As Kansas University’s No. 1 starter, senior right-hander Jeff Davis usually pitches in a series opener.

Not this weekend, though.

Davis has relinquished his role to No. 3 starter Jake Wright, also a senior, so Wright can walk down Campanile Hill on Sunday during KU’s commencement exercises.

“It would be nice for me to walk down the hill in front of my family and friends,” Davis said, “but Jake is a really good friend of mine, and I’ll still get to pitch a game.”

Wright, a fifth-year senior from Baldwin, will be the starter in tonight’s opener of a three-game series against Kansas State. Game time is 7 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark.

Davis, a fourth-year senior who still needs nine credit hours to graduate, will pitch one of the Sunday doubleheader games when the series shifts to Manhattan.

Davis may not get to walk down the hill, but he will at least have the satisfaction of knowing hard work has transformed him from no-prospect status into a potential late-round selection in June’s free agent draft.

Scouts virtually ignored Davis during his first three springs with the Jayhawks. He pitched in 55 games, mostly in mop-up relief, compiling a 6-6 record and an unsightly 7.11 earned run average.

Then Davis had a revelation.

“I wanted to go out with a bang, and I looked at the pro players and saw they were bigger and stronger than me,” Davis said, “so I went to the weightroom and I gained 25 pounds and my fastball improved and that made my off-speed pitches better.”

Despite pitching for the Big 12 Conference cellar-dweller, Davis has a 5-4 record and his 3.83 ERA is among the league leaders. He also tops Big 12 pitchers in complete games with four.

At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds up from 185 Davis boasts optimum size for a pro pitcher. Yet it takes more than desirable size. It takes pitches and command of them to be successful.

“I also started throwing a split-finger pitch in February,” Davis said, “and that pitch has been effective for me.”

At the age of 21 he’ll be 22 in August the former Lawrence High hurler has been a classic late-bloomer whose best days on the mound may be ahead of him. This spring’s success has helped salve the fact he has never played on a winning team in college.

“Losing makes a long season longer,” he said. “It’s hard on you mentally. You just try to focus on what you can do to get better. This year it’s been more fun for me because I’ve had some success.”

Quite likely, tonight’s game will be Bobby Randall’s last in Hoglund Ballpark as the Jayhawks’ head coach. In Randall’s seven years, KU has never qualified for the Big 12 Tournament. The Jayhawks have finished in the league basement two years in a row.

Randall’s apparent lame-duck status hasn’t been a distraction, according to Davis.

“No one really talks about it when we go to practice,” he said. “We don’t say, ‘Is coach Randall gone?’ Whatever the athletic department does, they’re going to do.”

Kansas State, down the last several years, has clinched eighth place in the 10-team league and earned the last berth in the postseason tourney. K-State’s team ERA is worse than KU’s (5.08 to 5.35), but the Wildcats’ team batting average of .310 is 34 points higher than KU’s league-worst .276.

KSU right fielder Pat Maloney, a junior from Overland Park Aquinas, leads the Big 12 in hitting with a .406 average. KU’s most potent stick has been wielded by sophomore left fielder Ryan Baty who leads the Jayhawks in batting average (.343), runs (48) and RBIs (49). His 20 doubles are just one shy of the league lead.

Sunday’s twinbill at KSU’s new Tointon Family Stadium will start at 1 p.m.