The Jayhawks were defeated, 11-4, on the road against the Bears on March 6 in Springfield, Mo.

“We had something to prove,” KU senior shortstop John Nelson said. “Last game we didn’t play our best baseball and today we wanted to come out and show them how we can really play, put some runs up there and hold them, and I think we did that today.”

Nelson went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and played steady defense to spark KU.

“John Nelson was kind of a one-man wrecking crew today,” KU coach Bobby Randall said. “He had a terrific day. Every time they got something going, John would make a defensive play and stop the rally. That was good to see.”

Randall moved Nelson, who had led off for KU all season, to the third hole for Wednesday’s game and put Jason Appuhn in the leadoff spot based on Appuhn’s recent play. Appuhn, batting .341 for the season, had been batting ninth.

“Jason’s really been hitting well,” Randall said, “and I thought, ‘Let’s just try it. Let’s try something a little different,’ and actually it worked pretty well.”

Randall said the switch also put Nelson, KU’s top offensive threat with a .378 batting average, in a run-producing slot.

“John’s without question our best hitter,” Randall said, “and we got him in some RBI situations today and he did a nice job. I don’t know if we’re going to stay with it but it’s certainly an option.”

Nelson said he found out about the switch from a teammate and didn’t mind moving down the lineup.

“It worked out today,” he said. “I was really trying to stay back and see the ball because I knew they were going to try to throw me a lot of off-speed stuff so I really concentrated on slowing myself down and seeing the ball. It worked today and I was able to contribute.”

KU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Casey Spanish scored on an error by the pitcher and scored again in the second on a single by Matt Van Alsburg.

The Jayhawks scored five runs with two outs in the fourth inning for a 7-0 lead. Nelson drove in two runs with a triple, Jesse Gremminger drove in Nelson with a double and Brent DelChiaro knocked in two Jayhawks with a double.

Nelson’s triple, his sixth of the year and 16th of his career, tied him with Darryl Monroe (1991-94) for the career lead at KU.

“Whenever I can get the extra base, I’ll take it,” Nelson said. “If it so happens I get a triple, that’s great. I’m just trying to win a ballgame.”

Junior Jeff Davis, a Lawrence High product, picked up the win for KU (14-11 overall, 2-7 Big 12 Conference) with 51/3 innings of five-hit ball. After the Bears scored three runs in the top of the fifth, Eric Thompson shut out SMS the final 32/3 innings for the save his first of the season.

“(Davis) and Eric both pitched really well,” Randall said. “I thought Jeff, for four innings, was very, very good. Eric Thompson came out and did a great job out of the bullpen.”

The Jayhawks, 6-2 on their current homestand, will face No. 16 Baylor (18-7, 6-3) at 3 p.m. Friday at Hoglund, the first of a three-game Big 12 set.

“They’re a good ballclub,” Randall said, “a real good ballclub. They’ve got great pitching … so we’ll have our work cut out for us this weekend. I’m glad we’re at home. I like our ballclub and I always think we can win, so we’re going to go out and battle like we always do and see what happens.”