⚾ Kansas Splits Doubleheader With Ball State
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Kansas (5-5) jumped out early on Ball State (3-6) but split the doubleheader with the Cardinals after dropping game two, 7-4, at Fluor Field.
The Jayhawks pounced on BSU’s starting pitcher and tallied their first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Benjamin Sems, scoring Casey Burnham.
Two innings later and Kansas again put runs on the board.
Dylan Ditzenberger earned a walk to start the inning before Kaimana Souza Paaluhi tallied his first home run of the season, putting Kansas up by three runs.
Ball State responded and earned two runs of its own in the bottom half of the third.
KU tallied its fourth and final run of the game on another sacrifice fly on a hard-hit ball to deep center by Burnham, which scored Zach Hanna, who reached on an error by the Ball State pitcher to start the inning.
A scoreless fifth and top of the sixth before BSU captured the lead, scoring two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh.
The Jayhawks fought to the very end, putting runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth inning. A ground out to the Ball State shortstop ended the game.
HOW KANSAS SCORED
T1 – Casey Burnham reached base on a fielding error by the Ball State first baseman and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Dylan Ditzenberger. A wild pitch by the Ball State starting pitcher moved Burnham to third before a sacrifice fly by Benjamin Sems to left field scored Burnham.
T3 – Ditzenberger earned a walk to start the inning and scored on a home run by Kaimana Souza-Paaluhi with one out.
T4 – Zach Hanna reached on an error by the BSU pitcher and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Brooks Asher moved Hanna to third. A sacrifice fly by Burnham to center field scored Hanna.
NOTES
- Cole Larsen earned his second start of the season and recorded five strikeouts.
- Kaimana Souza-Paalhui hit his first home run of the season and finished with three hits.
- Kansas finished the month of February 5-5.
UP NEXT
Kansas concludes the First Pitch Invitational Sunday, March 1 at 9 a.m. (CT) against Western Carolina at Fluor Field.
