For the first time since 2009, the Kansas baseball team heads to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Louisville Regional and faces No. 2 Kentucky, Friday, May 30, at 1 p.m., inside Jim Patterson Stadium.

The Jayhawks (34-24, 15-9 Big 12) built a strong resume down the home stretch in the regular season, winning 11 of their last 13 games that included nine-straight in conference play after sweeping three-straight league opponents (at Baylor, then-No. 19 Texas Tech and West Virginia). The third-place finish in the Big 12 is the highest finish for KU in the 18-year history of the conference and the best league performance since 1994 when Kansas finished third in the Big Eight.

“Obviously, I am really excited for our players,” head coach Ritch Price said. “You saw the celebration and euphoria that was in the room. When you grind six months, it is a great, great feeling to see your name come up.”

Kansas will battle No. 2 Kentucky to open up the Louisville Regional, which also features No. 1 Louisville and No. 4 Kent State. Friday’s contest marks the fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history (1993, 1994, 2006, 2009 and 2014), and the third NCAA appearance under Price (2006, 2009 and 2014), who is in his 12th season at the helm of the Jayhawks.

“This is why you coach,” Price said. “You coach for the relationship with your players and the kind of opportunities a few men get to experience in life and enjoy. This might be as close of a team that I have coached in my career. The team chemistry is off the charts. You can see how much those guys care for one another and I think each one of those guys here wanted it for their teammate, and that is the greatest feeling you can have as a head coach.”

KU has made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including a trip to the College World Series in 1993. The College World Series team also made history, as that was the first berth earned by the Jayhawks into the NCAA postseason. The team followed in 1994, making its second-straight appearance, but didn’t earn another trip until 2006, when Kansas, under the direction of Price, won the Big 12 Tournament for the automatic bid.

The Jayhawks will face Kentucky, Friday, May 30, at 1 p.m., in the double-elimination format regional, with Louisville and Kent State to follow at 5 p.m.

— KU Sports Information —

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, the youngest member of Kansas men’s basketball class of 2014, has signed a National Letter of Intent to become a Jayhawk, KU head coach Bill Self announced Wednesday.

A native of Cherkasy, Ukraine, Mykhailiuk is a dynamic 6-8, 195-pound shooting guard/small forward. The 16-year old will be eligible to play in the upcoming 2014-15 season. He will turn 17 in June, but already completed high school in the Ukraine, which would keep him in the college ranks for a minimum of two years due to the NBA Draft age requirement rules.

“Obviously, this is great news for us,” Self said. “He is 16 years old and will turn 17 in June, but his skill level, knowledge and aptitude for the game are way beyond his years. I think that he will be an immediate impact guy. He is a guy that can play all three positions on the perimeter. At 6-8, he can play point, play the No. 2 (guard) or the No. 3 (guard). He allows us to be more versatile next year and certainly, there would be few people that would shoot it better than him.”

Mykhailiuk shined while representing the Ukraine at the 2013 U16 European Championship, being named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 25.2 points per game and eight rebounds. According to NBADraft.net, the young sharpshooter shows a mix of athleticism, skills and feel for the game that is extremely rare to see in a European player.

Self, who became aware of the Ukrainian talent three months ago, credited his development through his club team – the Cherkasy Mavpy – to be one of the most appealing factors in KU’s recruitment, citing that Mykhailiuk will begin his college career very skilled, drilled and prepared.

“We got a lot better today,” Self continued. “He’s not here yet and he won’t come until the fall because he’s going to stay back and play with his national team this summer, which we strongly encourage. He’s a young man who will be so exciting to watch his growth because of his age, his intellect and his ‘want to.’ This guy really wants to be a player and really wants to do it here in the States.”

The son of mom, Inna, a high school biology teacher and dad, Iurri, a college history professor, Mykhailiuk has taken English classes for much of his life and will come to Kansas this fall with a fairly strong grasp of the language.

“I liked everything,” Mykhailiuk said. “From the history, the strength program and especially the coaches – everything. It’s Kansas. KU has players every year. Coach Self has had so many players go to the NBA. That’s an important thing.”

Various college basketball experts have noted that he would undoubtedly be ranked in the ESPN100 recruiting class had his high school playing career occurred in the United States. Mykhailiuk joins five-star signees, forward Cliff Alexander and guards Kelly Oubre and Devonte Graham, in KU’s class of 2014. Alexander was ranked No. 3 in the ESPN 100, while Oubre was No. 11 and Graham checked in a No. 36. In fact, Mykhailiuk played opposite Oubre and Alexander in the World Select Team’s loss to Team USA at the Nike Hoops Summit last month.

