The Kansas baseball team extended its winning streak to 10 straight and claimed sole possession of first place in the Big 12 by completing a sweep of No. 12 UCF over the weekend.
The Knights had entered Lawrence as the conference leader and left with three losses: 4-3 in extra innings on Friday and 6-3 and 3-1 as part of Saturday’s doubleheader (the series schedule shifted due to weather).
“This is a special group of guys,” KU coach Dan Fitzgerald said in a press release on Saturday. “They love each other, they love playing the game together, and I just love watching them compete. It was a complete team effort. Two unbelievable starts on the mound today, and a special day of baseball … The crowd, Jayhawk Nation, always shows up and you’ve just seen it grow.”
KU improved to 26-10 on the season and 12-3 in Big 12 play ahead of Tuesday night’s midweek home date with Wichita State at Hoglund Ballpark.
The Jayhawks’ pitching stepped up dramatically over the course of the week, beginning even earlier with KU’s 5-3 road win at No. 19 Nebraska, after an erratic showing against Utah the prior weekend.
It started on Friday with starter Mathis Nayral, who allowed just one unearned run in 4 2/3 innings and worked his way out of multiple jams. KU took the lead on a double by Dylan Schlotterback and sacrifice fly by Jordan Bach in the third inning before the two teams traded one run each in the sixth.
The Jayhawks were one out from a 3-2 victory when a fielding error by Schlotterback put Andrew Williamson aboard. UCF was able to punish KU and drag the game into extra innings with an RBI single by Zak Skinner.
Four straight Knight relievers kept the Jayhawks scoreless in the later innings before they finally broke through against Max Murray. Brady Ballinger walked and Augusto Mungarrieta was hit by a pitch; Tyson Owens bunted them over and Max Soliz Jr. delivered the walk-off winner as KU took first blood in the series.
UCF’s offense gained even less traction on Saturday. KU righty Dominic Voegele struck out 10 and allowed three earned runs in seven innings. He could have had an even better line but conceded a pair of early baserunners in the eighth that Manning West ultimately allowed to score.
That created some late intrigue in a game that KU had led since the second inning. The Jayhawks went up 5-0 in the third on a bases-clearing double by Josh Dykhoff, getting to UCF’s usually reliable starter Camden Wicker.
KU needed a bit of insurance after the Knights made things interesting late and added a sacrifice fly by Bach before Riane Ritter slammed the door on a 6-3 win.
That clinched the series and first place for the Jayhawks, but they weren’t done. All four runs in the series closer came prior to the fourth inning. Ballinger brought home Bach with an early groundout. Cayden Gaskin briefly tied the game with an RBI single before Cade Baldridge drove in Schlotterback and Mungarrieta brought in Baldridge with a sacrifice fly.
At that point it was 3-1, and it stayed 3-1. Mason Cook went six innings with just the one run given up on three hits and three walks, and Toby Scheidt got KU out of a jam in the seventh when Madden Seidl had put runners at the corners with one out. Boede Rahe earned a three-out save following his three innings of work on Friday.
KU has yet to lose a Big 12 game at Hoglund Ballpark this season, but after the midweek nonconference date the Jayhawks have a road series at Oklahoma State next weekend.
