LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas baseball juniors Brady Ballinger and Dominic Voegele, along with senior Dariel Osoria, were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team on Thursday, the conference office announced. The three selections in a single season are the most ever for Kansas.
Kansas was also picked to finish tied for fifth in the 2026 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll. The preseason poll and team were voted on by the conference’s coaches, who were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.
Ballinger, who has already been named a Preseason All-American by multiple publications, headlines the group of returning position players. In 2025, Ballinger earned multiple All-American honors and an All-Big 12 First Team nod. He started 58 games at first base and led the team in batting average (.353), walks (56), slugging percentage (.670), on-base percentage (.495), OPS (1.165), runs scored (71), hits (79), doubles (21), total bases (150), multi-hit games (24) and multi-walk games (16).
Osoria was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection a season ago. He started 52 games in 2025 and hit .324 with 13 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 47 RBIs, 44 runs and 30 walks. The Bronx, New York, native had 21 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI contests. Osoria provided several late game heroic moments, including a walk-off grand slam in the home opener.
Voegele, the Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year in 2025 and Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2024, is entering his third season at Kansas. He ranked second in the Big 12 in innings pitched (96.1), tied for fifth in wins (7) and ninth in strikeouts (89) last season. Voegele tossed at least six innings in eight of his 16 starts a year ago. After being drafted out of high school, D1Baseball has Voegele ranked the No. 6 MLB Draft prospect for 2026 in the Big 12.
The trio of Jayhawks marks the sixth, seventh and eighth selections to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team in program history. Dominic Voegele (2025), Kodey Shojinaga (2024), Janson Reeder (2024), Benjamin Sems (2020) and Ryan Zeferjahn (2019) are the other Jayhawks to be voted onto the preseason team. The preseason team began in 2019.
Kansas will look to build on a historic 2025 season in which it set new program records for regular season wins (42), Big 12 wins (20), conference wins (20), conference series wins (seven), conference series sweeps (five), road wins (20), come-from-behind wins (26) and home runs (104). The Jayhawks begin their season on Friday, Feb. 13 at UTRGV in Edinburg, Texas.
Season tickets for the 2025 Kansas baseball season are now available. To purchase season tickets, fans can visit the KU online ticket office or call 800-34-HAWKS.
2026 Big 12 Baseball Preseason Poll
1. TCU (13)
2. Arizona (1) 157
3. West Virginia 137
4. Arizona State 128
T5. Kansas
T5. Oklahoma State 112
7. Kansas State 87
8. Cincinnati
9. Texas Tech 78
10. UCF
11. Baylor
12. Houston 42
13. BYU
14. Utah
2026 Preseason All-Big 12 Baseball Team
C Jack Natili, Cincinnati
IF Landon Hairston, Arizona State
IF Austen Roellig, Arizona State
IF Travis Sanders, Baylor
IF Brady Ballinger, Kansas*
IF Robin Villeneuve, Texas Tech
OF Andrew Williamson, UCF
OF Chase Brunson, TCU
OF Sawyer Strosnider, TCU*
OF Logan Hughes, Texas Tech
DH Dariel Osoria, Kansas
UTL Noah Franco, TCU
SP Owen Kramkowski, Arizona
SP Nathan Taylor, Cincinnati
SP Dominic Voegele, Kansas
SP Tommy LaPour, TCU*
RP Tony Pluta, Arizona
RP Cole Carlon, Arizona State
RP Chase Meyer, West Virginia
*- unanimous selection
2026 Big 12 Preseason Yearly Awards
Player of the Year: Sawyer Strosnider, TCU
Pitcher of the Year: Tommy LaPour, TCU
Newcomer of the Year: Dean Toigo, Arizona State
Freshman of the Year: Lucas Franco, TCU
Courtesy of KU Athletics