It just depends on who takes advantage.

It wasn’t the Jayhawks this time. In losing 6-5 to Texas on Saturday, Kansas watched as three UT fly balls fell over the wall for wind-aided home runs.

Hoglund already has a short fence between the power alleys. To have wind gusts carry balls out shrinks the park even more.

“Sometimes,” KU’s Buck Afenir said, “this ballpark can come back and get you.”

Megan True

Two of the big flies came off the bat of UT’s Kyle Russell, a tall, slender left-hander who now leads the country with 20 home runs.

With one out in the fifth, Russell sent a towering drive over the right-field wall, a three-run blast that gave Texas a 4-0 advantage. Then, after Kansas stormed back to take a 5-4 lead, Russell tied it by popping one up to center and letting the wind carry it barely over the wall.

“I don’t know how that happened,” Russell admitted.

Credit the conditions. With temperatures once again in the 30s and the wind howling out, a fly ball hit decently had a real chance Saturday.

That in mind, KU starting pitcher Andy Marks had a solid performance. He allowed just four hits in 62â3 innings – three of those being the homers – and struck out seven.

“It’s really frustrating,” Marks said. “I can’t say which ones wouldn’t have been homers if the wind wasn’t blowing, but a couple of them I didn’t think were going to get out. The wind got a hold of them.”

Texas (28-10 overall, 9-3 Big 12 play) completed the rally in the eighth inning, when a perfectly placed single off the bat of Russell Moldenhauer plated Nick Peoples with the go-ahead run. Kansas didn’t score again.

UT’s comeback erased and even larger rally by Kansas earlier in the game. After Russell’s first blast, KU scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to an RBI single by Robby Price, a two-run single by Brock Simpson and an RBI double by Erik Morrison.

Kansas (18-20, 4-8) then took the lead in the sixth when a Kyle Murphy bloop to right field fell and scored Preston Land from second.

But the Longhorns weren’t done yet, storming back and eking out a series victory, two games to one.

“It’s a very clear definition of how strong this league is from top to bottom,” Texas coach Augie Garrido said. “It’s the first-place team against the last-place team. I don’t think even trained eyes : could find that kind of separation with what happened this weekend.”

Indeed, it was another oh-so-close weekend for the Jayhawks, but they’re starting to add up. Kansas has lost all three of its series finales in Big 12 play, and had the opportunity to win the series heading into that game each time.

Such trends usually separate the champions from the field. But the Jayhawks recognize there’s still time left, starting with next weekend’s series against Baylor.

“The great thing about this conference is that every weekend is a huge battle,” KU coach Ritch Price said. “You’ve got to be man enough to play in this league. Hopefully we’ll continue to work hard and find a way to win the series next week.”