photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas sophomore pitcher Cooper Moore throws a pitch in the semifinal game against TCU in the 2025 Big 12 tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Friday, May 23, 2025.

Arlington, Texas — The comeback Jayhawks ran out of magic in their Big 12 Championship semifinal against No. 3 seed TCU on Friday night, losing their first game by run rule 11-1 in eight innings after allowing 11 unanswered runs and amassing only three hits outside of the first inning.

Missing outfielder Jackson Hauge in the starting lineup after he tweaked his hamstring yesterday on his third-inning home run, Kansas’ offense looked like a shell of itself with only one extra-base hit and nine strikeouts.

“I think you hedge your bet sometimes with preparation … We’re always playing the game in front of us, but I do think this is a little tricky at the end of the year when you know you’re in the NCAA Tournament,” head coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “Obviously, we need him to be our complete offense, and we (still) had plenty of offensive firepower in the lineup, but obviously he’s a big force, so we definitely missed him. But that wasn’t the reason we got beat tonight.”

Hauge’s absence was precautionary, as Fitzgerald said he was “begging to play,” and would’ve been in the game if it were an NCAA Tournament game.

Kansas’ pitching staff wasn’t much better than its quiet offense, allowing 11 runs on 16 hits and recording only three strikeouts while issuing five walks.

Starter Cooper Moore gave up nine hits in six innings pitched; he averages 8.58 hits per nine innings this season. And while this usually doesn’t hold him back from preventing runs — Moore gave up 15 hits but only allowed four runs over his past two starts — he lacked the strikeout stuff needed to complement this deficit in his start on Friday. His four strikeouts weren’t enough to offset TCU spraying the ball all over, as he finished his night giving up nine hits and allowing five runs. After a shorter start by his standards, Kansas’ bullpen did Moore no favors, as it allowed seven hits and didn’t record a strikeout over the next two innings.

“We knew going into the game that (Alex Breckheimer) would be out tonight, and we tried not to throw Manning (West),” Fitzgerald said. “Coop did a good job of getting us deep into it.”

On TCU’s end, starter Mason Brassfield, who faced the Jayhawks back in mid-April and threw five scoreless innings of relief to get the win, buckled down after allowing a run in the first, but had a very short leash and was pulled in the fourth inning after issuing back-to-back walks. Louis Rodriguez replaced him and worked out of the jam, starting a five-inning relief appearance in which he gave up only three hits and no runs.

“It’s just the mentality that I have to have,” Rodriguez said. “Going into it, I knew I had a chance to come in today, and I wanted to give my team the best opportunity to not have to utilize all the pitching. I think just staying composed and trying to stay one day at a time has helped me a lot.”

Moore started his night with an efficient 11-pitch inning where he retired the Horned Frogs in order before the Jayhawks once again struck first, putting together a pair of singles as Dariel Osoria drove in Kansas’ only run for a quick 1-0 lead.

But after an efficient first inning, Moore lost his footing in the second, walking a batter to start the inning before giving up four hits as the Horned Frogs got their first lead of the game and ended the inning up 4-1 thanks to a two-out two-RBI double by Jack Bell. The second was just a precursor to the rest of the game for Kansas, as Bell tacked on two more hits and three more RBIs over the ensuing innings to drive in nearly half of TCU’s 11 runs.

Kansas recorded seven straight outs as Moore worked around a pair of singles to keep the game within reach. The Jayhawks seemed destined to start a rally reminiscent of their seventh-inning performance against Oklahoma State on Thursday after drawing back-to-back walks to start the fourth, but squandered the chance and remained hitless for the third inning in a row.

Freshman phenom Sawyer Strosnider got the Horned Frogs back on the board in the fifth with a leadoff single before stealing second, advancing to third on a wild pitch, and coming in to score on a sac fly by Cole Cramer.

The Jayhawks once again had a golden opportunity in the fifth, recording their first hits since the first inning on a single by Tommy Barth and double by Chase Diggins to put two runners in scoring position. Brady Ballinger was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs, and a flyout by Brady Counsell on the very next pitch ended the inning as Kansas failed to get a run across.

Kannon Carr took over for Moore in the sixth and worked around a leadoff double to keep the Horned Frogs from adding to their 5-1 lead.

Kansas went in order in the sixth and seventh, leading to a disastrous top of the eighth, in which four different pitchers took the mound and gave up six hits and walked two batters, to give up six runs. The fallout included four hits across three different pitchers before a single out was recorded, culminating with Bell’s bases-clearing triple to make it 10-1.

Eric Lin entered with runners on second and third and became the only Kansas pitcher of the night not to allow an inherited runner to score, as he worked around a walk to load the bases. After getting a leadoff single for his second, and Kansas’ fifth, hit of the game, Derek Cerda was stranded on second base to end the game as the Jayhawks lost their first game of the year due to the run rule.

“We got a couple of opportunities to put some more runs on the board, and didn’t, and then obviously they opened it up,” Fitzgerald said. “But the good news is we put ourselves in a fantastic position with how we played throughout the year, so now we got to rest up and get ready to play.”

While the Jayhawks were essentially eliminated from the possibility of hosting a regional next weekend, they’ll have a chance to prove themselves once again when they travel to wherever the NCAA Tournament may take them and Fitzgerald and company get their first shot at a postseason run with Kansas. The NCAA selection show is set for 11 a.m. on Monday and will be televised on ESPN2.

photo by: Big 12 Conference

Kansas’ Tommy Barth swings at a pitch against TCU on Friday, May 23, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas junior Derek Cerda leads off first base in the semifinal game against TCU in the 2025 Big 12 tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Friday, May 23, 2025.

photo by: Val Montanez/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas senior Tommy Barth prepares to steal second base in the semifinal game against TCU in the 2025 Big 12 tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Friday, May 23, 2025.

photo by: Davis Kuhn/Big 12 Conference

Kansas’ Dariel Osoria gestures from first base against TCU on Friday, May 23, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.

photo by: Big 12 Conference

Kansas’ Cooper Moore pitches against TCU on Friday, May 23, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.

photo by: Big 12 Conference

Kansas’ Michael Brooks tries to throw across the infield against TCU on Friday, May 23, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.

photo by: Davis Kuhn/Big 12 Conference

Kansas’ Brady Ballinger reaches out to try to catch the ball at first base as TCU’s Cole Cramer runs in on Friday, May 23, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.

photo by: Davis Kuhn/Big 12 Conference

Kansas’ Cooper Moore pitches against TCU on Friday, May 23, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.