March 01, 2013

Unearned Runs Foil Kansas Baseball Friday

March 1, 2013

Eastern Michigan 6, Kansas 4
QuikTrip Park//Grand Prairie, Texas

Junior Ka’iana Eldredge went 2-for-4 with a run scored in KU’s loss Friday.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R
EMU	0	0	0	2	0	0	4	0	0	6
KU	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	4

Box Score (.pdf)

Leaders – Batting
E. Michigan	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
S. Ott	4	1	2	3	0	1
J. Rubino	2	1	1	2	1	0
Kansas	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	HR
J. Dreiling	5	0	3	2	0	0
K. Eldredge	4	1	2	0	0	0

Pitching
E. Michigan	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
N. Butara (W)	7.0	7	1	1	1	5
D. Bronson	1.0	3	3	3	2	2
J. Battistelli (SV)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1
Kansas	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
F. Duncan (L)	6.2	8	6	2	2	3
J. Mustain	1.1	1	0	0	0	1
C. Toalson	1.0	0	0	0	0	0

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – John Rubino and Sam Ott delivered back-to-back two-out RBI singles as part of a four-run seventh inning as Eastern Michigan downed Kansas, 6-4, Friday afternoon at QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.

The Jayhawks fell to 4-4 on the season, alternating wins in each of their first eight games, while EMU improved to 2-6.

After a tight game through six innings, the Eagles opened the floodgates in seventh. EMU scored four runs following a throwing error with two outs, which kept the deciding inning alive. Following the error, a walk and a hit batsman, Rubino delivered a base hit through the left side of the infield, plating two runs and stretching the Eastern Michigan lead to 4-1.

A wild pitch chased home a third run in the inning, while Ott capped the nightmare inning for the Jayhawks with another RBI single, making it 6-1.

Junior Frank Duncan was charged with all six runs in the game, though only two of them were earned. The 6-foot-4 righty scattered eight hits over 6 2/3 innings with two walks and three strikeouts.

Trailing by five runs, Kansas rallied in the final two innings, but could not finish what it started in the ninth. The Jayhawks scored two runs on an RBI double by Jordan Dreiling and an RBI ground out by Alex DeLeon.

However, with the tying run at the plate in Dakota Smith, EMU relief pitcher Joe Battistelli induced a line drive to right field that Ott hauled in for the final out. The Jayhawks left 10 men on base in the game, including seven in their final three at bats.

Dreiling, who had three hits in the game, drove in KU’s first run with a two-out, RBI double to right field that plated Ka’iana Eldredge in the third inning. However, EMU answered with a two-run homer by Ott in the following frame, taking a 2-1 lead.

Neil Butara picked up the victory for the Eagles, holding KU to one run on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Dreiling led the KU offense with three hits, while DeLeon and Eldredge chipped in two each. Freshman Jacob Boylan singled to left in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games. His streak is the longest by a Jayhawk freshman since Tony Thompson hit safely in the final nine games of the 2008 season.

The Jayhawks and Eagles will play a doubleheader on Saturday at QuikTrip Park, beginning at noon and then complete the series on Sunday at 11 a.m.

KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.