Kansas baseball begins NCAA tournament with 10-6 victory over Kentucky
Despite giving up six runs in the first four innings and playing through 3 hours and 22 minutes of weather delays, the Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 10-6 in their first game of the NCAA tournament.
The lackluster starting performance by Jordan Piche’ (4 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 2BB, 4 SO) was overshadowed by an outstanding batting performance by the Jayhawks, who scored six runs in the first two innings and four in the last two. The Jayhawks took the early 6-3 because of timely hits and costly errors from the Wildcats.
The Jayhawks outhit the Wildcats, 13-9, thanks to Tucker Tharp, who was 3-for-5 with three RBI and one run scored.
“You look at that line score; he (Tharp) had three hits and three RBIs today,” Price said. “He was a big-time player. You can make the statement at the end of the game, ‘he was the best player on the field today.'”
Tharp wasn’ the only hero for the Jayhawks. The bullpen stepped up their game allowing just two hits, two walks and zero runs in the final five innings of play.
With the win, the Jayhawks move to the winner’s bracket of the Louisville region. The No. 3 seed Kansas Jayhawks will face the No. 1 seed Louisville Cardinals at 4 pm on ESPN2 today.
