Kansas Baseball Trounces Iowa, 9-3

April 8, 2009

Final Stats

IOWA CITY, Iowa –

Freshman Zac Elgie went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs, while Tony Thompson hit his team-leading ninth homer of the season as the Kansas baseball team completed a two-game sweep of Iowa, 9-3 Wednesday at Duane Banks Field.

The Jayhawks won their sixth straight midweek game Wednesday, improving to 20-12 overall. The Hawkeyes fell to 11-17.

Kansas used a three-run first inning and some late offense to earn their 16th non-conference win.

KU staked starting pitcher Brett Bollman to a lead in the top of the first as Elgie singled in two runs with the bases loaded. The Jayhawks tacked on another run in the frame on a throwing error on a steal attempt.

Iowa scored single runs in the first, second and third innings against Bollman and then had just four base runners the rest of the game.

Bollman struggled early but pitched five innings to pick up his team-leading fourth victory of the season. The junior right-hander scattered seven hits, allowing just two earned runs without a walk or a strikeout. Following T.J. Catalado’s single in the third, Bollman retired seven of the final eight hitters he faced.

The junior gave way to freshman Lee Ridenhour, who picked up his first save of the season by pitching the final four innings. Ridenhour allowed two hits and a walk over four innings of relief in his longest appearance out of the bullpen this year.

Leading 5-3, the Jayhawks put the game out of reach in the eighth. After Jason Brunansky led off the inning with a walk, and advanced to second on a sacrifice, Robby Price tripled him home. Price came around to score on Brian Heere’s sac fly.

Thompson stretched the lead to 8-3 with a ninth inning home run. His ninth round-tripper of the year is the most by a Kansas sophomore since Erik Morrison hit 14 homers in 2006.

For the second straight day, KU’s offense outhit Iowa. In the two-game series, KU collected 31 hits to just 18 by the Hawkeyes.

Six different Jayhawks had multiple hits in the game, including Elgie, who went 3-for-5 for the second straight day. One day after going 5-for-5, sophomore Brian Heere collected two hits in three at bats.

Kansas will look to stay hot over the weekend as No. 17 Oklahoma State comes to town for a three-game series. The teams will open the set Friday at 6 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark.