Kansas Remains Undefeated; Sweeps Doubleheader Against Tarleton State

Saturday, February 22

Stephenville, Texas

12 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

5-0

Tarleton State

3-2

Kansas

Tarleton State

Kansas Remains Undefeated; Sweeps Doubleheader Against Tarleton State

2/22/2025 8:37:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score (PDF)Game 2 Box Score (PDF)Season Stats Highlights

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Kansas baseball improved to 6-0 on the season with a pair of victories against Tarleton State on Saturday at Tarleton Baseball Complex. The Jayhawks won game one by a score of 6-4 and game two by a 7-5 margin. The 6-0 start for the Jayhawks is the best since the 2014 season.

KU led by one run heading into the ninth inning of both contests and added an insurance run in each game. Graduate Jackson Hauge hit two home runs on Saturday, with a solo home run in both games, and sophomore Brady Ballinger also had a solo home run in game one. Hauge finished the day with three hits, four RBIs and three runs scored, while Ballinger tallied five hits with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Kansas pitching struck out 15 Tarleton State hitters in the first contest. Sophomore Dominic Voegele earned the win in game one, while junior Kannon Carr received the decision in the second game. Senior Eric Lin got the save in the first matchup and sophomore Cooper Moore closed out the second contest with 2.1 scoreless innings of work.

GAME ONE (Kansas 6, Tarleton State 4)

Kansas was able to get on the scoreboard first with three runs in the second inning. Junior Dariel Osoria scored on a throwing error to give the Jayhawks a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Sawyer Smith had an RBI groundout and Hauge had an RBI infield single.

Tarleton State was able to answer right back with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Braeden Gotisha had an RBI double, Ike Shirley hit a sacrifice fly and Lane Brewster grounded out to score a run and even it at 3-3.

The tie did not last for long as Ballinger led off the top of the third inning with a solo home run. That gave Kansas a 4-3 advantage.

Voegele settled in after the three runs he allowed in the second and struck out five consecutive batters from the last out in the second through the first out in the fourth. He finished the day with a season-high eight strikeouts over five innings.

Hauge added a run to the Jayhawks' lead in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3. Tarleton State got that run back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI groundout by Sergio Guerra to cut the game to 5-4.

Following Voegele's departure, Kansas tossed out a quartet of relievers that threw four scoreless innings, did not allow a walk and struck out seven batters. Senior Connor Maggi, juniors Robbie Knowles and Alex Breckheimer and senior Eric Lin came in and pitched the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings, respectively. They only surrendered two hits over the final four frames.

The Jayhawks carried their 5-4 advantage into the ninth inning when Hauge hit his first home run of the day. The Minnesota State Mankato transfer hit a towering shot to left-center field to help seal the victory.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Dominic Voegele (1-0)
Final line: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 8 SO
Loss: Jake Burcham (1-1)
Final line: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO
Save: Eric Lin (1)
Final line: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO

GAME TWO (Kansas 7, Tarleton State 5)

Contrary to the first game, the Jayhawks trailed 3-0 early in the second contest. Tarleton State scored one run in the first inning and two runs in the second inning to build a three-run advantage.

Kansas found success offensively the second time through the lineup. Hauge got the offense going in what turned into a four-run fourth inning. He hit his second home run of the day out to left-center field again. That cut the Jayhawks deficit to 3-1.

With two outs in the fourth, Ballinger and senior Chase Diggins had back-to-back singles. Senior Brady Counsell came up next and hit an RBI single to center field to score Ballinger. The ball got under the center fielder's glove and went almost all the way to the wall. Diggins scored on the fielding error and Counsell hustled around to score on the play as well. That gave the Jayhawks a 4-3 advantage.

In the fifth, Kansas added two more runs to stretch it to a 6-3 lead. Osoria came in to score on a fielding error that got past the second baseman and Ballinger hit an RBI single.

Tarleton State closed the gap with a run in the fifth and seventh innings to make it 6-5.

Similar to the first game, Kansas picked up an insurance run in the top of the ninth. With runners on second and third, Osoria delivered an RBI single up the middle to bring the score to 7-5. Moore was able to finish it in the ninth to complete the doubleheader sweep.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Kannon Carr (2-0)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
Loss: Brian Panneton (1-1)
Final line: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
Save: Cooper Moore (1)
Final line: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

Today was fun ?#RockChalk pic.twitter.com/IJu5VX1slQ
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) February 23, 2025

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"You can see why they're the defending WAC Champions, winning the WAC Tournament last year. These guys are really tough, really well coached and really tough to put away. I think our guys showed a ton of resolve just sticking to it. We had some adversity in game one, score three and then we give up three the next inning. Then, in game two we're down 3-0 and have to come from behind. I love the fight, love the focus and I love how much these guys care about each other and care about doing it right." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"Honestly, I was begging for the ball. B-Scott (Brandon Scott) asked me multiple times if I was going to be ready to come in and close the game in the ninth today or tomorrow and I said, 'can't wait, give me the rock whenever'. I think all in all we did a really good job playing as a team today. I felt comfortable going out there and closing out a game again. It felt like the old days." – Cooper Moore

"I think as a team we're just trying to put together quality at bats. In the Corpus Christi series, we were on the barrel and we were on the barrel today. I got put in a couple situations where I got to take advantage. We just try to be as prepared as we can and we got one more game left. – Jackson Hauge

"The team was just ready. We came to the ballpark and Fitz had us in the right place and we just did what we do. This is the part about baseball I love. Interacting with the crowd and hitting that bomb was really fun. I was just having a good day at the plate, seeing it well." – Brady Ballinger

• Kansas has started the season 6-0 for the first time since 2014 when the Jayhawks started 9-0.
• Kansas swept both games of a doubleheader for the first time since March 29, 2024 at BYU.
• The Kansas pitching staff had a season-high 15 strikeouts in the first game.
• Hauge hit his first two home runs as a Jayhawk.
• Ballinger connected on his second home run of the season.
• Lin and Moore both earned their first career collegiate saves.
• Ballinger and Osoria have hit safely in all six games this season.

UP NEXT
Kansas and Tarleton State will play the third and final game of the series on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on WAC International (subscription required) and live audio will be available on the Jayhawks Sports Network.