photo by: Kansas Athletics

Kansas sophomore Mason Cook pitches against Oklahoma State on Friday, May 22, 2026, in Surprise, Ariz.

Saturday night will bring yet another in a series of the most significant games in Kansas baseball history.

This time, the Jayhawks have a chance to put themselves one win away from a regional championship and a first-ever super regional berth. But they will have to do what KU’s football and men’s basketball teams have been unable to in recent years and take down Arkansas in the postseason.

The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2, with first pitch at Hoglund Ballpark set for 5 p.m., but that time is already in question as the Missouri State-Northeastern elimination game didn’t take long to enter a weather delay that pushed its own first pitch from noon to 1:32 p.m.

After KU beat Northeastern 6-3, the Razorbacks advanced through the first day of the first-ever Lawrence Regional with a 9-5 victory against Missouri State and improved to 40-20 on the season.

Arkansas chose to save its ace Hunter Dietz for Saturday and start the still-potent Gabe Gaeckle against the Bears, which initially looked like a problematic decision when he allowed a leadoff home run to Bryce Cermenelli and only went four innings as the Razorbacks fell behind early. But a six-run fifth inning against three separate Missouri State relievers made the difference as a 3-1 deficit became a 7-3 lead.

Trailing 8-3 in the eighth, the Bears loaded the bases with one out against Parker Coil. Lefty Ethan McElvain entered in relief and gave up a two-RBI double to Curry Sutherland, but McElvain was able to induce consecutive groundouts without allowing another run to score. Maika Niu added an insurance run on an RBI double, and McElvain finished the game.

Niu, the center fielder, went 4-for-4 with four RBIs in one of the best performances of his Arkansas tenure.

Arkansas’ usual top hitter is shortstop Camden Kozeal, who leads the team in most statistical categories and is batting .318 with 20 home runs and 70 RBIs on the year. Catcher Ryder Helfrick, third baseman TJ Pompey and right fielder Zack Stewart have 16, 15 and 13 home runs this season, respectively.

It’ll be Dietz on the mound for the Razorbacks against KU barring some sort of setback with his leg, which got hit by a line drive during his start in the SEC tournament. The 6-foot-6 lefty, a redshirt sophomore with 117 strikeouts on the year, was one of three starters named to the All-SEC first team.

Arkansas may not have its full complement of relievers after Coil and Steele Eaves each had to throw 31 pitches on Friday in relief of Gaeckle. McElvain, the Razorbacks’ top reliever who has allowed just four earned runs in his 19 appearances, needed just 22 pitches in 1 2/3 innings against the Bears.

KU was able to get through Northeastern with just starter Dominic Voegele and closer Boede Rahe. Rahe earned a six-out save with 32 pitches. (Earlier in the season, he threw 23 a day after 46 during the UCF series, 24 after 29 against Kansas State and 18 after 47 against BYU.)

That means the Jayhawks will have the likes of Riane Ritter and Toby Scheidt available in middle relief as needed. Mason Cook (5-1, 4.26 ERA) will get the start. He has allowed just eight earned runs in 28 1/3 innings across his last five starts.

The only other lineup intrigue for KU will be whether Brady Ballinger gets the start in left field after subbing in late against Northeastern in his return from injury or if Savion Flowers remains in the lineup.

“They’re a really good team,” Eaves said. “We’re going to have to, from the first pitch, get after them. But they got something to prove and they’re going to bring energy and they’re going to bring juice, and there’s going to be a lot of fans, so should be interesting.”

It’ll be a long-awaited matchup after KU went to Arkansas for regional play last year but went 0-2 and never got the chance to face the Razorbacks.

“You could see from the stands or our offices where we watched them play, that they’re physical, they added to it, got a couple key guys back,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “They can hit the ball over your head with the best of ’em.”