saturday 2:00pm – TV: None, Radio: 100.7 FM, Online: ESPN3.com
Sunday 1:00pm – TV: None, Radio: 98.1 FM, Online: ESPN3.com

Kansas Jayhawks
2014 Overall: 35-26 (12-8 home, 11-14 away, 12-4 neutral)
2014 Conference: 15-9, 3rd in Big 12
Last Postseason Appearance: 2014 Louisville Regional (1-2, eliminated by Kentucky)
Regional Appearances: ‘93, ‘94, ‘06, ‘09, ‘14
CWS Appearances: 1993 (went 0-2)

2014 Record vs. RPI: (LSU numbers in parentheses)
Final Team RPI: 44 (11)
vs Top 25: 7-8 (7-10)
vs Top 50: 11-11 (15-13)
vs Top 100: 18-17 (25-14)

Team Overview:
The Hawks are lead by Head Coach Ritch Price in his 13th season in Lawrence. During his tenure, Kansas has never finished higher than 3rd in the Big 12 standings, only finishing higher than .500 twice in that time. Despite the lack of conference success, the Hawks come off back-to-back winning seasons and another regional appearance, their 3rd in Price’s tenure and 5th all-time.

Stat of the week: Kansas finished with a 6-3 record in 2014 vs. college world series participants.

The 2015 Jayhawks will depend heavily on their veteran lineup. Kansas lost the entire weekend rotation to the MLB draft, but return some key bullpen pieces and picked up a couple key transfers to fill in gaps. The Hawks also graduated two MLB draftees from the outfield for a total 6 players drafted between the 5th and 32nd rounds. Kansas will have to take major strides for this team to get back into a tournament at-large position. They were selected to finish 7th in the league by Big 12 coaches. LSU trails the all-time series with Kansas 4-5 in meetings that date back to 1990. Unranked Kansas last came to The Box in 2010 for a series with #2 LSU, same rankings as this week, and the Jayhawks beat the previously undefeated (12-0) and reigning national champion Tigers 2 out of 3 in the weekend series.

Ritch Price on coming into Alex Box Stadium:

quote:
”Their fans are unbelievable, they are right on top of you. They just bury your left fielder, your right fielder and your starting pitcher warming up in the bullpen. The passion of the fans is something that gives you goosebumps when you walk in there. If you are competitive, there isn't a better place in America to play than Alex Box Stadium.”
Full quote and many more.

Team Stat Comparison from 2014 (LSU in parentheses)
Runs/game scored: 5.7 (6.3)
Runs/game allowed: 4.2 (2.9)

Team ERA: 3.59 (2.60)
Opponent ERA: 4.87 (5.40)

Team BA: .283 (.287)
Opponent BA: .265 (.218)

Team Fielding %: .970 (.976)
Opponent Fielding %: .969 (.969)

Quick LSU Pitching Overview:
Tiger fans will have a much different look this year than what we have grown accustomed to with the loss of a true ace. Sophomore southpaw Jared Poché will begin the year in the “Friday night” role. He is the only one of 5 LSU starters that has recorded an out as a college pitcher. With the late spring injury to Jake Latz, a small adjustment to the projected LSU rotation will occur. Freshmen rightys Alex Lange and Jake Godfrey will round out the rotation for the opening weekend. As the freshman find their roles, the Tiger rotation will mold going forward from what this weekend presents. If any of the 4 freshman struggle in the coming weeks, veteran Kyle Bouman is ready to be called upon again as a weekend starter.

Friday's Pitching Matchup:
KU - Sr. RHP Drew Morovick (10-4, 5.00 ERA, 77.1 IP, 86 H, 43 ER, 26 BB, 44 K, .287 OBA, 1.45 WHIP)
LSU - So. LHP Jared Poché (9-3, 2.45 ERA, 91.2 IP, 72 H, 25 ER, 26 BB, 52 K, .222 OBA, 1.07 WHIP)

Saturday's Pitching Matchup:
KU - Jr. LHP Ben Krauth (JUCO Transfer: 9-3, 0.52 ERA, 103.2 IP, 6 ER)
LSU - Fr. RHP Alex Lange (1st collegiate start)

Sunday's Pitching Matchup:
KU - So. RHP Sean Rackoski (0-0, 10.84 ERA, 1.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, .556 OBA, 3.00 WHIP)
LSU - Fr. RHP Jake Godfrey (1st collegiate start)

Kansas will start out with veteran Drew Morovick as their ace this season. Morovick, a 6’5 250lb senior, lead the team with 10 wins in 2014 coming from 9 starts and 16 relief appearances. He works 89-91 mph on his fastball with sliding curveball in the mid-70s. Saturday will feature 6’0 junior college transfer Ben Krauth from Diablo Valley College in California. Krauth was the Big 8 MVP leading the league in ERA in 2014 and strikeouts in 2013, tossing nearly 200 innings over his two season there. He won’t blow you away, but Krauth is a workhorse on the mound. As for Sunday, many thought that Kansas would go with Fr. LHP Ben Weiman or So. RHP Jon Hander; however, Coach Price has decided to send out Sean Rackoski. The huge 6’7 righty only tallied 5 outs in his freshman season. He has a high arm slot throwing downhill, but his fastball only peaks at about 91mph and the slider has room for improvement. Getting the nod as a weekend starter, Rackoski might finally be developing into that projectable big frame in the eye of Pitching Coach Graves. Price on Rackoski: “I actually think he has the most electric stuff on our team. If he pitches like he has been in our intrasquad games, we have a really good chance to win Sunday.”