photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

The student section raises a flag at the game against Baylor Friday, March 14, 2025 at Hoglund Ballpark.

The Kansas baseball team ranks first in the Big 12 and is D1Baseball’s No. 22 team in the nation as of Monday after extending its winning streak to nine games with a sweep of UCF.

As they have in quite a few of their series this season, the Jayhawks notched a pair of lopsided results, 9-2 on Friday and 13-4 on Sunday, and avoided disappointment in the one contest that got most perilous, a 10-9 thriller on Saturday night.

“Great fight by the guys against a team that was leading the Big 12 in pitching and offense coming into the weekend,” head coach Dan Fitzgerald said in a press release. “That’s a really good UCF team, so that’s a really big deal to sweep those guys.”

Friday night starter Dominic Voegele continued his resurgence in the Jayhawks’ series-opening victory, limiting the Knights to two runs in his seven innings of work. KU actually didn’t dominate the opener nearly as much as the final seven-run margin indicated. The Jayhawks trailed 2-1 in the fifth inning when Brady Ballinger (3-for-5, three RBIs) homered to left, then pulled ahead 4-2 in the sixth via small ball; a five-run ninth inning featuring Ballinger’s second home run and another by Chase Diggins put the result far out of reach for UCF.

The next day required KU to weather a slew of lead changes and conjure some ninth-inning heroics. The Jayhawks fell behind 4-0 early in a rough outing for starter Kannon Carr, his most challenging of the season, and ended up requiring six relief pitchers on the day. This time Brady Counsell was the two-home-run hero, with a three-run blast that tied the game at 4 in the fourth inning and a solo shot that tied it at 8 in the eighth, as each team squandered a two-run advantage.

UCF catcher Dylan King put the Knights ahead 9-8 entering the final frame on an RBI double, but their pitcher Alex Galvan, who remained in for the ninth inning, allowed immediate base hits to Derek Cerda and Ballinger that put both runners in scoring position with nobody out. Jackson Hauge tied the game with a groundout.

Ballinger got thrown out at home for the first out, a fielder’s choice by Michael Brooks, but Dariel Osoria singled to left for the go-ahead run.

The Jayhawks managed to load the bases with two outs but stalled out, leaving just a one-run advantage for Alex Breckheimer to protect in the bottom of the ninth. He sent down the Knights in order — their manager got ejected along the way — and KU claimed the series win.

“We love to fight, we love to compete and we know we’re never out of it,” Counsell said in a release. “We have a great offense and we can put up homers at any time. That’s what we did tonight and it’s been a whole lot of fun.”

On a far less stressful Sunday, the Jayhawks posted three four-run innings out of the first four frames. Hauge went 3-for-5 with five RBIs and a home run, starter Cooper Moore lasted eight innings and KU didn’t need to do much else the rest of the day on offense as it cruised to a 13-4 victory.

KU continues to build on its best start in program history at 27-6 and 9-3 in Big 12 play, with some challenging opponents in the near future. First up for the Jayhawks is a home date with Nebraska on Tuesday at 6 p.m.