KU Baseball Weekly Update 5.11.15

The Jayhawks took a successful trip to Chicago during the week and won a pair of nonconference games before traveling to Fort Worth.  KU actually held their own very well against one of the top teams in the country, limiting TCU to six runs in two games - the Sunday game was rained out.

Tuesday, May 5 - Kansas 6, @ Northwestern 2

KU broke open a close 2-1 game with a 4-run fourth inning and held the Wildcats at bay in front of 97 screaming fans in Evanston, IL.  Four Jayhawks had multi-hit games, led by DH Taylor Owen (2/4, R, 3 RBI, HR).  Three Jayhawk pitchers combined to limit Northwestern to two runs despite allowing 13 hits and walking two more over nine innings.

Said coach Ritch Price, "It was nice to see those young guys start to make some progress. We see it every day in practice that they are getting better, but you still have to transfer it to game speed. The three of them really played well today."

Wednesday, May 6 - Kansas 10, @ Northwestern 7

This time, 137 faithful Wildcat fans packed Rocky Miller park and were treated to a fun one.  Down 6-4 going into the ninth inning, the Jayhawks plated six runs in their final at-bat on two home runs, including a two-out grand slam, to stun the Wildcats and take the midweek series sweep.  C T.J. Martin (1/2, R, 4 RBI, HR) hit the slam after LF Dakota Smith (2/6, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR) tied the game up with a dinger earlier in the ninth.  The Jayhawks collected 14 hits and six free passes during the game.  Northwestern batters fared almost as well against the KU pitching staff, picking up 13 hits of the own along with four walks.

Friday, May 8 - @ #5 TCU 4, Kansas 2

KU got yet another strong start from Ben Krauth (6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K) who suffered from a pair of miscues by his defense that ended up costing Kansas a shot at the upset.  KU was led offensively by SS Matt McLaughlin (3/4, RBI) whose error in the fifth inning ended up allowing three Frogs to come across.

Saturday, May 9 - @ #5 TCU 2, Kansas 1 (10 innings)

A throwing error led to the winning run for TCU in the bottom of the 10th inning in a game that saw the Jayhawks collect only one more hit (4) than errors (3).  Both of TCU's runs in this game were unearned due to the miscues.  2B Justin Protacio "led" the Jayhawks offensively (0/2, RBI, 2 BB) while SP Drew Morovick (7.0 IP, 5 H, R, 5 BB, 2 K) handled the TCU offense.

Sunday, May 10 - Cancelled (Inclement weather)

Due to severe weather in the area, this game was cancelled.

Up Next

Kansas (7-13, 22-30) has three games left, all against K-State (8-13, 24-27) and is currently in last place in the Big 12 Standings, a half-game behind West Virginia.  (Due to rainouts, not every Big 12 team has played the same number of conference games.)  This is key because whoever finishes ninth (last place) does not get to play in the Big 12 Baseball Tournament.  Best case scenario for the Jayhawks is to just win, baby, and hope that WVU drops a game during their final series versus Texas Tech.  The only hope the Jayhawks have for the NCAA Baseball Tournament is to win the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

All three games versus K-State this coming weekend can be seen on the Jayhawk Television Network and ESPN3 outside the state of Kansas (aka blackout conditions may apply).  The games can also be heard on the Jayhawk Radio Network through KUAthletics.com/Radio or on the official Kansas Jayhawks mobile app.