photo by: Kansas Athletics

Kansas pitcher Mason Cook delivers during a game against BYU on Friday, May 15, 2026, in Provo, Utah.

The Kansas baseball team already has one championship under its belt: the Jayhawks’ first regular-season league title since 1949.

But since returning from their weekend series at BYU, in which they won two of three, they’ve had to simply go back to work.

“It just feels like another day, you know?” sophomore pitcher Mason Cook said on Tuesday. “Winning the championship is awesome. You just got to get back to work.”

And from here on out, the opportunities to bring home additional hardware only increase.

“I think to win the regular-season title was step No. 1,” said Dan Fitzgerald, the newly minted Big 12 coach of the year. “You know, you’ve got multiple opportunities for championships throughout the year, one being the regular season, two being the conference tournament, and then they grow from there.”

Next in line, now that KU concluded its regular season with a 39-16 record, is that conference tournament. After receiving a No. 1 seed and a double bye based on their performance this spring, the Jayhawks will begin their tournament run on Thursday, needing to win three straight games for another trophy.

First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. Central time (televised on ESPNU) at Surprise Stadium, the spring training home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers in Surprise, Arizona, with temperatures in the low 90s.

“I think it’s going to be awesome,” Cook said. “I think it’ll be hot. I like hot. You know, I’m from Texas. I like it to be hot.”

The Jayhawks won’t know their opponent until about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night, which initially necessitated the cultivation of three different scouting reports between Baylor, BYU and Texas Tech. But they’ll be ready, whether it ends up being a familiar opponent in BYU, which beat Tech 18-8 on Tuesday, or — the highest-seeded possibility — No. 8 Baylor, which KU hasn’t faced this year.

Shortstop Tyson LeBlanc, one of KU’s two first-team all-league selections and the Jayhawks’ top offensive player in most categories this season, knows a thing or two about the postseason. He was part of a junior-college national champion as a freshman.

“The toughest team always wins,” he said. “The guys who don’t give up when stuff’s not falling their way, those teams are going to win, and we have all the makeup to do that this year.”

OUT OF LEFT FIELD (I)

KU might not have much work left to do if it wants to host an NCAA regional at Hoglund Ballpark. The Jayhawks were a top-16 seed in projections from Baseball America and D1Baseball this week, meaning a victory on Thursday could be enough to seal their hosting privileges. (On Friday, they would likely face a team with pretty high RPI itself, minimizing risk.)

“There’s no place like this place, and playing here is an incredible home-field advantage,” Fitzgerald said. “Our student section is the greatest student section in college baseball, and our fans have been incredible. So, we’ve opened up plenty more seating, and there will be some cool options over on the third base side as well. So yeah, it’s going to be awesome, and we need to take care of business to make sure it happens.”

KU has recently removed a large chunk of the outfield wall at Hoglund Ballpark. Except for a small portion near the foul pole, basically the entirety of left field is missing, replaced by a chain-link fence separating the players from Naismith Drive. It apparently portends some sort of postseason expansion or improvement for the facility, though neither Fitzgerald nor Cook claimed to have much of an understanding of what was taking place.

“One day we came out here with no fence, so we’re like, ‘What are we going to do with (batting practice)?'” Cook said. “I mean, yeah, I don’t really know what’s going on. A little chain-link fence, maybe they’ll put fans back there, I don’t know. But hopefully it’s cool. I think it adds some character to the field. I like it.”

Fitzgerald said he thinks the finished product will “open up more eyeballs on our stadium.”

“I have an idea of what it’s going to look like,” he said, “but I think it’s awesome, and it’s a really cool view when you drive up from Naismith, just to be able to see in the ballpark, it’s pretty sweet.”

KU athletic director Travis Goff recently told the Journal-World that the layout of the Hoglund Ballpark site places limits on potential expanded capacity, because “you can’t cut down a bunch of trees, and you can’t just prop up a berm, but we’re looking at every square foot, quite honestly.”

OUT OF LEFT FIELD (II)

KU junior left fielder Brady Ballinger, an all-conference honorable mention this season, had to exit the Jayhawks’ series finale against BYU, a 5-4 loss in extra innings.

He appeared to hurt his hand in the midst of his ninth-inning at-bat (which resulted in a game-tying sacrifice fly), and ended up subbing out for little-used outfielder Savion Flowers in the 10th inning. Flowers actually singled with two outs in his 11th-inning at-bat, his 10th overall on the season, but KU ultimately left the bases loaded before BYU’s walk-off home run.

Fitzgerald said on Tuesday that Ballinger hurt his hamate bone (part of the wrist) and is expected to return for the NCAA regional, but not for the Big 12 tournament this week.

In his absence, Flowers would be one possible option to replace him in the lineup, as would Max Soliz Jr., who catches from time to time, or Dariel Osoria, who has served as a designated hitter and periodic second baseman.

OUTSIDE INTEREST

For the second straight year, Fitzgerald’s success at KU has prompted plenty of speculation about whether he might take another job. At least at this early stage, the biggest opening is South Carolina, which got rid of Paul Mainieri at midseason. On3’s Pete Nakos has cited Fitzgerald as a top candidate for that position, along with Coastal Carolina’s Kevin Schnall.

“I think the benefit of being at LSU and (Dallas Baptist) is I coached for two Hall of Fame coaches who were rumored in every job ever open, whether it was the big leagues or other college jobs,” Fitzgerald said, “and you just know that 99.9% of the time when someone’s named they’re not the person to get the job.”

Fitzgerald said that he is generally unaware of what is being written online.

“I love Kansas,” he said. “I am so thankful that I signed an extension here last year, and what we’re doing here is so special.”