Kansas Jayhawks closing in on first conference baseball championship in 77 years
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas can clinch its first regular-season conference title since 1949 with a sweep.
- KU enters the weekend with a four-game lead in the Big 12 and six games remaining.
- KU ranks No. 7 nationally and set a single-game program attendance record of 2,674.
The Kansas Jayhawks baseball team, which tied for fifth in the 2026 Big 12 preseason coaches poll, this weekend can claim the program’s first regular-season conference championship in 77 years.
With just six games to play, KU (37-12, 20-4 Big 12) holds a four-game lead over West Virginia (32-12, 16-8) and Arizona State (33-15, 16-8), and a five-game advantage over UCF (27-18, 15-9).
The Jayhawks play host to the Mountaneers at 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday at the 2,500-seat Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence. A series victory over West Virginia would guarantee the Jayhawks at least a share of the program’s first regular-season league title since 1949, when KU competed in the Big Seven.
A KU sweep would clinch the outright crown. A 2-1 record could clinch at least a share of the crown. KU comes into the series as the country’s No. 7-ranked team, the highest ranking in program history. West Virginia is No. 15.
“I’m excited for what this place is going to look like Friday night,” fourth-year KU coach Dan Fitzgerald said Wednesday. He spoke with media members outside the first base dugout at Hoglund Ballpark, where the Jayhawks are 18-2 overall, 12-0 in the league.
There’s a good chance KU could set an all-time single game attendance record Friday when staff ace Dominic Voegele (5-2, 6.52 ERA) takes the mound.
The 6-foot-2 junior righthanded pitcher, who was drafted out of high school by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 20th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, ranks fourth in KU history in career strikeouts (253). The Columbia, Illinois native is the only Division I pitcher with at least 15 strikeouts in multiple games this season and one of three pitchers nationally to throw a 9-inning complete game with 15 or more strikeouts.
KU, which has won 10 of its last 11 games, 21 of 23 and 27 of 31, drew a program record 2,674 fans for its 9-7 victory over Nebraska on April 21. KU set a new student attendance record with 1,019 students in attendance for a 11-1 victory over Sacramento State on March 24.
“I love the way we’ve played,” said Fitzgerald, whose squad had a 10-game winning streak snapped Tuesday at Creighton. The Bluejays prevailed, 9-8, in 13 innings. Earlier this year, the Jayhawks had an 11-game winning streak from March 28 to April 14. That was the longest winning streak in the four-year Fitzgerald era and the longest since March 3-22, 1994 when the Jayhawks won a school record 14 straight games.
“They’ve stuck together. This is an incredibly selfless team and they really care about each other. They put each other ahead of their own needs as well as any team I’ve ever been around,” Fitzgerald added, noting the best may be yet to come.
“I think we’ve got room to grow. We haven’t played our best baseball yet.”
One key to the team’s success, Fitzgerald said, is the way KU’s student body has embraced the program. The Jayhawk student section started to flock to games during last year’s 43-victory season. The school record for victories is 45, set in 1993.
The student body has continued its support this season.
“I do think there’s a real connection between our team and our fans,” said Fitzgerald, last year’s Big 12 coach of the year and leading candidate to win the award again this season. No other coach in KU history has won the Big 12’s top coaching award.
“I think it was really cool last Saturday,” he said. “My boys (his three sons) wanted to hit after the game (home victory over Arizona) so I was throwing BP (batting practice) to them. We came out (on field) and a bunch of our guys were out there with them (students). There’s nothing ordered from us on that — that’s all just pure and organic.
“Yes, I think there’s a lot of connection. At times I have to remind our guys the game is (on the field) not there (stands). But what an incredible problem to have.”
Noted second baseman Cade Baldridge, who has 23 multi-hit games in this, his junior season: “I think it (student support) is huge for us. We build off energy. So with the way that the fans have been … they have been outstanding. I think that’ll will be a big bonus for us.”
Fitzgerald said this team has been a joy to coach.
“I think as a coach, you’re constantly looking at the game of baseball. We play Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday. It’s a mandatory NCAA off day on Monday. So you have Tuesday, you have Wednesday and Thursday to practice. Well, that’s not nearly enough.
“So you have to look at game days as you have a practice and then you play a game. And our guys from day one in batting practice have been all business during BP, and that’s the one thing that for me as a coach is really fun to sit back and watch them prepare. They’re a fine-tuned machine in terms of how they go about their business.”
Fitzgerald cited infielders Dylan Schlotterback (third base), Tyson LeBlanc (shortstop), Josh Dykhoff (first base) and Baldridge (second base) for “taking hundreds of ground balls a day. There’s the intensity and attention to detail in which they do that. They sprint to their position. They make every play, and I mean every play. Their ability to lock in has set an example for all the guys.
“And same thing with the pitchers. Toward the end of our BP, the pitchers start throwing and they’re like clockwork. So I think it’s our preparation and their ability to focus in pre-game that separates these guys.”
KU will conclude the regular season May 14-16 at BYU.
After that it’s the Big 12 tournament May 19-23 in Surprise, Arizona, followed by the NCAA Tournament. KU is a prime candidate to host games at Hoglund during the May 29-June 1 regionals played at campus sites.
If it happens, it’d be the first time in school history KU has played host to postseason baseball tourney games.
“It’s going to be huge for us, just preparation for what we got coming down the road,” Baldridge said of upcoming regular season games as well as the Big 12 tourney. “But we’re going to do whatever we can to be ready Friday night and try to get that first one.”
