Kansas Jumps on McNeese State Early in 8-2 Win

Saturday, February 21

Lake Charles, La.

1 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

4-2

McNeese State

2-4

Kansas

McNeese

Kansas Jumps on McNeese State Early in 8-2 Win

2/21/2026 6:21:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Statistics

LAKE CHARLES, La. – Kansas baseball raced out to an early lead and never looked back as the Jayhawks won 8-2 against McNeese State on Saturday afternoon at Joe Miller Ballpark. The victory clinched a series win with the opportunity to go for a sweep on Sunday.

Kansas scored seven runs in the first three innings. Brady Ballinger had four hits, Jordan Bach finished with three and Dariel Osoria and Cade Baldridge each added a pair of hits.

Junior Mathis Nayral made the start and had another nice outing. He went five innings and allowed only one earned run to go along with two walks and six strikeouts. The combination of Carter Fink, Riane Ritter and Caleb Deer pitched four innings of shutout relief. The trio allowed only one hit and one walk, while recording three strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas (4-2) began the game with the first five batters getting hits. Three doubles and two singles plated four runs in the inning. Ballinger had an RBI single, Tyson LeBlanc hit a two-run double and Josh Dykhoff drove in a run on an RBI double. That gave Kansas a 4-0 lead before even touching the field on defense.
• The Jayhawks added two more runs in the second inning. Ballinger hit another RBI single and LeBlanc had a sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to 6-0.
• KU stretched its lead to 7-0 with an RBI fielder's choice from Bach in the third.
• McNeese (2-4) picked up an unearned run in the bottom of the third on a wild pitch to make it 7-1.
• Matt Stancliff hit a solo homer for McNeese in the fifth to bring the score to 7-2.
• Kansas tacked on one more run in the eighth on an RBI single to Baldridge. That brought the score to 8-2.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Mathis Nayral (2-0)
Final line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
Loss: Cooper Golden (0-1)
Final line: 1.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 2 SO

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

Off and rolling!@brady_ballinger hits an RBI single to get the Jayhawks started.

TOP 1 | Kansas 1, McNeese 0 pic.twitter.com/tM9VLLUSUR
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) February 21, 2026

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"Good team effort. Really liked the job Mathis did. He was efficient, got us through five, and then we were able to line it up with Carter, Riane, and Caleb. I thought all three of those guys were really good and got the job done. We really minimized baserunners today, which was huge. Offensively, we were out there all day, so it was really good. We had 13 hits and eight walks. I thought we did a really good job of winning the strike zone. We also played really clean on defense. It was a great win." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"I just tried to stick to the hitting plan that Coach Hancock and Coach Fitz gave us. It's a lot about our approach and staying within yourself and doing what you do best." – Brady Ballinger

• Kansas is 4-2 overall this season and has won four of its last five games since dropping the season opener.
• Kansas had a season-high 13 hits.
• Kansas scored seven of its eight runs in the first three innings.
• Ballinger posted a season-high four hits. He finished 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
• Nayral improved to 2-0 on the season.

UP NEXT
Kansas plays McNeese State in the third and final game of the series on Sunday morning. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.