The Baker University baseball team took on the University of Kansas Wednesday for a non-conference game at Hoglund Ballpark, but the Wildcats fell 7-1.
Twenty-two Wildcats saw action during the game, including six pitchers who only allowed a total of six hits. Senior Josh Vossen received the start for the ‘Cats and threw two innings in which he allowed only one hit, but ultimately earned the loss.
Senior Bryan Kindle gave the Wildcats a 1-0 advantage with an RBI single in the first inning, but the Jayhawks scored seven unanswered runs and kept Baker scoreless for the remainder of the contest.
The game against KU followed a Heart of America Athletic Conference series Saturday and Sunday between the Wildcats and the Peru State Bobcats, in which Baker dropped all four games.
On Saturday, the Wildcats put up a fight for 12 innings in the first game, but Peru State finished them off 8-7. Baker came up short again in game two, losing 3-1.
Junior Jimmy Gricol received the start for Baker in game one, giving up seven hits and four earned runs. Gricol pitched for four innings and the Wildcats trailed 5-0 going into the top of the fifth.
Baker started to see some success after the fifth inning, though, as a run from freshman Neal Boyce put the team on the scoreboard for the first time of the day. In top of the sixth inning, four more Wildcats made it around the bases to tie the game up 5-5.
Baker chalked up two more runs in the top of the seventh, but the Bobcats answered with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Both teams went scoreless until the 12th inning when Peru State made it home for the walk-off win.
In game two, the Wildcats couldn’t seem to connect the bat and ball until junior Josh Zach got the first hit of the game for Baker in the top of the seventh inning.
Kindle also achieved a hit this inning, singling to the left field and bringing Zach home for Baker’s lone run of the game.
The Wildcats played two close games in the second doubleheader Sunday, but fell 5-4 in game three and 11-9 in an 11-inning game four.
Junior Thomas Hawkins took the mound and pitched all seven innings for Baker in game three, giving up eight hits and five earned runs. The ‘Cats had eight hits of their own and scored one run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings and two more in the top of the seventh to tie up the game at 4-4.
Peru State came out on top with another walk-off victory, though, scoring on a double in the bottom of the seventh.
Things were looking up for the Wildcats at the start of the final game as senior Justin Lane hit a 3-run bomb in the first inning. Senior Miles Sanderson and freshman Ethan Jacks also got hits during the inning, putting Baker up 4-0.
Both teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the game, but Peru State would have the last say with a walk-off 2-run home run over the centerfield fence.
Baker is now 6-34 on the season, with a 3-19 record in HAAC play. The Wildcats will host Avila University in their last HAAC regular season games this weekend.
Vossen, Kindle, Ryan Hahn, Lane, Sanderson, Andy Leiker and Ryan Thompson will be honored as they take on the Eagles at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Sauder Field.<br/>
