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LAWRENCE — Kansas baseball’s road to an NCAA regional title on Sunday didn’t start off well.
By the end of the third inning, the Jayhawks were trailing 5-0 against Arkansas. KU’s starting pitcher, junior Mathis Nayral, struggled and was taken out of the game in the second inning. As much as Kansas would have had the chance Monday to try again, taking care of advancing on Sunday would eliminate any stress that could have come from having to play another game against a team with momentum.
But then Kansas (45-16) erupted for a six-run top of the fourth inning, and from then on the Jayhawks never relinquished the momentum they gained in that moment. Arkansas never truly went away, making some late runs to get within striking distance, but KU held off a comeback attempt and won 13-10. And now the Jayhawks are the NCAA regional champions in Lawrence and will be heading to a super regional.
RELATED: Kansas baseball vs Arkansas final score: Jayhawks win NCAA regional title
“What a night, and what a regional,” Kansas coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “I can’t say enough about the three teams in this thing and how competitive those three programs are and how well-coached they are, and how hard their players play, and how talented this thing was from top to bottom. So, to come out of this thing on top is — yeah, it’s another mountain to climb and could not be more proud of these guys and their teammates that are probably revving up the locker room right now with the disco ball and whatever else they’re doing.
But unbelievable crowd, unbelievable atmosphere, and just could not be more proud and couldn’t be more excited to keep playing baseball.”
When Kansas’ game against Arkansas ended, it wasn’t yet clear who the Jayhawks would be playing in their super regional. Because Oklahoma beat Georgia Tech on Sunday, the two teams will have to play a winner-take-all game on Monday to see who wins the regional those programs are playing in.
But regardless of who KU plays and where, it’ll certainly arrive at that ballpark with momentum — this NCAA regional title building on having already won the Big 12 Conference’s regular-season and tournament championships.
Kansas, the No. 1 seed in its four-team regional, beat No. 4 seed Northeastern in its opening game Friday, then No. 2 seed Arkansas on both Saturday and Sunday to capture the regional title. Kansas junior Tyson LeBlanc was named the regional’s most outstanding player. LeBlanc was also on the all-tournament team with some teammates in junior Dylan Schlotterback, junior Dominic Voegele, senior Dariel Osoria, and junior Brady Ballinger.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas baseball storms back, beats Arkansas to win NCAA regional
Continue reading...
By the end of the third inning, the Jayhawks were trailing 5-0 against Arkansas. KU’s starting pitcher, junior Mathis Nayral, struggled and was taken out of the game in the second inning. As much as Kansas would have had the chance Monday to try again, taking care of advancing on Sunday would eliminate any stress that could have come from having to play another game against a team with momentum.
But then Kansas (45-16) erupted for a six-run top of the fourth inning, and from then on the Jayhawks never relinquished the momentum they gained in that moment. Arkansas never truly went away, making some late runs to get within striking distance, but KU held off a comeback attempt and won 13-10. And now the Jayhawks are the NCAA regional champions in Lawrence and will be heading to a super regional.
RELATED: Kansas baseball vs Arkansas final score: Jayhawks win NCAA regional title
“What a night, and what a regional,” Kansas coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “I can’t say enough about the three teams in this thing and how competitive those three programs are and how well-coached they are, and how hard their players play, and how talented this thing was from top to bottom. So, to come out of this thing on top is — yeah, it’s another mountain to climb and could not be more proud of these guys and their teammates that are probably revving up the locker room right now with the disco ball and whatever else they’re doing.
But unbelievable crowd, unbelievable atmosphere, and just could not be more proud and couldn’t be more excited to keep playing baseball.”
When Kansas’ game against Arkansas ended, it wasn’t yet clear who the Jayhawks would be playing in their super regional. Because Oklahoma beat Georgia Tech on Sunday, the two teams will have to play a winner-take-all game on Monday to see who wins the regional those programs are playing in.
But regardless of who KU plays and where, it’ll certainly arrive at that ballpark with momentum — this NCAA regional title building on having already won the Big 12 Conference’s regular-season and tournament championships.
Kansas, the No. 1 seed in its four-team regional, beat No. 4 seed Northeastern in its opening game Friday, then No. 2 seed Arkansas on both Saturday and Sunday to capture the regional title. Kansas junior Tyson LeBlanc was named the regional’s most outstanding player. LeBlanc was also on the all-tournament team with some teammates in junior Dylan Schlotterback, junior Dominic Voegele, senior Dariel Osoria, and junior Brady Ballinger.
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas baseball storms back, beats Arkansas to win NCAA regional
Continue reading...
