Kansas Wins Home Opener 4-2 Against St. Thomas

Thursday, March 5

Lawrence, Kan.

3 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

8-4

St. Thomas

2-10

St. Thomas

Kansas

Kansas Wins Home Opener 4-2 Against St. Thomas

3/5/2026 7:30:00 PM | Baseball

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas baseball scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to defeat St. Thomas 4-2 on Thursday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. The Jayhawks remain undefeated in home openers under head coach Dan Fitzgerald with a record of 4-0.

Pitching was the highlight for the Jayhawks on Thursday. Mason Cook started the game and surrendered only two runs in 4.2 innings. The bullpen trio of Riane Ritter, Toby Scheidt and Boede Rahe pitched 4.1 scoreless innings of relief and recorded six strikeouts. Ritter, who was facing his former team, threw 2.1 innings with two strikeouts. Rahe finished the game on the mound with 1.2 innings and four strikeouts to earn his second win of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• St. Thomas (2-10) scored a run in the first inning on a fielding error to take an early 1-0 lead.
• Kansas (8-4) tied up the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Augusto Mungarrieta scored on a balk.
• The Tommies took the lead again in the top of the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Matthew Maulik. That made it a 2-1 game.
• The Jayhawks answered back in the bottom of the fifth inning on a two-out RBI single from Dariel Osoria. The run tied the game 2-2 at the end of five innings.
• After scoreless sixth and seventh innings, Kansas was able to push across two runs in the bottom of the eighth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Osoria hit a ground ball to the second baseman and the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. That allowed two runs to score and give the Jayhawks a 4-2 advantage.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Boede Rahe (2-0)
Final line: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO
Loss: Zak Endres (0-1)
Final line: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

Shoutout to our students and all of Jayhawk Nation for showing out today!#RockChalk pic.twitter.com/6rKRpit6kP
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) March 6, 2026

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"I'm proud of the guys. I thought Cookie (Mason Cook) gave us a nice start. Frustrating with the leadoff batter. We knew he was going to bunt, we were in, and he made a great play. Obviously, they get that one in the first, but Cookie was great. Riane was great, Toby did a nice job and then Boede was fantastic. I thought we swung the bats better. I thought we got some good swings off, but when we have guys like Dariel, speed kills." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"It was pretty cool. The fans are as advertised. They were super loud the whole time, which was awesome. The energy being here at home when it's not a scrimmage setting is just amazing. It's awesome." – Riane Ritter

"It feels amazing. The last three weeks that we were away on the road, we were all just really excited to come back and get that live energy that they were showing today. It just feels really nice having their support and hopefully we can have the same energy all weekend long." – Dariel Osoria

• Kansas is 25-5 in home openers over the last 30 seasons since joining the Big 12 prior to the 1997 season. That record includes a 4-0 mark under head coach Dan Fitzgerald.
• The Kansas bullpen threw 4.1 scoreless innings of relief.
• Rahe improved to 2-0 on the season.
• Osoria finished 2-for-5 with a double and RBI.
• Dylan Schlotterback added two hits and has three multi-hit games in his last five contest.

UP NEXT
Kansas and St. Thomas will play the second of four games on Friday afternoon. First pitch from Hoglund Ballpark is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+. The game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. CT, but it was moved up due to the potential for inclement weather.