FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Thirty-two road contests, including trips to Palo Alto, Calif., and Albuquerque, N.M., to challenge non-conference perennial powerhouses Stanford (March 7-9) and New Mexico (March 18-19), highlight the 2014 Kansas baseball schedule released by the team Wednesday.
The Jayhawks will play 13 games against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season, including six against teams that advanced to the NCAA Super Regional round. KU will also play 28 games against teams that finished the 2013 season with an RPI in the top 100.
“Our schedule this year is a huge challenge,” head coach Ritch Price said. “The challenge of having over 32 games on the road during the course of the season is that it tests the leadership qualities of your upperclassmen, in terms of preparing properly, overcoming adversity and playing opponents on their home turf. The early series against BYU, Stanford and New Mexico are going to be tough and I think it will prepare us well to play in our conference.”
Kansas opens the season Feb. 14 with a four-game series against BYU at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Ariz., the spring training home of the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners. The Jayhawks then head Southeast to Port Charlotte, Fla., to compete in the Snowbird Classic (Feb. 21-24), before returning home Feb. 28 to host Houston Baptist and North Dakota in the Salty Iguana Classic.
KU then travels to California to square off against Stanford in its final three-game series before opening conference play at Texas March 14-16. After a short stint in Austin, the Jayhawks head out West to face New Mexico, who is coming off back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances.
Kansas returns to Lawrence to host the Millard Management Classic (March 21-23) against Dartmouth, before hosting its first Big 12 home series of the season against 2013 NCAA Super Regional participant Oklahoma. The Jayhawks will also host Big 12 foes TCU (April 11-13), Texas Tech (May 2-4) and West Virginia (May 9-11) as part of their home slate.
Other big road contests include conference rivals Kansas State (April 4-5), Oklahoma State (April 18-20) and Baylor (April 25-27). KU will also test its prowess on the road against Big Ten adversaries Iowa (April 8-9) and Michigan (May 17-18) for a three-game series to conclude regular-season competition.
The Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship is scheduled to begin May 21 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla. The tournament will utilize a double-elimination format with the champion earning the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
