University of Kansas Men's Baseball

Brandon Scott joined the Kansas baseball staff as Assistant Coach/Pitching Coach in June 2022. Scott will be entering his fourth season with the Jayhawks in ...

Jon Coyne joined the Kansas baseball staff as an Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator in June 2022. Coyne will be entering his fourth season with the Jayha...

Price begins his 14th season at the helm of the University of Kansas baseball program where he has instilled an atmosphere of closeness and competitiveness between his players that pushes the Jayhawks to challenge each other everyday, creating a roster ready to compete - and win - in the Big 12.   During his tenure, Price led the Jayhawks to 30-plus wins in nine of his 13 years at KU, while the team reached the 40-win plateau for just the third time in school history in 2006. That season, the Jayhawks won 43 games the second most in school history and won KUs first conference championship in baseball in over 50 years.   However, his best managing came in 2014 where he guided the Jayhawks to their highest finish in the history of the Big 12 Conference (third) by closing out league play with three-straight weekend sweeps (at Baylor, vs. No. 19 Texas Tech and vs. West Virginia) to propel them to a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the programs history and earn a No. 21 national ranking.   Price is known around the collegiate baseball circuit as a tireless worker and enthusiastic recruiter, and was named the 33rd head baseball coach at Kansas on July 1, 2002.   That unprecedented work ethic by the Jayhawks skipper has rewarded the program with three trips to the NCAA Regionals during his time, in 2006, 2009 and 2014, which more than doubles the NCAA Tournament appearances the program achieved nearly 100 years before Price. The 2014 Jayhawks advanced to the Louisville Regional, where they took down National Player of the Year A.J. Reed and the Kentucky Wildcats in the first round, 10-6.   Priced earned his 600th-career victory at the Division I level on April 26 with a 10-2 win at Baylor, before following the next day with an 8-5 win over the Bears to pick up the 1000th combined win between all his stops in the 37 years of being a head coach.   In addition, Price earned his 400th victory at KU on March 15, 2015, with an 8-4 win against Michigan. He became just the second coach in program history to amass 400 wins and the fourth coach to win 400 games or more at a Big 12 institution.   During his stay at Kansas, Price has had 57 players either drafted or signed by professional organizations. He has also seen six of his Jayhawks move on to the major-league level, which includes right-handed pitcher Brett Bochy, who made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut September 13, 2014 with the eventual World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.   PRICE AT KANSAS                 2015 saw a rebuilding year for Price and his squad after the loss of 12 letter winners from a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament the year prior. The Jayhawks finished the season 23-32, sweeping in-state rival Wichita State and winning the series against No. 9 Oklahoma State.   The season also saw the emergence of lefty transfer Ben Krauth on the mound as he pitched his way to Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors, as well as All-Big 12 Second Team. Fourteen teammates joined Krauth in receiving honors from the league: Blair Beck (All-Big 12 Honorable Mention); Hayden Edwards (Academic All-Big 12 Second Team); Jeremy Kravetz (Academic All-Big 12 Second Team); Matt McLaughlin (All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and Big 12 All-Freshman Team); Tommy Mirabelli (Academic All-Big 12 First Team); Joe Moroney (Academic All-Big 12 Second Team); Justin Protactio (All-Big 12 Honorable Mention); Sean Rackoski (Academic All-Big 12 First Team); Colin Toalson (Academic All-Big 12 First Team); Michael Tinsley (All-Big 12 Second Team); Stephen Villines (All-Big 12 Honorable Mention); and Colby Wright (Academic All-Big 12 Second Team).   In 2014, Kansas was picked to finish last in the conference standings by the leagues coaches, and Price used that to fuel his Jayhawks to their highest finish in the history of the Big 12 at third, and earned the programs fifth NCAA Tournament berth and the third in his 12 years at KU.   KU finished the campaign with a 35-26 record, which included six wins over College World Series teams, six wins against teams ranked in the top-25 and a win over National Player of the Year A.J. Reed and the Kentucky Wildcats in the Louisville Regional of the NCAA Tournament.   Kansas set the tone early in 2014, rattling off nine-straight wins en route to finishing 12-1 in the first 13 contests, capped off by a Friday night win in 13 innings at Stanford. The 12-1 record to begin the season was the best start in school history, no small feat for a program that threw its first pitch in 1880.   However, when KUs Friday night ace, Wes Benjamin, ended his season early with Tommy John surgery, Price was left to do his best coaching yet, and bookended the 12-1 start by closing out regular-season play in the in similar fashion sweeping three-straight conference opponents to finish third in the league with a 15-9 record.   