After hit by 108 mph liner, KU pitcher persevered ... before taking issue with Texas
A 108 mph line drive to the gut couldn’t keep one Kansas baseball pitcher from working to secure a weekend sweep of Texas — with the Longhorns’ social media response to the play also leading him to address the situation a day later.
KU left-hander Eli Davis — a redshirt freshman from Shawnee, Oklahoma — needed some time to compose himself in the first inning of the Jayhawks’ 10-6 home victory after the Longhorns’ Peter Geib lined a shot up the middle that caught Davis in the midsection. The exit velocity was tracked at 108 mph, according to KU’s FlightScope tracker.
Not only did Davis stay in the game, he was able to sustain some later success. That included a third inning when he struck out the Longhorns’ 4-6 hitters, which also happened to include Geib.
While Davis’ numbers weren’t flashy — he allowed four runs, including two earned, with four strikeouts and two walks in four innings — his feat appeared to be more impressive after the fact. KU Athletics confirmed part of what Davis wrote in a Tweet on Monday, saying he had suffered a spleen injury and would be out for the season.
Davis appeared to take some issue with both Texas baseball and also its Twitter account’s description of the play, as in the moment, it said Geib “lines one at 108 mph off the pitcher and there are Horns on the corners with two away!”
On Monday morning, Davis quoted that Tweet, then said, “Fractured ribs, cut open my spleen and still continued to strike out the side the next inning, proceeding to finish through the 4th and then swept you guys #yallarebooty.” The post appeared to be popular among KU supporters — with 95 retweets and more than 700 likes as of Monday afternoon — before Davis deleted it.
The school did not confirm Monday that Davis suffered a rib injury as part of the play.
KU’s victory Saturday completed a three-game sweep of Texas, improving the Jayhawks to 26-21 overall and 8-10 in the Big 12.
This story was originally published May 6, 2019 at 3:59 PM.