No. 23 Kansas Wins 10-9 Thriller in Comeback Fashion

Saturday, April 5

Orlando, Fla.

5 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

26-6, 8-3

UCF

18-12, 3-8

Kansas

UCF

No. 23 Kansas Wins 10-9 Thriller in Comeback Fashion

4/5/2025 11:32:00 PM | Baseball

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

ORLANDO, Fla. – Trailing three times throughout the night did not deter No. 23 Kansas as the Jayhawks won a 10-9 thriller at UCF on Saturday evening at John Euliano Park to extend its winning streak to eight consecutive games. The Jayhawks hit five home runs on the night to stage an epic comeback and capture a series win with one game to go in the series. Kansas is now 26-6 on the season and 8-3 in Big 12 play, both of which are the best marks in program history.

Kansas was behind 4-0 after two innings, 8-6 after seven innings and 9-8 after eight innings. KU scored its first eight runs of the night via home run. Brady Counsell hit two homers, while Derek Cerda, Sawyer Smith and Michael Brooks each added a home run of their own. Kansas now has 71 homers as a team this season, which is four away from tying the program record of 75 and already surpassed last year's 68 home runs.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The game was tied 6-6 when chaos started to happen. UCF drew two walks to begin the seventh inning. The next three hitters dropped down a bunt, with the first being a sacrifice to move the runners and the next two being RBI bunt singles. That put the Knights ahead 8-6.
• As the Jayhawks had done earlier in the night, the bats had an answer. Brooks led off the top of the eighth with a solo home run to left field. Two batters later, Counsell connected on his second blast of the game to tie it up at 8-8.
• UCF (18-12, 3-8 Big 12) started the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff walk and with two outs Dylan King drove a ball down the right field line that just stayed fair for an RBI double and to bring in the go-ahead run. The Knights led 9-8 with three outs to go.
• Kansas started the ninth with a leadoff single from Cerda and a double by Brady Ballinger to put the go-ahead run in scoring position with no outs. Next up, Jackson Hauge delivered an RBI groundout to tie the game at 9-9. After a fielder's choice where Ballinger was thrown out trying to score, Dariel Osoria came up with two outs and Brooks on second. Osoria hit a ground ball through the left side for a go-ahead RBI single. The Jayhawks now held a 10-9 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.
• KU called on Alex Breckheimer to try and close out the game. Breckheimer was able to produce a clean 1-2-3 ninth inning to finish off the game and secure the win.
• UCF jumped out to an early lead with one run in the first inning and three runs in the second. All four runs came with two outs. Lex Boedicker had an RBI single in the first to start the scoring. Antonio Jimenez and Edian Espinal each had RBI singles in the second and Jimenez came in to score on a failed pickoff to make it a 4-0 UCF lead.
• Kansas began chipping away at that lead in the third inning when Cerda hit a two-out, solo home run. That cut the UCF lead to 4-1.
• The Jayhawks were able to take the lead in the fourth inning with a five-run frame. Counsell hit a three-run homer, his first of the night, to tie the game at 4-4. Smith came up a few batters later and was able to hit an opposite field two-run homer to give the Jayhawks a 6-4 advantage.
• Jimenez led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run on the first pitch of the inning to bring the score to 6-5.
• The Knights were able to tie up the game in the fifth on a two-out fielding error by the Jayhawks. That evened the game at 6-6.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Eric Lin (2-2)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
Loss: Alex Galvan (0-1)
Final line: 1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 SO
Save: Alex Breckheimer (2)
Final line: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

HAWKS ARE BACK IN FRONT!!!!!

Osoria hits an RBI single through the left side to score @mkbrooks0225 and take back the lead!

TOP 9 | Kansas 10, UCF 9 pic.twitter.com/Iol82Tmh7Z
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) April 6, 2025

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"We certainly never gave up. We made it a lot harder on ourselves than we needed to with some of the things we did throughout the game to put ourselves in that position. At the same time, we fought and our dugout was phenomenal. The belief was phenomenal and the way these guys compete, and it's one thing to compete, I think it's another thing to enjoy it the way they enjoy it. I can promise you they enjoyed every second of that game and I couldn't be more proud of them." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"We love to fight, we love to compete and we know we're never out of it. We have a great offense and we can put up homers at any time. That's what we did tonight and it's been a whole lot of fun." – Brady Counsell

"I was just looking to honestly put bat-to-ball and try to find a hole to bring the go-ahead run in. Came up in that situation and just tried to be simple with the approach and try to find a hole. Come up in a clutch moment, which we did. I'm happy that we got the win." – Dariel Osoria

• Kansas improved to 26-6 overall on the season, the best 32-game record in school history.
• Kansas is now 8-3 in conference play, which is the best Big 12 start in program history.
• Kansas extended its winning streak to eight games.
• Kansas has hit 71 home runs this season through the first 32 games. The program record for home runs is 75 in 2006 and 2023. Last season, Kansas finished with 68 home runs. Kansas is 23-3 this season when hitting a home run.
• Kansas has multiple home runs in the same inning on 12 occasions this season. The Jayhawks have multiple home runs in 20 games this year.
• Counsell hit his eighth and ninth home runs of the season. The multi-homer game was his first as a Jayhawk and the second of his career (with Minnesota at Elon, March 17, 2024). He matched his career high with four RBIs.
• Cerda connected on his sixth home run of the season. He has hit safely in each of the last 11 games.
• Brooks now has six home runs this season. He extended his on-base streak to 21 consecutive games.
• Smith hit his sixth homer of the year. He has reached base safely in eight straight games.
• Hauge has reached base safely in each of his last 18 games and has a hit in the last 10 contests.
• Ballinger extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
• Osoria recorded his 13th multi-hit game of the season and now has a nine-game on-base streak.

UP NEXT
Kansas and UCF will play the third and final game of the series on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.