Game Day, MU @ KU: Jayhawk Down

■ By the Numbers:

• KU is 26-19 overall, 7-10 in the Big 12 (tied with Mizzou for 6th place)
  
  
• KU is 2-5 since beating Mizzou on April 21st in Kansas City
  
  
• KU is 59th in RPI and 60th in ISR (BoydsWorld.com)

■ Price's graduation marks end of family playing streak (Kansan.com)

Saying Robby Price had big shoes to fill or a shadow to step out from under just doesn’t cut it. After all, there were three pairs of shoes and three towering shadows waiting when Robby, the Jayhawks’ senior second baseman, set foot on campus four years ago.

This is all because Robby is the youngest member of what can accurately be called the first family of Kansas baseball.

■ What we learned from the month of April (CollegeBaseballToday.com)

We learned that the most surprising team to fall from the Top 30 was Kansas.

One month, you’re beating LSU twice in Baton Rouge while getting ranked in the Top 10 by some people and the next month you’re going 8-8-1 and seeing your RPI dip down to No. 56. The good news is there is still time for redemption as K-State and Oklahoma still await. Let’s hope Tony Thompson (who is hitting just .284 since his return) reverts to form in time to make a difference.

■ Kansas slugger Tony Thompson trying to regain form (Wichita Eagle)

With a player of Thompson's caliber, there would be no waiting. As a sophomore in 2009, he put together a remarkable 61 games, taking the Big 12's triple crown with a .389 average, 21 home runs and 82 RBIs. Entering this season, the Jayhawks were picked to finish second in the Big 12 for the first time in school history. The stakes were high, and after six weeks of rehabbing a hairline fracture in his kneecap, Thompson was cleared to play — but not without a stern warning from Price.
"Tony," Price told him, "you're gonna have to be more mature than you've ever been in your life."

■ KU baseball falls (KUSports.com)

Despite a pair of hits from junior Brandon Macias and 52⁄3 strong innings by freshman Tanner Poppe, Kansas University allowed three runs in the final two innings to permit Oklahoma State to rally for a 5-4 victory in the teams’ Big 12 baseball finale on Sunday at Reynolds Stadium.

Pinch hitter Luis Uribe’s single in the eighth inning plated the eventual winning run in the rubber match of the three-game series.

The Jayhawks fell to 26-19-1 overall and 7-10-1 in the Big 12, while OSU improved to 26-18 and 7-11.

For the second straight day, strong starting pitching gave KU a lead heading into the seventh inning, but for the second game in a row, the Jayhawks could not hold on.

■ Something to play for? Baseball America Stock Report, Week 11

Big 12 (5 bids)

SAFELY IN: Texas, Oklahoma

ON THE BUBBLE (IN): Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Kansas State

ON THE BUBBLE (OUT): Kansas, Baylor

Kansas took a big hit with a series loss at Oklahoma State (No. 100 in the RPI). The Jayhawks are still alive, but they must go 8-2 down the stretch (including series against Missouri, Kansas State and Oklahoma) to climb back into the top 45 in the RPI, according to Boyd's World. There's certainly a decent chance they can pull it off, but for now they slide to the wrong side of the bubble.

■ The Week Ahead: Border War Baseball (Kansas City Times)

If this season’s first Missouri-Kansas game is any indication, then there will be some good baseball played this weekend.