Wichita State rallies in eighth inning to defeat Kansas, sparked by Dugas' hustle

Wchita State freshman Dayton Dugas met with coach Todd Butler for a 10 a.m. session in the batting cages on Tuesday. By 10 p.m., that work paid off big.

Dugas homered in the sixth inning and started an eighth-inning rally with a double to help the Shockers defeat Kansas 7-6 at Eck Stadium. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Jayhawks, thanks to bottom-of-the-order heroics by Dugas and Trey Vickers and a pinch-hit winner by Zach Reding.

“We just stay at it and made a slight adjustment today in the batting cages and I think it really helped,” Dugas said. “I got that first single through the middle and I started feeling good about my swing.”

WSU (20-33) defeated Kansas for the first time since 2012 and snapped a nine-game losing streak to Big 12 schools this season. Kansas (20-32-1) lost for the ninth time in 10 games. Both teams can blame bullpen breakdowns for the 3 hour, 31 minutes game. The Shockers led 4-1 before giving up four sixth-inning runs. The Jayhawks led 5-4 in the sixth and 6-5 entering the bottom of the eighth inning.

Dugas erased the sixth-inning lead with his fourth home run of the season. In the eighth, he smacked a ball to right field with one out and knew he needed to get to second base. He did, barely beating a good throw by rightfielder Joe Moroney.

“I get in these moods when I hit the ball and I just take off,” Dugas said. “We’ve been talking about, for a while, to run in their faces, because we’ve got a lot of guys with speed.”

Dugas’ hustle paid off when Vickers singled up the middle. Dugas, even after hesitating to make sure the ball got through the infield, beat the relay throw and slid in safely to tie the score 6-all.

Butler approved of Dugas’ daring on the bases.

“He can really run well, so he can do some things with his legs,” Butler said. “It was a great hustle double. Once he rounded first, he really turned it on.”

Travis Young walked to push Vickers, who is 7 for 8 in two games against Kansas, to second base. Butler subbed in Reding to hit for Mikel Mucha. Reding, who is 3 for 8 as a pinch-hitter with a grand slam earlier this month, singled through the hole into right field. Vickers rounded third and saw a stop sign from coach Mike Sirianni. As he put on the brakes, he noticed the ball bounce away from Moroney. He resumed his path to home and scored easily to give WSU a 7-6 lead.

“I saw it kick off the right fielder, so I knew I had a chance to score,” Vickers said.

The Shockers handed freshman pitcher Connor Lungwitz a 3-1 run lead after the first inning and he responded with his best starting effort since late March, when he struck out 10 in a win over Stephen F. Austin. Lungwitz, after giving up a leadoff walk that turned into a first-inning run, pitched more aggressively and shackled the Jayhawks. He retired nine straight before giving up a single to start the fifth, exiting one hitter later. In the third, he struck out leadoff hitter Moroney with a slider away and struck out Matt McLaughlin with an 87 mph fastball to end the inning.

“He has a very good breaking ball for an out pitch, and his fastball is starting to steadily increase,” Butler said. “He came in after that first inning and he had to calm down a little bit. He settled in and really pitched extremely well.”

Kansas got back in the game in the sixth inning with four runs, all scoring with two outs. WSU reliever Tyler Jones walked two and both scored. KU’s Colby Wright drove in two runs with a double. Wright scored when WSU first baseman Greyson Jenista threw wide of first base after Joven Afenir bounced a ball toward right field.

Wichita State closer John Hayes gave up a one-out double to Moroney in the ninth and retired McLaughlin on a pop up and struck out Devin Foyle on a 3-2 pitch to end the drama.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Wichita State rallies in eighth inning to defeat Kansas, sparked by Dugas' hustle."