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

Kansas players celebrate at the game against Missouri on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Lawrence.

Through 18 games on the season, Dariel Osoria was without a home run after he had hit nine in 2025.

Osoria’s breakthrough came on Sunday with a three-home run performance at Texas Tech, and the senior from Bronx, New York, continued his hot streak on Wednesday evening, blasting his fourth home run in two games to pave the way for Kansas baseball as it defeated rival Missouri 10-0 in seven innings at Hoglund Ballpark.

“He’s stuck through it through some ups and downs; (it’s) fun to see him get rewarded,” head coach Dan Fitzgerald said.

Wednesday’s game was the fifth annual Buck O’Neil Classic game, in which KU honored Buck O’Neil and the Negro Leagues as well as the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which the team visited before the season.

“I did not know Buck O’Neil, but I feel like I did because (of) who he was and his impact on baseball is so alive in that building,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s something that (former head coach Ritch) Price started, and so when we got here, it was something I was super honored to continue, and it’s something we’ll do every year with our team.”

Kannon Carr, making his first start of the season and ninth appearance, got the win in four scoreless innings, striking out three batters while allowing two hits and two walks.

“I felt good,” Carr said. “I was excited to get my name called for the start today. I was glad to be able to go out there and give my team a couple good innings and hand it off.”

Offensively, the Jayhawks, now 12-8, recorded 12 hits and were 6-for-13 with two outs, including scoring the first eight runs all in that scenario.

“I thought it was huge, and I thought they did a really nice job with their direction and staying towards the middle of the field,” Fitzgerald said. “Our guys did a great job of taking care of business with runners in scoring position and just grinding through those at-bats.”

Four Jayhawks had multi-hit games, as Jordan Bach, Cade Baldridge, Tyson Owens and Dylan Schlotterback all recorded two hits.

KU got on the board in the first after a two-out walk by Tyson LeBlanc and a single by Baldridge set up Osoria to hit his fourth home run of the season, giving the Jayhawks a 3-0 lead.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Osoria said. “Just trying to go out there and help the team as much as possible, so when I got in the box I was like, ‘All right, you got to try to find a hole just to get the guy in.'”

The Jayhawks got one runner on base in the second after a double by Owens. Pitcher Luke Sullivan worked out of the jam with a strikeout and a deep shot tracked down by Isaiah Frost.

Carr issued a walk with one out before recording back-to-back strikeouts to remain unscathed through three innings.

A checked-swing single by Brady Ballinger and an error put two runners on for KU in the third, with a sacrifice bunt moving them over to second and third. Ballinger was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice to the third baseman before KU continued its two-out success.

Josh Dykhoff began the rally with a double in no-man’s land that scored LeBlanc, and on the very next pitch, Max Soliz Jr. hit a towering three-run shot to left field for his first home run of the season. Baldridge later singled, and Schlotterback placed a hard-hit double down the left field line, ending Sullivan’s day. The Jayhawks scored their fifth and final run of the inning on an error, making the score 8-0 after three.

Missouri threatened in the fourth inning with one out, loading the bases after its first two hits of the game and a walk. Following a mound visit by pitching coach Brandon Scott, Carr escaped the jam and left the Tigers scoreless by completing a 3-6-1 double play.

“(Scott) came up to me, let me know about the hitter I was about to face,” Carr said. “He knew that this guy’s a big ground-ball guy, and (I) had to pitch to my strengths and his weaknesses, and it ended up working out for us.”

Madden Seidl entered in relief in the fifth and retired the Tigers’ lineup in order with two strikeouts in his first inning of work.

Schlotterback worked a one-out walk in the fifth inning before Bach laid down a bunt for a base hit. However, the Tigers caught Scholotterback too far off second base and were still able to record an out, getting out of the inning one batter later on a shallow flyout from the bat of Ballinger.

Replacing Seidl, Manning West came in for relief in the sixth and allowed a leadoff single but was able to minimize the damage, inducing a pop-up, strikeout, and flyout to leave the Tigers scoreless through six.

The Jayhawks added another run in the home half of the sixth, which began with a walk by LeBlanc. A single by Baldridge moved him to second, and after both runners advanced on a deep flyout by Osoria, Dykhoff brought in LeBlanc on an RBI groundout.

Missouri shortstop Kam Durnin welcomed KU reliever Ty Thomson to the game in the seventh with a leadoff double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, Thomson allowed a walk on four pitches, ending his outing.

Carter Fink took over with runners at the corners and got the Jayhawks out of the jam thanks to his defense, as Schlotterback snagged a hard lineout at third and raced to the bag just in time for the inning-ending double play.

“Coach (Tyler) Hancock had Dylan in the perfect spot,” Fitzgerald said.

KU needed just three batters to end the game in the seventh inning, as after a single by Schlotterback, a balk moved him to second, and he soon scored on a single by Bach to put the run rule in effect.

The Jayhawks will remain at Hoglund Ballpark, taking on Houston in their first home series of Big 12 Conference play. The first game of the series is Friday night, with first pitch slated for 6 p.m.

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