“Who knows what will end up happening with Andrew (Wiggins) and Joel (Embiid), but right now the consensus is that they will be two of the top-three players taken in the NBA Draft,” Self said. “How do you replace guys like that? The answer is you don’t. The way you try, though, is to go out and sign Cliff, Kelly, Devonte and now you add Sviatoslav to the mix. This could arguably be one of the very best recruiting classes that we’ve had. I think of last year’s class and I think of the class with Brandon (Rush), Mario (Chalmers) and Julian (Wright) – this class definitely rivals that.”

— KU Sports Information —

OKLAHOMA CITY – Senior hurler Jordan Piche’ and senior centerfielder Tucker Tharp highlighted career days, as the Kansas baseball team fell to West Virginia, 10-9, Wednesday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

A combined 19 runs and 26 hits capped off by a Big 12 Championship record of seven doubles in a game by the Jayhawks (34-23) led to a wild finish as West Virginia (28-24) erased a six-run deficit in the seventh inning with an eight-spot to steal the game away from KU.

“I congratulate West Virginia,” head coach Ritch Price said. “We felt really good about the score late in the game, but give credit to West Virginia for battling back.”

Piche’ was an absolute machine through the first six innings, striking out a career-high 11 batters. His only blemish, besides a two-run first after a KU error, were the three runners left on base in the seventh after a single and back-to-back walks.

“We put up the two four-spots back-to-back and I think Jordan sat in the dugout quite a while,” Price said. “He went back out there and got behind the first guy and then he hits a 2-0 fastball for a base hit. Then we walked two guys with one out and it ran his pitch count up over 100 pitches.”

“You sit there and let your body rest a little too much and you start to tighten up,” Piche’ added. “You still have to go out there and compete and throw strikes. It is unfortunate that it didn’t happen and you have to trust your bullpen in that situation. It’s unfortunate that the eight-spot happened as a result.”

Although on the wrong end of the stick, Kansas has a lot to hang its hat on as the Jayhawks pounded out 13 hits, including nine off WVU starter Harrison Musgrave. KU tied a championship record with seven doubles led by the perfect 4-for-4 performance at the dish by Tharp. The centerfielder added two walks and drove in three runs, scorching the ball over all-conference performer and WVU’s centerfielder Bobby Boyd’s head twice in the process.

“I think he (Boyd) might be the fastest centerfielder in the league – he was a first teamer,” Tharp said. “When you hit the ball there, you expect him to get there. In this ballpark, the wind blows South and if you get the ball up in the air, it will keep going. I was a little surprised that he didn’t get to those balls, but at the same time, very fortunate that they did get down. He is a really good player.”

Fellow outfielder and cleanup man Dakota Smith also boasted a multi-hit and multi-RBI performance at the plate, slugging three hits, including a double, with two RBIs and three runs scored.

“I think our guys did a really good job at taking the fastball away,” Price said. “We were able to be on time with the fastball and be physical. Tucker Tharp had some great at bats as did Dakota Smith and both those guys are fastball hitters.”

With all that offense and a six-run lead in the seventh inning, Price called to the bullpen to bring in junior righty Drew Morovick (9-4) with one out and the bases loaded. After inducing the fielder’s choice, Morovick gave up four-straight two-out hits, including back-to-back doubles, allowing the Mountaineers to score five runs before Kansas made another move to the pen to bring in freshman closer Stephen Villines.

On the first pitch of the first batter Villines faced with two runners on, WVU designated hitter Jackson Cramer dropped the hammer and launched a three-run bomb over the wall in right field to close out the eight-run inning and put the final dagger in the hopes of a Kansas win.

“It is tough to see us go down like that – it hurts,” Piche’ said. “We need to come out tomorrow and get after it.”

Kansas rallied for a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, but stranded the bases loaded. The Jayhawks rallied again in the ninth to get two runners on with two outs, but junior designated hitter Connor McKay flew out to end the game and strand both Jayhawks for a total of 15 runners left on base for KU.

Junior left fielder Michael Suiter was the only other player with a multiple-hit performance, as he finished the day 2-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Kansas continues play at the 2014 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Thursday, May 22, and will play the loser of TCU vs. Baylor at 9 a.m.

— KU Sports Information —