The main attraction was Matt Purke, a possibly top 5 overall pick in next June's draft, but he only needed to pitch 4 innings as TCU, ranked #1 in one of the many college baseball polls, beat Kansas 8-2.
Purke cruised through his 4 innings, needing just 56 pitches (34 for strikes). He struck out three and walked only one, and gave up only one hit.
The Jayhawks got only 5 hits total, with two of them coming from Jimmy Waters. The others came from Casey Lytle, Jake Marasco and Zac Elgie. Waters had a double and a triple while Marasco also hit a triple.
The pitching wasn't kind on the other side. TJ Walz had some control problems early and also battled some bad bounces and shaky defense as TCU jumped on him for 5 runs in the bottom of the first. Walz finished by allowing 8 runs in 4 innings, striking out three but walking four.
Definitely not the way Kansas wanted to start the year, but I don't think it is a major red flag for the season. TCU is obviously a much better team and Matt Purke is not only the reigning Freshman of the year, but he's also undefeated in his college career. And unless Kansas makes a regional and faces UCLA (or possibly Virginia) he's also the best pitcher the Jayhawks will see all season.
They next play tomorrow at 3 P.M. central time.