Redemption came with one swing of the bat.

Junior second baseman Ryne Price was having a rough day. A pair of errors, one that caused the tying run to score in the seventh, and the other that put a runner on third in the ninth, hung over Price in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader against Baylor (21-17, 6-9 Big 12 Conference).

All was forgotten when Price sailed a walk-off home run over the center field fence. His eighth bomb of the season gave his team the 4-3 victory.

“He had a tough weekend. That’s probably the worst he’s played with a glove his entire life,” coach Ritch Price said. “One of the things we preach to our players is when you make a mistake, you live for an opportunity to redeem yourself and I don’t know if you can do it in any better fashion than he did. That was a big-time swing.”

Price’s home run capped off a hit-heavy game for the Jayhawks, but they struggled with the run count. Once the Jayhawks (19-22, 5-10) got rolling in the third, their bats dominated as they out-hit the Bears 10-3.

But it was the run count that Kansas struggled with. In the top of the ninth, Kansas still found itself in a tie ballgame because of the 13 runners the Jayhawks left on the bases throughout the afternoon.

On the other side of the ball, junior lefty Zach Ashwood (3-3) kept his offense in it, surrendering just two hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. One of the two, however, was a two-run shot that put a deep dent in the lead he was working with.

After busting out for his first home run against No. 6 Texas last weekend, junior left fielder John Allman slugged his second one of the season in the bottom of the fifth on Sunday. Allman’s two-run shot followed a single by Robby Price’s single, and extended the Jayhawks’ lead to 3-0.

The lead narrowed quickly in the Bears’ next at bat. Two batters equaled two runs in the top of the sixth when right fielder Aaron Miller sent Ashwood’s delivery over his own territory in right. Although Miller’s shot was only the second hit Ashwood gave up, it was his last pitching opportunity of the game. He was lifted one batter later for freshman lefty Wally Marciel.

“My stuff was getting a little less sharp as the innings were going on, and it was time to get somebody else in there,” Ashwood said. “But I was happy with my outing.”

Entering the game with a 3-2 lead, the young reliever finished out the sixth unscathed, but gave up Ashwood’s chance for the victory in the seventh. It was a spell of shoddy defense that actually had the larger hand in the Bears’ tying it up.

An error at second gave left fielder Ben Booker a free pass that led to the unearned run that tied the game at three. The score remained even until Price’s home run.

Sophomore closer Paul Smyth (3-2) picked up the victory when he came in the top of the ninth to shut the door on the Bears.

“That’s baseball for you. It’s good one game and the next game it doesn’t go as good for you,” junior shortstop Erik Morrison said. “You’ve got to keep battling through it. It’s definitely a low point, but we’ve got to keep as much composure as possible.”

GAME TWO — Baylor 6, Kansas 2

Price’s walk-off made for a dramatic victory, but didn’t do much for the Jayhawks’ momentum. Only 30 minutes from one to the next, game two of Sunday’s doubleheader went much differently than game one.

“I think we came out in the first game ready to play and then it seemed like maybe we were just cruising in the second game, but it happens,” Ashwood said.

The second game of the day and final game of the series followed a path similar to the first game, minus the lead. Entering the sixth, Baylor held a 3-1 lead, compared to the 3-0 deficit the team faced in game one after five.

Home runs again played a large part, but this time all on the Bears’ behalf. Baylor hit four out in the third game of the series while Kansas didn’t homer even once.

Sophomore lefty Andy Marks (3-4) threw a decent start, just as Ashwood did in game one, allowing just five hits for three runs.

All three runs, however, were scored via home runs, including a pair of back-to-back solo shots to center fielder Chase Gerdes and shortstop Beamer Weems in the top of the fourth, a first for a Kansas pitcher this season.

“The reason why a lot of that happens is sometimes when you’re pitching behind in the count, you have to throw a fastball, you have to throw a strike,” Ashwood said. “Guys are going to be ready for that. Some of the balls were hit really well and some of them aren’t hit that well, but they still get out.”

Despite the different results, Kansas matched game one’s three-error count again in the second game, giving the defense a total of eight errors for the weekend.

In the seventh, Baylor transformed its lead from a slight advantage to a secured victory with a pair of Jayhawk errors. When first baseman Dustin Dickerson hit by a pitch, he stole second and landed on third because of a catcher’s error.

“Errors are going to happen,” Morrison said. “Just try to eliminate them as much as possible and get the next guy for a chance to redeem yourself later in the game. But we never get down on each other. Once you get down on someone it’s just going to spiral out of control and that’s no good.”

An RBI double knocked Dickerson home. Another infield error kept the inning alive long enough for the Bears to push the lead to 5-1.

The Jayhawks kept kicking, finishing the series finale with nine hits to Baylor’s 10. The batting of Kyle Murphy and Robby Price drove in another run, but it would be the last of the series. The Bears’ fourth home run of the game negated the last-stitch effort.

“When I looked at the board one time and we have seven hits and only one run,” coach Price said. “We had some opportunities with the right guys up. We just weren’t able to capitalize.”

Baylor closer Nick Cassavechia saw to that. The right-hander picked up his seventh save, tossing three innings without giving up a run or a hit.

“Doubleheaders are hard no matter who you’re playing, what time you start the game,” Ashwood said. “It’s hard to go out and win two games straight against the same team,”

Kansan sportswriter Alissa Bauer can be contacted at abauer@kansan.com.

— Edited by Ashley Thompson