CHARLESTON, S.C. – On a sunny, mid-60s afternoon at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park, Kansas defeated The Citadel 12-8 to win the series finale on Sunday. Junior Janson Reeder and sophomore Chase Jans each had three hits in the game and helped the Jayhawks offense tally 14 hits in the victory.
Reeder got the Jayhawks going in the second inning with a leadoff home run. The homer was his fourth blast of the season and his second in the last four games.
In the third inning, freshman Jackson Kline drew a 1-out walk and sophomore Chase Jans doubled to the right field corner to set up second and third with one out. Senior Cal transfer Cole Elvis drove in Kline from third with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Kansas offense broke out for five runs in the fourth inning to make the score 7-0. A single from LSU transfer Luke Leto and a walk from fellow LSU transfer Collier Cranford set the stage for the remainder of the inning. Redshirt sophomore and UCF transfer Michael Brooks hit an RBI double, Kline hit a 2-run double, Jans hit an RBI triple and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch.
The Citadel (12-7) cut into the lead in the fifth inning with a pair of runs on an RBI single from Noah Mitchell. That moved the score to 7-2 after five frames.
Kansas responded in the top of the sixth with a triple by Brooks to start the inning and a walk from Kline. Elvis then hit his second sacrifice fly of the game and Reeder hit an RBI double to score Brooks and Kline. The two runs pushed the lead back to seven runs at 9-2.
The Jayhawks were able to put another crooked number on the scoreboard with three runs in the seventh. After loading the bases, freshman Kodey Shojinaga had an RBI groundout and Jans had a 2-run single to extend the lead to 12-2.
The Bulldogs got one run in the seventh, two runs in the eighth and three in the ninth, but the Jayhawks were able to finish with a four run advantage by a score of 12-8.
Junior Nebraska transfer Ethan Bradford started for the Jayhawks and earned the win after tossing three scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out four Bulldogs. Freshman Toby Haarer and junior Thaniel Trumper made scoreless appearances out of the bullpen.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Ethan Bradford (2-1)
Final line: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO
Loss: Conner Cummiskey (1-2)
Final line: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 6 SO
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Chase Jans: Jans finished the day a home run shy of the cycle. He went 3-for-5 with a single, double, triple, a walk, three RBIs and one run scored. He now has a 14-game hitting streak which is the longest by a Jayhawk this season and the longest of his career. Jans is hitting .333 on the season at the plate.
QUOTABLE
“Great team win. Baseball is a funny game. I thought we played more complete on Friday than we did today. The ball just found holes today and the wind shifted. We get on the board early with Janny’s [Janson Reeder] home run and some really good situational hitting. I thought Coach Scott had a great plan with the bullpen and we executed it really well. I would like to clean up some of the drama at the end, but overall, I was pleased with the competitive nature of our guys and the direction we’re going. We have a long way to go, but we’ll get there.” – Coach Dan Fitzgerald
NOTES
• Kansas snapped a 6-game losing skid.
• Reeder hit his fourth home run of the season. He finished the day 3-for-4 with a double, home run, two walks, two RBIs and a run scored. His three hits matched his career high.
• Jans extended his hitting streak to 14 consecutive games, which is the longest of the sophomore’s career. He matched his career highs with three hits and three RBIs, going 3-for-5 with a double, triple, a walk, three RBIs and one run scored. The triple was the first of the season for Jans.
• Kline had his first career multi-RBI game and his three runs scored were also a career high.
• Brooks recorded his second multi-hit game of the season after going 2-for-4 with a double, triple, two walks, an RBI and three runs scored.
• Cranford now has four multi-hit games this season after finishing 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.
• Koszewski pushed his on-base streak to 16 straight games with a walk in the ninth inning.
• Leto tallied his third multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-5 performance with two runs.
UP NEXT
Kansas (8-10) will play in Kansas City against Missouri at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday, March 22. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.
