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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas continued its hot hitting Tuesday as the Jayhawks beat the Air Force Falcons 19-4 at Hoglund Ballpark. The Jayhawks have scored at least 18 runs in back-to-back games for the first time since 2007.
Every Jayhawk starter had a hit and RBI on Tuesday night. Redshirt sophomore Michael Brooks had a team-high four hits, while Tyler Gerety, Sam Hunt and Mike Koszewski each had three hits. KU had 19 hits as a team, with the four combining for 13 of those hits. Brooks and Koszewski each had four RBIs and Gerety added three himself.
Kansas (18-18, 5-7 Big 12) trailed 2-0 early in the game, but the Jayhawks went on to score the next 12 runs. In the second inning, a wild pitch and an RBI bunt single from Koszewski evened the game at 2-2. Brooks hit an RBI single in the third inning to give Kansas a 3-2 lead it would never relinquish.
Four runs came into score in the fourth inning for the Jayhawks. Back-to-back-to-back run-scoring hits with two outs by Janson Reeder, Gerety and Hunt pushed the Jayhawks lead to 7-2. Reeder hit an RBI double, Gerety had a two-run double and Hunt notched an RBI single.
Another run scored in the fifth on an RBI single by Cole Elvis and four runs scored in the sixth on a pair of infield singles and two sacrifice flies. Kansas had a 12-2 advantage after six innings.
Air Force (16-22, 9-9 Mountain West) added a run in the seventh inning on an RBI single, but Kansas came back immediately with an answer. The Jayhawks tallied three runs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Gerety, an RBI double from Brooks and an RBI groundout from Koszewski to make the score 15-3.
Kansas added four more runs in the bottom of the eighth on two bases-loaded walks and a 2-run single by Koszewski. Air Force added a run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly to make the score 19-4.
Sophomore Gavin Brasosky made his first career start and earned the win after tossing four innings and allowing two runs on five hits. Ethan Bradford, Stone Evers and Toby Haarer combined to throw the final five innings of relief.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Gavin Brasosky (1-1)
Final line: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
Loss: Ben Weber (1-1)
Final line: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 2 SO
QUOTABLE
“It was fun to see the guys perform. I thought we were especially good with two outs and two strikes and I could not be happier for Gerety and Hunt. Those guys have been grinding away and probably haven’t gotten the at-bats that they would like, but they just stuck to it. They are great team guys and they are workers. It’s really fun to see when that actually pays off like that.” – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald
“Really the whole team hit the ball well. We all stayed in our zone today and it really paid off.” – Sophomore Tyler Gerety
NOTES
• Kansas has scored at least 18 runs in back-to-back games for the first time since March 6-7, 2007 vs. Tabor/vs. Baker (42 runs total). The Jayhawks have scored 37 runs in the last two games.
• Eleven of Kansas’ 19 runs scored with two outs.
• Every starter had a hit and RBI on Tuesday.
• Gerety had career highs of three hits, three RBIs, five runs and two walks. He finished 3-for-4 on the night.
• Brooks recorded a career-high four hits and tied his career highs of four RBIs and three runs scored.
• Hunt posted a season-high three runs and a season-high-tying three hits.
• Koszewski tallied a career-high four RBIs and matched his career high of three hits.
• Elvis extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
UP NEXT
Kansas plays game two of the series against Air Force on Wednesday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
