⚾️ Brooks, Kansas Power Past Pacific 18-7 on Friday Night

Box Score Season Statistics Gallery Highlights

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Michael Brooks had two home runs and a career-high seven RBIs as Kansas took down Pacific 18-7 on Friday night at Hoglund Ballpark. The Jayhawks had 18 runs on 23 hits which were both season highs.

The 23 hits for Kansas were its most since the 2007 season. Brooks, Kodey Shojinaga, Jake English, Ben Hartl, Ty Wisdom, Collier Cranford and John Nett all had multi-hit efforts on Friday night.

Reese Dutton started for KU and earned his seventh win of the season. JD Callahan also threw a scoreless inning of relief.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas (17-14) built an early lead with two runs in the first inning. John Nett led off the first with a double and Jake English quickly drove him in with an RBI single. Later in the inning, Michael Brooks had a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
• The Jayhawks stretched out the lead and broke the game open with six runs in the second inning. Nett had a two-run single, Kodey Shojinaga hit a two-run double and Brooks collected an RBI double. The final run of the inning was scored on a fielding error to make it an 8-0 game.
• KU continued to pour it on with five more runs in the third inning. English hit a two-run homer for his 10th of the season and Brooks crushed a three-run homer over the batter’s eye in center field. That made it a 13-0 Kansas lead.
• Pacific (6-27) pushed across its first run in the top of the fifth on an RBI single which made it 13-1.
• Kansas answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a throwing error and an RBI single by Ty Wisdom.
• In the bottom of the seventh, Mike Koszewski drew a bases loaded walk to bring the score to 16-1.
• The Tigers rallied in the top of the eighth with five runs. Gabe Camacho led off the inning with a solo homer. Four more runs would come in to score on base hits. That cut the Kansas lead to 16-6.
• Brooks delivered his second home run of the night in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run shot to left field. That finished out the scoring for Kansas at 18 runs.
• Pacific added an unearned run in the ninth inning to close out the game at 18-7.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Reese Dutton (7-1)
Final line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 SO
Loss: Ethan Shaver (2-4)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 0 BB, 1 SO

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Michael Brooks: Brooks had his first multi-homer game of the season and the second of his career on Friday night. He went 3-for-5 with a double, two home runs, a career-high seven RBIs and matched his career high of four runs scored. Brooks extended his hitting streak to 12 games, which is the longest by a Jayhawk this season.

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
“There’s nothing that (Brooks) does that really surprises me. He’s a fantastic hitter. He has literally gotten better every day since he came here. I think what we saw today is what (our team) gets to see every day.” – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

“I’ve been seeing the ball well the past few weekends and really all season. Everything comes down to timing at the end of it. It’s an honor playing in this offense that we have. We have guys that can hit in any spot in the lineup and my job is to just bring them in.” – Michael Brooks

• Kansas recorded season highs of 18 runs and 23 hits.
• The 23 hits by Kansas were its most since March 7, 2007 vs. Baker (23) and the most against a Division I opponent since March 5, 2004 vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee (26).
• The 18 runs were the most since April 18, 2023 vs. Air Force (19).
• Kansas has double-digit runs in consecutive games for the second time this season (March 2-3 vs. Texas Southern).
• Kansas had 11 extra-base hits on Friday.
• Brooks had his first multi-home run game of the season and the second of his career (April 19, 2023 vs. Air Force). His seven RBIs were a career high and he extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
• English hit his 10th home run of the season. He has double-digit home runs in back-to-back seasons. The last Kansas player with double-digit home runs in back-to-back seasons was Ryne Price in 2007 and 2008.
• Shojinaga matched his career high with four hits. He went 4-for-6 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Shojinaga has a seven-game on-base streak.
• Nett tallied his team-high 13th multi-hit game of the season after going 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, three runs and a walk.
• Dutton earned his seventh win of the season. He entered tonight tied for first in the Big 12 and tied for seventh nationally in wins.

UP NEXT
Kansas will play Pacific in game two of the series on Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. CT.

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