After losing its first Big 12 Conference home game on Friday night, No. 7 Kansas baseball dropped its first home series in league play on Saturday.
No. 15-ranked West Virginia scored the go-ahead run in the eighth and added two more in the ninth to defeat the Jayhawks on senior day, 5-2, slicing KU’s lead in the Big 12 to two games.
“Those are two really good teams and really disciplined teams,” head coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “We just weren’t able to generate offensively, but, you know, outside of a handful of teams in college baseball … as much as I hate to say it, you’re going to win a bunch of series, and you lose a series every once in a while, too.”
Mountaineer starting pitcher Chansen Cole delivered five innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts and limited the Jayhawks to just four hits.
West Virginia’s pitching staff has limited the Kansas offense to just three runs in two games, a feat no other pitching staff has accomplished in Big 12 play.
“They’re a good pitching staff,” Josh Dykhoff said. “They compete in the zone. They’ve been really good at kind of nibbling the edges … We just need to start stacking at-bats.”
Cole’s counterpart, Kansas’ Mason Cook, tossed 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) while striking out three.
“He did a great job of keeping us in it,” Fitzgerald said.
West Virginia opened the scoring in the first inning as Wichita native Paul Schoenfeld hit a solo home run with two outs before Cook ultimately ended the inning with a groundout. KU’s three-hole hitter had his own response in the bottom of the first as Tyson LeBlanc blasted his 17th home run of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
The Mountaineers once again wasted little time breaking the tie. Matthew Graveline led off the top of the second with a single before advancing to second on a passed ball. A groundout moved the Centerville, Ohio, native to third before he gave the No. 15-ranked team a 2-1 lead by scoring on a sacrifice fly by Brodie Kresser.
A chance for KU to tie the game came in the bottom of the third as Dylan Schlotterback hit a one-out double down the left-field line. Cole escaped the threat, however, getting a strikeout and flyout to keep his team in the lead.
Cook escaped a jam of his own in the top of the fifth after WVU loaded the bases with two outs. The sophomore induced an inning-ending groundout by Schoenfeld to keep the deficit at one.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Dykhoff laced a ball off the batter’s eye in center field, which took a long hop to the middle of the outfield, allowing the first baseman to race around the bases for an inside-the-park home run to knot the score at two.
When asked whether he felt relief, excitement, or exhaustion after rounding the bases, Dykhoff’s reply was simple: “Yes.”
He added: “As fast as you can (with) as much energy as you’ve got left. I’m a big boy. It’s hard to truck around those bases.”
It was the first inside-the-park home run by a Jayhawk since March 5, 2023, when Chase Jans accomplished the feat against Belmont. Furthermore, it was the first at Hoglund Ballpark since Devin Foyle did so on March 16, 2026, versus Murray State.
The Jayhawks escaped another high-leverage situation in the sixth, this time with runners at the corners. Riane Ritter, who came in to face Mountaineer pinch hitter Maxwell Molessa, struck out the Pullman, West Virginia, native to strand both runners.
Cade Baldridge opened the bottom of the sixth with a single and skated all the way to third before West Virginia reliever Ian Korn recorded a strikeout to keep the game tied.
Neither team could undo the tie in the seventh before the Mountaineers hit back-to-back singles with one out in the top of the eighth. Ritter got a strikeout of Armani Guzman before an infield single and an error allowed Sean Smith to score the go-ahead run.
KU had a chance to put the tying runner on in the eighth as it seemed Baldridge had legged out a two-out double. However, an umpire’s review ruled that Baldridge had taken his hand off the base, overturning the original call and ending the inning.
“You can’t review whether or not a guy is pushed off the bag,” Fitzgerald said of what he was told following the review.
The overturned call hurt the Jayhawks in more than just one way, as the Mountaineers extended their lead in the top of the ninth thanks to a two-run home run off the bat of Gavin Kelly.
Korn finished off the game in the bottom of the ninth, recording two strikeouts to clinch the series victory for the Mountaineers.
The Jayhawks will look to salvage the series on Sunday at 11 a.m. Even through the adversity, it will be important for KU not to blink in game three.
“It’s baseball, and it’s a kids’ game,” Dykhoff said. “We all just love playing with each other, so there’s no panic. We’re just out here having fun playing baseball at the end of the day. That’s all it’s about.”
Kansas’ Tyson LeBlanc throws the ball towards first base against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas’ Dariel Osoria shows frustration at the game against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas’ Dylan Schlotterback slides towards second base against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas’ Tyson LeBlanc celebrates hitting a home run with Brady Ballinger against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas’ Tyson LeBlanc celebrates hitting a home run against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas Jayhawks celebrate senior day at the game against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas’ Max Soliz Jr. celebrates senior day at the game against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas’ Josh Dykhoff celebrates getting a run against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas’ Josh Dykhoff slides towards home against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas’ Riane Ritter prepares to pitch against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Kansas’ Boede Rahe pitches the ball against West Virginia on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World
Henry Wiley/Special to the Journal-World