No. 23 Kansas Takes Series at Utah With 12-5 Victory

Saturday, April 26

Salt Lake City, Utah

3 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

34-10, 14-6

Utah

17-21, 5-15

Kansas

Utah

No. 23 Kansas Takes Series at Utah With 12-5 Victory

4/26/2025 7:35:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats Conference Stats Highlights

SALT LAKE CITY – No. 23 Kansas baseball secured a series win and extended its win streak to seven games on Saturday afternoon with a 12-5 victory against Utah at Smith's Ballpark. The Jayhawks have now won five Big 12 series this season and will go for a series sweep on Sunday.

Kansas scored 12 runs on 12 hits, including four hits from Tommy Barth, three hits off the bat of Brady Counsell and two hits by Ian Francis. One of Counsell's hits was his 10th home run of the season. Barth and Francis each finished with three RBIs apiece.

Cooper Moore started and tossed a quality start for Kansas by going six innings and allowing only two runs. He earned his fifth win of the season. Thaniel Trumper followed and threw three innings to get the save.

Kansas improved to 34-10 on the season and 14-6 in Big 12 play with the win. The 34 wins are the most in a season for Kansas since 2014, the last time the Jayhawks made a regional.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas loaded the bases in the second inning and was able to plate two runs to take a 2-0 lead. Back-to-back RBI singles by Barth and Francis put the Jayhawks ahead.
• Utah (17-21, 5-15 Big 12) was able to even up the game in the third inning. An RBI single by Jack Kleveno and an RBI fielder's choice from Core Jackson made the game 2-2.
• The Jayhawks responded by taking back the lead in the top of the fourth. Once again, Barth and Francis delivered for Kansas. Barth hit an RBI single up the middle and Francis smoked an RBI double down the left field line. That gave Kansas a 4-2 lead.
• KU stretched out its lead in the fifth inning with four runs. After loading the bases, Barth hit his third RBI single to score the first run. Francis and Sawyer Smith each drew a walk with the bases loaded to bring in the next two runs. Derek Cerda then hit a sacrifice fly for the final run of the inning. The four runs pushed the Kansas advantage to 8-2.
• The Kansas offense was not done as two more runs came across in the sixth inning. Counsell lined a two-run homer inside the pole down the left field line to make it a 10-2 game.
• The Jayhawks added two more runs in the ninth inning on a two-run double by Brady Ballinger. The two runs brought the score to 12-2.
• Utah scored three runs in the ninth on a three-run homer by Santino Panaro to close out the scoring at 12-5.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Cooper Moore (5-1)
Final line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 0 SO
Loss: Merit Jones (2-5)
Final line: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO
Save: Thaniel Trumper (1)
Final line: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 SO

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

How bout a third RBI single for @tommy_barth4!

His line drive knocks the glove off the third baseman and @JacksonHauge scores.

TOP 5 | Kansas 5, Utah 2 pic.twitter.com/BHdz2fAhgV
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) April 26, 2025

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"Great day and a great series win. Cooper did a really nice job. He attacked the strike zone and took advantage of some advantage counts. He also got some quick outs and did a really nice job at being around the zone. I'd say the same for Thaniel. Good outing on the mound and then I thought our offense did a really nice job of winning the 17 inches across the plate. We drew 11 walks on top of our 12 hits, so that's a lot of base runners and some timely hitting. I thought our guys did a really nice job in the middle innings of stretching it out." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"I just tried to fill up the zone. I wasn't able to get the punch outs I wanted, so I had to trust my defense and let them work behind me." – Cooper Moore

"We can put a ton of runs up on the board at any given moment. It's a pretty cool offense to be a part of and we have a lot of fun doing it." – Tommy Barth

• Kansas improved to 34-10 this season and 14-6 in conference play. The 34 wins are the most in a season for Kansas since 2014 (35 wins). The 14 wins in Big 12 games are one shy of last season's mark, which was tied for the most in Big 12 play in program history.
• Kansas has won seven consecutive games and has three winning streaks of at least seven games this season.
• Kansas has won five Big 12 series this season, which matches its total from the 2024 season.
• Kansas has three players with at least 10 home runs this season (Jackson Hauge – 17, Ballinger – 13, Counsell – 10). The Jayhawks have hit a program-record 82 home runs this season.
• Kansas has scored at least 10 runs in 16 games this season.
• Kansas finished with 11 walks in the game. The Jayhawks have double-digit walks in eight games this season.
• Barth tied his career high with four hits. He finished 4-for-5 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored.
• Counsell hit his 10th home run of the season.
• Smith has reached base safely in each of the last 20 games.
• Moore collected his fourth quality start of the season. He received his fifth win of the year.
• Trumper recorded his first save of the season and his first since May 24, 2023 vs. Texas in the Big 12 Tournament.
• Dariel Osoria has a 10-game on-base streak.

UP NEXT
Kansas will close out the series against Utah on Sunday afternoon at Smith's Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.