Kansas Walks Off Milwaukee in Extras for Series Sweep

Sunday, March 9

Lawrence, Kan.

1 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

Milwaukee

Kansas Walks Off Milwaukee in Extras for Series Sweep

3/9/2025 7:06:00 PM | Baseball

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the third time in 11 days, Kansas had a walk-off victory at Hoglund Ballpark as the Jayhawks beat Milwaukee 10-9 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon to secure a four-game series sweep in front of a crowd of 1,828 fans that included the KU band for the first time ever. Kansas added another win to its best start in program history, with the Jayhawks now sitting at 14-1 overall on the season.

Kansas trailed 6-0 before even coming to bat on Sunday. The Jayhawks fought back and used a six-run sixth inning to help get back in the game. The resilience of Kansas allowed them to win the game in the 10th inning on a walk-off RBI infield single by Brady Counsell to score TJ Williams.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• After Milwaukee got the first two outs in the 10th inning, Dariel Osoria singled to right field. Williams pinch ran for Osoria and advanced to second base on a balk. Counsell came up next and hit a ball to the left side that the shortstop was able to get to, but the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. Williams was hustling around third base and scored on the play. Originally, Counsell was ruled out at first base for the final out of the inning, but after a conversation amongst the umpires, he was deemed safe. The umpires went to review and called Counsell safe at first and ruled that Williams would have scored on the play.
• Milwaukee (1-14) sprinted out to a big lead in the first inning. The Panthers scored six runs in the inning, three of which were unearned. Milwaukee scored one run on an error, two runs on a double, two runs on RBI groundouts and one on a solo homer by Q Phillips. That made it 6-0 before Kansas came to bat.
• Kansas was able to get two of those runs back in the second inning. Osoria scored on a wild pitch and Sawyer Smith scored on a throwing error. Milwaukee still led 6-2 after two innings.
• The Jayhawks added another run in the third inning on a solo home run by Brady Counsell. The homer was his third of the season and made it 6-3.
• Milwaukee got that run back in the fifth inning as they scored on a wild pitch to bring the score to 7-3.
• The Kansas offense broke through for six runs in the sixth inning to take a 9-7 lead. The Jayhawks had six hits in the inning during the offensive flurry. Smith came in to score on a wild pitch for the first run of the inning. After a walk, Ty Wisdom roped an RBI double to right field to score another run. Brady Ballinger came up next and hit a 2-run double off the first baseman's glove down the right field line. That tied the game at 7-7. A pitching change followed and Jackson Hauge welcomed the new pitcher into the game with a two-run homer to left-center field to give Kansas its first lead of the day.
• Milwaukee continued to fight back as they scored one run in the seventh inning on a double play and tied it in the eighth on a solo homer by Teige Lethert. The score was 9-9 after eight innings.
• Kansas and Milwaukee both left two runners stranded in their portions of the ninth inning. The Panthers also had a runner on third with one out in the 10th and did not score.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Eric Lin (1-0)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
Loss: Aric Ehmke (0-2)
Final line: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

Bringing the KU band to Hoglund Ballpark for the first time ??#RockChalk pic.twitter.com/LPJdGSLu9y
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) March 9, 2025

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"The start was obviously not what we were looking to do. I think it's a combination of they hammered some balls early and then we couldn't screw up a couple of those things the way we did again if we tried. That rundown with Sawyer (Smith) and Brooks, they handed us an out. Then, Derek (Cerda) thought he made the catch in center and then banged up against the wall. So, there was a lot going on there, and then Sawyer got chewed up by a ground ball. I guess the thing to point out is it's really kind of the first hiccup that Steitz has had his entire rehab process from (Tommy John surgery) and he was still fine. We just didn't make plays. If we make those plays early, we get out of there pretty quick and obviously it's a different game. I was really proud of how we battled back…Our dugout was fantastic the whole time. We knew Milwaukee would fight. We had absolutely zero anticipation of them not showing up to play. They're an incredibly well-coached team and a really gritty crew. It's a great challenge for our guys to bounce back and proud of how they did it." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"We are never out of the fight. We know that we put up a bunch of runs up the first two days and even yesterday against them. Fitz brought us in right away and said, 'Hey, we've been here before, just get some runs going and get into their bullpen'. That was the game plan, and it worked to perfection." – Brady Counsell

"Anytime you get punched in the teeth like that it's more about how you respond. It's important to keep tacking on runs and sticking to what we do. I think we did that really well. We had some shots early to tack on some more runs and we didn't come through, but we didn't give up and we took it pitch-to-pitch." – Jackson Hauge

• Kansas is off to its best start in program history and improved to 14-1 on the season.
• Kansas recorded its third series sweep of the season (at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and at Tarleton State).
• Kansas now has three walk-off wins this season.
• Kansas is 2-0 in extra innings this season.
• Hauge hit his team-high seventh home run of the season.
• Counsell blasted his third home run of the season.
• Ballinger has reached base safely in all 15 games this season.
• Eric Lin earned his first win as a Jayhawk.

UP NEXT
Kansas heads on the road to play a two-game midweek series against Minnesota. The midweek series will be played at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings. Tuesday's game is set for 6 p.m. CT and Wednesday's first pitch will be at 1 p.m. CT.