Jayhawks fall short in slugfest at Creighton
OMAHA, Neb. – The Jayhawks’ eleven runs off 15 hits were not enough, as Creighton out-slugged the Kansas baseball team Wednesday night inside TD Ameritrade Park, 14-11.
The two squads combined for a stadium record-setting 25 runs off 32 hits in a park that doesn’t usually yield high scores. Kansas (19-14) blasted five extra-base hits including four doubles and a home run. Creighton (20-7) also had five extra base hits as the Bluejays hits two doubles, two triples and a home run.
“I was really pleased with the way we swung the bats tonight,” head coach Ritch Price said. “You look at that board and you see 11 runs off 15 hits, and in this ballpark, that is an amazing accomplishment. I feel good with the way we are swinging the bats.”
Junior left fielder Devin Foyle swung the bat better than anyone else on the night finishing with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate with two doubles and a home run, all while tying his career high with five RBIs.
“Foyle was dialed in at the beginning of the year and got off to an amazing start the first month,” Price said. “It is good to see him hot again. When he gets like this, he could be red hot for weeks.”
Three other Jayhawks boasted multi-hit efforts in sophomore designated hitter Brett Vosik (2-for-6), redshirt-sophomore right fielder Brendt Citta (2-for-4) and sophomore second baseman James Cosentino (4-for-5) matching a personal-best four hits.
Those offensive efforts were especially important after the Jayhawks fell into and 11-2 hole in the first four frames.
Freshman lefty Conner VanCleave (0-1) tallied his first career start on the bump, and was roughed up for six runs in just one and 2/3 innings of work. Classmate Daniel Hegarty came on in relief and gave up another five runs before senior Casey Douglas allowed three to cross in two innings of relief.
“We have to keep grinding and staying positive with those young guys on the mound,” Price said. “Right now we are asking a lot of them, especially to come in here and pitch against a top-20 RPI team. If you score 11 runs in this ballpark, you should win the game. There is no doubt about that.”
The game was not all lost on the mound. Freshman reliever Jonah Ulane made his presence known striking out the side in the seventh before redshirt-sophomore Ryan Cyr tossed a scoreless eighth. Those two performances allowed Kansas to keep chipping away and set the table for a potential comeback in the ninth down four runs, 14-10.
However, after getting two on with one out in that final frame, all KU could do is plate one run and fell to Creighton, 14-11.
The 15 hits the Jayhawks pounded out, matched their total the last time they played in TD Ameritrade Park (March 29, 2014), which were the most any team had recorded until tonight, when Creighton bested that with 17 base knocks.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks open up a three-game conference series against an unranked TCU squad on Friday, April 13. Fans can watch the game live on ESPN3 available at WatchESPN.com or on the ESPN app via multiple streaming devices. In addition, the game can also be heard on the Jayhawk Radio Network via KUAthletics.com/Radio.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Five for Foyle: Junior left fielder Devin Foyle matched a career-high five RBIs for the fourth time during his three-year tenure as a Jayhawk. The last time he drove in five runs came almost two years ago from today’s date (April 23, 2016) during his rookie season. During that campaign, Foyle reached that mark on three separate occasions.
Four knocks: Sophomore second baseman James Cosentino tied a personal-best four hits on the day after connecting for four singles. The last four-hit game for Cosentino came at Grand Canyon on April 26, 2017. Cosentino entered the game batting .232, and raised his average .024 points to .256 with that effort.
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