CLEBURNE, Texas – Kansas secured its third straight victory on Saturday afternoon with a 4-1 win against Oakland at The Depot at Cleburne Station. Three runs by Kansas in the first inning built an early lead for junior pitcher and Minnesota transfer Sam Ireland and sophomore Tennessee transfer Gavin Brasosky, who combined to hold Oakland to one run on four hits.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Sam Ireland (1-1)
Final line: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 SO
Save: Gavin Brasosky (2)
Final line: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
Loss: Brett Hagen (0-1)
Final line: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 SO
HOW IT HAPPENED
• For a second straight day, Kansas jumped out to a first inning lead. Redshirt junior infielder and LSU transfer Collier Cranford started a string of extra-base hits for the Jayhawks with a triple. Fellow LSU transfer and sophomore Luke Leto came up next and hit an RBI double on the first pitch he saw to give Kansas a 1-0 lead.
• Then, in his first career start and first official at-bat, freshman Jackson Kline doubled to left-center field to score Leto.
• Hitting next was redshirt sophomore and UCF transfer Michael Brooks, who worked an 8-pitch at-bat before sending a ball into the right-center field gap to score Kline. After one inning, Kansas held a 3-0 advantage.
• Both teams were quiet offensively between the second and fifth innings.
• After allowing back-to-back hits to start the top of the sixth, Kansas turned to Brasosky. Oakland’s only run scored when the Oakland runner broke for home on a throw to second with a runner stealing. Brasosky worked his way out of the inning with a double play and fly out.
• Kansas tacked on its fourth and final run in the seventh inning on a RBI double into the right field corner by redshirt sophomore Mike Koszewski. The hit brought in redshirt sophomore Jackson Cobb and made the score 4-1.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Gavin Brasosky: Brasosky came out of the bullpen for a second straight week and tossed four shutout innings. He minimized the potential damage when he entered in the sixth inning and had a stretch where he retired 10 batters in a row. Brasosky earned the save in the win.
NUMBER OF THE GAME
4: Kansas had four of its five extra-base hits in the first inning. Three of the extra-base hits were doubles and the other was a triple. All three doubles brought in runs.
QUOTABLE
“It starts on the mound and Sam went five innings and allowed one run on three hits with no walks and five punchouts. Two of the three hits came in the sixth, and he sat for a while in between the fifth and the sixth. He was at 71 pitches going into the inning, so we stuck with him. He really competed. Then, Gavin came in and was absolutely fantastic. There was some timely hitting in the first and good at-bats that we strung together early. Overall, good team effort and the guys were locked in.” – Coach Dan Fitzgerald
NOTES
• Kansas has won three straight games.
• Kline had an RBI double in his first career start and first official at-bat.
• Elvis, in his first season with KU after transferring from Cal, recorded his third multi-hit game of the season after going 2-for-4.
• Leto, who was celebrating his birthday, has run-scoring hits in the first inning in back-to-back games.
• Brasosky recorded his second career save, after earning the save in the season opener on Feb. 17 against Valparaiso.
UP NEXT
Game three of the four-game series between Kansas and Oakland will be played on Sunday at The Depot at Cleburne Station. Sunday’s first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
