University of Washington
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Kansas
Kansas Rallies For Six In The Eighth To Beat UW
February 20, 2015 | Baseball
MESA, Ariz. – Kansas scored six runs in the eighth inning – five of which were unearned – to overcome an 8-5 deficit and beat previously undefeated Washington, 11-8, Thursday in the first game of the Pac-12/Big-12 Tournament played at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz.
The Huskies (4-1) had not trailed during the season until the Jayhawks (1-3) broke through in the eighth – a span of 43 and 2/3 innings.
Kansas' Blair Beck started the eighth off of Huskies reliever Spencer Jones by reaching on a throwing error by shortstop Chris Baker. Matt McLaughlin, the nephew of Husky Coach Lindsay Meggs, greeted reliever Will Ballowe with a sharp single to right. After a sacrifice bunt for the first out, Justin Protacio singled home both runners to make the score 8-7. Ballowe got Joven Afenir to fly out for the second out, but Brandon Choate, the Huskies third pitcher of the inning, could not slam the door shut.
Choate (0-1) walked the first batter he faced and Michael Tinsley followed with an infield single to second that trickled off Levi Jordan's glove to allow Protacio to score all the way from second and tie the game. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Dakota Smith smacked a double into the right-center gap that gave Kansas the two-run lead. Connor McKay capped the scoring with a single that pushed Smith across the plate.
KU's Stephen Villines (1-0) stuck out the final batter of the eighth inning and then struck out the side in the ninth to pick up the win.
The Huskies jumped all over starter Hayden Edwards for three runs in the second inning to knock him out of the game. Alex Schmidt led off with a double to center and was promptly driven home by a Will Sparks double down the left-field line. One out later, Baker extended his season-starting hit streak to five games with a double to right that scored Sparks. Freshman Levi Jordan continued his impressive start with a single to center that sent home Baker to make the score 3-0 and send Edwards to the showers.
Kansas answered right back in the bottom of the inning as Beck blasted a two-out, two-run home run onto the berm in left field off starter Troy Rallings to make the score 3-2. It was the first homer allowed by the Huskies this season and the first earned runs allowed by UW pitchers in 20 innings.
Washington responded in the third inning with a two-out rally of its own to make the score 4-2. Sparks hit his second double of the game and Josh Cushing followed with a RBI single to center field.
The Jayhawks answered in the bottom of the inning, again with two outs. Colby Wright doubled to start the rally and after an infield single, scored on a double by Smith to make the score 4-3.
In the fourth, Austin Rei connected for a three-run homer off left-handed reliever Blake Weiman that extended the lead to 7-3. Braden Bishop walked with one out and Jack Meggs reached on a fielding error by the shortstop ahead of Rei's first home run of the season, the third of his career.
Once again, Kansas responded in the bottom of the inning to make the score 7-5. Beck led-off with a triple and came around to score on a single by McLaughlin. McLaughlin would eventually score on a fielder's choice.
The fourth inning marked the end of Rallings day, as he allowed five runs on 10 hits in his second start of the season.
The Huskies only scored once over the final five innings, and that came when they tacked on an unearned run in the eighth to go up 8-5. Meggs hit a one-out double and stole third. With two down, Berry struck out, but on catcher Michael Tinsley's passed ball, he reached first safely and Meggs trotted home.
Kansas outhit the Huskies 18-10, with seven Jayhawks accounting for two hits or more. Sparks and Cushing were the only Dawgs that had multi-hits, even though UW reached double figures for the fourth-straight games.
The Huskies continue the Pac-12/Big-12 Tournament tomorrow with a 12 p.m PT first pitch against Oklahoma at Sloan Park. The Huskies will send All-American Tyler Davis (1-0, 2.57) to the hill against right-hander Jake Elliott (0-0, 0.00).
Kansas 11, Washington 8
UW 031 300 010 –- 8 10 1
KU 021 200 06x –- 11 18 1
LOB: UW 10, KU 7. Troy Rallings, Spencer Jones (5), Will Ballowe (8), Brandon Choate (8) and Austin Rei. Hayden Edwards, Blake Weiman (2), Sam Gilbert (5), Casey Douglas (7), Ryan Jackson (8), Stephen Villines (8) and Michael Tinsley. W – Villines (1-0). L – Choate (0-1). Sv – none. HR – UW, Austin Rei (1); KU, Blair Beck (2). 3B – KU, Beck. 2B – UW, Will Sparks (2), Alex Schmidt, Jack Meggs; KU, Colby Wright (2), Dakota Smith (2), Connor McKay. Time – 3:04. Attendance – 501.
