Champion Kansas Jayhawks clobber WVU Mountaineers in Big 12 tourney’s title game
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas beat West Virginia 9-0 in Surprise, Arizona to win the Big 12 title.
- KU had a six-run seventh that included three consecutive home runs.
- Tyson LeBlanc was named tournament most outstanding player and had a run-scoring single.
The Kansas Jayhawks baseball team, which won the Big 12’s regular-season championship by one game over West Virginia, proved the program’s first conference title in 77 seasons was no fluke on Saturday night in Surprise, Arizona.
No. 13-ranked and top-seeded KU slugged back-to-back-to-back home runs during a six-run seventh inning en route to a convincing 9-0 victory over the No. 9-ranked Mountaineers in the league tourney’s championship game.
“This year has been all about Kansas,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said in presenting KU’s players with the conference championship trophy.
The Jayhawks improved to 42-16. Their decisive victory came just two weeks after No. 9-ranked WVU outscored KU 22-5 en route to winning three games against the Jayhawks in Lawrence.
It was KU’s third victory in three days. KU defeated Baylor 8-7 in eight innings in Thursday’s quarterfinals and Oklahoma State 9-2 in Friday’s semifinals.
Saturday night’s seventh-inning parade of runs started when tourney most outstanding player Tyson LeBlanc singled in Kansas teammate Daniel Osoria from third base.
That made the score 3-0. Then Josh Dykhoff effectively put the game away by blasting a 458-foot three-run home run. His 15th homer of the season made it 6-0.
Next, Augusto Mungarrieta ripped a 370-foot home run, his 15th. And the ensuing batter, Jordan Bach, rifled a 381-foot homer — his seventh of the season.
That upped the lead to 8-0 as KU stormed to its first conference postseason tourney title since 2006 (and second in school history), when KU beat Nebraska 9-7 in the finals at Oklahoma City. In the 2013 postseason tourney title game, KU fell to Oklahoma 7-2 in Oklahoma City.
KU became the fourth team to win both the Big 12 regular-season and tourney titles in the same year. The others: Nebraska (2001), Texas (2002) and TCU (2021).
Of the pivotal seventh inning, LeBlanc said: “We were trying to tack on as many runs (as possible). That was a huge inning. We’ve been doing that all year. I have faith in all my teammates. That was a fun game.”
He received a huge World Wrestling Federation-type belt for his tourney MOP honors.
“We’re going to hang it up in the locker room,” he said during the victory celebration shown on ESPN+.
Fourth-year coach Dan Fitzgerald thanked a large contingent of KU fans for their support in Arizona.
“How about Jayhawk nation showing up?’ he said. “These guys (Jayhawk players) have been incredible all year, staying in the moment. We’ve talked all year about being a great teammate, playing your tail off.
“Persevere … that’s what we did. In an incredibly tough conference, we had to do it 10 straight weeks, and week 11 here. The guys came through. It was fantastic.”
The Jayhawks grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Tyson Owens blasted his 14th home run of the season.
A crucial moment came in the top of the fifth. KU led 1-0 when Fitzgerald removed starting pitcher Mathis Nayral with the bases loaded and one out.
Relief pitcher Toby Scheidt enticed Gavin Kelly into a fly ball to right field. It was not deep enough to score Brodie Kresser from third base, as right fielder Bach gunned down Kresser at the plate.
WVU loaded the bases again in the sixth. Kresser popped out to first baseman Dykhoff, who threw home. After a couple of rundowns, WVU baserunners safely occupied all three bases. But Brock Wills grounded out to short, again ending the threat with no runs scored.
KU made it 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth via a two-out rally off pitcher Ian Korn. Dykhoff walked and Muingarrieta was hit by a pitch. Bach plated Dykhoff on a single to right.
WVU changed pitchers and Reese Bassinger retired Dylan Schlotterback on a grounder to short to leave two runners on base and KU up, 2-0.
The Jayhawks will learn Sunday whether, as expected, they will be named a host for the upcoming regional round of the NCAA Tournament. Regional tourney sites will be announced at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, via NCAA social media, ESPN bottom line, NCAA news release and NCAA.com.
It would be the first time KU has played host to an NCAA tourney regional.
“We can’t wait to bring it home to Lawrence and host a regional,” Fitzgerald said.
Yormark told the fans he expected seven Big 12 teams to make the tourney and two to host — KU and WVU.
“Absolutely,” Fitzgerald said, asked if he felt his Jayhawks were ready for a successful run in the postseason.
The tourney’s selection show, which will reveal individual matchups, will begin at 11 a.m. Monday on ESPN2. Regional games will be held next Friday through Monday.
“I would think so. I think our resume is deserving,” Fitzgerald said after KU’s semifinal win, referring to his program’s prospects of hosting a regional. “I think that winning the regular season, the Big 12, is a really big deal, and then two wins here should wrap it up.
“But I let the experts stick to the metrics and get in the room and decide things. I certainly think we have a resume worthy, and we’ll have a fantastic regional. KU does things first-class always and it’ll be awesome in our park.”
