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The Program

H4 N2K, Michael Swain, The Kicker

26 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What are the highlights of KU Baseball's performance this season?

0.689 - 16.082 Unknown

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18.155 - 37.807 Todd Lebo

Welcome into the fourth hour of the program. I'm Todd Lebo in for a vacationing Sirin Petro. Having fun today? We've had a fun time. We have. We have talked some college baseball with Kyle Crooks, the manager, head coach of UCM Baseball. They're in the Division II World Series. Frank was in here. I beat Frank badly at Frank Opinions. Good day for you so far. Maybe I lost.

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37.928 - 59.337 Todd Lebo

I can't remember exactly. Oh, that's right. Sam McDowell talked to us there that last hour, and we will talk to Michael Swain coming up here in 20 minutes or so about KU baseball because KU baseball is in the NCAA tournament for the second time in a row, first time ever hosting a regional at the Hog. The Hogs are coming to the Hog. Arkansas is coming up here. Yep.

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59.357 - 67.108 Todd Lebo

Hogland Ballpark right there next to Allen Fieldhouse. Did you ever go to games over there, Kyle? I've been to a couple. Played there a couple times too, yeah. Not when you played for Kansas. No.

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67.148 - 78.886 Kyle Crooks

You were a young player playing there. Did you ever take one out? No, but when I was in school, yeah. No, I never. Never did. What do you mean never? Didn't go yardski? I went yardski on the smaller fields when I was in middle school. This was too big? Yeah.

Chapter 2: How is KU Baseball preparing for the NCAA tournament?

78.906 - 81.55 Kyle Crooks

Too big? Never take one out? I was never a pop hitter.

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81.57 - 100.196 Todd Lebo

Yeah, we will have that on ESPN Kansas City, 1230 on Friday, game one. And we'll have the stuff on the weekend because they're – It's double elimination. You're guaranteed to play at least two games. They hope to just play three games and win them all. And that would be what they would prefer, to move on to the Super Regional. For sure. But we will see what happens.

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100.636 - 125.534 Todd Lebo

Royals lost a tough one yesterday, for sure. They're back in action tonight. Bailey Falter and Cam Schlittler, very careful saying that name. And it was a tough one yesterday for the Royals. They had a lead. They were losing. They came from behind two times, Curtis, and they lost. Got the job done for eight innings. But that's not how long they play the game. They play nine. You got to go nine.

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125.854 - 130.321 Todd Lebo

And here is Matt Quattrero after that tough day at the ballpark yesterday.

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130.962 - 145.446 Matt Quatraro

It sucks. I mean, there's no other way to put it. They beat us in the ninth. Obviously, Bobby, huge swing. Salvi, huge swing. There were tons of good things that happened during the game. And it's unfortunate that that's the way it ended. But sometimes you get beat.

145.831 - 147.874 Michael Swain

What did you think of Versailles in the ninth?

147.894 - 167.788 Matt Quatraro

Threw the ball well. I mean, come out of the ball, a Goldschmidt hit. You know, it was 50 feet. You know, it's just unfortunate that that's the way it started. He gets two strikes on Volpe. You've got to give him credit. You know, two-strike slider down and away. Gets a base hit on it. Was there any hesitation going to Versailles in the ninth after throwing 30-plus pitches yesterday? No. Mm-mm.

169.068 - 192.101 Todd Lebo

So, no hesitation on Ersig pitching in the game. There were plenty of little things that were certainly things you could question. You know, the pinch hit situation where Vinny got pinch hit for, or pinch run for, then a pinch hit for Cag, so they had different guys out there in the field in the ninth inning. But you heard Sam talk about this.

Chapter 3: What challenges does KU face in hosting a regional?

192.121 - 203.539 Todd Lebo

He had the stats. Two of these balls were hit 35 miles an hour. And, you know, had maybe... Vinny catches the ball that Salve didn't catch. But this is baseball.

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203.579 - 224.211 Curtis

Yeah, those are moves. I had someone tell me, I said, look, that's a move that managers make a lot. And someone said, well, not in the 70s. Yeah, but now almost no one makes that move. I'm like, I don't quite buy that. I do think that people who think that Matt Quintero makes moves that nobody else makes don't watch many other baseball teams.

