Kansas holds off Arkansas 13-10, headed to Super Regionals
The Kansas Jayhawks are headed to the Super Regionals. For the second time in two days Kansas knocked off Arkansas and rolled through their regional 3-0.
Kansas fell behind 5-0 but then rolled off the next 11 runs of the game to take an 11-5 lead to the bottom of the sixth inning. From that point the Jayhawks never trailed again.
They exploded for six runs in the fourth inning led by Tyson LeBlanc’s three-run homer over the center field fence. Arkansas added two in the bottom of the frame but Kansas got two more in the eighth to push the lead back to 13-7.
[Related: KU knocks off Arkansas to advance to the regional final]
Kansas used five pitchers and once again Dan Fitzgerald relied on his main relievers Riane Ritter and Boede Rahe to close the game out. Ritter and Rahe combined for eight strikeouts in the final 3 2/3 innings.
Dariel Osoria was 4-for-5 with a home run. Josh Dykhoff was 3-for-5 and 3 RBI and LeBlanc 2-for-4 with 3 RBI.
The Jayhawks are headed to the Super Regionals and matched up with the Atlanta regional. We will have to wait until Monday to see how things play out. Oklahoma defeated top seed Georgia Tech to force a game on Monday.
We will have more coverage from the Jayhawks NCAA regional win.
Comments from Fitzgerald, players after win over Arkansas
Fitzgerald was joined by Dykhoff, LeBlanc and Ballinger after the game. Here are some of the comments in the post-game press conference.
Opening comment from Fitzgerald:
What a night and what a regional. Can’t say enough about the three teams in this thing and how competitive those three programs are and how well coached they are and how hard their players play and how talented this thing was from top to bottom. So to come out of this thing on top it’s another mountain to climb. And could not be more proud of these guys and their teammates that are probably revving up the locker room right now with the disco ball and whatever else they’re doing. But unbelievable crowd, unbelievable atmosphere, and just could not be more proud and couldn’t be more excited to keep playing baseball.
Ballinger on falling behind but coming back:
You know, we just trusted our guys. We stuck to the approach that Coach Fitz gave us and we just grinded out at-bats. We know they had a good starter and we knew that we could get to him. And we just got through in the fourth or fifth, I forget which one.
Ballinger on his injury and being able to play:
You know, it was definitely a grind, I would say. A few days ago I was questioning whether I could hold the bat correctly. And then being able to come in on Friday and come up big for my team, start a rally to get on some insurance runs, it was just awesome. You know, just coming back from that was tough.
Dykhoff on his comments after the West Virginia series there is nothing wrong with the team and sticking together:
Just no surprise. We’re all best friends in there. Showing up every day is the best thing. We show up with smiles and we want to be here every single day and just work our butts off together. It’s all together.
Fitzgerald on Manning West giving key innings in relief:
Well, it was huge. We needed someone to bridge to Ritter and Boede, and we knew they were limited in their pitches. They both felt great coming into today, and our training staff did an incredible job getting those two ready to pitch. And we’ve got all kinds of science where we’re testing the arms and it’s giving us feedback on, hey, these guys are good.
