A peek at how Kansas may plan to bounce back after rough loss to OU

If you hung in there long enough following Saturday night’s 8-1 Kansas baseball loss to Oklahoma in Game 1 of the Super Regional at Hoglund Ballpark, you surely heard KU coach Dan Fitzgerald and senior outfielder Jordan Bach talk about their belief in this team bouncing back on Sunday. 

Among the thoughts and phrases the Jayhawks shared after Saturday's loss were the common and standard: We’ll get ‘em tomorrow. It’s do or die now. We have to persevere. I believe in this team and know we’ll bounce back. 

That set the stage for the Jayhawks (45-17) to return to their home field on Sunday in a positive frame of mind with the intent of extending their season. 

Super Regional Schedule for Hoglund Ballpark

Game 1: Saturday, June 6 – Oklahoma 8, Kansas 1 (Sooners lead 1-0)

Game 2: Sunday, June 7, 5 p.m. (central), ESPN

Game 3 (if necessary): Monday, June 8, Time & TV TBD 

If you’ve been paying attention to what this team is all about and how it’s built, you’re surely not surprised. 

It’s not all positivity all the time with these guys. But it’s mostly positive with a double side of serious belief. 

They won’t show up on Sunday hoping they’re going to win. They’ll show up believing they will win and expecting it to happen. 

When you win as many games as these guys have this season — and in the many different varieties in which those victories have come — you tend to think things are going to go your way more times than not and aren’t really interested in seeing it any other way. 

This group, led by a bunch of high-character, grinder-type ballplayers who battle for each other and believe in one another, has veterans in all corners of the dugout. So, it’s not like Fitzgerald is going to have to come up with some epic motivational speech to get these guys going before Game 2 on Sunday. 

In fact, he might not give them much of a speech at all. 

Why change what’s worked all year? 

“The guys know that, inside this program, they have complete autonomy to be themselves,” Fitzgerald said last month after the Jayahwks’ 0-4 week that featured losses to Creighton and West Virginia.

Asked in May which Jayhawk would be most inclined to step up in the coach’s place and rally the team with a few memorable words, Fitzgerald struggled to point to just one of his players. 

He did, however, specifically single out infielders Josh Dykhoff, Cade Baldridge, Tyson LeBlanc and Dylan Schlotterback as the guys most equipped to speak up and rally the team, if needed, because of their professionalism and the way they prepare and approach each day.

"I have encouraged those guys like, hey, you have a voice, because you've earned it," Fitzgerald said.

He added: "There are a bunch of guys that would be capable of doing it. The strength of this team is how many guys are doing that by how they act and how they go about their work. So, I think we've got a ton of guys that have earned that.”

Some, like Brady Ballinger, Augusto Mungarrieta and Boede Rahe might bring a more light-hearted approach. 

Others, like Dykhoff, LeBlanc and Baldridge are more likely to be short and sweet but to the point. 

And there’s still a few others, like Dariel Osoria, Jordan Bach or Game 2 starter Mason Cook, who might blend the two and mix a little bit of fire with a whole lot of focus. 

Knowing this team, it’s entirely possible that no one will feel the need to say anything out of the ordinary. 

“The guys know the vibe of the clubhouse, and they know it's good, and there's a confidence there,” Fitzgerald said last month. “There's really not a whole lot to it.”

That’s baseball. Fitzgerald said he told his players they had from their postgame meeting spot on the field after Saturday’s loss to the foul line to sulk over the 8-1 loss to Oklahoma and then they’d have to flush it and start looking ahead to Sunday. 

And he fully believed that each one of them not only was capable of doing that but also would do that. If not for themselves, then for the collective group. 

“This is an incredibly selfless team,” Fitzgerald said. “They really care about each other.” 

It’s a one-game season now. Win and you play another. And that, if the Jayhawks deliver, brings it down to a one-game season on Monday, too.

They know where they stand. And, to some extent — although obviously not on quite this stage — these guys have all been in situations like this before. 

Does history tell us anything about any of them stepping up and talking in front of the group in moments like this? 

“In terms of has anyone given an awesome locker room speech? Probably,” Fitzgerqald said last month. “I usually hear about those about two years later.” 

Sunday’s Game 2 of the Super Regional is slated for a 5 p.m. first pitch at Hoglund Ballpark. 

Keep an eye on the weather, though, to see if it gets moved back. The local forecast for Sunday is calling for thunderstorms throughout the afternoon in and around the Lawrence area.

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com