Conway, Ark. ? Senior Alex DeLeon was perfect at the plate as Kansas University’s baseball team rushed to an early lead and held on to beat Jackson State, 10-6 on Saturday.
DeLeon was the only Jayhawk with multiple hits, going 3-for-3 and scoring three times.
Kansas (4-3) built a 6-1 lead after two innings, but Jackson State (2-4) evened the score, 6-all, in the fifth inning.
KU starter Thomas Taylor was replaced on the mound by Robert Kahana, who picked up the win. Jordan Piche’ earned the save. Both pitchers struck out three, walked one and didn’t allow a hit or run in two innings apiece as KU’s bats tacked on four more runs to close out the game.
Earlier Saturday, the Jayhawks fell to Central Arkansas, 9-3
Jeffrey Enloe pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts for Central Arkansas (5-1).
Central Arkansas 9, Kansas 3
Kansas 200 100 000 — 3 10 2
Central Arkansas 034 200 00X — 9 10 1
W — Jeffrey Enloe, 2-0. L — Wes Benjamin, 0-2.
2B — Alex DeLeon, KU; Tyler Langley, CA.
KU highlights — Tucker Tharp 2-for-4; Justin Protacio 2-for-3; DeLeon 1-for-4, 2 RBI.
Kansas 10, Jackson State 6
Kansas 510 000 211 — 10 10 1
Jackson State 100 410 000 — 6 9 4
W — Robert Kahana, 2-1. L — Alexander Juday, 0-1. SV — Jordan Piche’.
2B — Desmond Russell, JS; Jose Cruz, JS; Gary Thomas, JS.
KU highlights — Alex DeLeon 3-for-3, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB; Tucker Tharp 1-for-4, 3 R; Tommy Mirabelli 1-for-1, 3 BB, RBI.
Starkville, Miss. ? Kansas University sophomore pitcher Frank Duncan carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and KU’s baseball team defeated Mississippi Valley State, 9-2, on Friday as the Jayhawks split a pair of games.
KU fell to Mississippi State, 1-0, in the second game.
Tucker Tharp drove in three runs for the Jayhawks against Mississippi Valley, and freshman Michael Suiter went 3-for-3 for the second straight game.
Duncan didn’t allow a hit until Joseph Germaine doubled with one out in the seventh. Duncan allowed one earned run and struck out seven in seven innings.
Tharp hit a two-run triple in a three-run fifth inning as KU increased a one-run lead to 4-0. Connor McKay put the Jayhawks ahead 1-0 in the first with a leadoff home run. McKay went 2-for-4 and scored three runs.
Freshman Wes Benjamin pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings against Mississippi State. MSU won when Wes Rea hit a run-scoring double in the bottom of the ninth, ending the Jayhawks’ four-game winning streak.
MSU’s C.T. Bradford started the ninth with a walk on a 3-2 pitch by KU reliever Tanner Poppe. Rea then hit the first pitch he saw off the wall in left field.
The run against Poppe marked the first allowed by the Kansas bullpen this season. Prior to the ninth, KU relievers had gone 9 2/3 innings without allowing a run.
KU will meet Mississippi State again at 4 p.m. today.
