Kansas baseball rocks Air Force for second day in a row; No. 24 Oklahoma State up next

photo by: Matt Tait

The front entrance to Hoglund Ballpark, home of Kansas baseball, is shown here in this June 2020 photo.

The Kansas baseball team responded to a weekend sweep by Kansas State by pounding Air Force on back to back days at Hoglund Ballpark this week.

The Jayhawks won 19-4 on Tuesday, giving them back-to-back outings of 18 or more runs for the first time since 2007.

KU fell to K-State 21-18 on Sunday in the finale of the Sunflower Showdown series by making a game of it after falling into a disastrous 13-0 hole to open the game.

Sophomore Chase Jans tied a KU record with nine RBIs in that loss and added another RBI in Tuesday’s win.

Sophomore third baseman Michael Brooks recorded a team-high four hits to lead KU past Air Force in Game 1 of the two-game series. Every Jayhawk starter had a hit and RBI on Tuesday night. Tyler Gerety, Sam Hunt and Mike Koszewski each had three hits, and KU had 19 hits as a team. Brooks and Koszewski each had four RBIs and Gerety added three.

KU’s Gavin Brasosky pitched four innings to grab the win.

In Game 2, KU starter Hunter Cashero pitched six innings — five of them perfect — and gave up just three hits and two runs to grab the win on the mound.

KU juniors Kolby Dougan and Thaniel Trumper each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Jayhawks in the win.

Brooks clobbered the ball again, going 4-for-4 at the plate, with four runs and five RBIs to lead Kansas (19-18 overall, 5-7 Big 12) to the eight-inning win. Two of the four hits were home runs, Brooks’ first two homers of the season.

“It felt great,” Brooks said of his offensive explosion after Wednesday’s win. “It’s been a long process, but I’ve just been sticking to it and grinding out at-bats. I knew that it was going to pay off at some point.”

Brooks, who announced back in February that he was donating $20 for every hit he records this season to the Lawrence Schools Foundation, pushed his hit total from 24 to 32 in two days this week.

The Jayhawks are now 9-3 at home entering this weekend’s three-game series with No. 24 Oklahoma State at Hoglund Ballpark.

The series will mark the end of a season-long nine-game homestand for Kansas. Game 1 is slated for 6 p.m. Friday night.

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