FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. ? Wes McCrotty’s single to left field popped out of the glove of a diving Matt Tribble, and Arkansas scored the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 6-5 baseball victory over Kansas University on Tuesday at Baum Stadium.
Tribble didn’t start in left field, Doug Dreher did. But Dreher collided with KU shortstop John Nelson in the sixth inning, and is believed to have suffered a broken wrist. Dreher will be evaluated today after returning to Lawrence.
With two outs in the ninth, McCrotty hit a ball past third base, and Tribble dove to catch it. But the impact of his landing jarred the ball loose, and Michael Conner scored to snap the Razorbacks’ three-game losing streak. The loss was Kansas’ fourth straight.
“I was proud of the way the kids battled back late in the game,” Kansas coach Bobby Randall said. “Obviously we are not satisfied with the outcome of the game because there are a few things we should have done better to put us in a position to win.”
Arkansas improved to 15-15, while KU fell to 14-15.
Jesse Gremminger and Kevin Wheeler each had three hits for KU. Gremminger had two RBIs and a run, while two of Wheeler’s hits were doubles.
Arkansas reliever Josh Merryman (3-2) earned the win despite yielding the game-tying run in the top of the eighth inning. KU reliever Jeff Davis (2-1) allowed five hits in 2 2/3 innings.
