photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

The Jayhawks celebrate a home run at home plate during their game against Houston on Saturday, March 21, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.

It’ll be a battle for first place in the Big 12 this weekend at Hoglund Ballpark as No. 12 UCF visits Lawrence for a three-game series with Kansas, beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.

The Knights, picked to finish 10th in the league in the preseason, are riding high in first place at 10-2 in Big 12 play after taking two of three on the road from fellow upper-echelon foe West Virginia.

“I don’t think it’s taken anyone in our circle, in the Big 12, by surprise because I think everyone knows that Rich Wallace is a great coach,” KU coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “He’s got an elite staff and I think two years ago, in their first year there as a staff, they were good, went to the NCAA Tournament, then last year (was) a little bit of a rebuilding year for them. You just knew with some of the young pieces they had that they were going to be really good this year.”

The second-place Jayhawks, for their part, are 23-10 and 9-3 in the Big 12 and will look to add to their tally of ranked wins after an emotional 5-3 victory on the road at No. 19 Nebraska on Tuesday. Augusto Mungarrieta tied the game with an RBI double in the sixth, then drove in two runs to give KU the lead in the seventh, before Boede Rahe threw three perfect innings to seal the result.

“When he gets that look in his eye, there’s no way those guys are going to hit him anymore,” teammate Riane Ritter said of Rahe. “He’s just got such a good mentality. His confidence is through the roof, and he just has such good preparation and everything. It’s great, it’s fun to watch.”

Rahe’s appearance throws an interesting wrinkle into the Jayhawks’ weekend rotation, because while the junior from Marion, Iowa, had been serving as a high-leverage reliever for much of the season, he garnered a pair of starts on Friday nights against Cincinnati and Utah. But Fitzgerald and his staff decided to deploy him late in the game to take down the Cornhuskers.

“With Boede starting the last couple weekends on Fridays, it’s been great, but we’ve also, I think, felt a little bit in the bullpen of not (having him available) — he just loves that moment, and he’s so good in that moment,” Fitzgerald said, adding that Rahe is strong against both lefties and righties.

That creates some intrigue entering the weekend as KU will need a third starting pitcher at its disposal along with usual Saturday starter Mathis Nayral and Dominic Voegele, who has recently pitched on Sundays. Sophomore Mason Cook, who has five starts this year and did not pitch against Nebraska, could be one likely candidate, as could freshman Madden Seidl.

Whatever the case, KU can count on consistent production from its offense, which has caught fire in recent weeks. Prior to Tuesday’s modest showing, the Jayhawks had scored double-digit runs in five straight games (and they needed all of them, because they allowed six, eight, 12, nine and nine again).

“We’ve all been super consistent,” said shortstop Tyson LeBlanc, who received multiple national player of the week honors and leads KU in OPS (1.089), home runs (12) and RBIs (39). “No one’s really chasing out of the zone. At the beginning of the year we had some struggles as an offense, but we toned it down, we’re sticking to an approach and it’s been working lately.”

They’ll need to be at their finest against UCF, which in league games has fielded the Big 12’s best pitching staff by a wide margin. The Knights shut out WVU in their Friday night win despite losing their starter Braden Smith when he took a line drive to the face. Then Camden Wicker went seven innings with one run allowed on three hits in the series decider on Saturday.

UCF already lost multiple additional pitchers to season-ending injuries, and it’s not clear when the Knights might have Smith back, or righty Matt Sauser, who has allowed just two earned runs in 28 innings but hasn’t pitched each of the last two weekends. (Mateo Gray has started twice in his absence.) But Wicker has had a steady season and there are still plenty of relief arms like Evan Jones (3.12 ERA, 0.85 WHIP), Max Murray (2.35, 0.99), Kevin Schoneboom (2.50, 1.61) and Kris Sosnowski (2.57, 1.29).

On the offensive end, the Knights are led by outfielders John Smith III, who boasts a team-high .393 with a 1.112 OPS, and Andrew Williamson, who has nine home runs and 28 RBIs on the season. (Williamson is also the only player in the Big 12 with four triples this year.) Catcher Zak Skinner, a Lamar transfer with a .356 average, is another name to know.

“They do it on all sides of the ball,” Fitzgerald said. “They play a very solid brand of baseball, and I think one of the things that’s impressive about them: They don’t give you a whole lot. There’s not a whole lot of free giveaways when you play them.”

LeBlanc said he expects a “huge student section” for the weekend series.

“It’s two great teams playing good baseball at the right time,” he said, “so who wouldn’t want to come watch that?”

Added Ritter: “It’s kind of why you came here — you came here to play in these big series against a good opponent like UCF is. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”