Frank Duncan was the lone Jayhawk to earn All-Big 12 First Team honors, but eight others earned recognition by the conference in other capacities. KaIana Eldredge (C), Michael Suiter (OF) Connor McKay (DH) and Colby Wright (2B) were named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, while Jordan Piche (P), Tucker Tharp (OF), Robert Kahana (P), Justin Protacio (SS), Dakota Smith (OF) and Stephen Villines (P) earned honorable mention recognition.   In addition, Tharp was named to the NCAA Louisville All-Tournament Team and Villines picked up Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors mix with Second-Team Freshman All-American recognition by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).   The unprecedented season found six Jayhawks on MLB draft boards around the country: Benjamin (Texas / fifth round), Duncan (Pittsburgh / 13th round), Suiter (Chicago White Sox / 24th round), Piche (L.A. Angels / 28th round), Tharp (N.Y. Mets / 30th round) and Kahana (Houston / 32nd round).   In 2013, the Jayhawks entered the Big 12 Baseball Championship as the No. 6 seed, Price directed the Jayhawks to the championship game, the second appearance in his time as head coach, after beating No. 3 West Virginia (7-2), No. 2 Oklahoma State (5-3) and No. 7 TCU (4-0). KU fell to No. 5 Oklahoma (2-7) in the championship game, finishing the season with a record of 34-25.   Piche climbed his way to No. 2 on the KU charts in single-season saves (12), after just one year with the Jayhawks, earning himself Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors and landing a spot on the All-Big 12 First Team.   Seven other Kansas players found their names in the mix for Big 12 honors, as Suiter was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, while Alex DeLeon, Eldredge, Kevin Kuntz, Protacio, Smith and Thomas Taylor were named to the honorable mention team.   In addition to Big 12 season honors, four Jayhawks landed on the Big 12 All-Tournament Team: Kuntz  (SS), Suiter (OF), McKay (DH) and Piche (P). That was the most in Prices tenure as head coach, as three earned the same honors in 2006 when KU won the title over Nebraska, 9-7.   In addition to the outstanding back half of the season, five players heard their names called in the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft in June: DeLeon (St. Louis / 23 rd round), Taylor (L.A. / 26 th round), Kuntz (Kansas City / 28 th round), Tanner Poppe (Milwaukee / 31 st round) and Duncan (Cleveland / 39 th round).   The 2012 season was one which Price and the Jayhawks will look back on as a cornerstone for years to come. Fielding one of the youngest teams in the league, the Jayhawks returned to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship in Oklahoma City and advanced to the semifinal round of the tourney. Kansas knocked off traditional baseball powers Texas and Texas A&M in elimination games before bowing to eventual conference champion, Missouri.   During the 2011 season, Prices Jayhawks won four of their first five conference series. KU finished the season with a 26-30 overall record, which included a two-game sweep of in-state rival Wichita State and series wins over conference foes Oklahoma State, Baylor, Nebraska and Missouri.   Senior right-handed pitcher T.J. Walz made headlines during the season. Walz became KUs all-time leader in strikeouts (307), innings pitched (328 1/3), games started (50) and tied for the school lead in wins (26). Following the season, Walz was one of three Jayhawk pitchers drafted by a major league organization, taken in the 15th round by the Oakland Athletics. Junior Colton Murray was also selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 13th round.   Prices Jayhawks battled injuries to several key players in 2010, but won 31 games and qualified for the Big 12 Championship in Oklahoma City. Highlighting KUs season were a pair of historic series victories. Kansas took two-of-three from defending national champion LSU in Baton Rouge, La., and earned a three-game sweep over Border Showdown rival Missouri for the first time since 1994. The Jayhawks also earned the programs first series win at Baylor, taking two of three from the Bears in March.   Two of KUs brightest stars outfielder Brian Heere and second baseman Robby Price each earned All-Big 12 first-team honors, while third baseman Tony Thompson also garnered all-conference mention from different publications.   Following the season, a record seven Jayhawks were selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Thompson was taken by the Oakland As in the sixth-round, which was the highest a Jayhawk has gone in the draft since the 2000 season. Robby Price (13th round), pitcher Brett Bochy (20th round), pitcher Cameron Selik (22nd round), pitcher Travis Blankenship (31st round), Heere (41st round) and pitcher T.J. Walz (50th round) joined Thompson during the three-day event.   The 2009 season was one of the most memorable in team history, beginning with Shaeffer Hall tossing the programs fifth individual no-hitter on opening day against Air Force. The Jayhawks also opened the Big 12 season with a bang, sweeping No. 1-ranked Texas in Lawrence, marking the first time KU has swept the Longhorns in a three-game series.   