⚾️ Kansas Stays Undefeated at Home; Sweeps Texas Southern in Two-Game Series
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas has won nine of their last 10 games, including an 11-7 victory against Texas Southern on Wednesday to complete a two-game series sweep of the Tigers. Kansas remained undefeated at Hoglund Ballpark this season, improving to 7-0 on the year. The Jayhawks are one of seven teams in NCAA Division I baseball to still be undefeated at home this season.
Kansas (17-15, 5-4 Big 12) used a six-run first inning to take a lead that it would never relinquish. Junior pitcher Hunter Cashero tossed six innings for the Jayhawks in his start and allowed only three runs to record his first career win.
After a Texas Southern home run in the top of the first, Kansas responded in a big way in the bottom half of the opening inning. Freshman Kodey Shojinaga hit an RBI single to score Jackson Kline and tie the game at 1-1. In the ensuing at-bat, sophomore Luke Leto singled home junior Janson Reeder to give the Jayhawks the lead.
Later in the frame, Kansas hit back-to-back run-scoring doubles. Redshirt sophomores Sam Hunt and Jackson Cobb each doubled with Hunt’s double scoring two runs and Cobb’s scoring one. The sixth and final run of the inning came on a double steal with Cobb coming home to score after the ball was thrown to second base. All six runs came with two outs and gave the Jayhawks a 6-1 advantage after an inning.
Kansas added two runs in the third, both on RBI groundouts. Kline scored Cobb, and redshirt sophomore Mike Koszewski scored Michael Brooks on his RBI groundout, as Kansas pushed its lead to 8-1.
Texas Southern (21-14, 7-5 SWAC) scored one run in the fourth and one run in the sixth to trim their deficit to 8-3. A sacrifice fly in the fourth and an RBI triple in the sixth cut it to a five-run margin. Cashero ended his day by inducing a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play in the sixth.
Sophomore Stone Evers entered in relief of Cashero in the seventh. Evers pitched two scoreless innings without surrendering a hit.
Kansas extended its lead in the seventh and eighth innings. Brooks hit an RBI single in the seventh to score Leto and bring the score to 9-3. Then, in the eighth Shojinaga hit a 2-out, 2-run homer to left field to give Kansas an 11-3 edge.
The Tigers tacked on four runs in the ninth to tighten the game to 11-7, but that was as close as the Tigers were able to get.
The Jayhawks have now defeated the Tigers seven times in a row and improved their all-time record against Texas Southern to 18-1.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Hunter Cashero (1-0)
Final Line: 6.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
Loss: Adolf Castillo (2-1)
Final Line: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO
QUOTABLES
“Overall, I love the way our guys competed. I wish they gave you a timetable on how many days it takes before everything clicks, but we are certainly moving in the right direction.” – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald
“There’s nothing like playing at home. Our philosophy is to defend Hoglund and to go out there and keep playing our game.” – Pitcher Hunter Cashero on playing at home
NOTES
• Kansas has won nine of its last 10 games, a stretch that began on March 29.
• Kansas improved to 7-0 at Hoglund Ballpark this season. The Jayhawks are one of seven teams in NCAA Division I baseball to still be undefeated at home this season. The only school who is undefeated at home this season with more wins is Virginia (22-0). The 7-0 start for Kansas at Hoglund Ballpark is the best since 2009 (14-0).
• Kansas has scored double-digit runs six times this season.
• Kansas recorded a season-high five steals. That is the most since April 20, 2022 vs. Texas Southern (5).
• Kansas has now defeated Texas Southern seven straight times and is 18-1 all-time against the Tigers.
• Leto had a career-high three hits. He finished 3-for-4 with an RBI.
• Shojinaga extended his hitting streak to 10 games, which is the longest active hitting streak on the team. Shojinaga hit his fifth home run of the season in the eighth inning. He has homered in back-to-back games. He also had a career-high three RBIs.
• Elvis pushed his hitting streak to nine games. He went 2-for-5 at the plate and has a team-high 12 multi-hit games this season.
• Cashero earned his first career win and quality start after throwing a career-high six innings and facing a career-high 25 batters.
UP NEXT
Kansas will continue its homestand this weekend as Kansas State comes to town for the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. The three-game series is set to begin on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
Fans can purchase tickets by contacting the Kansas ticket office at 785-864-3141 or by visiting the ticketing page here.
