Kansas defeats Texas Southern for sixth-straight win

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the first time this season, the Kansas baseball team completed a weekend series sweep when it defeated Texas Southern, 10-0, Sunday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark for its sixth-straight win in eight days.
 
The Jayhawks (27-22) used three crooked numbers to score nine of their 10 runs against the Tigers (16-31), as the game was called after seven innings because of a travel day run rule.
 
Freshman second baseman James Cosentino (2-for-3), freshman catcher Jaxx Groshans (2-for-2) and junior first baseman Owen Taylor (2-for-2) recorded multiple-hit efforts and accounted for six of Kansas’ nine hits. Cosentino (2) and Groshans (3) also drove in half of the 10 Jayhawk runs scored on the day.
 
On the mound, redshirt-junior righty Sean Rackoski (5-4) pitched a solid five innings for Kansas where he allowed six baserunners – three walks and three hits – in his 74-pitch outing. Junior lefty Jeider Rincon tossed a scoreless sixth, while senior closer Stephen Villines came on for some work in the seventh and retired the side.
 
The 10-run victory for Kansas caps off a perfect 5-0 week and the Jayhawks’ first series sweep of the season, and first overall since May 9-11, 2014, against West Virginia. If that is not enough, the victory also extends the team’s winning streak to six games – the longest since 2014 – and is the first time since March 11, 2016, (North Dakota) that KU recorded a shutout.
 
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
 
Six-straight wins in eight days: Kansas capped off its first series sweep of the season Sunday with a 10-0 victory over Texas Southern. That win marked the sixth-straight victory for the Jayhawks in eight days and is the longest winning streak for KU since it won seven games in a row April 25-May 4, 2014. It is also just the second time this season that Kansas has strung together a streak of three or more straight victories.
 
Freshman RBIs: Freshman second baseman James Cosentino and freshman catcher Jaxx Groshans combined to drive in half of the Jayhawks’ 10 runs on the day. Cosentino finished his day 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs while Groshans was perfect at the plate with two singles and three RBIs.
 
UP NEXT
Kansas closes out his Big 12 home slate when it hosts in-state rival Kansas State, May 12-14, in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown at Hoglund Ballpark. All three games will be broadcasted live on the Jayhawk Television Network and ESPN3 outside the state of Kansas. 
 
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