GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – HBU senior righthander
Ryan Lower turned in another strong outing as the Huskies gritted out a 4-2 victory over Kansas to even the non-conference baseball series in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at QuikTrip Park.
Lower (2-0) allowed two runs on nine hits, struck out two and walked one in eight innings. He has not had a loss in his last 11 starts. Junior
Josh Martinez worked a perfect ninth, striking out one, for his second save of the season for the Huskies.
Senior catcher
Jordan Hebert went 3-for-3 with a double and scored twice for HBU. Senior designated hitter
Mike Chamberlain also doubled and drove in a run, while junior third baseman
Curtis Jones drove in two. Junior centerfielder
Zach Nehrir singled to run his hitting streak to 10 games.
Connor McKay was 3-for-4 and drove in a run, while Michael Suiter went 2-for-4 and drove in the other run. The Jayhawks recorded nine singles and no extra-base hits as they suffered their first loss of the season.
Robert Kahana (1-1) took the loss for Kansas, giving up three runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk in seven innings. Dakota Smith worked the final two, allowing a run.
The Jayhawks got on the board early as Tommy Mirabelli drew a one-out walk and scored on McKay's RBI single in the first.
Hebert singled with one out in the third, but junior leftfielder
Thomas Clay popped up for the second out. Senior shortstop
CJ Jarvis was hit by a pitch and Martinez walked to load the bases. Jones then delivered a two-run single up the middle to give HBU a 2-1 lead.
The Huskies tacked on a run in the fifth as Hebert led off with a single, went to second on Clay's sacrifice bunt, then scored on an RBI single by Martinez.
Lower pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the fifth as Justin Protactio led off with a single and went to second on a bunt by Mirabelli. Suiter singled to bring Protacio home, then McKay and Smith followed with hits to load the bases, but Aaron Hernandez then bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat with the Huskies holding onto a 3-2 lead.
In the eighth, senior first baseman
Bradley Brown drew a one-out walk and scored on Chamberlain's double down the leftfield line.
The Jayhawks went down 1-2-3 against Lower in the eighth, then again in order against Martinez in the ninth.
In the second game, the Jayhawks (10-1) bounced back with a 5-0 victory as Frank Duncan (2-0) struck out 10 and limited the Huskies (7-4) to two hits in a complete game shutout.
Junior second baseman
Clayton Vaughn had both of HBU's hits. Jones (1-1) took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits and striking out three in seven-plus innings. He held Kansas scoreless through five, but the Jayhawks got to him for a pair in the sixth and chased him from the game with three in the eighth.
Justin Protacio and Joven Afenir both had two hits and scored two runs for Kansas. Michael Tinsley added a pair of RBIs for the Jayhawks.
The series concludes with a single game Sunday at noon.
