BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Kansas and Samford played a traditional low scoring Friday night game on Thursday afternoon, with Samford narrowly defeating Kansas 3-2 at Joe Lee Griffin Field. Collin Baumgartner tossed his third consecutive quality start and Chase Jans hit his ninth home run of the season.
On Thursday, Kansas had runners on first and third with one out in the final inning. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, there was an extended delay for a rules review on mound visits. The umpires ultimately determined there was not a violation. A foul pop out then ended the game.
Samford (28-21, 12-6 Southern) started the scoring on Thursday afternoon in the third inning. Josh Rodriguez led off the bottom half of the frame with a solo home run to center field. The homer gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. That was the only run Baumgartner gave up all day.
Kansas came right back in the top of the fourth. Freshman Kodey Shojinaga led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a fielding error. With two outs, redshirt sophomore Mike Koszewski hit an RBI single to center field to score Shojinaga. That tied the game up at 1-1.
The game remained tied 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh. A walk and double to start the bottom of the seventh set up runners on second and third. Thaniel Trumper struck out the next two hitters, but the second one was a dropped third strike. On the throw to first base, the runner from third came in to score and take a 2-1 lead.
Again, Kansas responded in the top of the eighth. Jans, who made a SportsCenter worthy catch early in the game, took a 3-2 pitch the opposite way for his ninth home run of the year. That locked the score at 2-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, Samford’s John Anderson broke the tie with a solo home run to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. The rally in the ninth fell short for Kansas.
Baumgartner had another excellent outing for the Jayhawks. He allowed only one run over six innings on four hits. He lowered his season ERA to 3.95 heading into the final week of the regular season. Thaniel Trumper received the loss after allowing two runs over the final two innings.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Jake Holifield (2-2)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
Save: Ben Petschke (10)
Final line: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
Loss: Thaniel Trumper (3-5)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
NOTES
• Baumgartner threw his third straight quality start and fifth of the season. Over his last three outings, he has thrown 19.2 innings and allowed six earned runs, while striking out 16 compared to three walks.
• Shojinaga extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
• Jans has a 14-game on-base streak after his home run in the eighth inning. The home run was his ninth of the season.
• Koszewski pushed his on-base streak to 10 games and his hitting streak to seven games. He has multiple hits in six of his last seven games.
• Jackson Kline has reached base safely in his last nine games.
UP NEXT
Kansas (22-27, 7-14 Big 12) will play the second of three games against Samford on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT.
