LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas baseball finished off a series sweep of Utah on Saturday afternoon with a 13-9 victory at Hoglund Ballpark. The Jayhawks have now won six consecutive games and are winners in 12 of their last 14 contests.
Kansas has matched its best 12-game start to Big 12 play in program history and has won nine of its last 10 Big 12 games. Saturday’s win also marked the 16th comeback victory for the Jayhawks this season. KU improved to 22-10 overall and 9-3 in conference play this year.
The Jayhawks led 7-1 after three innings and then trailed 8-7 midway through the fifth inning. Kansas was able to regain the lead with a combined six runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Tyson LeBlanc hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and Cade Baldridge smashed a three-run homer in the seventh to give the Jayhawks some cushion.
Mason Cook entered the game at the top of the sixth inning and threw four strong innings of relief to finish the game. Cook did not allow an earned run and matched his career high with six strikeouts to earn his first win as a Jayhawk.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas grabbed an early first inning lead. The Jayhawks started the inning by loading the bases and with two outs Owens delivered a two-run single to get the Jayhawks on the board. Max Soliz Jr. came up next and hit an RBI single to make it a 3-0 Kansas lead.
• Utah (16-13, 5-7 Big 12) got one of those runs back in the second inning on a solo homer by Nevan Noonan.
• The Jayhawks extended their lead in the third inning with four runs. Owens produced again with the bases loaded by clearing them on a triple to the gap in right center. Soliz Jr. provided another RBI single to bring the score to 7-1.
• The Utes had a huge fourth inning with six runs on eight hits. Luke Jacobs hit a two-run homer in the inning and the game was tied 7-7 midway through the fourth.
• Utah took the lead in the top of the fifth on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded. The Utes led 8-7 midway through the fifth.
• Kansas answered back in the sixth with a two-run homer by LeBlanc. That put the Jayhawks ahead 9-8.
• In the seventh, Utah tied the game again by scoring a run on a passed ball.
• The Jayhawks continued to battle back. In the bottom of the seventh, Kansas took the lead on a muffed throw to go ahead 10-9. Cade Baldridge stepped to the plate next and hammered a 428-foot three-run homer to give the Jayhawks a 13-9 edge.
• Cook wrapped up the next two innings on the mound by not allowing a run to seal the game and sweep.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Mason Cook (1-1)
Final line: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
Loss: Justin Abercrombie (1-2)
Final line: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
“Sweeps are really hard to do and they are especially hard to do inside of our league. Top to bottom, our league is so thick and so talented. Utah has as good of an offense as anyone in our conference and they back it up with a bunch of really nice bullpen pieces and a legit Friday guy. That’s a really good ball club that we just played. It didn’t go the way we wanted out of the gates with Dom. He cruised for three and then ran into trouble. Then, Madden was able to come in and wiggle out and then Riane gave us a big, big two thirds of an inning. The idea was to hand it to (Mason Cook), we really wanted to limit Manning to one inning today, and then Cookie was just rolling so there was no sense in messing with what was working. Great effort against a really good team and just a great series sweep.” – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald
“The home run felt great. I thought I put a lot of good swings on the ball this weekend. The biggest disappointment for me was just not being able to get on base for the hot lineup that’s behind me. When I was able to come through in that situation, that was big for me.” – Cade Baldridge
“It’s unreal. I’ve only been here for like eight months and this team is unreal. We bond like crazy. It’s actually unreal. The dugout is on fire every game and if someone goes down, the other guys got their back. The chemistry is unreal on this team.” – Mason Cook
“Honestly, I think we’re just playing together. The team is starting to come together and play for each other. The hitters are hitting for the pitchers and the pitchers are pitching for the hitters. I think it’s just us combining as a team and just being who we are.” – Cade Baldridge
• Kansas improved to 22-10 overall this season and 9-3 in Big 12 play.
• Kansas has matched its best 12-game start ever in Big 12 play. The only other time Kansas started 9-3 was in 2025. The first season of baseball in the Big 12 was 1997.
• Kansas has won three consecutive Big 12 series for the first time since the final three series of the 2014 season.
• Kansas recorded its third series sweep of the season (at McNeese State/vs. Houston).
• Kansas is riding a six-game winning streak.
• Kansas has won 12 of its last 14 games, including nine of its last 10 Big 12 games.
• Kansas now has 16 comeback victories this season.
• Kansas has a 19-5 record this season when hitting at least one home run in a game.
• Kansas has scored at least 10 runs in five consecutive games for the first time since May 13-20, 2011.
• Kansas has at least 10 hits in six straight games for the second time this season.
• LeBlanc hit his 12th home run of the season. He has hit nine home runs in the last 12 games. Seven of the nine home runs have come in the sixth inning or later.
• Baldridge crushed his fifth home run of the season.
• Owens finished with five RBIs.
• Cook earned his first win as a Jayhawk.
UP NEXT
Kansas plays a midweek game at Nebraska on Tuesday, April 7, for the first of two midweek games between the Jayhawks and Cornhuskers this season.
Courtesy of KU Athletics