| Kansas (2-2) at McNeese State (2-2) | |
| When | Friday, Feb. 20 – Sunday, Feb. 22 |
| Where | Lake Charles, La. // Joe Miller Ballpark |
| Watch | Friday | Sunday |
| Radio | Jayhawk Sports Network |
| Live Stats | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Game Notes | Kansas | Big 12 |
| Social Media | @KUBaseball | @kubaseball | Facebook |
| Probable Starting Pitchers | ||
| Day | Kansas | McNeese State |
| Fri. 6 p.m. CT | RHP Dominic Voegele (0-1, 15.00 ERA) | LHP Connor Achee (0-1, 12.00 ERA) |
| Sat. 1 p.m. CT | TBD | TBD |
| Sun. 11 a.m. CT | TBD | TBD |
LAKE CHARLES, La. – Kansas baseball returns to the field this weekend for a three-game series against McNeese State at Joe Miller Ballpark. The weekend series will begin on Friday evening at 6 p.m. CT.
Kansas (2-2) will be looking to bounce back after dropping its midweek contest at Lamar by a score of 4-1 on Wednesday night. Sophomore Mason Cook, a transfer from McLennan Community College, threw five strong shutout innings but it was not enough for the Jayhawks.
The Jayhawks did win their opening series of the season last weekend in a hard-fought battle at UTRGV. KU dropped the opener on Friday night, but battled back to win 10-3 on Saturday evening and prevail 8-7 on Sunday afternoon.
Through the first four games, the Kansas pitching staff is averaging 11.5 strikeouts per game and a .210 batting average against.
This year, Kansas has 36 student-athletes on its roster. Eighteen of them made their Kansas debut this past weekend. There are 26 newcomers and 10 returners on the roster this season. That includes 22 pitchers and 14 position players, with 29 of them being transfers and seven high school recruits.
McNeese State has also gone 2-2 in its first four games this season. The Cowboys dropped two of three games in their opening series to Sam Houston State. On Wednesday, they did bounce back with an 8-3 win at Louisiana Tech. Connor Achee will start on Friday night for the Cowboys following a start last Saturday that he tossed three innings and allowed four runs.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Friday and Sunday’s games this weekend will be broadcast on ESPN+. There will be no TV broadcast for Saturday’s game. Fans can listen to all three games on the Jayhawk Sports Network on KUAthletics.com and the Kansas Jayhawks app.
Live statistics can be found here, while live updates will also be provided on the team’s official X page @KUBaseball.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION
Junior Mathis Nayral earned the Saturday starter role last weekend and he impressed on the mound. Nayral, a transfer from Cochise College and a native of Montpellier, France, threw seven innings of one-run ball. He allowed only two hits over his seven innings of work, while walking none and striking out four. Nayral faced only two batters over the minimum.
NO BETTER WAY TO START THE SEASON
Graduate transfer Jordan Bach started the season with a bang. The SIU-Carbondale transfer and Ladner, British Columbia, native, took the second pitch of the 2026 season out to left field for a leadoff solo homer.
Bach finished the weekend with seven hits, including a four-hit performance and a three-hit game. He hit .583 with a double, home run, three RBIs, five runs scored and two walks.
SERIES HISTORY
Kansas and McNeese State have also only played one time. That meeting came on Feb. 24, 1996 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Kansas earned a 13-7 win. The Jayhawks led 6-3 heading into the ninth inning and added seven insurance runs to put the game out of reach.
Issac Byrd, a Jayhawk legend who played both football and baseball at KU, went 2-for-6 with an RBI, run scored and stolen base in the game. Byrd went on to be drafted in the 1996 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals and the 1997 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
UP NEXT
Kansas will head to Minneapolis to play Minnesota in a four-game series at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings. The teams will begin the series on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. CT.
Courtesy of KU Athletics