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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015
PAGE 11
BEN BRODSKY/KANSAN
Sophomore catcher Michael Tinsley watches the ball while at bat. Kansas earned a sweep of Northwestern on Wednesday, winning 10-7. Next up, Kansas faces Texas Christian University.
Kansas sweeps Northwestern on the road
Batting came up clutch on the road as Kansas baseball came back in the final inning of the game to beat Northwestern 10-7 on Wednesday afternoon.
With their win Wednesday, the Jayhawks were able to complete the weekday sweep of the Wildcats as they also earned a 6-2 victory Tuesday. The sweep provided much needed momentum for the Jayhawks as they prepare for one of their toughest tests of the season this weekend against Texas Christian University.
KYLAN WHITMER
@KRWhitmer
"The momentum factor is huge, we have a lot of enthusiasm heading into the weekend where we'll have to face one of the best pitching staffs in America," coach Ritch Price said. "It was great to see some guys come up late and find a way to get the two-game sweep in a midweek series."
Northwestern struck first as leadoff hitter Scott Heelan sent the first pitch he saw out of the
park to give his squad an early one-run lead.
After producing one hit in each of the first two innings, the Jayhawks found their stride in the batter's box in the bottom of the third. Freshman Tanner Gragg started the inning with a full-count single followed by a base hit from senior Connor McKay. Gragg and McKay's hits sparked a three-run inning for the Jayhawks as senior Blair Beck capped off the side with a two-RBI triple to put his team up 3-1.
The lead wouldn't last long as the Wildcats saw another leadoff home run, this time from senior Luke Dauch. The Wildcat batters followed up with solid hitting, earning them two more runs through the remainder of the inning to take the lead.
The Jayhawks tied the game in the sixth with a sacrifice fly from sophomore Marcus Wheeler, but again the Wildcats struck back. In the seventh inning, the Wildcats got two runners on base early and they
both found home plate as the Wildcats' RJ Watters sent the ball to the opposite side of the field and earn twoRBIs in the process.
While the Jayhawks couldn't get anything going in the eighth, they found themselves down two runs with only one inning to salvage a victory.
"Some weeks you feel good and this is one of those weeks," Martin said, "Everything came together at the right time."
"Some weeks you feel good and this is one of those weeks," Martin said, "Everything came together at the right time."
T.J. MARTIN
Freshman catcher
McKay reached first base on a throwing error to start the ninth inning with a man on base. Senior Dakota Smith took the batter's box next and embraced the pressure in veteran fashion by hitting a clutch home run to tie the game. Two outs immediately
followed, and it looked as if Northwestern would have an opportunity to win in the bottom of the ninth.
The Jayhawks had other plans.
The bomb was Martin's second home run of the series as he had a solo home run in Tuesday's game against the Wildcats.
With two outs, the Jayhawks managed to get the bases loaded with freshman T.J. Martin up to bat. Martin passed on the first pitch, saying it wasn't a good pitch for him to swing at early in the count. The second pitch came in and Martin blasted it over the fence down the left field line. The grand slam put the Jayhawks up by four in the final inning.
The Jayhawks were able to get a full rotation in the batting order as they produced five hits and six runs in their
last inning. The Wildcats fought back and cut the lead with a run of their own, but it wasn't enough. The Jayhawks took the game 10-7 to earn the midweek sweep.
Price's offense produced 14 hits on Wednesday afternoon and 23 total in the series. The coach's reason for scheduling the series was for his batters to see reps in the batter's box and experience game-speed pitching to prepare for TCU this weekend.
"It'll be a lot firmer when we go into this weekend than what we saw in this midweek series," Price said. "The purpose of the trip was to get game-speed and to get as many reps for our hitters as possible and hopefully it will carry over to the weekend."
The Jayhawks will travel down to Fort Worth, Texas, for a big 12 matchup against the league-leading Horned Frogs. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 8.
Edited by Callie Byrnes
Stigler named Big 12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week
Senior hurdler Michael Stigler was named the Big 12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week on Wednesday for a third time in his career and a second time this season. The award came on the heels of his 48.86 timing in the 400-meter hurdles over the weekend in the Rock Chalk Classic.
In addition to his 400-meter hurdles performance Saturday, Stigler also closed out a victory for the Kansas 4x400 relay team of senior Kenneth McCuin and juniors Jaime Wilson and Drew Matthews. The team finished with an impressive time of 3:11.97.
Stigler's first Athlete of the Week award came after his performance at the Texas Relays in March, when he clocked a world-leading time of 48.44 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. He holds the top two spots in college ranks with each time and the first- and fourth-best times in the world.
-G.J. Melia
@UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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