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

Kansas senior infielder Michael Brooks is celebrated by Kansas teammates after hitting a home run against Oklahoma State on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Hoglund Ballpark.

With Kansas baseball’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in over a decade, the vast majority of the 39 Jayhawks on the roster will be playing postseason baseball at the Division I level for the first time in their lives.

While playing on the largest stage for college baseball in one of the most iconic venues in the sport, Arkansas’ Baum-Walker Stadium, is daunting, head coach Dan Fitzgerald and his players have been preparing for this moment since the fall, and really since Fitzgerald arrived in Lawrence.

“I remember some of the conversations I had with Fitz when he was recruiting me here. You know, he always said it’s not going to be an easy process, and it’s not, being in the Big 12 and having basically a whole new team,” said redshirt senior Michael Brooks, who arrived with Fitzgerald in 2023 and has been a cornerstone for the program ever since. “We knew it was going to be hard to do, but we knew that we were capable of doing it at some point.”

“I think we knew where we wanted to go,” added Mike Koszewski, who also came to Kansas in 2023. “Every day, we kind of built it. Just getting better and trying to reach whatever goals that we have. And so each day, it’s just been a stepping stone to get where we’re at right now.”

While three years is a relatively short timeline for such a drastic turnaround, most of Kansas’ players have waited their entire lives to get the opportunity to play in an NCAA regional.

“I’ve been so blessed with so much postseason baseball, and I think the number one thing, and these guys do it so naturally, is to embrace it and enjoy it,” Fitzgerald said. “But, you know, this is a short window that they get to play. I mean, this is the first NCAA tournament that Brooks is going to play in, and the first one for (Chase Diggins), and the first one for a lot of guys. And so I think when you play the way that we have, it literally is about just being who we are and enjoying every second of it and trying to play baseball as long as we can together.”

Kansas’ team dynamic has played a prominent role all season, and since Fitzgerald’s arrival, the Jayhawks have placed just as much importance on being a good teammate as being a good player. With that comes a familiar sense of fun and humility that Kansas will take into the tournament as they look at the opportunity with gratitude, but also acknowledge that it’s “just another baseball game.”

“We don’t play to make the NCAA Tournament, we don’t play to go out there and go 5-for-5, you know,” graduate outfielder Jackson Hauge said. “I play because I really enjoy the game, and I love to win with my best friends.”

“We just want to take every day one step at a time, because every day counts, especially when it comes to regionals,” Brooks added. “Even though it’s going to be their first time (in the tournament) as well, we want to act like we’ve been there before, too.”

With this being both the first and last NCAA Tournament appearance for much of Kansas’ roster, Fitzgerald’s insistence on taking the season game by game has become more important than ever.

“Just having the freedom to go out there and play and play freely, it’s what Fitz likes to say, and the way that I’d like to interpret it,” Hauge said. “It’s just, you know, when the lights come on and it’s a big stage, you know you have nothing else left to do but just go out there and play.”

Their experience and companionship have prepared them for the moment, even if they haven’t been on this exact stage before. Indeed, many Jayhawks have played postseason baseball at junior colleges and the Division II level and are taking their years of experience, which Fitzgerald emphasized greatly when building his roster, to tackle a new challenge with previously obtained knowledge.

“I think there may be some butterflies at the beginning, but, you know, we all know we’re capable of competing at the highest level, no matter where we’re playing or who we’re playing against,” Brooks said. “You know, maybe, a little breath here and there, but I think that we’re all capable of calming each other down.”

The Jayhawks’ first task comes on Friday, as they face No. 3 seed Creighton in their first game of the Fayetteville regional at 7 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium, which can be streamed on ESPN+.