EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette baseball team fell to the Kansas Jayhawks in the two squads first ever meeting on Tuesday by a 20-5 final.
The Leopards were led by freshman
Justin Grech who totaled two hits, two runs and an RBI. Sophomore
Pete Ciuffreda totaled a team-high two RBIs and senior
Ethan Stern and sophomore
Seif Ingram each totaled two hits.
Freshman
Joey Pence made his first collegiate start on the mound, throwing 3.1 innings and striking out one.
Kansas (13-6, 0-0 Big 12) got on the board first after a leadoff single put a Jayhawk runner on first and was brought in by a double later in the inning to go up 1-0.
Lafayette (4-2, 3-0 PL) responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the first. Grech singled to start off the inning and then junior
Justin Johnson hit a double through the gap to bring Grech home and tie up the game.
Junior
Zach Savage led off the bottom of the second inning for the Leopards by reaching first on a wild pitch. Grech then drew a walk to put runners on first and second before Stern singled to load the bases. But the Maroon and White couldn't quite get a run across the plate as Ciuffreda grounded into a double play to end the inning.
After a quick third inning for both teams, the Jayhawks exploded for five runs in the fourth, adding to the one run they got across the plate in the second putting them up by six. They added two more in the top of the fifth to make it 9-1.
Lafayette added one more run of its own in the bottom of the fifth. Savage found himself on first after getting hit by a pitch and then advanced to third on a Stern single, putting runners at the corners for Ciuffreda. Ciuffreda then singled to bring home Savage and bring the score to 9-2.
They then added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth but the Jayhawks added five of their own in the top of the sixth, two in the seventh and two in the eighth inning to bring the score to 18-4 heading into the ninth.
Kansas added two more in the ninth and Lafayette added one in the bottom of the inning, bringing the final to 20-5.
The Leopards and Jayhawks are slated to wrap-up the series on Wednesday, March 24. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
