Ritch Price became Kansas baseball’s all-time winningest coach when the Jayhawks defeated Northwestern State, 11-7, on Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark.

In his 15th season as the Jayhawks’ coach, Price recorded win No. 439 at KU and moved past Floyd Temple’s 438 wins over 28 seasons.

“Nobody knows how hard this job is more than I do,” Price said. “The best sport played in the Big 12 Conference is baseball. To be here long enough to accomplish that — Floyd coached for 28 years. It is a pretty special day. I just want to thank the players who have played for me and the assistant coaches that have been with me. It has been truly an honor to be the head coach at the University of Kansas.”

KU erased a 5-4 deficit with seven runs in the sixth inning, keyed by a three-run double by Marcus Wheeler and a three-run home run by Rudy Karre.

“Marcus Wheeler came off the bench and smoked the two-run double to left,” Price said. “That was a huge play in the game to put us back on top, and then (Devin) Foyle followed and doubled to left field. Obviously, Karre hit the ball out of the ballpark. Those three guys are pretty darn good to hit in the middle of that lineup.”

Jackson Goddard (1-0) earned the victory in relief, allowing one run in 4 2/3 innings.

“The key to the ballgame was the effort from Jackson Goddard from the bullpen,” Price said. “He has electric stuff and we have been waiting for him to take that next step in his development. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and only gave up a run and gave us a chance to get back in it.”

Kansas (4-6) goes for a sweep of the three-game series at 1 p.m. today at Hoglund Ballpark.

NW St. 130 010 020 — 7 10 1

Kansas 300 017 00x — 11 10 2

W — Jackson Goddard (1-0). L — Dan Hlad (0-1).

2B — David Fry, Kwanstan Adkins, NWS; Marcus Wheeler, Devin Foyle, Owen Taylor, KU. 3B — Caleb Ricca, NWS. HR — Rudy Karre, KU.