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224.772 - 245.788 Todd Lebo

Oh, yeah. But people just... I'm glad when we did the frank opinions that we got... The answers we got on that, it's not scientific. We're like, yeah, the offense just isn't good enough, all those things. But the managers, the thing you get to ask questions about on little things, because there are more decisions that happen in baseball games than they happen slowly in baseball.

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245.808 - 257.361 Todd Lebo

Football games, someone's in or out of the game, or you do these things. But baseball, like, all right, here's the deal. This guy was hitting. Well, now he's not hitting. Let's go do this. So it's been one of those things you can second guess forever.

257.341 - 261.748 Curtis

And most people don't have a Matt Quattro jersey, but they do have a Vinny Pasquantino jersey.

262.108 - 262.348 Todd Lebo

Yes.

262.909 - 268.357 Kyle Crooks

If he does not pinch run Tolbert for Vinny there and Sal grounds into a double play, he's going to get hammered for not pinch running.

268.518 - 274.567 Todd Lebo

Right. Why wasn't this guy moving and getting there? So, listen, you just have to be right on all decisions. Yeah.

Chapter 4: How does Michael Swain view the current state of KU Baseball?

316.603 - 321.269 Todd Lebo

Yeah, did Lucas Erceg throw the wrong pitch because he broke a bat and the ball was hit 35 miles an hour?

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321.289 - 343.298 Curtis

Or the ball that got past Salve. Does he throw that same pitch with a different player at first? I don't know. I get annoyed with the... How many times do you hear a guy get thrown out a second on attempting to steal and the next guy gets a base hit and they go, phew, that makes that stolen base look big. No, it's no bigger than it was before it happened.

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344.259 - 364.541 Curtis

It's no bigger than it was when it happened because you don't know what the situation's gonna, everything that happens in a game affects what happens next. So people wanna go back and act like it's Stratomatic Baseball and plug in everything that happens after a particular moment and think it would've happened all in the same sequence Had some other decision been made, and I just don't buy that.

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364.702 - 378.66 Todd Lebo

No, it doesn't always work that way. Here is Lucas Erseg after the game. Now, he had thrown 32 pitches on Sunday in a non-save situation, kind of scuffled through, and they got the win on Sunday against the Mariners. He was asked if that had any impact on his outing yesterday.

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379.26 - 382.084 Lucas Erceg

No, no. I'm just ready to do my job today, and I didn't do it.

382.975 - 391.148 Matt Quatraro

Would you make it just the batted balls they put in play against you a couple of bad luck for you?

391.168 - 409.017 Lucas Erceg

Yeah. I mean, you can call it bad luck. You can call it whatever you want, but we lost today. So, tarnished a good outing from Waka, game-tying Homer from Selvey, and go-ahead Homer from Bobby. It's all washed away. What did you see on the Goldschmidt thing today?

409.267 - 426.786 Lucas Erceg

happen ball the way the boss lived yeah i just never seen a ball check up like that almost looked like an approach shot when you you know hit a golf ball into a green something that didn't work as much as you wanted it to yeah i just should have bounced in the dirt not anywhere he could have made contact with it

427.492 - 439.223 Todd Lebo

So, listen, he stands right there and answers all the questions. And I really like him, and that's tough to do, but he did it. And he was also asked kind of what's this mean for his next outing out there.

Chapter 5: What impact has Dan Fitzgerald had on the KU Baseball program?

440.424 - 456.199 Lucas Erceg

I don't want to make it harder. I'm going to try and absorb the last two and, you know, keep simplifying things, just trying to get ahead of guys, maybe make a better two-strike pitch to Volpe there. But, yeah, it's a tough game.

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457.023 - 464.541 Todd Lebo

It is a tough game. Remember he had a little stretch where he blew a couple saves in a row earlier, and then he found it, and he was really good for a while.

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464.842 - 471.919 Curtis

After that one where he really blew up, he was almost hitless for like six or seven appearances. You couldn't touch him.

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471.939 - 488.563 Todd Lebo

Yeah. So maybe that's where it'll pop. We don't think he's pitching tonight, okay? Probably not. Because he's thrown two games in a row. He's thrown a bunch of pitches, nearly 50 pitches now. News and notes from out there today. Carlos Estevez is slated to see the team doctor today. He might get clearance to go throw again.

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488.943 - 498.015 Todd Lebo

Now, that has been a long, arduous process there, and that's the reason that Lucas Erceg is closing. Now, he's closed some games before in his career, but...

