Kansas Claims Season Opener with 8-5 Victory in Extras

Friday, February 14

Corpus Christi, Texas

5 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

1-0

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

0-1

Kansas

A&M-Corpus Christi

Kansas Claims Season Opener with 8-5 Victory in Extras

2/14/2025 10:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats Highlights

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Kansas baseball put together a five-run 10th inning to lift the Jayhawks to an 8-5 victory against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the season opener on Friday night at Whataburger Field. Tommy Barth, a senior transfer from East Tennessee State, delivered a go-ahead, two-run double in the 10th inning with the bases loaded to give KU the lead.

Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year Dominic Voegele tossed six innings and allowed two runs while walking one and striking out seven. Voegele allowed a run in each of the first couple innings before finishing his outing with four scoreless frames. Sophomore Brady Ballinger, junior Dariel Osoria, senior Tommy Barth and graduate Jackson Hauge all had two hits in their Jayhawk debuts.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas (1-0) trailed early in the game after a run in the first and second innings by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead. Jackson Smith had an RBI single in the first and Jarrett Flaggert hit a solo home run in the second.
• Kansas threatened in the third inning by loading the bases with two outs. Osoria, a junior transfer from Western Oklahoma State College, came up with a big at-bat in his Jayhawks debut and took a 1-2 pitch up the middle with the bases loaded to score Michael Brooks and Brady Ballinger. That tied the game up at 2-2.
• The Jayhawks pulled ahead in the sixth inning with an RBI single by senior Brady Counsell to score Chase Diggins. The hit was the first of Counsell's Jayhawks career and gave Kansas a 3-2 lead.
• Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (0-1) battled back to tie it in the bottom of the eighth as a throwing error on an attempted steal at second base allowed the runner at third to come home.
• Kansas was able to string together their best offensive inning of the night in the 10th, when the Jayhawks rallied to score five runs. Three consecutive singles by Osoria, Diggins and Mike Koszewski set up Kansas with the bases loaded and no outs. Barth had his go-ahead, two-run double to make it 5-3. Then, Michael Brooks hit a sacrifice fly and Hauge had a two-run, ground-rule double to make it 8-3.
• The Islanders picked up two runs in the bottom of the 10th on wild pitches to end the game at 8-5.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Malakai Vetock (1-0)
Final line: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
Loss: Cam Soliz (0-1)
Final line: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 SO
Save: Jake Cubbler (1)
Final line: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Dominic Voegele: After allowing a run in the first and second innings, Voegele battled to throw four scoreless innings after that. He had seven strikeouts in his six innings of work and only allowed one walk. His strong start on the mound kept the club in the game as hits were hard to come by early.

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

TOMMY BARTH. 2-run double. Hawks have the lead in the 10th!

TOP 10 | Kansas 5, TAMUCC 3
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) February 15, 2025

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"I'm super proud of how we competed. It was ugly. I can't remember the exact quote that Coach Self had a couple weeks ago about playing in the mud, but it was not clean baseball tonight. It's all correctable stuff and all stuff that happens on opening night from time-to-time. In the big picture there are a billion things to get better at, but I was super pleased with how locked in the guys were, how well they competed and what great teammates they were tonight." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"In that situation, I'm just trying to see the ball up and get something to hit and drive it to the outfield. It felt awesome. It was my first game with the Jayhawks and we're already clicking very well. I'm super excited for the rest of the year." – Tommy Barth

"I felt pretty good today. I started off a little slow, but once I found my stuff it was pretty easy to get rolling. I just trusted the guys behind me and Max (Soliz Jr.) behind the plate. Then, the offense came through late." – Dominic Voegele

• Kansas is now 21-8 in season openers since joining the Big 12 Conference prior to the start of the 1997 season. The Jayhawks are 2-1 in season openers under Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald.
• Kansas had 13 players make their Jayhawks debut.
• Kansas improved to 7-4 all-time at Whataburger Field.
• Kansas drew 10 walks offensively.
• Kansas pitching had 10 strikeouts.
• Ballinger, Barth, Hauge and Osoria, all had two hits in their Jayhawk debuts. Barth, Hauge and Osoria each also had two RBIs.
• Vetock earned his first win as a Jayhawk.
• Cubbler was credited with his first save as a Jayhawk.

UP NEXT
Kansas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will play game two of the four-game series on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT at Whatburger Field. The game will be broadcast on FloCollege and live audio will be available on the Jayhawk Sports Network.