In front of a raucous crowd of more than 2,500 fans at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, the Jayhawks left no doubt as to who the better team was following a decisive 9-3 win over their long-time rival Missouri Tigers in the fourth annual Buck O’Neil Classic on Tuesday night.
KU started off the game hot with a three-run homerun from senior Brady Counsell – his 11th of the season – in the bottom of the first inning to put the Jayhawks up 3-1 and they never looked back. KU added another run in the second and two more in the bottom of the fourth. KU scored an additional run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to solidify the win.
KU is now a perfect 4-0 in the Buck O’Neil Classic and the win against Missouri was the Jayhawks’ ninth straight victory dating back to April 15. It’s the longest winning streak thus far in third-year head coach Dan Fitzgerald’s tenure at Kansas.
Ex-KU basketball player and current Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick was even in attendance supporting his alma mater.
KU, who currently sits second in the Big 12 standings, will next play host to Cincinnati for a three-game series in Lawrence this weekend. The Bearcats are ranked seventh in the Big 12 with a 10-11 conference record (24-20 overall).
The Jayhawks will then go on the road for round two of the Border Showdown next week before hosting the Big 12’s second-to-last place team BYU for a three-game set in Lawrence.
Then, KU will head to Morgantown, West Virginia, for their biggest series of the season against the Mountaineers who currently sit atop the Big 12 standings with a 16-3 conference record (37-5 overall).
The winner of that series may very well end up winning the Big 12 regular season championship – something KU has never done in the history of their program.