⚾️ Kansas Drops Game One to No. 24 Oklahoma State

LAWRENCE, Kan. – On Friday evening at Hoglund Ballpark, the No. 24-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 15-10. Senior Cole Elvis and sophomore Chase Jans each had home runs and multi-hit games. Kansas held a 4-3 lead after three innings, but that was the last time the Jayhawks were ahead.

Kansas opened the scoring in the first inning. After loading the bases via an error and two walks, junior Janson Reeder hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Jans. The Jayhawks led 1-0 after an inning.

Oklahoma State (26-13, 9-7 Big 12) took advantage of an error in the second and scored two unearned runs. With two outs, a fielding error set up Colin Brueggemann for a two-run home run to center field. The homer gave the Cowboys a 2-1 lead.

The third inning featured home runs from both teams. Carson Benge hit a solo shot in the top of the third to give OSU a 3-1 advantage. Then, in the bottom of the third Kansas hit two home runs of its own.

Jans led off the inning with a solo home run for his sixth homer of the season. A walk to freshman Kodey Shojinaga set up Elvis for his team-high ninth home run of the season. The two-run blast gave Kansas a 4-3 lead.

The Cowboys then scored eight runs over the next three innings to take a commanding lead. Two runs in the fourth, two runs in the fifth and four runs in the sixth gave Oklahoma State an 11-4 edge.

The Jayhawks put together a mini rally in the sixth inning when they loaded the bases with one out. Shojinaga hit a two-run double into the left-center gap to tighten the game to 11-6. Kansas was unable to add any more runs and left baserunners on second and third.

In the seventh, the teams traded runs as Oklahoma State scored on a failed pickoff attempt at second base that went into center field. Then, KU scored on a bases-loaded RBI groundout by redshirt sophomore Mike Koszewski.

OSU added two more runs in the eighth inning on a home run by David Mendham. The Jayhawks got one of those runs back in the bottom of the eighth with a sacrifice fly from Jake English.

The Cowboys scored another unearned run in the ninth on a fielding error. KU scored two in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single by Jans and a sacrifice fly from Elvis to end the night with a score of 15-10.

Graduate Collin Baumgartner started for Kansas and suffered his first loss of the season. Baumgartner threw 4.0 innings for the third straight start and gave up seven runs, four of which were earned, on five hits and four walks along, with three strikeouts.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Evan O’Toole (5-1)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
Loss: Collin Baumgartner (3-1)
Final line: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO

NOTES
• Kansas has scored at least 10 runs in four-straight games. That marks the first time with four-straight contests scoring double-digit runs since May 13-20, 2011 (five games).
• Elvis extended his hitting streak to 15 games. The home run was his ninth of the season, which is the most on the team. He has homered in back-to-back games for the third time this season. Elvis posted his team-best 14th multi-hit game of the season.
• Jans tallied his 12th multi-hit game of the season after going 4-for-6 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. The home run was the sixth of the season for Jans, which is double his total from last season.
• Shojinaga also recorded his 12th multi-hit game this season. He finished 2-for-4 with a double, two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored.
• English extended his on-base streak to 14 games.

UP NEXT
Kansas (19-19, 5-8 Big 12) plays game two against No. 24 Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. Saturday’s game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. CT.