| Junior shortstop Justin Protacio extedned his hitting streak to nine games and his on base streak to 23. |
Kansas 5, Houston Baptist 0
QuikTrip Park // Grand Prairie, Texas |
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
| HBU |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| KU |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
X |
5 |
10 |
Box Score (.pdf)
Season Stats (.pdf)
Post-game Podcast (audio)
|
| Batting Leaders |
| Kansas |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
BB |
HR |
| J. Protacio |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| J. Afenir |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| M. Tinsley |
4 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| HBU |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| C. Vaughn |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Pitchers |
| Kansas |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| F. Duncan (2-0) |
9.0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
| HBU |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| C. Jones (1-1) |
7.0 |
8 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
| D. Zarosky |
1.0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – It only took 98 pitches and an hour and fifty one minutes for senior right-handed hurler Frank Duncan to carry the Jayhawks to a 5-0 win over Houston Baptist Saturday evening at QuikTrip Park.
Duncan (2-0) tossed nine complete innings for the two-hit shutout, mowing down 10 Huskies in the process. He faced just one batter over the minimum and retired the last 18 batters he faced in order without surrendering a walk.
“I felt good with all my pitches,” Duncan said. “I am not an over powering pitcher, but if I am able to mix my pitches well and throw every pitch I have in the zone for a strike, I can confuse a lot of hitters.”
In his first three starts in 2014, Duncan has struck out 27 batters without allowing a walk. He didn’t need much help from his offense today, but the Jayhawks (10-1) were able to scrap out five runs off of 10 hits, including multiple-hit performances by freshman centerfielder Joven Afenir and junior shortstop Justin Protacio.
Afenir strung together two hits in three at bats with two runs scored, while Protacio recorded two hits in four at bats, while scoring twice. Protacio extended his hitting streak to nine games and has now reached base successfully in 23-straight games, dating back to the end of the 2013 season.
“I just try to be a scrapper on the team and find a way to get on whether it’s a walk, hitting the ball into the ground and causing an error, or getting a hit,” Protacio said. “It is to just get on base and let the other big guys in the back of me drive me in.”
After a disappointing loss in game one of the day’s doubleheader, head coach Ritch Price mixed up the lineup up to see if he could get some offensive production out of his squad.
Freshman catcher Michael Tinsley, batting in the five hole, found that offense, driving in two runs for the Jayhawks. Junior right fielder Connor McKay, junior third baseman Aaron Hernandez and sophomore first baseman Ryan Pidhaichuk each added an RBI of their own in the win.
“I told our guys, we hit the ball as hard today as we hit it yesterday, but yesterday the wind was blowing out,” Price said. “The park played small today with the wind blowing in. (After the loss in game one,) The thing I told our guys is now you have to be professional, grind, compete and walk back in the dugout and play better in game two than you did in game one and we finally had some balls fall.”
Curtis Jones (1-1) started the game on the bump for the Huskies (7-4) and lasted seven innings, allowing eight hits and all five runs in the loss. HBU managed just two hits in the game, both coming at the bat of Clayton Vaughn.
Kansas and Houston Baptist return to QuikTrip Park Sunday, March 2, for the final game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
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