Brian Lewis

Senior pitcher Mike Zagurski throws a fastball during the first inning of last night’s victory against New Mexico State. Zagurski pitched for four innings in which he allowed six hits and four strikeouts.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Kansas baseball team fell behind and rallied throughout the game last night before finally defeating New Mexico State 12-11.

On a night when the temperature at Community America Ballpark dipped near 40 degrees, the bats were anything but cold. The two teams combined for 23 runs on 19 hits.

The Jayhawks started the scoring in the first inning when senior catcher Sean Richardson doubled with two outs, driving in two runs and giving Kansas an early lead. Junior first baseman Jared Schweitzer then followed the double with an RBI single, pushing the lead to 3-0.

New Mexico State quickly responded with four runs in the second inning. Jayhawk senior lefthander Mike Zagurski surrendered two walks, a single and loaded the bases for Aggies junior catcher Brandon Lance. Lance drove all three runners home with a double to deep center field. Lance then scored as a result of the first of Kansas’ four errors, a botched ground ball by freshman third baseman Erik Morrison on a tough play in the hole between third and shortstop.

Kansas exploded in the third inning to regain the lead. Without the aid of an extra-base hit, Kansas scored five times. Aggies senior righthander Joseph Hampel helped the Jayhawks’ cause by walking four batters and surrendering two singles. An Aggie error only added to the high-scoring inning, where the Jayhawks sent 11 batters to the plate.

Brian Lewis

Senior catcher Sean Richardson slides into home plate safely during the first inning of Kansas’ match-up with New Mexico State last night. Richardson hit a two-run double down the left field line during the same inning. The Jayhawks defeated the Aggies 12-11.

New Mexico State began chipping away at the 8-4 Kansas lead in the fourth, scoring one run off a sacrifice fly by Lance. One inning later, the Aggies scored two more runs after Jayhawk freshman second baseman Ryne Price committed a throwing error while retrieving a double hit by Aggie senior right fielder Mark Aranda.

New Mexico State regained an 11-8 lead in the top of the seventh inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by Lance. The Jayhawks mounted one final charge in the bottom of the seventh when Price singled with two outs and nobody on base to start a rally.

Two singles, a hit batter, two walks and an error led to the explosion.

Senior Scott Sharpe picked up the victory for Kansas, improving his record to 2-0 on the season. He relieved junior righthander Kodiak Quick in the seventh inning and gave up one hit. Junior righthander Don Czyz quelled a New Mexico State surge in the ninth inning and picked up his fifth save.

Kansas (26-20) overcame a sloppy performance in the field. The Jayhawks’ four errors led to numerous scoring opportunities for New Mexico State.

“When you start as many freshmen as I do, you have to live with that sometimes,” Kansas coach Ritch Price said.

Price was disappointed that the Jayhawks didn’t bury the Aggies when they had the chance.

“We should have won that game in the early innings,” Price said. “I was happy with the way we battled back all night though.”

Junior left fielder A. J. Van Slyke was pleased with the way Kansas hit the ball.

“We knew we had to score a lot of runs tonight,” Van Slyke said. “You don’t want to have to score 12 runs to win a game, but we got the job done.”

After blowing a save and being saddled with two losses in recent games, Czyz restored order to an otherwise wild offensive night. He pitched two innings of shutout baseball to finish the game.

“I felt really good tonight,” Czyz said. “It was good to get back on track and pitch well.”

Kansas will take on Sacramento State at noon today at Community America Ballpark. Sophomore lefthander Sean Land will take the mound for the Jayhawks in search of his fourth victory of the year.

LAST NIGHT’S BOX SCORE

Kansas (26-20)

Player AB R H RBI

Matt Baty, cf 4 1 0 1

Ritchie Price, ss 3 2 0 1

A.J. Van Slyke, lf 4 1 1 2

Gus Milner, rf 2 2 0 1

Sean Richardson, c 5 1 1 2

Jared Schweitzer, 1b 2 1 2 2

Andy Scholl, ph/1b 1 0 1 0

Mike Dudley, 1b 1 0 0 0

John Allman, dh 1 1 0 0

Brock Simpson, ph/dh3 0 0 0

Ryne Price, 2b 3 2 1 0

Erik Morrison, 3b 4 1 3 1

Totals 33 12 9 10

New Mexico State (22-18)

Player AB R H RBI

Vince Rodden, cf 5 2 1 0

Jason Long, ss 5 0 0 0

Xardiel Cotto, 2b 4 1 2 1

Mark Aranda, rf 3 2 1 0

Luke Hopkins, 1b 5 1 2 1

Derek Maytubby, lf 5 0 0 0

Adam Harvey, dh 4 2 1 0

Cole Monreal, 3b 4 1 1 0

Brandon Lance, c 4 2 2 6

Totals 39 11 10 8

F HR Lance (2)

Score by Innings R H E

New Mexico State 040 121 300 11 10 2

Kansas 305 000 40X 12 9 5

Win: Sharpe (2-0)

Loss: McFadden (1-1)

Save: Czyz (5)

Source: Kansas Athletics Department