photo by: Sarah Buchanan/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas sophomore Dominic Voegele pitches the ball to start the game against Oklahoma State at Hoglund Ballpark on Friday, March 28, 2025.

Kansas baseball rode another dazzling start from sophomore ace Dominic Voegele — who was selected as the preseason Big 12 pitcher of the year — to a 5-2 win over Oklahoma State on Friday night in front of a record 2,660 fans.

Voegele impressed in front of Hoglund Ballpark’s second-ever sellout crowd, throwing eight-plus innings for the longest start of his career and striking out 10 batters to tie his career high. To reach the feat, he retook the mound in the eighth inning having already thrown 96 pitches, and struck out the side in 12 pitches, grabbing his third strikeout of the inning on a 96 mph fastball.

“Dom was absolutely electric tonight, and it was all working. His changeup tonight was the best his changeup’s ever been, on top of, you know, really sharp breaking stuff,” head coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “And then obviously his fastball was electric, which is why we had total confidence to put him on the ninth after he hit 96 in the eighth.”

The only blemishes on his night came from a pair of solo home runs, one in the seventh and one in the ninth, as he allowed only one hit and a walk beyond that. The ninth inning made things interesting in an otherwise confident win for the Jayhawks, as Eric Lin entered with no outs and gave up a single and a walk before striking out Brayden Smith, who represented the tying run. With the first out of the inning under his belt, Lin produced a solid ground ball to set up a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.

Kansas’ offense was bolstered by Brady Ballinger’s first-inning home run — his third home run of the week after he hit two against St. Thomas on Tuesday — and some coordinated small ball from a usually power-driven team.

“Championship baseball teams have to score in every way, and we did a little bit of everything tonight,” Fitzgerald said.

Voegele gave the Jayhawks a solid foundation to build on with a clean first inning in which he recorded two strikeouts, both on off-speed pitches, as his fastball sat in the mid-90s.

Derek Cerda rewarded his work with a leadoff single before advancing to second base on a wild pitch during Ballinger’s eight-pitch at-bat. Ballinger worked the count full and got a good payout as he hit a 397-foot home run to left-center field to drive in two runs 14 pitches into the game.

“It’s just see if I see a ball I can handle and get it out over the plate. And I saw a fastball blowing away that I knew I could get a hold of, and I just took his swing at it,” Ballinger said on his plate approach with the wind blowing directly in. “We saw a lot of pitches, we stayed with our stuff, and we’re able to execute our plans.”

After two quick outs, Michael Brooks hit a single to extend his on-base streak to 16 games, but was stranded by Brady Counsell’s strikeout as Kansas took a 2-0 lead into the second inning.

Voegele allowed his first baserunner with a second-inning walk; however, he was able to keep Kansas’ two-run lead intact. Chase Diggins hit a single with one out for Kansas’ third hit of the game as Sawyer Smith was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. But the Jayhawks were unable to extend this lead after Cerda and Ballinger sent a couple of long flyouts to end the inning.

Voegele conceded his first hit of the night to open the third, but buckled down with his third strikeout to end the inning without allowing a run. Both teams’ bats went quiet after that, as Voegele and Oklahoma State starter Harrison Bodendorf combined for 15 straight outs and Kansas didn’t collect another hit until the bottom of the fifth.

The Jayhawks had runners on first and third with two outs in their first promising rally since the first inning but squandered it as Bodendorf’s pickoff attempt of Ballinger at second base sailed into center field. Ballinger took off, but Smith got to the ball quickly and was able to nab Ballinger on his retreat back to second base to end the inning.

Voegele was unbothered by the blunder, though, as he retired his 12th batter in a row and collected two more strikeouts in a clean sixth.

A single by Dariel Osoria forced Bodendorf out of the game and Brooks was hit by the first pitch thrown by Mario Pesca to put two runners on with no outs. Counsell and Ian Francis provided two productive groundouts from the bottom of the lineup to advance both runners and score Osoria to give Kansas a 3-0 lead.

“Getting to an opponent’s bullpen on the first night, and especially using multiple pitchers, you know, it can crush some weekends for some teams,” Brooks said. “And just seeing all these guys, it gives us all the confidence. And then (on our side) Dom was (the) best I’ve ever seen him pitch in the last two years.”

Voegele’s first blemish of the night came at the hands of Smith in the seventh, as he hit his sixth home run of the year down the right-field line to tie two of his teammates for the most home runs on the team this season. With a much longer inning than he was used to compared to the rest of the night, Voegele finished the eighth with a 4-1 lead having thrown 96 pitches.

Kansas got three men on base in the seventh, but couldn’t capitalize as Voegele reentered the game nearing 100 pitches, setting a new career high for innings pitched in a single game. But the sophomore ace wasn’t satisfied with finishing there. He struck out the side on 12 pitches, the last of which hit 96 mph as his fastball touched the mid-90s a few times throughout the inning. After an eight-batter bottom of the eighth put two more Kansas runs on the board, Voegele returned to the mound even after having thrown 108 pitches and waiting over 20 minutes between innings.

Voegele’s bid for a first-ever complete game was not to be, as a leadoff home run by Alex Conover ended his outing and put a once comfortable Jayhawk lead in peril. Lin allowed the first two runners he faced to reach base, but buckled down for the strikeout and double play to end the game and preserve Kansas’ 5-2 victory.

The Jayhawks and Cowboys will continue the series at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

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