Kansas will likely face former teammate Christina Ross when the Jayhawks meet San Diego State on Saturday. Ross, a left-hander who departed KU following her freshman season in 2005, was voted Mountain West Conference pitcher of the year last spring after fashioning a 17-10 record with a 1.82 earned-run average for the league-champion Aztecs.

¢All five of the teams KU will face in the season-opening tournament participated in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Three are ranked in the preseason polls – Oregon State (6), California (10) and UMass (23).

¢Of the Jayhawks’ 68 scheduled games, only 17 will be at Arrocha Ballpark. After San Diego, KU will be making tourney stops in Tallahassee, Fla.; Louisville, Ky.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Tulsa, Okla.

¢ Despite heavy graduation losses, Kansas was picked sixth in the Big 12 coaches’ preseason poll. Coincidentally, the Jayhawks’ captured last year’s Big 12 Tournament as the No. 6 seed.

¢Hey, kids, don’t try this at home: Pitcher Kassie Humphreys says her best hidden talent is sucking spaghetti through her nose and pulling it out of her mouth.

¢All three catchers – Elle Pottorf, Tiffany Craner and Erika Simington – are sophomores, and coach Tracy Bunge has another backstop coming in next year. Brittany Hile of Blue Valley West signed a KU tender last November.

¢Also in November, Bunge landed Allie Clark, a pitcher from Hesperia, Calif.; Kolby Fesmire, a middle infielder from Georgetown, Texas; and Liz Kocon, a first baseman-outfielder from Katy, Texas.