Electric atmosphere for KU’s NCAA win over Northeastern was ‘as cool as it gets’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A single-game KU attendance record of 3,571 was set at Hoglund Ballpark.
- KU defeated Northeastern 6-3 and advanced to Saturday’s 5 p.m. regional game.
- KU players hit three home runs, including Augie Mungarrieta’s two-run blast.
The first NCAA Baseball Tournament regional game ever played on the KU campus drew a single-game school-record attendance of 3,571 on Friday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark.
The crowd for KU’s 6-3 victory over Northeastern included a packed student section behind the visitor’s third-base dugout and new “Backyard” general-admission area, positioned behind a temporary see-through fence in left field.
The announced total number of fans on hand Friday shattered the previous record of 2,674 for a KU win over Nebraska just last month — April 21 — when school was still in session.
“I’ve said this before. I’ve coached in some really cool places and that’s as cool as it gets. That was absolutely … my hair stood up on my arms for about three hours,” fourth-year KU coach Dan Fitzgerald said after a victory that propelled the Jayhawks into Saturday’s 5 p.m. game against either Missouri State or Arkansas.
“These guys are unbelievable teammates, and they’ve been that way since August,” Fitzgerald said. “My staff has worked so hard, literally every single day, putting this together for the past four years. Our administration ... it’s really the culmination of a lot of things, and so, yes, very, very gratifying what the crowd was.”
The crowd included former Philadelphia Phillies manager/KU grad Rob Thomson, KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self and basketball support staff member Doc Sadler, and former KU running back and Lawrence native Devin Neal.
“Amazing crowd … it was unbelievable to see the stadium like that, and so many people have worked so hard to make it like that in months of planning. Then on the baseball side, years of planning for that,” Fitzgerald said. “So, special day, and excited about playing tomorrow night.”
KU shortstop Tyson LeBlanc, who clubbed his single season-record 22nd home run, said the experience “was awesome. It was everything we expected.
“We knew that Hoglund was going to be packed out. The Backyard was even better than we expected. ‘Augie’ got them going pretty quick in the game, hitting one to them. Hopefully they could show up like that all weekend. That was amazing.”
A big two-run homer by KU catcher Augusto (”Augie”) Mungarrieta opened the scoring in the second inning. It actually cleared the temporary left-field bleachers in left. KU’s other two homers — by LeBlanc and Dariel Osaria — landed in The Backyard.
Northeastern also hit a home run: Will Fosberg homered in the third inning.
“It was awesome. It’s probably one of the better atmospheres I played in,” said Northeastern left fielder Ryan Gerety. “Kansas definitely brought it tonight.”
“It’s a playoff atmosphere. They were really into it on their side. It was a great atmosphere today,” said Northeastern pitcher David McSweeney.
Mike Glavine, head coach of the Coastal Athletic Association team located in Boston, said: “It was certainly a great atmosphere, fun to play, fun to watch our guys. It was a great game. We were right there from our perspective. It was a play here, a hit there. I’m proud of our guys for competing in this type of environment. We competed our butts off, we played hard, we played together, and it was just a great baseball game. We came up on the short end.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 5:40 PM.
