PROVO, Utah – BYU fell short of a comeback against No. 14 Kansas dropping the first of a three-game Big 12 home series 9-6 Thursday at Miller Park.
BYU (26-26, 13-15) scored six runs on 11 hits but stranded 11 runners, while KU (38-15, 21-7) plated nine runs on 12 hits, including three home runs.
Highlights
Luke Anderson: 3-4, R
Crew McChesney: 1-5, 3 RBI, 2B
Tualau Wolfgramm: 2-5, RBI, 2B
Easton Jones: 1-4, RBI
Summary
Kansas came out hot with a leadoff homerun to deep center field for a 1-0 lead.
In the third, Kansas led off with a walk and a wild pitch that put runners on first and second. The Jayhawks then hit a single that scored a run to go ahead 2-0. A few pitches later, Kansas scored twice more on a triple into deep left field to take a 4-0 lead.
In the fourth inning despite loading the bases with no outs, the Jayhawks were held scoreless thanks to a strikeout and a double play that kept the Cougar deficit at four. A two-run home run in the top of the fifth pushed the KU lead to 6-0.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Ezra McNaughton and Ryder Robinson drew walks and Easton Jones was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Crew McChesney then doubled to the wall in the right-center gap, clearing the bases and immediately collapsing the Kansas lead in half. Moments later Tualau Wolfgramm hit a laser down the third base line just fair for a double that scored McChesney to tighten the score at 6-4.
After holding Kansas scoreless in the top of the sixth, Bryker Hurdsman tripled down the first base line to open the bottom of the inning and Luke Anderson was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. Ryder Robinson then singled to centerfield scoring Hurdsman and sending Anderson to third. On the ensuing at bat Jones singled to left field scoring Anderson and knotting the game at 6-6.
Kansas then retook the lead on a home run to centerfield to go up 7-6 in the seventh and added two more insurance runs in the eighth for a final score of 9-6.
Up Next
BYU and Kansas will play game to of the three-game series on Friday, May 15 at 6 p.m. MDT with streaming on ESPN+. The games will also be available on the BYU Radio app, BYUradio.org, SiriusXM 143 and 107.9 FM in Utah County. The final game of the series is scheduled for Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m. MDT.
