photo by: Emma Crouch/Kansas Athletics

Kansas head coach Dan Fitzgerald instructs his team during practice at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.

Only a sophomore, Kansas pitcher Dominic Voegele faces the highest of expectations entering the 2025 season.

The native of Columbia, Illinois, who is in line to take over as the Jayhawks’ Friday night ace in his second season in the program, earned the title of preseason pitcher of the year from the Big 12 Conference’s head coaches on Thursday afternoon. He was also a unanimous preseason all-conference pick, one of just three.

The selections follow his Big 12 freshman of the year honor at the conclusion of the 2024 season, when he went 7-2 with a 3.89 ERA as KU’s Saturday starter. He broke the program record for strikeouts by a freshman with 80.

These are the latest in a series of honors for Voegele, who has also been named a second-team All-American by multiple national publications. He will be one of the top players on a new-look KU roster.

The Jayhawks, who are composed of approximately two-thirds newcomers, were also picked to finish ninth in the 14-team Big 12 in a poll of league coaches also released on Thursday. They came in seventh in a 13-team league last season, producing one of the best seasons in program history by win total, before losing many of their main contributors to the professional ranks.

Fellow sophomore Cooper Moore is one option to start alongside Voegele. Meanwhile, key returners in the field include infielders Michael Brooks and Chase Diggins and outfielder Mike Koszewski; KU’s bevy of transfers includes the likes of outfielder Tommy Barth (East Tennessee State) and infielder Brady Counsell (Minnesota), as well as JUCO products Brady Ballinger, Derek Cerda, Dariel Osoria and Max Soliz Jr., among many others.

Oklahoma State was picked to win the Big 12, followed by newcomer Arizona, TCU and West Virginia in the top four. Texas Tech, Arizona State, UCF and Kansas State come in ahead of KU, while behind the Jayhawks are Cincinnati, Houston, Utah, Baylor and BYU.

OSU’s Nolan Schubart is the preseason player of the year, Houston’s Cade Climie is newcomer of the year and TCU’s Noah Franco is freshman of the year.

KU opens its season on Feb. 14 at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi.