⚾️ No. 15 Missouri Scores Late to Take Down Kansas 8-3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In a game played at Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals, the No.15 ranked Missouri Tigers defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 8-3 on Wednesday night. Sophomore Chase Jans extended his hitting streak to 15 games despite the result.

In a 3-3 tie entering the ninth inning, Missouri scored five runs to build a comfortable lead. A hit by pitch and double to start the inning set up a sacrifice fly from Justin Colon and an RBI single by Luke Mann to take a two-run advantage. Then, a bases-clearing, 2-out double by Hank Zeisler scored three runs to make the score 8-3. The Tigers closed out the bottom of the ninth to win the game.

Missouri (17-3) was able to get on the scoreboard first in the second inning. After a leadoff walk, Zeisler connected on a 2-run homer for his team-high ninth long ball of the season. The Tigers added another run in the fourth inning on a two-out RBI single from Colon. They led 3-0 after four innings.

Kansas pushed across its first run in the seventh. The Jayhawks loaded the bases on three consecutive walks to start the inning. After a pitching change, redshirt sophomore Michael Brooks grounded into a double play. The double play scored Luke Leto from third, but that was the only run the Jayhawks would get in the inning. Kansas cut the deficit to 3-1.

The bottom of the eighth began similar to the seventh for Kansas with a leadoff walk by Jans. Senior Cal transfer Cole Elvis followed it up with an RBI double down the left field line to score Jans and trim the deficit to 3-2. A fly out by Janson Reeder and a walk by Jake English set up Leto for a game-tying sacrifice fly, which made the score 3-3 going into the ninth.

Freshman Karter Muck started for Kansas on Wednesday night. The Kansas City, Missouri, native went 1.2 innings and allowed two runs on one hit, while walking three and striking out one. Junior Thaniel Trumper came on later in the game and worked three scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Jayhawks. Kansas was only able to get three hits.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Daniel Wissler (2-0)
Final line: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
Loss: Stone Hewlett (0-3)
Final line: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 SO

QUOTABLE
“It was a great environment tonight. Our fans showed up as they always do. We had great backing from them against a really, really quality opponent. We’ll see the same thing this weekend at TCU. These games are always decided by inches. We fight back in that one and make it a game. Every game you play like this prepares you for the next one.” – Coach Dan Fitzgerald

NOTES
• Kansas dropped to 4-1 all-time against Missouri at Kauffman Stadium.
• Jans extended his hitting streak to 15 consecutive games, which is the longest of the sophomore’s career and the longest by a Jayhawk this season.
• With a walk, Mike Koszewski pushed his on-base streak to 17 games.
• Muck made his first career start on the mound.

UP NEXT
Kansas (8-11) will begin conference play this weekend in Fort Worth against TCU. First pitch of the three-game series is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday at Lupton Stadium.