An insurance run for Kansas in the eighth inning of a tight game on Friday night very quickly became two and then, in the blink of an eye, six.
Shortstop Tyson LeBlanc hit a grand slam to break open the Big 12 semifinal matchup with Oklahoma State, tying KU’s single-season home-run record in the process with his 21st of the year, and the Jayhawks beat the Cowboys 9-2 at Surprise Stadium.
In doing so, LeBlanc followed up key pieces of hitting from catcher Augusto Mungarrieta and left fielder Savion Flowers that had given the Jayhawks a little bit of breathing room.
After KU established an early three-run lead, OSU starter Ethan Lund recovered on the mound and his teammates eventually cut it to one on an eighth-inning sacrifice fly by Campbell Smithwick. But the Cowboys never got a chance to complete their late rally as a result of KU’s eighth-inning explosion.
LeBlanc finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs to lead the way for the Jayhawks, while Mason Cook earned the win by allowing just one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched.
KU now advances to the Big 12 championship against either Arizona State or West Virginia at 6:30 p.m. Central on Saturday. The Jayhawks also provided a significant boost to what were already strong chances of hosting a regional.
Cook struck out a pair early. Lund, meanwhile, had some immediate control issues with two walks that prompted a quick mound visit.
The No. 3 hitter, Cade Baldridge, had a potential extra-base hit go just foul and then struck out. Josh Dykhoff grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Mungarrieta gave KU an early lead with a first-pitch single to right field, and then Jordan Bach made it 2-0 with a double to left-center. Dylan Schlotterback flied out on the warning track to strand the remaining two runners.
The Jayhawks scored again in the second inning when LeBlanc doubled off the wall to bring in Dariel Osoria.
Cook continued to breeze through the Cowboys’ lineup, while Lund settled down somewhat for a scoreless third and a particularly quick fourth.
Cook issued his first walk to Colin Brueggemann with one out in the top of the fifth, and his second to Danny Wallace with two outs to bring up Alex Conover at the top of the order.
Conover endured a long at-bat that included a wild pitch, a replay review and ultimately a hit-by-pitch to load the bases for Brock Thompson. But after a mound visit, Cook escaped when Thompson went around on a checked swing and the score remained 3-0.
Baldridge got to scoring position in the bottom of the fifth on a wild pitch, but Lund struck out Dykhoff and Mungarrieta swinging.
Kollin Ritchie drew a leadoff walk. As Cook’s pitch count climbed into the 90s, he got close to escaping the inning but allowed a long RBI double to Avery Ortiz, just OSU’s third hit of the game, that made it 3-1. Toby Scheidt only needed one pitch to get the third out on Brueggemann.
Lund, for his part, pushed through some unfavorable counts to retire three straight Jayhawks; Scheidt then proceeded to strike out the side ahead of the seventh-inning stretch.
OSU went to righty Kai Fyke out of the bullpen, and he got a boost when Tyson Owens grounded into a double play.
Then it was Riane Ritter’s chance at redemption for KU after a brief and unsuccessful outing against Baylor. He walked Thompson on four pitches, but struck out Ritchie after a visit from head coach Dan Fitzgerald.
Aidan Meola put Ritter in the danger zone with a double that brought Thompson to third, before he came home on a sacrifice fly by Smithwick. Ortiz grounded out on the first pitch to leave the score at 3-2.
It didn’t stay there for long, because Mungarrieta came through with an insurance run in the form of an RBI double to left-center field that was deep enough to score Josh Dykhoff.
Fyke proceeded to hit Bach. He struck out Schlotterback at first. Then Flowers singled and made it 5-2.
Osoria walked to load the bases, and then it was LeBlanc’s turn to add to the scoring in his own way with a grand slam.
Brennan Phillips got the final out for OSU, and then Ritter shut down the Cowboys with three strikeouts.
