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

Kansas pinch runner TJ Williams is lifted up after scoring the game winning run in the 10th inning against Milwaukee Sunday, March 8, 2025 at Hoglund Ballpark.

Brady Counsell legged out an infield single to bring home pinch runner TJ Williams with the game-winning run and give Kansas’ baseball team a dramatic come-from-behind 10-9, 10-inning win over Milwaukee Sunday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark.

“We had a string of guys who contributed to this win, some of whom don’t usually get the credit they deserve,” Kansas head coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “(Williams) had been sitting around for almost four hours waiting for the opportunity and when he got out there, he busted it hard for us. This team has a lot of unselfishness about it and they care more about winning than about who gets credit for it.”

The win was the third walk-off victory for the Jayhawks (14-1) this season and continued the best-ever start for a Kansas program whose first baseball team took the field in 1880.

However, the win was anything but easy for KU.

Milwaukee (1-14) – which came into Sunday’s game with a 13-game losing streak – got its bats going early, greeting Kansas starter Patrick Steitz with four hits and a reached-on-error in the first five batters of the game. The Panthers scored six runs (three earned) on five hits and the error to build a 6-0 lead after just half an inning.

“We know that we’re never out of the fight,” said Counsell, who had two hits — including a solo homer — and two RBIs in the game. “(Milwaukee) put some runs on the board early (Saturday), but we knew we would have chances to score, too. We just needed to take advantage of the chances we got.”

Along with getting in a deep hole early, the Jayhawks also lost starting center fielder and leadoff hitter Derek Cerda in the top of the first as he was injured after running into the fence while chasing a two-run double off the bat of Caden Headlee.

Kansas chipped away at Milwaukee’s lead, finally breaking through with six runs on six hits in the bottom of the sixth to take a 9-7 lead. The biggest blows in the rally were Brady Ballinger’s two-run double followed by Jackson Hauge’s two-run homer on the next at-bat. Hauge’s homer was his team-leading seventh of the season and he also leads the Jayhawks with 18 RBIs.

“I faced (Milwaukee pitcher Matthew Mueller) on Thursday night and he had some good stuff,” Hauge said. “It always helps when you hit behind (Ballinger), but (Mueller) gave me a pitch and I just tried to put a good swing on it. I wanted to make good contact.”

Milwaukee didn’t go away, though, getting single runs in the seventh and eighth to tie the game at 9, forcing extra innings. Jayhawk reliever Eric Lin got out of a jam in the top of the 10th, coaxing three pop-ups to escape a leadoff two-base error that put a runner on second with no outs.

In the bottom half, Dariel Osoria got a two-out single and the pinch runner Wiliams moved to second on a balk by Milwaukee reliever Aric Ehmke before Counsell’s late heroics.

“These guys play really hard and they play for each other,” said Fitzgerald, whose team has now won six straight games. “They have a lot of respect for the process and put in the work to be successful.”

Confirming the call on Counsell’s infield single required lengthy conversations between officials and a replay review before KU’s victory became official.

Lin (1-0) got the win for Kansas, throwing two innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts and a walk as Kansas used seven pitchers in the contest. The Jayhawks finished with 13 hits and eight of the nine Kansas hitters had at least one hit. Sawyer Smith had two hits, including a double, and scored two runs, Osoria had two hits, and Ty Wisdom and Michael Brooks each doubled for Kansas in the win.

Ehmke (0-2) took the loss for Milwaukee, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 2 2/3 innings. Headlee went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs and Gabe Roessler had two hits for the Panthers.

Kansas continues non-conference play Tuesday, traveling to Minnesota for a two-game series against the Golden Gophers at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings. Tuesday’s game will have a 6 p.m. first pitch, followed by a 1 p.m. game on Wednesday. The Jayhawks open Big 12 play next weekend with a three-game series against Baylor at Hoglund Ballpark, starting with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday.

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