Brady Ballinger hit a pair of home runs to help the Kansas Jayhawks move toward first place in the Big 12, as Kansas bested Central Florida 9-2 on Friday night in Orlando, Fla.
The Jayhawks are off to their best start in Big 12 history, and sit one game behind first-place Kansas State at 7-3 in the league. Kansas starter Dominic Voegele picked up his third league win and allowed two runs in seven innings of work. In four league starts, Voegele has made it through seven innings three times. All three times, he became the winning pitcher.
Control issues from losing pitcher Angelo Smith hurt the Knights, who fell to 3-7 in the league. In the sixth, the Jayhawks took the lead for good when Smith walked Michael Brooks and allowed a double to Dariel Osoria. Kansas scored on an RBI groundout and a wild pitch, then broke the game open with five runs in the ninth.
Read More: Around the Big 12: Jayhawks Move Toward First
Wildcats Draw First Blood Against Sun Devils
Maddox Mihalakis broke a 5-all tie in the seventh inning for Arizona with a two-run home run, and the Wildcats moved to within a game of first place by knocking off rival Arizona State 8-5 on Friday night in Phoenix.
Arizona State’s Ben Jacobs had control of the game through the first four innings. However, he ran into trouble in the fifth when he couldn’t close out the inning. After getting the first two batters out, Jacobs allowed the next six Wildcats to reach safely. He allowed a walk, hitting a batter and giving up four consecutive singles. Arizona scored four times in the inning, which allowed the Wildcats to get into the Sun Devil bullpen.
Related: West Virginia Hammers Pitt
Meanwhile, the Wildcats’ bullpen held the Sun Devils in check. Between Casey Hintz and Garrett Hicks, Arizona held Arizona State to one run and four hits over the final 5.2 innings of the victory.
Cowboys Cash In On Wildcat Mistakes
Harrison Bodendorf struck out 12 Kansas State hitters over seven innings, and the Wildcats hurt their cause with four errors, dropping a 4-3 decision on the road to Oklahoma State. With the loss, Kansas State saw its five-game win streak end, although the Wildcats remained in first place.
Related: West Virginia Handles Ohio State
Kansas State managed just four hits in the loss, a season low. Bodendorf faced just six hitters more than the minimum and only allowed one unearned run before exiting in the seventh. K-State came up with two runs in the ninth to try to pull off the comeback, but fell short. With the win and West Virginia’s win over Utah, Oklahoma State moved out of the Big 12 basement.
Cougars Battle Past Bears’ Bullpen
Houston came up with five runs in the eighth inning, turning a three-run deficit into a 7-4 win on Friday night at Baylor. The Bears truly gave the game away, as all five Houston runs were unearned.
After Xavier Perez led off the eighth with a single, the Bears nearly ended the inning by coaxing a fly out and a grounder to third. But Pearson Riebock’s error put two men on, and Baylor collapsed from there. Three of the next four batters either walked or were hit by a pitch. Houston scored five despite getting just two hits in the inning.
That was all Antoine Jean needed, as he closed the door on Baylor in the ninth for the save.
Bearcats Beat Red Raiders in 12
Donovan Ford overcame an 0-2 count to force a game-tying bases loaded walk in the ninth, and Jack Natili’s RBI single won the game for Cincinnati in the 12th. The Bearcats emerged with an 8-7 win over Texas Tech, moving to .500 in the league.
Texas Tech nearly took control of the game in the sixth. The Red Raiders used a pair of home runs from Damian Bravo and Antonelli Savaterre to move ahead. But the Red Raiders’ early struggles ultimately came back to haunt them. Cincinnati opened the game with four runs in the first three innings to chase Mac Heuer. Jack Cebert struck out eight in six innings of relief, but the early issues left the Bearcats close enough for the comeback.
Frogs Finish Sweep of BYU
Cole Cramer tied the game in the ninth with an RBI single and did the same thing in the 11th to win the game, as TCU completed a sweep of BYU on Friday with a 13-12 win.
Because of weather and BYU’s policy of no games on Sundays, the teams played a Thursday doubleheader before ending the series Friday. TCU won the Thursday doubleheader by scores of 11-6 and 8-0.
