If patience is a virtue, Brett Bollman must be a pretty righteous guy right now.

The patience paid off last night as Bollman, a junior right-hander, finally picked up his fifth victory of the season. Kansas shut out Chicago State 9-1 in the second game of a doubleheader sweep on Tuesday.

Bollman’s last victory came on April 8 against Iowa, though he had been pitching well. In his previous two starts he gave up a combined two earned runs.

This season is Bollman’s first as a starter, and he has never fretted.

“Last year I remember giving up a few leads for the guys when I was in the setup position,” Bollman said. “So I know it’s not an automatic thing. Things are going to happen. Bullpen’s been throwing lights out all year — you really can’t blame them.”

Bollman usually starts midweek games against typically weaker competition, and he leads all KU starters with a 1.70 ERA. Coach Ritch Price said he was fortunate to put someone on the mound as reliable as Bollman in the middle of the week. Those nonconference games can make or break an NCAA tournament resume.

“It’s been a great surprise for us,” Price said. “As we put him in that midweek role he’s just relished. It’s been outstanding.”

It would have been almost impossible for Bollman to not pick up his fifth victory with the way he pitched the second game of the doubleheader. He pitched six innings, giving up four runs and no walks. He also struck out a career-high eight hitters.

“My slider was working real good,” Bollman said. “I was able to get my fastball inside on their hands early and then be able to throw my slider with two strikes, get them out.”

In game one, Kansas entered the seventh inning tied at five with Chicago State. But six unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth innings allowed Kansas to pull out an 11-5 victory.

Game two was a different story. With Bollman working with his best stuff, the Jayhawk offense gave him an early two-run lead in the second and proceeded to score runs in the next five innings to extend the lead to nine.

Junior shortstop David Narodowski’s two-run single in the second was all the Jayhawks needed. Narodowski finished 2-for-4 and tied a career high with four RBIs.

As the leadoff hitter, Narodowski is used to scoring runs instead of driving them in. But he said getting RBIs was fun too.

“It’s good having guys on the bottom of the lineup get on base and then having them score when I get those hits,” Narodowski said.

Behind Narodowski’s bat and Bollman’s arm, Price got everyone who was healthy some at-bats. After the struggle to win game one, Price was relieved that Kansas got out ahead early in the nightcap.

“For Bollman to walk out there and put six zeros up, it allowed you to play everybody on your roster,” Price said. “It allowed you to relax a little bit because the first game didn’t start out that way.”

The Jayhawks have played two doubleheaders in the past three days, with the first against Nebraska on Sunday. Fatigue could have been an excuse last night, but Price was impressed to see his team battle and sweep both doubleheaders.

“It’s a grind,” Price said. “And I was really proud of our effort on Sunday to win two after our performance on Friday night.”

But the sweep wouldn’t have been possible without Bollman. He had been under the radar all season compared with the rest of the weekend starters. And Price said he knew Bollman, an Oklahoma native, wouldn’t have it any other way.

— — Edited by Grant Treaster