Kansas sweeps Friday doubleheader against NIU

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Backed by a scoreless start from redshirt-junior hurler Ryan Cyr, the Kansas baseball team completed the Friday doubleheader sweep, 7-2, against the Huskies at AirHogs Stadium.
 
Cyr (1-0) paced the Jayhawks (7-3) to a 7-0 lead through a personal-best six and 2/3 innings of work where he allowed Northern Illinois (2-8) to scatter six hits and while striking out four.
 
Junior reliever Nathan Barry came on in relief to get out of the seventh and pitched one inning with two strikeouts. Three more relievers were used to close out the final one and 1/3 innings.
 
The Huskies worked counts and loaded the bases in the ninth before redshirt-sophomore Jonah Ulane came on to strike out three consecutive batters to pick up his third save of the season.
 
Freshman right fielder Casey Burnham boasted a perfect 3-for-3 effort at the plate with a RBI and a run scored while junior left fielder Brett Vosik connected for a pair of knocks with a RBI. In addition, sophomore third baseman Skyler Messinger led all hitters with two RBIs.
 
NOTABLES

  • Redshirt-sophomore reliever Jonah Ulane struck out three straight hitters in the ninth with the bases loaded for his third save of the season.
  • Redshirt-junior righty Ryan Cyr tossed a career-high six and 2/3 innings on the bump for his first victory on the season.
  • Freshman right fielder Casey Burnham connected for a personal-best three base knocks.

QUOTES
On Jonah Ulane’s performance:
“It was special. I’m so proud of him. We red-shirted him his freshman year because he wasn’t ready to help us yet. It’s been amazing to watch his development. There’s not a better teammate in our dugout. Now to see him grow into an impact player, that’s why we coach. That’s one of the greatest young men walking this planet.”
 
On Ryan Cyr’s outing:
“I thought he was really good. The strike zone was really small today, and it frustrated a lot of guys that came in. Like I told him, you’ve got to pitch through it. You can’t walk out there and worry about it. You can’t go out there and get emotional and lose your focus. Next thing you know, you get yourself in all kinds of trouble. The strike zone changes week-to-week and umpire-to-umpire, and you need to adjust. He got ahead of the count and had a good mix, and he gave us six good innings and it was a great bounce-back performance.”
 
UP NEXT
With the threat of inclement weather hitting Texas on Sunday, Kansas and Northern Illinois elected to move the series finale to Saturday, March 2 at the Melissa Sports Complex in Melissa, Texas. First pitch is slated for 11 a.m. and can be heard on the Jayhawk Radio Network via KUAthletics.com/Radio.

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