Carr, Kansas Even Series with 7-3 Victory at Arizona State

Saturday, March 22

Phoenix, Ariz.

8:30 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

18-5, 3-2

Arizona State

15-8, 3-2

Kansas

Arizona State

Carr, Kansas Even Series with 7-3 Victory at Arizona State

3/23/2025 1:04:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats Conference Stats Highlights

TEMPE, Ariz. – Kansas baseball bounced back to even the weekend series with a 7-3 win against Arizona State on Saturday night at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Junior Kannon Carr pitched a career-high seven innings and allowed three runs as he kept the Sun Devils hitters off balance all night.

Kansas was able to get out to a 6-0 lead early in the game and that was enough for Carr. Brady Counsell and Michael Brooks each hit home runs in the victory to help Kansas improve to 18-5 overall this season and 3-2 in conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas was able to strike first on Saturday night. Brady Counsell hit a solo home run to left field to give Kansas a 1-0 advantage.
• The Jayhawks opened up the game with a five-run third inning. After back-to-back hits to start the inning, Jackson Hauge hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Three batters later, Tommy Barth hit an RBI single to bring the score to 3-0. Brooks came up next and hit a three-run home run to the batter's eye in center field, making it a 6-0 Kansas lead.
• Arizona State (15-8, 3-2 Big 12) cut that lead in half in the bottom of the third inning. An RBI single by Brody Briggs and a two-run homer from Brandon Compton made it 6-3 at the end of three innings.
• Kansas responded with a run in the top of the fourth on an RBI double by Hauge. The run gave the Jayhawks a 7-3 advantage and would conclude the scoring for the night.
• Carr navigated through the Arizona State lineup after their three-run third inning and did not allow a run the rest of the way.
• Alex Breckheimer followed Carr and pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game. The Sun Devils had two runners on in both the eighth and ninth innings that Breckheimer was able to work around.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Kannon Carr (4-0)
Final line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 SO
Loss: Jack Martinez (3-1)
Final line: 4.0 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 6 SO

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Kannon Carr: A junior transfer from Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Missouri, Carr shined in his second career Division I start. The righty tossed a career-high seven innings and allowed three runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out five. He did not allow a run in six of his seven innings of work. Carr improved to 4-0 this season, which is the most wins on the pitching staff.

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

Big time quality start from @kcarr_12 ??

Final line » 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 SO pic.twitter.com/PWpbvytLrO
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) March 23, 2025

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"Kannon's outing was fantastic. He was so efficient. He had more in the tank. We thought the right move there was to go to Breckheimer, but Kannon was at 92 pitches and he's such a well-conditioned athlete that I think he certainly could have done more. It starts with one walk and he got five punch outs, but he located everything. All three pitches were working and he was fantastic. We did a great job of scratching one run in the second and then the five-spot was huge in the third. Big home run by Brooks to really separate and then we just threw up a bunch of zeros from there. Then, obviously Breck came in and was his vintage self. It was a great night. I love how we competed. The season is such a journey and sometimes we forget that. It's easy to turn it into just game, game, game, game, and I'm partially to blame for that because I'm such a day-by-day guy, but to me, it's the journey and I'm really proud of how we're doing this." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"I did a really good job of just filling up the zone. Threw a lot of strikes. I threw all my pitches for strikes and it allowed me to get ahead in a lot of counts. It also allowed me to throw them off the timing of my fastball and allowed my fastball to accelerate and be that much better." – Kannon Carr

"We've had a rough last three games. We came together as a team and we know what we can do. We've done it all season. We played together as a team one-by-one and everybody did their job tonight." – Michael Brooks

• Kansas has hit 48 home runs this season through the first 23 games. The program record for home runs is 75 in 2006 and 2023. The Jayhawks are 16-1 this season when they hit a home run in a game.
• Carr pitched a career-high seven innings and improved to 4-0 this season. The four victories are the most on the pitching staff.
• Counsell blasted his sixth home run of the season. He extended his on-base streak to 12 games.
• Brooks hit his second home run of the season. He has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games.
• Cerda had two hits, two stolen bases and two runs scored.

UP NEXT
Kansas and Arizona State will play the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.