LAWRENCE, Kansas – HBU cut Kansas' lead in half with a pair in the eighth, but the Jayhawks held on for a 4-2 victory in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark.
Senior centerfielder
Zane Otten went 3-for-5 with a double and scored a run for the Huskies (8-6), while junior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald went 2-for-3 and junior first baseman
Carey Jones went 2-for-4.
James Cosentino doubled and drove in a run for the Jayhawks (7-8), while Brett Vosik also doubled. Rudy Karre scored twice and Owen Taylor drove in a run.
Sophomore righthander
Zach Carter (3-1) took the loss for HBU, allowing four runs, two earned, on four hits with five strikeouts and a walk in 6.0 innings. Junior
Weston Smart and
JT Newton each tossed a scoreless inning in relief.
Jackson Goddard (2-0) earned the win for KU, shutting out HBU on four hits with six strikeouts in 7.0 innings. Stephen Villines gave up two runs on five hits over the final two innings.
The Jayhawks scored twice in the bottom of the second. Karre and David Kyriacou got back-to-back singles, then Cosentino followed with an RBI double. Taylor's sacrifice fly put KU ahead, 2-0. In the third, Devin Foyle was hit by a pitch and Karre reached on a fielder's choice. With two outs, Ty Denzer hit a fly ball to right and
Brandon Brintz started back, but the wind held the ball up and Brintz dropped it as he ran underneath it, allowing both runners to score for a 4-0 KU lead.
Villines came in for the eighth and gave up an infield single to Otten, who stole second. Junior catcher
Jake Pulcheon drove him in with an RBI single. After junior designated hitter
Matt Heck singled to rightcenter, senior
Christian Thames delivered a pinch-hit, RBI single to cut the Huskies' deficit to 4-2.
Otten singled in the ninth, but senior third baseman
Austin Zillweger lined out on a diving stop by Cosentino to end the game.
The Huskies return home to face Stephen F. Austin in a non-conference matchup Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Husky Field, before hitting the road to open Southland Conference play against Nicholls Friday through Sunday in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
