⚾️ Hegarty Tosses Complete Game in 7-3 Win
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Daniel Hegarty threw his second complete game in the last three weekends to lead the Kansas Jayhawks to a 7-3 victory against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Friday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. Both of Hegarty’s complete games have come in conference matchups.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Daniel Hegarty (5-4)
Final line: 9.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 SO
Loss: Jacob Watters (2-4)
Final line: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 5 SO
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas took the lead in the first inning with a pair of runs. Sophomore shortstop Maui Ahuna had an RBI groundout and redshirt senior Caleb Upshaw hit an RBI single.
• In the bottom of the fourth, KU added three more runs to make the score 5-0. Redshirt freshman Cooper McMurray led off the inning with a solo home run to right field into the teeth of the wind. Then, redshirt senior Nolan Metcalf hit a 2-run double down the left field line to score Ahuna and Dylan Ditzenberger.
• West Virginia (24-16) would get on the board with an RBI single in the fifth by Victor Scott.
• The Jayhawks answered right back when freshman Sergio Rivera delivered an RBI single bringing the score to 6-1.
• Hegarty had two runners on base in the sixth, but he was able to leave them stranded after forcing a fly out to end the inning.
• McMurray came up again in the seventh and delivered a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 7-1.
• The Mountaineers added two runs in the eighth on a Dayne Leonard two-run homer.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Daniel Hegarty: Hegarty pitched his second complete game in the last three weekends. He now has two complete games in six career starts. Hegarty had never started a game before then. On the final play of the game, Hegarty recorded the out by stepping on first base.
NUMBER OF THE GAME
9: Hegarty threw nine innings for the second time in his career. The complete game was the third of the season for the Jayhawks.
QUOTABLE
“I can’t say enough good things about Mr. Jayhawk (Daniel Hegarty). He’s had an outstanding senior season since I put him in the rotation. We played fabulous defense behind him and we had some really good at-bats. Nolan Metcalf’s two-run double was huge and gave us a little bit of cushion. It was a really good win on a really windy day.” – Head Coach Ritch Price
“I’m not going to overpower guys. I’m going to throw mid 80s and let my defense work. I have some of the best guys behind me. I just can’t thank the guys enough.” – Daniel Hegarty
NOTES
• Kansas has won three straight games against West Virginia at Hoglund Ballpark.
• Hegarty threw his second career complete game. He has thrown two complete games in the span of 16 days.
• Josenberger extended his on-base streak to 18 games.
• McMurray hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, his sixth home run of the season. He has hit a home run in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
• Ryan Callahan extended his on-base streak to a career-high 11 games.
• Ditzenberger had three hits to push his hitting streak to six games.
• Upshaw had his 12th multi-hit game of the season.
UP NEXT
Kansas (18-24) will play West Virginia again on Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark in game two of the series at 2 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+ and live audio can be heard on the Jayhawk Sports Network.
