⚾️ Hegarty Throws Complete Game in 3-2 Victory Against Baylor

WACO, Texas — Behind Daniel Hegarty’s first career complete game, the Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Baylor Bears 3-2 at Baylor Ballpark on Thursday night. The win was the first conference victory on the road this season.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Daniel Hegarty (4-3)
Final line: 9.0 IP (career high), 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

Loss: Will Rigney (1-3)
Final line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 6 SO

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Baylor got out to an early 1-0 lead on an RBI fielder’s choice by Chase Wehsener.
• KU responded immediately in the top of the second inning when redshirt senior outfielder Tom Lichty crushed a solo home run over the batter’s eye in center field.
• The Jayhawks were forced into a bases-loaded, no outs situation in the third inning. Hegarty struck out the Baylor cleanup hitter and then induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to escape the jam without allowing a run.
• In the top of the fifth, Jack Hammond and Caleb Upshaw each singled to start the inning. Cooper McMurray laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to move them over to second and third base. Freshman outfielder Chase Jans then hit an RBI single to score Hammond and Tavian Josenberger brought in Upshaw with an RBI groundout to make the score 3-1.
• Baylor answered in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run by Jack Pineda, bringing the score to 3-2.
• Hegarty pitched a 1-2-3 sixth and seventh innings, and then finished the eighth inning with a strikeout.
• In the ninth inning, Hegarty pitched around a leadoff walk. With the runner on third and two outs, he made a diving play on a ball up the middle and flipped it over to first base to end the game.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Daniel Hegarty: The southpaw threw his first career complete game in only his fourth career start. Hegarty moved into the starting rotation four weeks ago and has set a new career high for innings pitched every outing. Hegarty worked out of a bases-loaded, no outs situation in the third inning and finished the game by leaving the tying runner on third base.

NUMBER OF THE GAME
2: Hegarty had two strikeouts in the game, with both of them coming at crucial times. In the third inning with the bases loaded and no outs, he struck out Baylor’s best hitter Jared McKenzie. Then, to finish the eighth inning he struck out McKenzie again. Kansas also scored two runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for the remainder of the game.

QUOTABLE
“That was a great, great college baseball game. I told Danny before he went out there it was going to come down to starting pitching and we needed his best performance of the year in order to win on the road. I could not be more proud of him. We put him in the rotation four weeks ago and he’s given us four quality starts. There was no way I was taking him out. It was his ballgame.” – Head Coach Ritch Price

“My defense played unbelievable today. I can’t thank all the guys behind me enough. It’s awesome. I never thought I was going to start here when I was a freshman. I can’t thank Skip enough for hanging in with me for the last five years. It was a great day to be a Jayhawk.” – Daniel Hegarty

NOTES
• Kansas has thrown two complete games in its last four contests after no complete games in its first 27 contests.
• Kansas earned its first conference road win of the season.
• Kansas has won back-to-back games in Waco (8-5 win, March 25, 2018).
• Hegarty threw his first career complete game.
• Lichty hit his third home run of the season in the second inning. He has three home runs in his last three games.
• Upshaw extended his hitting streak to seven games. He went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
• Hammond recorded his fifth multi-hit game of the season.

UP NEXT
Kansas (14-18) will play game two against Baylor on Friday night at 5 p.m. CT at Baylor Ballpark. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+ and live audio can be heard on the Jayhawk Sports Network.