KU baseball’s magical season continues with NCAA Regional final win vs. Arkansas
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat Arkansas 13-10 for the regional title.
- The win was KU's 25th come-from-behind victory and tied program single-season win record.
- The victory advanced Kansas to the Super Regionals for the first time in school history.
The Big 12 Conference regular-season and postseason tournament champion Kansas Jayhawks have added NCAA Regional winner to their growing list of accomplishments during what has been a magical 2026 baseball season.
The Jayhawks (45-16), who rallied from a two-run deficit to defeat traditional SEC power Arkansas 5-3 in a second-round game Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark, scored 11 unanswered runs (after falling behind 5-0) over a three-inning span en route to a 13-10 regional title clinching victory over the Razorbacks on Sunday at KU’s home diamond.
“Another mountain to climb. I can’t be more proud of these guys,” fourth-year KU coach Dan Fitzgerald said after a come-from-behind victory that moved the Jayhawks into a tie with the 1993 squad for most victories in a single season in school history. “I’m not very often speechless and didn’t really know what to (say after the final out). I mean, just overwhelmed. I was completely overwhelmed with this entire weekend.”
KU stormed to two victories over Arkansas, one over Northeastern in advancing to the Super Regionals.
“I joked about it yesterday, but I was serious. You coach long enough and your emotions get pretty frayed,” Fitzgerald added. “I don’t get scared during movies anymore. And my hair does not stand up on my arms, and it stood up all weekend.”
The KU coach also highlighted the temporary bleachers added with a standing-room section beyond a new see-through chain-link fence in left field.
“I could not believe how cool ‘The Backyard’ turned out. Our student section is palpable and no one left. It’s the greatest thing ever. We finished the game. We look up, and everyone is still there,” added Fitzgerald, who grabbed a microphone after the contest and briefly spoke to a crowd of 4,007 fans.
“It was a surreal moment,” he stated of wrapping up a spot in the Super Regionals for the first time in school history. Super Regionals did not exist in 1993, the year the Jayhawks advanced to the College World Series for the only time in program history.
KU would host a best-of-three Super Regional series if Oklahoma defeats Georgia Tech on Monday in Atlanta. If Georgia Tech wins the game and regional, KU would travel to Tech to face the Yellow Jackets.
“We’re going to enjoy this. I told Kelly (wife), the best part of this is we don’t have to play tomorrow. Just to be able to take a breath and enjoy this, enjoy some time with family,” Fitzgerald stated.
In erasing that early 5-0 deficit, KU claimed its 25th come-from-behind win of the season.
“I’d like to have a few more (wins) where we were behind,” Fitzgerald said smiling. “I was super confident down 5-0 and in fact had this weird moment during the game. In the 2021 regional (at) DBU (Dallas Baptist), we beat Oregon State to go to the Supers, and we were down 5-0. And I had one of those flashback moments of like, ‘Oh, I’ve been here before.’ ... I knew that we just needed someone to punch it through, and we needed the crowd to have something. ... They were just waiting for something to cheer.”
Dariel Osario’s home run to plate KU’s first run, after spotting the Razorbacks the 5-0 lead, was the hit KU needed to get going.
“Baseball is a weird sport in that it’s nine innings and there’s no clock,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s the torture of baseball is that there’s no clock. It’s also the greatest part of baseball is that there’s literally no clock. We can still be playing now, and so the guys just never quit. They believe. They love each other, and they just know how to grind, and it’s an honor to be their coach.”
KU’s all-time home run leader Tyson LeBlanc launched a three-run shot during a six-run, six-hit fourth inning. It was LeBlanc’s 24th homer that followed Osoria’s ninth.
The outburst completely erased the five-run deficit and gave KU a 6-5 lead. Other hits that inning were singles by Jordan Bach, Dylan Schlotterback, Brady Ballinger, Max Soliz Jr.
The Jayhawks continued to score runs off an Arkansas team that had used four pitchers in a 10-9 elimination victory over Northeastern on Sunday afternoon. The Razorbacks used seven pitchers vs. KU. The Jayhawks plated two runs off one hit and an Arkansas error in the fifth to grab an 8-5 lead.
KU, which outhit Arkansas 14-13, made it 11-5 by plating three in the sixth. The big hit was a three-run blast by Josh Dykhoff, who had three hits in five at-bats with three RBIs.
The Razorbacks (41-22) did not go down without a fight, scoring two in the sixth on a two-run homer by Ryder Helfrick off reliever Riane Ritter, KU’s fourth of five pitchers used on the day. That cut the gap to 11-7.
Arkansas had runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Ritter struck out a pair of Razorbacks to end that threat.
KU responded again in the eighth inning. Osoria, who had four hits on the day in five at-bats, beat out a bunt to load the bases with no outs. The close call at first was not reviewed.
Jordan Bach walked in a run to make it 12-7, still with none out. The second ball of the sequence to Bach came off a violation of the pitch count.
Up 12-7, Schlotterback hit a sacrifice flyoff Cooper Dossett (UA’s sixth pitcher of the day) to make it 13-7.
Arkansas’ Zack Stewart ripped a two-run home run off KU closer Boede Rahe to cut KU’s lead to 13-9 in the eighth. UA cut the gap to 13-10 in the ninth with a one-out home run by Maika Niu, who had four hits on the day.
KU starting pitcher Mathis Nayral and reliever Toby Scheidt allowed five runs combined in 2 1/3 innings as Arkansas, which beat Northeastern 10-9 in an elimination game earlier Sunday, opened a 5-0 lead.
The Jayhawks were quiet until the top of the fourth when they erupted for the six runs.
This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 9:41 PM.
