Fans who attended Kansas University’s 11-1 baseball massacre of Northern Colorado on Friday might not have expected the Jayhawks needing a home run in extra innings to defeat the Bears on Saturday.

But that’s exactly what it took.

A.J. Van Slyke’s walk-off home run in the 11th inning won the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, 9-8.

And, what’s more, the home run not only won the game but also spared the Jayhawks a near-sweep in the doubleheader to the Bears.

UNC entered the day winless, but pushed KU to extra innings in both games. UNC won the first game, 3-2 in 10 innings, before the 11-inning nightcap.

“I think it definitely salvaged the day, there’s no doubt about that,” KU coach Ritch Price said. “That would have been a devastating sweep.”

The Jayhawks barely saved the second game after appearing dead entering the bottom of the ninth inning down 8-5.

But a Van Slyke shot down the first-base line with two on and no outs scored a runner and injected some life in the Jayhawks.

Sean Richardson then scored on a Brennan Garr wild pitch, which was followed by a Gus Milner sacrifice fly to center which allowed Van Slyke to score the tying run.

KU's Erik Morrison throws to first base for an out. KU split a doubleheader Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark.

The next the Bears would see of Van Slyke was on the game-winning bomb, but they could have missed him with how quickly he circled the bases.

“I was kind of jogging off the bat because I was pretty sure it was gone but once I knew it was gone, I got real excited I started running pretty hard,” Van Slyke said.

Even better was he did it in front of his father, former Major League outfielder Andy Van Slyke, who saw his son play in a KU uniform for the first time.

But A.J. Van Slyke would have preferred to have KU put on a better show the entire day for his father instead of a doubleheader filled with miscues, slipshod pitching and inconsistent batting.

And it wasn’t as though KU didn’t have its opportunities to blow UNC out, especially in the first game.

KU appeared poised for a big inning in the fourth when Richardson and John Allman started off with a pair of singles. Then, on a double steal, Milner smoked a deep fly ball to center that seemed certain to fall for extra bases.

But UNC’s Zach Weidenaar caught the fly ball as Richardson was rounding third. By the time Richardson was able to retreat, Weidenaar’s throw was already headed to second to double him off for the inning-killing double-play.

“We were double stealing. He had such a good jump that he could have stole third base standing up,” Price said. “It’s one of those times where someone is running and the guy smokes the ball at somebody and what could have been a two-run double ends up being an inning-ending double play.”

Another unlikely UNC catch saved the first game for the Bears in the bottom of the ninth. Matt Baty hit a hard line drive towards third base, but UNC’s Chad Clark made an unexpected leaping grab to force the game to extra innings.

Price said the first game showed how frustrating baseball could be when his team had several opportunities to score but still lost the game.

“I think the first game is an example of how hard baseball is to play some days. We had five line drives that were caught with runners in scoring position,” Price said. “I almost feel like we won the one we should have lost and lost the one we should have won.”

KU will play host to Southwest Missouri State at 3 p.m. Tuesday.