Dykhoff, Kansas Score Late to Secure Series Sweep of Houston

Sunday, March 22

Lawrence, Kan.

12 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

15-8, 4-2

Houston

12-11, 1-5

Houston

Kansas

Dykhoff, Kansas Score Late to Secure Series Sweep of Houston

3/22/2026 4:50:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Statistics Conference Statistics

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas baseball earned a series sweep of Houston with an 8-4 victory on Sunday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. The Jayhawks have now won a season-high five consecutive games and have their first conference series sweep of the season.

Kansas hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning for a third consecutive day. With the game tied 4-4, Josh Dykhoff launched a go-ahead, 425-foot solo homer that cleared the scoreboard to put Kansas ahead.

Kansas improved to 15-8 overall on the season and 4-2 in conference play. The Jayhawks are tied for third place in the conference after two weekends of Big 12 play.

Dominic Voegele started on the mound for the Jayhawks and turned in his second quality start of the season. The righty threw six innings and allowed only two earned runs, while walking three and recording a season-high nine strikeouts. Mason Cook followed Voegele and allowed a run in 1.2 innings and Manning West closed out the game with 1.1 scoreless innings to receive the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Houston (12-11, 1-5 Big 12) scored two runs in the second inning to grab an early lead. An RBI double allowed the first run to score and the second run came in on a fielding error.
• Kansas responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the third inning. Brady Ballinger hit a sacrifice fly and Cade Baldridge had an RBI double down the left field line to make it a 2-2 game.
• The Cougars took the lead again in the fourth on an RBI groundout.
• The Jayhawks pieced together a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Ballinger. On a 2-2 pitch he hit a single to center field to drive in two runs and give the Jayhawks a 4-3 advantage.
• The score remained 4-3 in favor of Kansas until the eighth inning.
• In the top of the eighth, Houston tied the game as the runner from first base broke for second base and drew a throw allowing the runner from third base to score. That evened the game at 4-4.
• For a third straight day, Kansas found magic in the bottom of the eighth inning. Dykhoff hit a solo homer to put the Jayhawks ahead 5-4. Then, Kansas loaded the bases with three consecutive walks. Following a pitching change, Baldridge hit a bases-clearing double on the first pitch into the gap in right-center field to score three more runs. That stretched the Kansas lead to 8-4.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Manning West (2-0)
Final line: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
Loss: Jackson Baker (2-1)
Final line: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 SO

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

Sunday Sweep ?? pic.twitter.com/xtlBTjC9kv
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) March 22, 2026

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"Sweeps are incredibly hard to do. When you have an opportunity to get them, it's a huge boost to be able to do it. It started on the mound. Dom (Voegele) was great. He scattered three runs, but he punched out nine over six innings. We needed him to strike guys out. Then, it was great to get (Mason) Cook in there. He gave up just that one hit and punched a guy out in 1.2 innings. I thought Manning (West) was as good as he's ever been. His stuff was really good. I think it starts on the mound to keep you in a game like this and then our lineup, the last however many games, has been so consistent in terms of the quality of at-bats from top to bottom. Yesterday, it was (Tyson) Owens and today it was (Josh) Dykhoff. Their starter did a nice job of keeping them in it, but once they went to the bullpen we were able to get through enough guys to finally punch it through at the end. Proud of our guys for competing at a really high level and it was a great weekend for the Jayhawks." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"I was just trying to hit the ball hard. That's it. Hit the ball hard. See ball, hit ball. Just trying to keep it simple." – Josh Dykhoff

"I wanted to be on time today. I knew with the wind blowing out like this they were going to throw a lot of off speed. Tried to focus on letting the ball get deep and putting my best swing on it." – Cade Baldridge

"I think we're just starting to be ourselves. We were trying to do a little too much early on. We're now just trusting the process, trusting our preparation, and we're building off of it game-by-game and getting better and better." – Josh Dykhoff

"The series sweep is huge. We're going to try and keep this streak rolling. For us to get a sweep against a team like that, it's just a great moment to build and get us going into this week." – Cade Baldridge

• Kansas recorded its second series sweep of the season (at McNeese State). It's the first series sweep in conference play since at West Virginia last season from May 15-17, 2025.
• Kansas improved to 15-8 on the season and 4-2 in Big 12 play.
• Kansas has won five consecutive games. The Jayhawks have scored 57 runs over the five-game winning streak.
• The Kansas pitching staff recorded 13 strikeouts. They have double-digit strikeouts in nine games this season.
• Dykhoff hit his fourth home run of the season. He went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
• Baldridge finished with two doubles and a career-high four RBIs. He now has 10 multi-hit games this season which is tied for the most on the team.
• Ballinger had a season-high three RBIs.
• Voegele tossed his second quality start of the season.
• West moved to 2-0 this season.

UP NEXT
Kansas wraps up its season-long six-game homestand at Hoglund Ballpark with a two-game midweek series against Sacramento State on March 24-25. Fans can purchase tickets by clicking here.