February 17, 2013

Suiter, Jayhawks Rally Past Nevada, 6-3

Feb. 17, 2013

Kansas 6, Nevada 3
Hohokam Park//Mesa, Ariz.

Junior Jordan Piché pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn his first victory in KU’s 6-3 win over Nevada Sunday.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R
Nevada	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3
Kansas	0	0	1	1	0	0	3	1	x	6

Box Score (.pdf)

Leaders – Batting
Nevada	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
K. Meyer	5	0	3	1	0	0
A. Byler	4	0	3	1	0	0
Kansas	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
M. Suiter	4	1	2	1	0	0
J. Boylan	3	2	2	0	1	0

Pitching
Nevada	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
T. Jameson (L)	6.0	6	5	5	2	0
S. Prihar	1.0	2	0	0	0	0
D. Levine	0.1	2	1	1	0	1
B. Timko	0.2	0	0	0	0	0
Kansas	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
T. Taylor	6.2	9	3	2	0	5
J. Piché (W)	2.0	2	1	1	0	0

MESA, Ariz. – Sophomore Michael Suiter went 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, hustling home from second base on an infield hit as Kansas rallied from an early deficit to down Nevada, 6-3, Sunday afternoon at Hohokam Park.

The Jayhawks have used late-game heroics in both of their wins over the Wolf Pack this weekend, improving to 2-1 with the victory Sunday.

Suiter scored the go-ahead run on a play that was all hustle. After Ka’iana Eldredge had tied the score with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, senior Kevin Kuntz hit a slow roller to the right side of the infield with men on first and second and two outs. Nevada second baseman Scott Kaplan made a diving stop, however his low throw allowed Kuntz to beat it out for a hit and let Suiter come all the way around to score from second base.

Senior Jordan Dreiling then stretched the lead to 5-3 with a line drive over first base, scoring freshman Jacob Boylan, who had two hits and a walk in the game.

The three-run rally allowed junior Jordan Piché to pick up his first victory, pitching in relief of starter Thomas Taylor. After KU had taken the lead in the seventh, the Wolf Pack put two men on with no outs in the eighth. However, Piché struck out Lance Berringer and induced fly outs by Kaplan and catcher Ryan Teel to end the inning.

Piché and the Jayhawk bullpen have been spectacular this weekend, holding Nevada scoreless on five hits in 7 2/3 innings of work. Sunday’s starter, Taylor, pitched well too. The senior went 6 2/3 innings allowing two earned runs on nine hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

Taylor struggled early as Nevada took a 2-0 lead early on with an RBI triple by Austin Byler in the first and three-straight one-out hits in the third. However, he settled in after that.

KU answered with a sacrifice fly by freshman Tommy Mirabelli in the third inning and Dakota Smith’s RBI triple in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2. The Wolf Pack regained the lead in the seventh on a dropped fly ball in the outfield and an unearned run when Kewby Meyer singled to right.

Boylan, Dreiling, Smith and Suiter all had two hits in the game for Kansas to pace the offense. In his first three collegiate games, Boylan has gone 6-for-10 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored.

The Jayhawks will look to earn the series win on Monday when the teams wrap up the four-game series at Hohokam Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CST.

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