photo by: AP Photo/Colin E Braley

Baylor's Hunter Teplanszky, right, is out at second base as Kansas second baseman Kodey Shojinaga, left throws to first for a double play during an NCAA college baseball game on Saturday, April 1, 2023, in Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo/Colin E Braley)

Despite scoring 23 total runs across its first three games of the season, the Kansas baseball team lost its first series of the year, 2-1 to Illinois-Chicago in Corpus Christi, Texas.

On a challenging weekend for the Jayhawks’ pitching staff, Central Arizona College transfer Patrick Steitz, a junior from Peoria, Arizona, had by far the most success on the mound as he pitched six scoreless innings with four hits and zero walks allowed to lead KU to an 8-2 win over the Flames on Sunday.

However, the Jayhawks had already taken a pair of losses, 11-9 on Friday and 13-6 on Saturday. Starter Reese Dutton and reliever Evan Shaw combined to give up nine earned runs in the first five innings on Friday, while the second game of the series saw KU rally to tie it up at 5-5 entering the eighth inning before Kolby Dougan issued a walk and transfer reliever Ethan Lanthier gave up two RBI singles and a three-run home run.

The Jayhawks did show plenty of promise at the plate all weekend. Kodey Shojinaga went 6-for-13 with two doubles and two home runs, including a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning on Friday. Catcher Jake English and first baseman Ben Hartl (a newcomer from Heartland Community College) also hit a pair of home runs each while Hartl drew six walks, more than double the next closest total on his team.

Besides Dutton and Steitz, freshman Dominic Voegele, who was selected by the Diamondbacks in last summer’s MLB Draft, made his debut as KU’s Saturday night starter. He allowed one earned run on five hits and two walks in just 3 1/3 innings before he was replaced by Wichita State transfer Grant Adler.

The Jayhawks’ new-look pitching staff will get several more chances to impress this week, beginning Tuesday night for a midweek game against local Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and then over the weekend in the Round Rock Classic.