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

Kansas senior Ian Francis flips his bat after hitting a three-run home run against Baylor Friday, March 14, 2025 at Hoglund Ballpark.

Kansas baseball gave no concessions in its 9-1 win against Baylor on Friday night to open Big 12 Conference play, as starter Dominic Voegele went seven innings and allowed only three hits while striking out six batters.

His battery partner gave him support on both ends, as Ian Francis rode an offensive hot streak into Friday’s matchup and went 2-for-2 from the plate, including a two-run home run and reached base on all four of his plate appearances.

Voegele retired the first seven straight batters in an efficient start that allowed him to stay on the mound for 106 pitches over seven innings — while still hitting 95 mph on his fastball in the seventh inning, according to Kansas head coach Dan Fitzgerald.

“Today it was just, it was all there. His slider was there, his curveball was there, he threw a couple changeups late,” Fitzgerald said. “He threw a changeup in the seventh to Templanski that just disappeared and so I think you know, when you’ve got four (pitches) going, and he was moving great and we played great defense behind him. So Dom was Dom tonight.”

The Bears got four innings from their starter, Ethan Calder, but after a relatively quiet first inning, the Jayhawks jumped on him with a three-run second frame, which included Francis’ long home run to left field. They added on one run in the fourth before another three-run performance in the fifth, and Tommy Barth hit a bases-loaded two-RBI double in the eighth to end Kansas’ scoring with a bang.

Thaniel Trumper took over for KU after Voegele’s seven innings, getting a clean eighth inning and coming back for the ninth for the multi-inning closeout. After three straight batters reached base with only one out in the inning, Trumper kept his record clean by inducing a double play to end the game.

The Jayhawks drew seven walks and only struck out five times while only allowing two walks to the Bears — a huge statistic in Fitzgerald’s scorebook.

“It gets us through the lineup a bunch,” Francis said. “It’s just pass it to the next guy. You know, if you’re seeing the ball, well, take a walk, just pass it to the next guy. It’s a team game.”

Kansas’ affinity for patience and discipline behind the plate was especially important as Friday’s game had winds of 25 mph blowing in from left field to start, with an orange haze from nearby fires and blown-up dust.

After giving up three runs on nearly 40 pitches in the first inning of his appearance on March 7, Voegele locked in early for an impressive start on Friday. He collected four strikeouts over three innings while not giving up a hit, throwing just 31 pitches.

Kansas’ offense held up its end of the deal, jumping on the ball early despite strong winds blowing in from right-center field. Brady Ballinger hit a high and loud fly ball directly in this direction in the first, as the wind knocked it down for a ground-rule double. Ballinger was doubled off at second on a line out to the third baseman two batters later, though, as the Jayhawks failed to capitalize on their first hit of the game.

But Kansas wouldn’t let another opportunity go to waste, as a walk and another ground-rule double by Michael Brooks put two runners in scoring position and Sawyer Smith drove in the first run of the game on a groundout to first. Then Francis delivered from the nine spot, hitting a 401-foot bomb over the left field fence to give the Jayhawks a 3-0 lead after two innings.

Both teams went in order in the third, and Voegele continued his scoreless outing in the fourth despite giving up a ground-rule double with one out in the inning. Kansas added on to Voegele’s performance with a leadoff triple and another RBI groundout, but ultimately stranded two runners in the inning.

A 1-2-3 sixth inning for the Bears that ended with Voegele’s sixth strikeout of the night set up another three-run inning for KU as Ballinger got hit by a pitch to force Baylor’s starter, Ethan Calder, out of the game. Cole Stasio took over and gave up back-to-back doubles as Brady Counsell drove in two more runs. Smith tallied his second RBI of the game with a double of his own to give the Jayhawks a 7-1 lead going into the top of the sixth.

Turning his impressive start into a statistically acknowledged quality start, Voegele returned to the mound, giving up his first run on two singles, his first walk and an error, but maintaining a six-run cushion for Kansas.

The Jayhawks were silenced by a pitching change, getting only one man on base over the sixth and seventh innings. Meanwhile, Voegele stayed in the game at 96 pitches after six innings to complete a 10-pitch shutdown inning and end his night.

One hundred pitches is “just kind of this mythical number that, you know, somebody put on years ago,” Fitzgerald said of his decision to bring Voegele back in for the seventh. “And Brandon (Scott) and I look way more at where’s the stuff trending? And, you know, his stuff was trending up. So there really wasn’t a whole lot of — with where we were at in the order, we thought we could get through that.”

“I didn’t know that I was coming back out, but I kind of just walked into the dugout assuming that I was going back out there,” Voegele added.

Given extra life by Voegele’s supplementary effort, Kansas loaded the bases and added on a pair of runs in the eighth to bring an eight-run lead into the final half inning of play.

After Trumper took over on the mound and delivered a clean eighth inning, he stayed on for the two-inning closeout and worked around a bases-loaded jam with one out thanks to a game-ending double play.

The Jayhawks will look to build on their conference-opening success in the remaining two games of the series against the Bears. Kansas will face another tough lefty on Saturday in Bryson Bales in the 2 p.m. matchup, as Fitzgerald said on Friday night the Jayhawks weren’t yet set on a starter for the game.

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