photo by: Photo courtesy of Kansas Athletics

Members of the Kansas baseball team huddle at home plate during a win at West Virginia on Saturday, April 8, 2023.

A ho-hum showing during nonconference play and a sweep at the hands of No. 24 TCU to open Big 12 play has quickly given way to a blazing-hot stretch for the Kansas baseball team.

The Jayhawks won their second conference series in a row over the weekend by taking two of three from No. 19 West Virginia in Morgantown.

KU won the opener, 5-3, and then took Game 2, 10-7, to move its winning streak to seven in a row heading into Sunday’s series finale. The Mountaineers came out on top in Game 3, but the hot stretch moved Kansas to 15-15 overall and 5-4 in Big 12 play.

“I could not be prouder of the guys,” first-year KU coach Dan Fitzgerald said after Saturday night’s victory. “They have stayed really true to the process and competed at a high level. You have to keep hitting the rock and, at some point, it breaks. Right now, they’re doing a great job of that.”

KU’s five consecutive conference wins marked the most since the 2014 team won nine in a row to end the season. Beyond that, the Jayhawks’ five Big 12 wins so far this season already has surpassed last season’s total of four conference victories.

It also marked the first time since 2017 that KU picked up back-to-back wins over a ranked team and the first time KU has won back-to-back Big 12 series.

During the weekend series at WVU, senior Cole Elvis homered in all three games, Jake English went yard in back-to-back games, in Games 1 and 2, and Janson Reeder homered in Games 2 and 3.

Reeder leads the team with eight home runs, while Elvis and English each have seven to date.

KU’s Thaniel Trumper got the win on the mound in Game 1, pitching three innings of three-hit ball in relief of starter Collin Baumgartner. Both KU pitchers struck out six Mountaineers.

Sam Ireland got the win on the mound in Game 2, pitching 5.1 innings and striking out five before Stone Hewlett pitched the back end of both KU victories to pick up his second and third saves of the season.

The Jayhawks actually took an early lead in Game 3 but were out-hit 13-7 and could not take advantage of four WVU errors in falling, 12-3.

“We had plenty of opportunities,” Fitzgerald said after Sunday’s setback. “They gave us plenty of opportunities to get back in the game, but we didn’t capitalize on anything. We got out of the process a little bit and have to get back to doing things the right way.”

In light of Sunday’s loss, Fitzgerald came away with mixed reviews of his team’s showing over the weekend.

“I’m certainly happy with the series win, but not in any way happy with how we played today,” he said. “I thought we did some really uncharacteristic things. The intent was great and our want to win was awesome. We were locked in, had great preparation and it felt like we were ready to go. It got away from us in the first.”

Next up, KU will play at home or close to home for 11 consecutive games, starting with Tuesday’s clash with Texas Southern in the Buck O’Neil Classic at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas.

After that, KU will host TSU in Lawrence on Wednesday before welcoming Kansas State to town for a three-game series over the weekend.

KU then will host two games with Air Force on April 18 and 19 and host Oklahoma State for a three-game series the following weekend before traveling to Wichita State on April 26.