Saturday’s stormy weather brought in frigid temperatures for Sunday’s baseball doubleheader, but the sudden cold front did not affect the red-hot bats of the Kansas baseball team.
After beating LSU, 9-6, Friday night, the Jayhawks (9-3) roped 27 hits and swept the Tigers (4-3) in Sunday’s doubleheader and completed the three-game sweep of LSU at Alex Box Stadium.
“It seemed like every time [Kansas] hit the ball, they got the fat end of the bat on it,” said Brian Wilson (1-1), the losing pitcher of Sunday’s first game.
The Jayhawks became the first team to sweep LSU at The Box since Houston during the 2000 season.
Kansas third baseman Travis Metcalf gave the LSU pitching staff fits all weekend, including hitting 6-of-8 in Sunday’s doubleheader with two home runs and five RBIs. Metcalf, who is batting .476, finished the series 8-of-14 at the plate.
Right fielder Matt Tribble and left fielder Casey Spanish each hit 6-of-13 on the weekend. Overall the Jayhawks ripped 38 hits for the series and scored 24 runs, which did not surprise LSU coach Smoke Laval.
“I think Kansas is pretty good offensively,” Laval said. “I think they can swing it with anybody we play. I thought they were going to swing the bats.”
Kansas jumped all over Wilson in game two of the series Sunday morning and led 5-2 after Metcalf’s three-run home run in the fifth inning before LSU closed to within 5-4 in the sixth.
But Jayhawks relievers Brandon Johnson and Chris Smart shut down the LSU bats in the final three innings. Johnson (3-0) picked up his third win of the season while Smart notched his second save.
Wilson, who gave up 11 hits and five earned runs in five innings of work, said he did not expect that kind of firepower from the Kansas bats.
“It was pretty much a shocker when I was out there,” Wilson said. “I was thinking to myself ‘why are they doing this to us?’ We’ve got a pretty good staff and not one of us lived up to our potential.”
Kansas’ travel plans forced a time limit on the last game of the series where no inning would start after 3:45 p.m and the Jayhawks came out swinging.
In the top of the third inning with two outs, with no runners on base and the score 1-1, Kansas unloaded on LSU’s game three starter Nate Bumstead, who for the second weekend in a row was filling in for Bo Pettit.
Jayhawks center fielder Lance Hayes began the big inning with a soft infield hit and advanced to second base on second baseman Richie Price’s single up the middle.
Both scored on first baseman Ryan Baty’s double to left, and he scored on designated hitter Kevin Wheeler’s single to right. Tribble followed with another single.
Spanish then launched a three-run home run over the right field fence, and Metcalf followed with a solo shot to right for back-to-back home runs.
Kansas scored seven runs in the inning with two outs off Bumstead to take a 8-1 lead.
“You don’t have time to get anybody up in the bullpen,” Laval said. “And that’s not a cap on Nate, he’s tremendous. He’s going to be very good for us.”
LSU scrapped back but fell short in the comeback attempt, and the game ended after seven innings. Pat Holmes (2-0) got the win while Bumstead took the loss.
In Friday night’s game, Kansas roughed up Jake Tompkins for five runs in seven innings and the Jayhawks eventually won the game 9-6 in the 10th inning when they scored three runs off LSU closer Brandon Nall.
LSU did not hit poorly during the weekend. The Tigers hit four home runs and had 29 hits.
Quinn Stewart hit 5-of-13 with a home run and two RBIs, while third baseman Aaron Hill hit 4-of-8 with a home run, three RBIs and was hit by a pitch three times. Outfielder Ryan Patterson hit 3-of-7 with a home run and four RBIs in Sunday’s doubleheader.
“[Kansas] came out to win and they put it to us,” Hill said of the weekend. “It was embarrassing.”