KU baseball sweeps Utah, gets ready for key four-game stretch
The Jayhawks erased a midgame deficit and pulled away for a 13-9 win over Utah on Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark, completing a three-game sweep. KU has now won six straight games and 12 of its last 14, improving to 22-10 overall and 9-3 in Big 12 play.
Kansas looked in control early, building a 7-1 lead behind Tyson Owens and Max Soliz Jr. But the game flipped when Utah went for six runs in the fourth inning and grabbed an 8-7 lead in the fifth.
But KU answered regaining momentum with a two-run home run from Tyson LeBlanc in the sixth before breaking through in the seventh.
Cade Baldridge hit a three-run homer to give Kansas breathing room at 13-9 after the Jayhawks had briefly tied and retaken the lead.
[KU bats lead to series win in game two]
Mason Cook provided the key moments on the mound. Entering in the sixth, he shut down Utah over four innings, allowing no earned runs while striking out six to secure his first win with the program.
It was the Jayhawks second Big 12 sweep of the season after taking three from Houston. That was sandwiched in between winning two of three from Houston. Head coach Dan Fitzgerald knows sweeping Big 12 series are not easy.
“Sweeps are really hard to do and they are especially hard to do inside of our league,” Fitzgerald said.
The series featured high scoring games but it was Cook who changed the complexion of the game. In a series where both teams combined for 61 runs it was Cook who shut down the Utes offense and led them to Saturday’s win.
“The idea was to hand it to (Mason Cook)… and then Cookie was just rolling so there was no sense in messing with what was working,” Fitzgerald said. “Great effort against a really good team and just a great series sweep.”
Next four games are against ranked teams
KU was able to outscore Utah in all three games but needed double-digit run totals to get the sweep. The script will likely change this week when they face a tough four-game stretch.
On Tuesday they travel to Lincoln to play Nebraska. The Huskers have won 20 of their last 21 games going into the series finale on Sunday against Penn State. Their only loss was a 2-1 to Michigan in that span.
Nebraska is currently ranked #21 in the D1 Baseball poll.
The next Big 12 series starts Friday against UCF who is ranked #24 in the country. They are tied in their series with West Virginia with the final game today.
UCF has one of the best pitching staffs in the league and hold the second best team ERA in the Big 12. UCF also has the best opponent batting average with teams only hitting .222 against them.