KU placed fourth in the final Big 12 standings - the Jayhawks best finish in the conference since its inception in 1996. Sophomore third baseman Tony Thompson also made conference history by becoming the first player to win the Big 12 Triple Crown - leading the league in batting average (.389), home runs (21) and RBIs (82) at seasons end.   Thompson was one of four Jayhawks selected to all-conference teams, and was the schools first All-American since Don Czyz in 2006.   KUs final win of the regular season - a 17-7 rout of K-State - marked KUs 25th victory at Hoglund Ballpark in 2009, which represents the second-most home victories in a season. The teams .893 winning percentage at home was also the highest in team history as the team went 25-3 in Lawrence. Following the season, four Jayhawks were selected in the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft, including shortstop David Narodowski in the 15th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks.   In 2008, Price led the Jayhawks to a 30-27 season. The Jayhawks dominated their competition at home, going 18-7 at Hoglund Ballpark. Included was a three-game sweep of Oklahoma a team that later qualified for the NCAA Tournament.   Six Jayhawks Buck Afenir, John Allman, Erik Morrison, Robby Price, Ryne Price and Paul Smyth were named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention. Senior infielder Justin Ellrich was selected Academic All-America, becoming the first Jayhawk to achieve this honor since Pete Smart in 2001. Price also had six players from the 2008 squad get drafted or sign with professional organizations.   The Kansas coachs season didnt end in May, however. Prior to the 2008 season, Price was named an assistant coach on the USA Baseball National Team. During the summer tour, Price helped lead the Americans to a perfect 24-0 record, and their third-straight FISU World Championship. Team USA defeated Cuba twice during the tour, marking the first time an American Collegiate National team has accomplished the feat.   During the 2007 season, Price fielded one of the youngest teams in the Big 12 and nearly led the squad to an unprecedented fifth-straight 30-win season. The Jayhawks also had six players earn All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, including Prices two sons, Ryne and Robby. For the fourth year in a row, Prices team had at least four players selected in the Major League Baseball draft in June, and three Zach Ashwood, Kyle Murphy and Brock Simpson signed pro contracts.   The 2006 season was also a banner year for Prices Jayhawks. After reaching the Big 12 Baseball Championship as the No. 6 seed, KU reeled off four-straight victories, including a 9-7 triumph over perennial-power, Nebraska to capture the programs first conference championship since it was a member of the Big Seven in 1949.   The Jayhawks advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 1994 and defeated 25th-ranked Hawaii on the first day of competition. KUs talent was obvious, but was highlighted once again during the MLB Amateur Draft in June. Six Jayhawks were selected by Major League organizations during the two-day draft.   The Jayhawks continued to pile on the accolades after the season as well. Senior relief pitcher Don Czyz was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year and became the first Jayhawk to garner All-America honors since 1996. Senior outfielder Matt Baty was named the Big 12 Championships Most Valuable Player, while five other KU players earned all-conference honors.   The Jayhawks won 43 games in 2006 - the most by a KU team since 1993. Included in the 43 victories were wins at No. 8 Stanford, No. 2 Clemson, No. 18 Baylor and No. 2 Nebraska. The Jayhawks also won home games against No. 13 Wichita State, No. 29 Missouri, No. 26 Texas Tech and No. 8 Oklahoma during the regular season. KU earned series wins at No. 8 Stanford and against nationally-ranked Texas Tech and Missouri.   During the 2005 season, Price led Kansas to the Big 12 Championship for the second time in three years. When the Jayhawks defeated rival Missouri in Columbia, Mo., on May 14, Price became the fastest coach in Kansas baseball history to achieve 100 victories. Price reached the milestone in just 184 games, 18 fewer than Kansas coaching legend Floyd Temple.   Kansas had five players named either Big 12 Player or Pitcher of the Week during the year. At the conclusion of the season, 11 KU players were named All-Big 12 Second Team or Honorable Mention and outfielder A.J. Van Slyke became the second Jayhawk ever to be named All-Big 12 First Team. In addition, four Jayhawks were selected in the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.   In 2004, Price led the Jayhawks to a 31-31-1 overall record to give KU back-to-back 30-win seasons for only the third time in school history. In addition, the team led the Big 12 Conference in hitting, posting a .316 batting average. The season was highlighted by a late sweep of in-state rival Kansas State and a series win over rival Missouri to clinch the season-long Border Showdown series between the schools. During 2004, sophomore outfielder Matt Baty became the first Jayhawk to be selected All-Big 12 First Team. Joining Baty on the All-Big 12 teams were sophomore shortstop Ritchie Price and junior catcher Sean Richardson, who earned second team honors.   