Ames, Iowa ? Kansas University’s baseball team squandered a three-run lead in the ninth inning on Sunday and suffered a 5-4 loss to Iowa State at Timm Field.
Kansas took the early lead when Kevin Farmer and Dan Stucky both had RBI singles in the second inning. Farmer made it 3-0 with another RBI single in the sixth.
Iowa State 5, Kansas 4
EChrist. DPKansas 1, Iowa State 2. LOBKansas 10, Iowa State 10. 2BBohn, Conway.
WPLantz. PBDelChiaro. HBPby Lantz (Urban, Conway 2, Bohn, Hampton), by Bigwood (Stucky). T2:20. A362. |
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Iowa State, meanwhile, stranded two runners on base in the first, fifth and sixth innings before finally getting on the board in the eighth. KU starter Doug Lantz was rolling until control problems cost him Iowa State’s first run.
Lantz started the eighth by striking out Adam Christ, but the Cyclones’ leadoff man reached first base on a wild pitch. Lantz then struck out pinch-hitter Matt Nordby but then hit back-to-back batters with pitches to load the bases. Brandon Cashman’s sacrifice fly cut the deficit to 3-1.
KU added an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Jason Appuhn, Ryan Klocksien and Jesse Gremminger hit consecutive one-out singles. Klocksien was thrown out at the plate, thwarting KU’s chances at a bigger inning.
Lantz walked the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth before fanning John Zeller and Jason McNertney. Lantz then loaded the bases by hitting Beau Hampton with a pitch, setting a KU record with five beanballs in one game.
T.J. Bohn hit a three-run, two-out double to tie it and scored the game-winning run on Cashman’s single.
Lantz (2-4) worked all 82/3 innings for KU, allowing six hits and four walks while striking out 12. It was his fourth complete game of the season.
“Doug Lantz pitched well for the better part of the game,” KU coach Bobby Randall said. “With the exception of one inning, I think he deserves a better outcome.”
Appuhn, Klocksien, Gremminger, Farmer and Brent DelChiaro had two hits each for the Jayhawks. Kansas pounded 14 hits off three ISU pitchers but stranded 10 men on base.
“We missed a few opportunties in the early part of the game to get an even bigger lead, and that really hurt us,” Randall said.
Mark Hanrahan (3-2), the third Cyclone pitcher, gave up three hits and one run in 21/3 innings of relief.
Iowa State, which is dropping its baseball program after this season, improved to 13-19-1 overall and 6-7 in the Big 12 Conference. Kansas, which dropped two of three games in the weekend series, fell to 16-23 and 4-17.
Notes: Gremminger extended his hitting streak to 15 games. … Kansas plays a nonconference game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Wichita State. … KU returns home to play host Nebraska in a weekend series beginning Friday at Hoglund Ballpark.
