The Kansas baseball team used three home runs to propel its way to a 9-5 victory over USC Upstate Friday night at Cleveland Harley Baseball Park.
The Jayhawks (1-0) relied on homers from sophomore third baseman Skyler Messinger, junior catcher Jaxx Groshans and senior center fielder Rudy Karre to win their 11th season opener under the direction of head coach Ritch Price.
Those three blasts were enough to support five solid innings by junior righty Ryan Zeferjahn (1-0), which gave Kansas all it needed to outlast the Spartans (0-1) on Opening Day. Sophomore first baseman Conner VanCleave and junior shortstop Benjamin Sems each added an RBI for KU.
With the threat of rain on Sunday, Kansas and USC Upstate will play a doubleheader Saturday, Feb. 16 starting at 1 p.m. from Cleveland Harley Baseball Park.
