Kansas made the most of its four hits, scratching out a pair of runs and using six strong innings from its bullpen to hand Missouri State a 2-1 setback for its first road loss of the season Tuesday evening at Hoglund Ballpark.
Starting pitcher Ryan Dunne (0-1) turned in his best effort as a Bear, holding the Jayhawks to two runs on three hits over 6 1/3 innings, but the Jayhawks (8-13) sacrificed their way to single runs in the fourth and sixth innings, then turned to their bullpen to stop an eight-game losing streak in their series with the Bears (19-5).
KU’s relief corps played a starring role in the Jayhawks’ first win over the Bears since April 13, 2010, as Jackson Goddard, Sam Gilbert and Stephen Villines combined to hold MSU to one run on five hits over the final six innings.
The Bears mounted a last-ditch rally in the ninth, getting a one-out double from Justin Paulsen and an RBI single by Hunter Steinmetz to slice a two-run deficit in half and put the potential tying run at third. But Villines snared a hot shot off the bat of Alex Jefferson, wheeled and fired to shortstop Matt McLaughin, who completed the game-ending double play with a strike to Jordan Pidhaichuk at first to strand the Bears’ 10 baserunner of the contest.
MSU, which sustained a third-straight loss for the first time since May 2014, out-hit the Jayhawks by an 8-4 margin, but struggled all night with men in scoring position, going hitless in its first seven such instances before Steinmetz’s base hit with runners at second and third in the ninth.
Villines earned his fourth save of the season by closing the door over the final two innings, after Gilbert held MSU to one hit in his 2.0 frames, and Goddard (2-1) worked two innings of two-hit relief to earn the victory. After being held to a single first-inning hit over the first three frames by Dunne, Kansas grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth, becoming the eighth-straight opponent to score first against the Bears. Dunne retired nine straight Jayhawk hitters after giving up a leadoff single to Rudy Karre to start the game, but Devin Foyle’s double snapped the string and initiated KU’s fourth-inning rally. McLaughlin moved the runner to third with a sac bunt, before Michael Tinsley gave the home club the lead with a sacrifice fly to center.
MSU generated several chances to put runs on the scoreboard in the early stages of the contest, only to come up empty each time. The Bears, who recorded a hit in each of the first six innings, used a two-out single by Jake Burger and a throwing error on a ground ball to third to put runners on the corners in the first. But KU starter Blake Weiman induced a come-backer from Eduardo Castro to escape the jam, then worked around leadoff hits by Aaron Meyer in the second and Steinmetz in the third to keep the game scoreless.
Goddard relieved Weiman in the fourth and promptly stranded another MSU runner at third after Jeremy Eierman lofted a two-out triple off the center field wall. The Bears also put a man on base via a Jefferson pinch-hit single in the fifth, as well as a Blake Graham base hit in the sixth, only to come up empty each time.
Steinmetz led the Bears with a 2-for-5 night, joining Meyer in extending their respective career-best hit streaks to 16 games.
Foyle factored prominently in both KU runs, scoring the first before plating the deciding tally with his sixth-inning sac fly.
Missouri State returns home to begin a five-game home stand Thursday (March 31), when the Bears welcome Central Michigan to Hammons Field for the first of three games, set for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.
