No. 16 Kansas Storms Back in 9th Inning for 10-8 Victory at Kansas State

Saturday, April 25

Manhattan, Kan.

2 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

32-11, 16-4

Kansas State

26-17, 9-11

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Kansas	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	10	13	1
Kansas State	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	5	0	8	9	2

No. 16 Kansas Storms Back in 9th Inning for 10-8 Victory at Kansas State

4/25/2026 7:39:00 PM | Baseball

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – No. 16 Kansas Baseball charged back for a 10-8 comeback victory at Kansas State with a five-run ninth inning to win the series with one game still remaining this weekend. The Jayhawks have won 16 of their last 17 games.

Kansas has also now won six consecutive Big 12 series for the first time in school history. KU improved to 32-11 overall this season and 16-4 in conference play. Kansas sits in first place in the Big 12 standings with a 3-game lead.

Kansas trailed for much of the game before scoring three runs in the top of the eighth to take a 5-3 lead. However, the Wildcats answered back with a five-run, two-out rally in the bottom of the eighth to take an 8-5 lead. Then, Kansas matched it with a five-run ninth inning.

After an RBI single by Tyson LeBlanc made the score 8-6 in the ninth, Brady Ballinger worked an 11-pitch at-bat that ended with a go-ahead three-run homer. Two batters later, Tyson Owens hit a solo home run to make it a 10-8 game. Toby Scheidt then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to seal the win.

Dominic Voegele started for the Jayhawks and turned in a quality start. He went six innings and allowed three runs on four hits to go with two walks and five strikeouts. Kansas turned to Riane Ritter for a scoreless inning of relief and then after KU fell behind Scheidt got the final four outs.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas State (26-17, 9-11 Big 12) got out to an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run from Dee Kennedy in the first inning.
• The Jayhawks responded in the top of the second on a two-run homer by Osoria. That gave Kansas a 2-1 lead.
• Kennedy struck again in the third inning with his second home run of the day. This one was a two-run shot to give the Wildcats a 3-2 advantage.
• The next four innings were scoreless for both sides.
• Kansas broke through in the top of the eighth after getting into the K-State bullpen. Tyson Owens hit a game-tying RBI single to even the game at 3-3. Then, a fielding error allowed Ballinger to score the go-ahead run. One more run came in on a sacrifice fly by Josh Dykhoff to make it a 5-3 Kansas lead.
• In the bottom half of the eighth, Kansas State pieced together a two-out rally. Cadyn Karl hit a go-ahead three-run homer. Two RBI doubles followed to give the Wildcats an 8-5 edge heading into the ninth.
• Kansas was not deterred by trailing going into the ninth. A leadoff single from Jordan Bach and a hit by pitch set up LeBlanc for an RBI single to pull the Jayhawks within two runs. Ballinger stepped up next and on the 11th pitch sent a go-ahead three-run homer the opposite way to left field. Owens provide an insurance run a couple batters later on a towering solo home run.
• Kansas led 10-8 going into the bottom of the ninth and Scheidt was able to slam the door.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Toby Scheidt (3-1)
Final line: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
Loss: Miles Smith (2-3)
Final line: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 1 SO

SOCIAL POST OF THE GAME

BALLS BALLS BALLS ?????????

On the 11th pitch of the at-bat, @brady_ballinger gives the Jayhawks the lead with a 3-run HR!!!!!

TOP 9 | Kansas 9, Kansas State 8 pic.twitter.com/6NUIeHNSPN
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) April 25, 2026

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"What a game. Really, really good K-State team. Dangerous lineup and they did a great job today. Obviously, Sheffield was really good. He had us baffled for 6.2 innings and we were able to stay in it. We talk all the time about sticking to the process and just treating each pitch as its own. It's really fun when you see a group of college guys buy into something and live it out. We talked in August about no one's going to enjoy it more than us, so these are the proud ones of watching the guys enjoy it, even when they go down. Great game. Some things that I'm sure both teams would like back. Some ugly baseball, but winning ugly is just as good as winning clean sometimes." – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald

"It's a gritty team man. A bunch of us are JUCO transfers, a bunch of us come from a place where you don't get a lot of resources and stuff. It's just grit. We're used to it, we're made in it and you see it. You can see we always make comebacks. We're pretty good at that." – Brady Ballinger

"In the beginning, obviously [my start] looked tough on paper, but I felt like it was just not going the right way for me. I felt like I was doing as best as I can putting bat to ball really good. I had hard hits, exit velos always were always high, it was just going right at people. That was very unfortunate, but I just stuck with the process and hoping that it eventually falls. I just stood within me and just knew eventually it would get down and hopefully it continues." – Dariel Osoria

"I think it's just the culture to be honest. Every game, our preparations are really good. Also, another thing I mentioned earlier in the year, there's a lot of JUCO guys as well. We have a lot of guys that came in from JUCO, which we all bond over. We all want to come in here and do the best we can and show that we try to belong here." – Dariel Osoria

• Kansas improved to 32-11 overall this season and 16-4 in Big 12 play. Sixteen of the 32 victories have come on the road.
• Kansas has won six consecutive Big 12 series for the first time in program history.
• Kansas has won 16 of the last 17 games and 22 of its last 25 contests.
• Kansas is now 16-2 in its last 18 Big 12 games.
• Kansas now has 21 comeback victories this season.
• Kansas has a 20-3 record this season when hitting at least two home runs in a game.
• Kansas has won each of the last six games against Kansas State and seven of the last eight.
• Kansas has two five-run ninth innings this month (April 2 vs. Utah).
• Kansas has at least 15 conference wins in three consecutive seasons for the first time in school history.
• Five Jayhawks had multi-hit games (Jordan Bach, Cade Baldridge, Tyson LeBlanc, Tyson Owens, Dariel Osoria).
• Osoria crushed his seventh home run of the season.
• Ballinger's go-ahead blast was his sixth homer of the year.
• Owens connected on his seventh home run of the season.
• Scheidt earned his third win of the year.
• Voegele recorded his fifth quality start of the season and his third straight.

UP NEXT
Kansas and Kansas State are scheduled to play the third and final game of the series on Sunday. First pitch is now scheduled for 11 a.m. CT due to the potential for inclement weather and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.