Hauge Homer Lifts Jayhawks Past Kansas State 5-3 on Friday Night

Friday, April 18

Lawrence, Kan.

6 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

29-10, 10-6

Kansas State

23-15, 10-6

Kansas State

Kansas

Hauge Homer Lifts Jayhawks Past Kansas State 5-3 on Friday Night

4/18/2025 10:43:00 PM | Baseball

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Jackson Hauge hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning to lift the Jayhawks to a 5-3 victory against Kansas State in the series opener on Friday night at Hoglund Ballpark.

The 17th home run of the season for Hauge changed the game from a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 lead. Hauge is now tied for third all-time in program history for home runs in a single season.

Dominic Voegele held Kansas State to three runs over 5.2 innings on Friday night. Manning West and Alex Breckheimer followed with 3.1 scoreless innings of relief. West earned the win and Breckheimer received the save. Kansas improved to 29-10 on the year with the win, while moving to 10-6 in Big 12 play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas State (23-15, 10-6 Big 12) got out to an early lead with two runs in the second inning. With two outs, Donte Lewis hit a two-run double down the right field line to take a 2-0 lead.
• The Wildcats added another run in the third inning as Sam Flores scored on a wild pitch with two outs. That made it a 3-0 game.
• Kansas was kept off balance offensively until the seventh inning when Kansas chased Kansas State starting pitcher Jacob Frost from the game.
• After Frost got the first two outs of the inning, the Jayhawks were able to string together a two-out rally that plated four runs. The first run came courtesy of an RBI single from Brady Ballinger that scored Sawyer Smith from second. Hauge then stepped in and slugged his 17th home run of the season to put the Jayhawks ahead 4-3.
• KU added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Tommy Barth tripled with one out and score on an RBI single from Derek Cerda with two outs in the inning. That gave Kansas a 5-3 advantage heading into the ninth.
• Manning West and Alex Breckheimer combined to allow just one hit in the final 3.1 innings in relief of Kansas starter Dominic Voegele. Breckheimer retired all six batters he faced, striking out three to close out the game.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Manning West (3-1)
Final line: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO
Loss: James Guyette (4-2)
Final line: 1.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 SO
Save: Alex Breckheimer (3)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT ??????@JacksonHauge puts the Jayhawks ahead with his 17th HR of the season!

BOT 7 | Kansas 4, Kansas State 3 pic.twitter.com/3DkvxkY0Ia
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) April 19, 2025

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"Starting with Frost, I thought he was outstanding. I thought our guys did a good job of battling. Early, we were way off the fastball which is not like us at all…they sent him back out there for the seventh and I thought if we could just get him out of this game and get a couple runners on we got a chance. He was really, really good. On the other side of it, Dom goes 5.2 innings with five hits and again gutted it out to keep us in it. Again, just a super competitive moment for our guys and a ton of belief. We're down 3-0 in the seventh and we're getting Breckheimer hot because we knew it was just a matter of time before we were going to break through. The guys were super confident. Our dugout was electric. I'm running out of ways to describe the student section, but it's not just the student section. It's a billion families and it's just an awesome, electric environment right now. Super proud of our guys and can't wait to get after it tomorrow." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"I don't remember much. I'm not going to lie. I know it was a slider. I was trying to put a good swing on it. I saw it leave the bat and I think I blacked out after that…never die Hawks. We're going to stay to our approach and keep fighting all nine innings and see what happens." – Jackson Hauge

"It feels awesome. Going into it we were expecting it to be a close game. It was really cool to see all the fans here tonight. It was loud and awesome. I think that's what helped me throw a little harder than I normally do." – Alex Breckheimer

• Kansas has hit a home run in 16 of the last 17 games. The Jayhawks now have 79 home runs this season, extending their program record.
• Hauge crushed his 17th home run of the season. That puts him into a tie for the third most home runs in a single-season in program history. He extended his on-base streak to 25 games. That is the longest on-base streak by a Jayhawk since Tavian Josenberger had a 29-game on-base streak during the 2021 season.
• Smith has reached base safely in each of the last 15 games.
• Cerda now has an on-base streak of 18 games.
• Barth hit his team-high fourth triple of the season.

UP NEXT
Kansas and Kansas State will play game two at Hoglund Ballpark tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT. First pitch was moved up two hours due to the potential for inclement weather later in the day. Gates will open at 11 a.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.