Kansas holds off Arkansas-Little Rock, 11-8

Originally published May 20, 2010 at 11:58 a.m., updated May 20, 2010 at 11:58 a.m.

The night was moving along smoothly for the Jayhawks until it came time for the final inning.

After nearly relinquishing their once comfortable lead, Kansas (31-21-1, 11-12-1) narrowly escaped with an 11-8 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday night.

Behind a barrage of offense, the Jayhawks were ahead comfortably 11-2 heading into the ninth inning. The Trojans though, wouldn’t go away quietly.

The first eight batters reached base in the inning, forcing coach Ritch Price to call his closer, sophomore Colton Murray, into the game.

Murray delivered, recording back-to-back strikeouts with the tying run at the plate to preserve the victory.

Kansas jumped ahead 7-0 after only two innings, guided by a well-rounded offensive attack. Seven of the nine Jayhawk starters tallied at least one hit in the game, and three recorded multiple hits – including junior center fielder Brian Heere, who went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and four runs scored.

While his Jayhawk teammates were smacking around Trojan pitching, junior Wally Marciel was equally potent from the mound.

Marciel pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings in relief and recorded a career-high eight strikeouts – and because of Murray’s heroics, earned his second victory of the season.

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