In his first season at KU, Price wasted no time assembling a talented squad which went on to win 35 games in 2003, third most in school history, and the most since the 1994 season.   Not only did he lead the Jayhawks to their first winning season in five years, but Price was also the driving force behind KUs run to its first Big 12 Championship appearance. The first-year Kansas skipper made a habit of setting school firsts in 2003, including KUs first ever road series sweep of a Top-10 opponent as the Jayhawks topped perennial power LSU in a three-game set in Baton Rouge. College Baseball Insider tabbed KU the National Team of Week following the sweep of LSU. He also molded the Jayhawk defense into the best-ever at Kansas, setting a team fielding percentage of .970, which also was tops in the Big 12 Conference.   Under the guidance of Price in 2003, rookie Ritchie Price shattered the freshman record for hits in a season with 75. In addition, KU boasted five Big 12 Players/Pitchers of the Week.   BEFORE KANSAS                   A well-known and respected coach on the West Coast, Price spent eight seasons at Cal Poly (1995-2002). In his last three seasons with the Mustangs, Price led the team to three-straight 30-win seasons, including a third-place finish in the Big West Conference in 2002.   Price has a collegiate head coaching career record of 774-615-3 (.557) in 28-combined years at Kansas, Cal Poly, De Anza Community College and Menlo College, and has developed a reputation as a coach who builds baseball programs. After turning Menlo College into a winner from 1983-86, he put De Anza Community College on the map with four conference titles during his eight-year reign. Price was named head coach at Cal Poly on July 26, 1994, and was chosen to guide the Mustangs from NCAA Division II into the Division I era. After success at Cal Poly, Price was named the head coach at Kansas in 2002.   Price has been named conference coach of the year nine times during his tenure as a leader on the diamond. His first collegiate honor came in 1986 when he guided Menlo College to one of the best seasons in school history. He was named Coach of the Year in the Coast Conference four times during his eight seasons at De Anza Community College and was also the top coach in the Western Athletic Conference at Cal Poly in 1996. Cal Poly recorded 21 wins in its inaugural D-I season, defeating several NCAA Tournament teams and sweeping WAC rivals Hawaii and San Diego State.   In 1996, the Mustangs finished with a 30-23 record (.566) and a third-place league finish. The team closed the year strong by winning 11 of its last 13 contests to finish just three games out of first place.   In 1997, Cal Poly moved to the Big West Conference as Price led the Mustangs to a 37-21 (.638) mark, their best record during his career. Mustang hitters ravaged the record book that season, breaking 10 school records with three future professionals, six All-Big West members and the leagues batting champion.   The 2000 season resulted in a 32-24 mark and a tie for third place in the Big West while Prices 2001 squad finished 30-26. In 2002, Price guided the team to its third-straight 30-win season by finishing 30-29-1. On the 2002 squad was junior Kevin Correia, a fourth-round pick by the San Francisco Giants. On July 10, 2003, he became the first player drafted in 2002 to reach the big leagues. Price has turned many of his athletes into professional baseball players. During his eight-year coaching tenure at Cal Poly, 21 former players continued their careers by signing professional contracts.   Prior to his time at Cal Poly, Price served as director of athletics for five years (1988-94) and head baseball coach for eight seasons at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, Calif. During his tenure, the Dons won four Coast Conference titles the first in 1988, then three in a row from 1992-94. Prices Dons were dominant from 1992-94, posting a 107-36 (.760) record. Price was named Coast Conference Coach of the Year each of those seasons. A total of 61 players earned scholarships to Division I programs. Price also guided and developed former St. Louis Cardinal Jason Simontacchi who broke into the big leagues on May 4, 2002.   After stints as a high school coach in Phoenix, Ore., and Jasper, Texas, Price served as head baseball coach and assistant football coach at Menlo College from 1983-86. He was named Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 1986.   PERSONAL     Price, a Sweet Home, Ore., native and a 1978 graduate of Willamette University (Salem, Ore.), was inducted into the NWCAA Hall of Fame (Oregon & Washington Community Colleges) in 1998. He received his masters degree in physical education from Cal State Hayward in 1987.   Price was inducted into the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in May, 2008. He earned the Hall of Fame Honor for his eight seasons spent at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, Calif.   Price and his wife, Cindy, have three sons: Ritchie, Ryne and Robby. All three boys played four seasons for their father at Kansas, and were drafted by major league organizations. Ritchie is in his fifth season as an assistant coach at KU, while Robby just finished up his stint in the minor leagues in the Tampa Bay Rays organization and now coaches for the Virginia Tech baseball team. Ryne played two seasons in the San Francisco Giants organization.