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

Kansas junior Tyson LeBlanc celebrates as he rounds the bases during the Jayhawks' NCAA tournament game against Arkansas on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.

When the Kansas baseball team fell behind Arkansas by five runs through three innings on Sunday night, a seventh game on Monday to decide the Lawrence Regional looked inevitable.

But the Jayhawks struck back with a six-run fourth inning headlined by Tyson LeBlanc’s three-run home run, led by as many as six and never trailed again on their way to a 13-10 victory over the Razorbacks.

KU will move on to the super regionals for the first time in program history, as the round didn’t exist yet when the Jayhawks made their lone trip to the College World Series in 1993.

Their opponent for a best-of-three series next weekend will be decided on Monday by a winner-take-all rematch between Georgia Tech and Oklahoma in Atlanta after the Sooners won 15-8 on Sunday night.

Ryder Helfrick hit two of Arkansas’ four home runs, but KU had more firepower. Second baseman Dariel Osoria racked up four hits, and first baseman Josh Dykhoff went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. The Jayhawks dealt with inconsistent pitching early before Manning West steadied things with one run allowed in three innings midway through the game. He was the winning pitcher on the night.

Making his first start since March 15, 2025, when he was at Vanderbilt, Arkansas’ Ethan McElvain, the Razorbacks’ usual closer, worked around a leadoff walk and an error for a scoreless first inning.

Helfrick gave the Razorbacks the lead with a two-out solo home run off KU’s Mathis Nayral.

Osoria, newly installed at second base, fittingly led off the second inning with a double, and Jordan Bach followed it up with a four-pitch walk. However, Dylan Schlotterback had a potential extra-base hit curl just foul and then grounded into a double play. Brady Ballinger struck out as KU’s threat fell by the wayside.

Nayral allowed a walk and a single to open the second inning and swiftly gave way to Toby Scheidt. Arkansas bunted the runners over, and after a strikeout by TJ Pompey, Damian Ruiz came through with a two-out, two-RBI single and Camden Kozeal knocked in another run to make it 4-0 as Ruiz beat out a throw to the plate.

Arkansas’ offense continued to make things difficult for Scheidt in the third with a pair of walks, at which point he exited for West. West conceded an RBI single to Maika Niu before preventing additional damage.

McElvain crossed a season high in pitches during the fourth inning and proceeded to allow his first run, a solo home run by Osoria. He then gave up three straight singles, resulting in another run, runners at the corners with one out and a pitching change to lefty Cole Gibler.

Max Soliz Jr., a former Razorback, kept the rally going with another single to left, bringing up the top of the order.

LeBlanc quickly fell behind 0-2 but saw a pitch he liked and cleared the bases with his 24th home run of the season, a three-run bomb to make it 6-5.

Gibler escaped the rest of the inning, putting the pressure back on West, who responded by forcing Arkansas’ first scoreless inning.

Colin Fisher replaced Gibler in the fifth, issued a walk and then suffered from a throwing error that gave KU a run. Ballinger added another with a groundout before Soliz flied out to end the inning at 8-5.

With a runner already on first, West walked Niu in the fifth, but got Christian Turner to ground out.

LeBlanc led off the sixth with a double to the wall that Niu may have prevented from being a home run by knocking it down with his glove. Fisher struck out Tyson Owens but hit Augusto Mungarrieta. Dykhoff fell behind 0-2 before homering to right field to double KU’s lead to 11-5.

Osoria doubled, but Bach flied out and right-hander Peyton Lee entered to get Schlotterback out.

Riane Ritter entered and gave up a two-run homer to Helfrick that tightened the deficit to four runs. Then Lee stranded another runner at second base in the top of the seventh.

Ritter ran into trouble again in the seventh, but this time he came up with back-to-back strikeouts as Arkansas left two runners in scoring position.

Arkansas went to James DeCremer on the mound, and he immediately allowed KU to load the bases before recording an out, then walked Bach to make it 12-7. Schlotterback added a sacrifice fly against Cooper Dossett, but Dossett retired the next two batters.

Boede Rahe entered in the bottom of the eighth, his third appearance in as many days. But it didn’t go according to plan as he gave up a two-run shot to Zack Stewart.

LeBlanc stole second with no outs in the ninth, but then Tyson Owens struck out and he got caught in a rundown after a passed ball.

Niu hit a one-out solo shot in the bottom of the ninth, but otherwise Rahe struck out three Razorbacks swinging to set the final score at 13-10.

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