Chapter 6: What strategies will KU use to succeed in the NCAA regional?

497.995 - 511.219 Todd Lebo

I think he was really good when he wasn't asked to get those last three outs. And Estevez is kind of just a little more adept to doing that because he's done a little bit longer. So we'll see what happens on that front.

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511.239 - 528.355 Curtis

And the Royals did not get good news. on the, if you missed it, on the Cole Reagans front, did not bounce back well from his rehab start, felt similar symptoms with his elbow as before. They said he didn't feel it while pitching, so they're going to shut him down for two or three days before being reevaluated.

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528.375 - 546.076 Curtis

They were hoping to have him back when they go off on this road trip and then to add Chris Bubich shortly after that, but we're not going to see Cole Reagans probably for an additional, maybe a week, may not be until they come back home. Yeah, that's a weird one. He said shut him down for two to three days. That doesn't mean he's been pushed back two to three days.

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546.096 - 547.88 Curtis

That means they're going to shut him down for two to three days.

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547.9 - 548.622 Todd Lebo

And then start over.

548.642 - 550.847 Curtis

And then you have to restart where they were before that happened.

550.867 - 553.433 Todd Lebo

You know, just keep playing catch and all these things.

Chapter 7: How does the Big 12 compare to other conferences in baseball?

553.493 - 566.694 Todd Lebo

It's such a weird thing. He's not... He didn't feel it this time while he was throwing, but he feels this weird feeling in his, what do they call that, the valgus or something? Valgus, yeah. Yeah, it's just a weird thing.

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566.754 - 567.215 Curtis

It ain't good.

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567.496 - 577.412 Todd Lebo

No, it's not good. Not good, but that's where they are. One more here from Q talking about those decisions, all those moves in the eighth with Vinny and Jack.

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577.612 - 599.32 Matt Quatraro

Yeah, I mean, we're going for a run there. We're trying to add on for the exact reason of what ended up happening. You know, I mean, you try to get away from a team as much as you can. And obviously we love Tyler to steal. You know, we didn't end up punching the run across, but, you know, to me that was a no-brainer. Including with considering what Vinny might be able to do on the field.

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599.34 - 603.906 Matt Quatraro

Yeah, I mean, we considered all of that, you know, and it's absolutely.

604.966 - 614.056 Todd Lebo

And listen, they made the moves, and I do think they consider it all. I mean, they go through all this stuff. They work really hard at this stuff. Sometimes you just don't get the plays.

614.777 - 623.006 Curtis

Yeah. Sometimes the other team is a little bit better on that day. Or sometimes a little bit luckier, too. Yeah. That was certainly the situation yesterday.

623.147 - 642.614 Todd Lebo

Yeah, for sure. That is for sure. So tonight, as we said, it's Schlittler and Falter in a bullpen game. 640 first pitch out there. With the Royals and Yankees as they try to win their first game against the Yankees at home since June of 24. It's been a bit.

642.854 - 651.965 Curtis

Not a bad number. Yankees minus 200, Royals plus 168. It's not good, but when you see that pitching matchup, I would have expected a much different number than that.

Chapter 8: What are the expectations for KU Basketball's upcoming season?

706.817 - 713.489 Todd Lebo

You know, Tom Brady played for several years with a brace on his leg that got hurt by Bernard Pollard after that.

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713.509 - 719.601 Curtis

Yeah, back in 09. So this is a pretty big brace on here. It won't be like the Joe Namath.

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720.239 - 721.981 Todd Lebo

Yeah, they've got new materials now.

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722.001 - 723.282 Curtis

Yes, it's much better.

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724.083 - 724.664 Todd Lebo

New materials.

724.684 - 728.708 Curtis

You go look at that thing he wore 50 years ago, you're like, what the hell was that?

728.928 - 748.609 Todd Lebo

Yeah, so that's good stuff there that Patrick's out there. And then that maybe will answer a question we talked with Sam about. If he's out there on the field, I think he'll probably be available for us to talk to and get a little update with him on kind of where his rehab is and what's going on out there. But that will be Thursday, and we will have another OTA next Wednesday. Mm-hmm.

748.589 - 754.577 Todd Lebo

And then they'll have their mandatory minicamp is early this year because of World Cup. They got to just get out of the way.

754.657 - 760.005 Curtis

That didn't work out well with the Rishi Rai situation that they had to move it up. So he might have been out by then.

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