Will Cade Baldridge play for Kansas baseball in NCAA super regional?
· Yahoo Sports
LAWRENCE — Although Dan Fitzgerald felt he could have used Cade Baldridge this past Sunday, during a NCAA regional game against Arkansas, he held off.
Fitzgerald, Kansas baseball’s head coach, chose other avenues to take to guide KU to a NCAA regional title. Baldridge’s injury concerns ultimately led to him not taking the field that game in Lawrence. And it ultimately paid off for the Jayhawks, with Baldridge getting more time to rest and the team doing well enough that this weekend it’ll host a super regional in Lawrence, too.
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But with the NCAA tournament continuing locally this weekend, and KU hosting this super regional at Hoglund Ballpark, will Baldridge be available? Will the junior who’s started all 60 games he’s played for Kansas (45-16), and collected a batting average of .320, be on the field? According to Fitzgerald on Tuesday, Baldridge is in line to be a factor.
“He’s good,” Fitzgerald said. “I anticipate him to be full-go. He’ll probably have to take it easy this week early at practice, but fully anticipate — if we played tonight I think he’d be 75%. Fully anticipate him at 100% next week.”
Kansas’ first game against Oklahoma in the super regional is set for 5 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, and will be televised on ESPN2. The second game is Sunday at 5 p.m. (CT). The third game is to be determined on Monday.
Both teams are competing for a spot in the College World Series. KU comes in as the Big 12 Conference’s regular season and tournament champion. The Jayhawks are enjoying a historic season, and one that’s seen enhancements made to reflect that at Hoglund Ballpark.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Will Cade Baldridge play for Kansas baseball in NCAA super regional?