Kansas University's baseball team has had enough experience in one-run losses to know where to find a silver lining.
"We kept fighting," said KU catcher Brent Del Chiaro, whose two-run, ninth-inning single helped Kansas pull within a run in a 4-3 loss to Oklahoma State on Monday at Hoglund Ballpark. "That's one thing coach talked about, playing hard for nine innings."
The loss dropped KU to 7-6 overall and 1-5 in the Big 12. Three of Kansas' five league losses have been by one run each.
"We're in every game," Del Chiaro said. "We've lost a lot of one-run ball games. Hopefully it won't be like last year. We're battling. Those one-run ball games are going to turn around. Our luck's going to change."
Oklahoma State, which is ranked as high as 12th nationally, won the series with KU, 2-1, and improved to 12-3 and 5-1.
OSU went ahead 2-0 in the third inning Monday and 3-0 in the fifth. Kansas plated a single run in the sixth, surrendered a run in the seventh, then rallied in the ninth.
With one out in the final inning, Doug Dreher was hit by a pitch from Shane Hawk. Jesse Gremminger followed with a double to the left-center gap. Del Chiaro singled to left to make it 4-3, but Matt Van Alsburg struck out. The game ended when Hawk speared a Ryan Klocksien liner at shoe-top level.
"I told my team, I like what we're doing, but we have to do it a little bit better," KU coach Bobby Randall said. "It's frustrating to lose by one run, but not as frustrating to lose by 12 runs."
The Jayhawks managed just five hits off two OSU pitchers. Scott Baker (3-0) picked up the win by surrendering a run off three hits over six innings. Hawk picked up his second save by surrendering two runs off two hits over the final three innings.
"They got their runs early and we got ours late," KU shortstop John Nelson said. "We were fighting from the first out to the last. We've got a lot of season left. In one-run games, you can always say, 'One more run and things would be different.' But that's baseball. You have to play through it."
Randall thinks the Jayhawks could have played through it better had they not had to scratch lefty Justin Wilcher from Saturday's start. Wilcher, KU's No. 2 starter, didn't start because of arm soreness and Kansas lost, 16-5, behind a makeshift pitching staff.
"That team doesn't hit left-handers as well as right-handers," Randall said.
"It did affect us a little," Del Chiaro added. "It affected us a lot. We were searching to find a guy on a day's notice. And it's tough on the bullpen guys, because you have to keep them hot. It was a scramble, but everybody has to be ready to play."
The Jayhawks will travel to Southwest Missouri State today, then play host to Missouri on Friday.
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