KU to honor 1993 World Series squad

Perhaps Kansas University’s current baseball players can get a little good karma from the team generally considered the best in school history.

Today’s Big 12 Conference showdown with Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark will have a few special faces in the crowd. Approximately 20 members of KU’s 1993 baseball team, the lone Jayhawk squad to qualify for the College World Series, will be on hand and take part in festivities honoring the 10-year anniversary of their achievements.

That year, Kansas finished 45-18 overall and went 4-1 in NCAA Mideast Regional action before dropping games to Texas A&M and Long Beach State in the College World Series.

“For me personally, as a new coach coming in, they set the standard,” current KU coach Ritch Price said. “Certainly, that’s the greatest team in Kansas baseball history.”

The ’93 team’s success remains unprecedented to date. The 1994 team bowed out in regional play after a 40-win season, and since then, only one Kansas team — a 31-25 squad in 1997 — has finished above .500.

Eighteen players from the ’93 team are expected to be in attendance today, notably standout pitchers Chris Corn, Jimmy Walker and Jamie Splittorff, and catcher Jeff Niemeier, who homered and had the only two hits in KU’s 6-1 loss to Long Beach State in Omaha, Neb.

The ceremony will precede the first game of a three-game set with Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks (21-9 overall, 0-3 Big 12) and the Cowboys (15-8, 2-1) also will play at 1 p.m. Sunday and 3 p.m. Monday.

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On the mound: Kansas senior Kevin Wheeler will start today’s game. Wheeler is 4-0 with a 3.94 ERA this season. When not pitching, Wheeler is the team’s designated hitter, and is hitting .375 with a team-high six home runs.

“I love doing both,” Wheeler said of his double duty. “I want to be out there as much as I can doing whatever I can.”

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Everyone gets a turn: With Brandon Johnson, KU’s top reliever, hampered by a sore elbow, Price admits a change in strategy might be in order.

“We’re still not sure of the status of Brandon Johnson,” Price said of the right-hander, a Free State High product. “We may take (today’s) game and do a pitching by committee.”

Kansas had a similar approach Tuesday against Baker, using six pitchers in KU’s 11-2 victory.

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Schedule Change: Price announced Friday that KU’s regular-season finale, May 18 against Kansas State, had been moved back from its original 1 p.m. start to 4 p.m., to accommodate graduation ceremonies scheduled for the same day.