Kansas Baseball Falls to Houston Baptist, 7-4

March 17, 2012

Final Stats

Houston Baptist 7, Kansas 4 Wolff Stadium //San Antonio, Texas

Redshirt-junior Jake Marasco went 2-for-4 with an RBI Saturday against Houston Baptist. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R KU 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 HBU 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 2 x 7 Box Score (.pdf) Leaders – Batting Kansas AB R H RBI BB HR A. DeLeon 4 0 2 1 0 0 J. Marasco 4 1 2 1 0 0 Houston Baptist AB R H RBI BB HR J. Gonzalez 4 1 3 1 0 0 D. Pfuntner 4 1 2 2 0 0 Pitching Kansas IP H R ER BB SO W. Benjamin (L) 6.1 8 5 5 0 5 R. Kahana 1.0 2 2 0 1 0 T. Poppe 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 Houston Baptist IP H R ER BB SO R. Kennell 8.2 9 4 2 1 8 K. Hajdik (SV) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Houston Baptist starting pitcher Ross Kennell allowed just two earned runs over 8 2/3 innings as the Huskies knocked off Kansas, 7-4, in the third day of the Irish Baseball Classic at Wolff Stadium.

The Jayhawks drop their third-straight and sixth game this season in San Antonio. Kansas falls to 8-10 overall, while Houston Baptist improves to 5-13.

Kansas grabbed a 2-0 lead early, but couldn’t add to it and the Huskies two-run rally in the seventh inning proved to be the difference.

With the score tied at three in the bottom of the seventh, HBU second baseman Josh Foust doubled down the left field line to plate the go-ahead run with one out. The RBI double ended the day for Kansas starter Wes Benjamin, who went 6 1/3 innings and was charged with five runs on eight hits.

Benjamin has pitched twice at Wolff Stadium and allowed 10 runs in those two starts and has allowed two runs in his other three starts.

Kennell, meanwhile, went 8 2/3 innings and allowed four runs – two earned – on nine hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

The Huskies added two runs in the eighth inning following a Jayhawk error to take a 7-3 lead to the ninth inning. KU plated a run in the ninth on a Kevin Kuntz RBI single, but HBU reliever Kobi Hajdik came on to strike out Ka’iana Eldredge – who represented the tying run.

Kansas took a 2-0 lead on Kennell with runs in the first two innings. After Eldredge delivered a one-out single in the first, the sophomore moved to third on an errant pick-off attempt. Junior Alex DeLeon collected his team-best fifth two-out RBI with a single to left field. The Jayhawks added a run in the second when Michael Suiter doubled and Jake Marasco singled him home with one out.

Marasco, Suiter and DeLeon each collected two hits in the game to pace the Jayhawks.

Kansas will look to snap its losing streak in the state of Texas in the final game of the Irish Baseball Classic when it takes on Houston Baptist at 11 a.m.