Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LAWRENCE, KS. – In a move to get ahead of inclement weather, the Niagara Purple Eagles played the Kansas Jayhawks in a doubleheader on Friday.  The Purple and White were narrowly edged in both games, losing 3-2 and 5-4.
 
“I thought we played really well today,” head coach Rob McCoy said.  “Any time you play close games that you have a chance to win against a Big-12 team, you’re doing a lot of things right.  We are still making mistakes that are costing us, but those mistakes are within our control to fix.  If and when we fix them, we have a chance to be really good.”
 
Game One
The Purple Eagles (3-12) found themselves down 2-0 early as Kansas (9-5) scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second on a balk and a RBI-triple.  Those were the only runs Kansas scored in the next six innings because Jim Fort threw the first 5.1 innings and gave up just the two runs on three hits. 
 
Niagara evened the score at 2-2 in the top of the sixth.  Kevin Paulsen led off the inning with a double down the leftfield line and was later brought around by a Ryan McCauley sac-fly.  Greg Rodgers, who would tie the team lead in RBIs with nine by the end of the day, singled to leftfield later in the inning and brought Thomas Rodrigues, who had singled earlier, across home plate. 
 
The score remained tied until the bottom of the ninth when a RBI single to centerfield gave Kansas the 3-2 win.  Geoff Soja (0-1) took the loss after giving up one run on two hits through three innings.  He only gave up one hit and shutout the Jayhawks through his first 2.1 innings.  Christian Vangeison went 2-for-4 at the plate.
 
Game Two
Much like the first game, KU took the lead first after adding three runs in its half of the second and another in the fifth.  Also like the first game, NU tied the game in a single inning, this time tying the game 4-4 in the top of the sixth. 
 
Rodrigues reached on an error and made the Jayhawks pay by advancing to second then scoring on a McCauley single up the middle.  Rodgers collected his second and third RBIs of the afternoon later in the inning when he brought two runners home with a double.  An Evan Wexler infield single brought home the final run of the inning. 
           
Kansas scored the final run of the ballgame in the seventh and held Niagara off the board throughout the final three innings to come away with a 5-4 win. 
 
Anthony Caringi started the game for Niagara and finished with four runs on six hits through 4.1 innings.  Kody Kasper came out of the pen to throw one scoreless inning, and Ben Zaccagnino (0-1) took the loss after giving up the one run in the final 2.2 innings.  He didn’t give up a hit and struck out two. 
 
Offensively, both Rodgers and McCauley went 2-for-4 at the plate with the freshman adding two RBIs and the senior collecting one. 
 
The Purple Eagles and Jayhawks are scheduled to wrap up the series tomorrow with first pitch at 1 p.m.