PALO ALTO, CALIF. ? Kansas University rallied to tie with a five-run ninth, but the Jayhawks ultimately suffered a 7-6 baseball setback at sixth-ranked Stanford on Sunday, giving the Cardinal a sweep of the three-game weekend series.
KU outhit Stanford, 12-11, at Sunken Diamond and had runners on base in seven of nine innings, but stranded a dozen.
Kansas trailed, 6-1, heading into the ninth inning. The Jayhawks pushed across five runs on four hits in the inning and took advantage of three Cardinal walks and a hit-by-pitch. Junior center fielder Matt Baty and Ritchie Price drove in runs with RBI singles, and Gus Milner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Pinch hitter Andy Scholl drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the trying run.
But the Cardinal won it in the bottom of the ninth when John Mayberry Jr. drew a lead-off walk from KU reliever Logan Murphy (0-1) to begin the inning and scored two batters later on a double by third baseman Adam Sorgi.
KU will play host to South Dakota State in a four-game series this week, beginning Wednesday, at Hoglund Ballpark.
Jared Soares/Journal-World PhotoAll the Kansas University volleyball team needed to end its spell of mid-match letdowns was a dose of Carolina blue.
That medicine helped the Jayhawks finally play consistently Saturday night at the Jayhawk Classic, but North Carolina prevailed in five games, 30-22, 30-27, 23-30, 16-30, 21-19, to capture the tournament title.
Kansas (7-3) throttled Creighton in a three-game sweep, 30-20, 30-18, 30-21, in its early match Saturday.
“I’m really proud of them,” said KU coach Ray Bechard, who was visibly exhausted after the marathon match against the Tar Heels. “I told them what we did in games three, four and five, we need to capture that and remember it because it was great energy, great execution and great support.
“We came up a little bit short, but I can’t remember maybe a more exciting match ever at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.”
Jared Soares/Journal-World PhotoThe budding rivalry added a definite buzz to the match, and the Tar Heels harnessed that vibe in Game One by marching to a six-point lead when Katie Wright and Dani Nyenhuis combined for two blocks. KU never got closer than four.
Kansas didn’t counter Carolina’s blocking in Game Two, but Janaina Correa and Ashley Michaels still squeezed in enough kills to force 11 ties before the Heels pulled away.
“After that second game, we just decided we weren’t going to do down like that,” said Michaels, who with Correa earned all-tournament team honors. “Lots of people were here to watch us and there’s a lot of animosity because they’re North Carolina, so we just said we weren’t going to go down 3-0.”
KU’s 9-3 run that closed Game Three denied UNC a sweep, and the Jayhawks’ 30-16 bludgeoning in Game Four guaranteed the match would go the distance.
By then the Jayhawks’ passes were extra crisp, acrobatic digs deflected in their favor and they seemingly blocked at will. Even busted plays bounced Kansas’ way.
“The fourth game we were a little shell-shocked,” UNC coach Joe Sagula said. “Going into the fifth game I was worried.”
Two kills by Correa and Josi Lima fired KU to a 10-6 advantage before the Tar Heels responded with a 5-0 run. Eight ties followed and Kansas failed at three match-point opportunities before Aletha Green and Molly Pyles blocked Lima’s shot and put the game away.
“I can’t fault our effort,” Bechard said. “When you get down 0-2, that’s tough against a good team, but we brought it all the way back.”
Michaels led Kansas with 20 kills, while Sarah Rome added 16. Jill Dorsey tallied a career-high 27 digs and Ashley Bechard added 65 assists.
Pyles was selected tournament MVP. Nyenhuis and Wright were also voted to the all-tournament team, along with Arkansas’ Roberta Tarnauskaite.
