Kansas Jayhawks Baseball Series Preview: The Citadel Bulldogs

The Kansas Jayhawks baseball team is coming off a two-game loss against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers. Kansas, now 7-8, will continue play in Charleston, SC as they take on The Citadel Bulldogs in a three-game weekend series. The Citadel is 10-6 on the season and should be a good challenge for the Jayhawks.

The Jayhawk Bullpen Must Improve in Late Innings

The Jayhawks have played 15 games, and the team ERA continues to balloon along with the WHIP. Currently, Kansas has an ERA of 4.85 with a WHIP of 1.36 in 130 innings pitched. The pitching staff has allowed 120 hits, 20 doubles, seven triples, and nine home runs. They have surrendered 57 walks and 13 HBPs. A big reason for the elevated numbers is coming from the bullpen.

The Jayhawks bullpen has a 5.75 earned run average in 61 innings pitched. They collectively have given up 39 earned runs. To compare it to the starting rotation, they have an ERA of 4.04 on 31 earned runs. The Citadel has a .304/.409/.438, and they can hit the baseball. The Bulldogs have 168 hits, 39 doubles, seven triples, and seven home runs with 127 RBIs. The Citadel score runs and has 144 across the plate in 2023. Currently, the team is led by Travis Lott. Lott is hitting an astounding .434/.589/.623 in 53 at-bats. He has 23 hits, five doubles, one triple, 20 runs, and one home run. The Jayhawks' pitching staff has a challenge ahead of them this weekend.

The Jayhawk Hitters Have Drive in Base Runners

The Citadel pitching staff is in a similar situation statistically to the Jayhawks. Their starting pitchers have performed well, but when they hand the baseball to the bullpen it often goes awry. The Bulldogs have a team ERA of 6.64. In 141 innings, they have allowed 120 runs but 104 earned runs, so they make defensive mistakes. These stats bode well for the Kansas hitters, but they need to drive in their base runners. The Bulldogs, who have scored 144 runs, have nearly doubled the Jayhawks, who have only scored 88. Kansas has stranded 104 base runners in 2023. One area we may start to see is where certain hitters hit in the lineup.

One player that continues to hit the baseball for Kansas is freshman Kody Shojinaga. Shojinaga has played in 11 games, starting seven, and has 30 at-bats. He is hitting .333/.382/.633 with ten hits, three home runs, and 10 RBIs. Senior catcher Cole Elvis has also been hitting the baseball. He has played in all 15 games and has 60 at-bats. Elvis is hitting .283/.306/.483 with 17 hits, six doubles, two home runs, and eight RBIs. Elvis currently leads the Jayhawks in at-bats, total bases, and base hits but is tied for sixth in RBIs and leads the team in strikeouts. This is a perfect example of Kansas hitters needing to drive in runs.

The weekend series schedule has been updated. Game one on Friday, March 17th, will be played at 1 pm CST. Game two on Saturday, March 18th, will be played at 4:30 pm CST, and game three on Sunday, March 19th, will be played at 11 am CST. 

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