Dan Fitzgerald Wins Big 12 Coach of Year in Back-to-Back Seasons; 7 Jayhawks Earn All-Big 12 Honors

IRVING, Texas – Kansas Baseball Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald claimed Big 12 Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season and seven Jayhawks earned All-Big 12 accolades, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Fitzgerald is the first back-to-back Big 12 Coach of the Year since Augie Garrido did so at Texas in 2010 and 2011. Fitzgerald and the Jayhawks won the Big 12 title outright after a 39-16 regular season and a 22-8 mark in conference play.

Tyson LeBlanc and Boede Rahe were voted to the All-Big 12 First Team, Cade Baldridge, Josh Dykhoff and Dominic Voegele were selected to the All-Big 12 Second Team and Brady Ballinger and Mason Cook earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.

After taking over the program prior to the 2023 season, Fitzgerald and his staff have brought the program from last place in the Big 12 to first place in four seasons.

"The coach of the year award reflects the entire work of the staff, team and administration," Fitzgerald said. "I'm proud of our guys for their hard work and commitment to doing things right on and off the field. I'm thankful and proud of my staff and our incredible administration for their commitment to moving our program forward. Rock Chalk!"

Fitzgerald is the first coach in program history to be named a coach of the year in two separate seasons. Dave Bingham won Big Eight and ABCA District Coach of the Year in 1993. Bingham led the Jayhawks to the College World Series that season.

Under Fitzgerald's leadership, Kansas has at least 39 wins in back-to-back seasons for only the second time in program history and the first since 1993-94. The Jayhawks won a school record 22 conference games and set a new program record with eighth conference series wins. The pitching staff also set a new single-season record in strikeouts.

LeBlanc is having a standout season for the Jayhawks and was named a Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist last week. He leads the team in home runs, RBI, batting average, total bases, slugging percentage and stolen bases. His 19 home runs and 145 total bases are both sixth in the Big 12. LeBlanc's 19 homers are the third most ever in a season by a Jayhawk.

The Maurice, Louisiana, native hit nine home runs in a two-week stretch from March 20-April 4. Seven of the nine home runs came in the sixth inning or later. Following that period, LeBlanc was named the Brooks Wallace Award Player of the Week, the NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy National Hitter of the Week, earned a spot on the Baseball America National Team of the Week, was the Big 12 Player of the Week and Big 12 Newcomer of the Week twice.

Rahe has been one of the most important arms on the Kansas pitching staff this season. Other than back-to-back Friday starts, Rahe has worked out of the bullpen in high leverage situations. When the Jayhawks have needed to escape jams or finish games, they have called upon Rahe. The 6-foot-6 righty leads the Big 12 with nine saves this season.

A native of Marion, Iowa, Rahe has thrown more than 1.0 inning in 16 of his 25 appearances. He has a strikeout in 23 of those outings. Rahe earned a spot on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List less than a month ago. On April 13, Rahe received Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week. Rahe was on the mound to finish three of four wins against ranked competition, earning a win and two saves.

"I'm really happy for Tyson and Boede," Fitzgerald said. "Being named to the All-Big 12 First Team is an incredible honor in such a talent-rich conference. They are great players and even better men."

Baldridge has proved to be incredibly versatile after playing the first 17 games of the season in center field and the last 38 games at second base. He leads the team in hits (74) and multi-hit games (25) and is second in batting average (.318). The Roff, Oklahoma, native produced a nine-game hitting streak and scored a run in eight straight games from April 11-25.

Dykhoff served as the everyday first baseman for the Jayhawks this season. He had a 14-game hitting streak from April 19-May 14, marking the longest by a Jayhawk this year. The streak helped raise his season batting average from .263 to .315. A native of Bluffton, Minnesota, Dykhoff leads the team with 15 multi-RBI games and is second with a .609 slugging percentage, 14 home runs and 50 RBIs.

Voegele has tossed a team-high 78.1 innings and recorded a team-high 100 strikeouts this season. He ranked fourth in the Big 12 in strikeouts and fifth in strikeouts per nine innings (11.49). Voegele has finished the year strong as five of his last six outings have been quality starts. The Columbia, Illinois, native is the only Division I pitcher with at least 15 strikeouts in multiple games this season and one of three pitchers nationally to throw a 9-inning complete game with 15 strikeouts this season.

Ballinger made the move to left field this season after playing first base a season ago. He had a team-high 25-game reached base safely streak from March 27-May 8 and a 21-game on-base streak to open the season. The Las Vegas, Nevada, native has 40 walks this season, which ranks eighth in the conference and second on the team. Ballinger hit a crucial go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth inning at Kansas State on April 25.

Cook solidified himself as a weekend starter the second half of the season. Three of his last five outings have been quality starts. The Keller, Texas, native allow three earned runs or less in five of his last six appearances. In his final start of the regular season on May 15 at BYU, Cook did not allow a hit until one out in the seventh inning. That start helped Kansas win the Big 12 title.

"Josh, Cade, Dom, Brady and Mason are all very deserving of their recognition and played huge parts in our team's regular season championship," Fitzgerald said. "The strength of our team has been our consistency over the entirety of the season. These guys exemplify that really well."

AWARDS + STATISTICS
Dan Fitzgerald, Big 12 Coach of the Year

INF Tyson LeBlanc, All-Big 12 First Team
Overall: .323/.407/.650, 10 2B, 3 3B, 19 HR, 53 RBI, 55 R, 32 BB, 9 SB, 145 TB in 55 games (all starts)
Conference: .352/.408/.680, 7 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 28 RBI, 34 R, 15 BB, 5 SB, 87 TB in 30 games (all starts)

RHP Boede Rahe, All-Big 12 First Team
Overall: 5-1, 3.97 ERA, 25 G, 2 GS, 45.1 IP, 15 BB, 58 SO
Conference: 2-1, 5.59 ERA, 15 G, 2 GS, 29.0 IP, 14 BB, 38 SO

UTL Cade Baldridge, All-Big 12 Second Team
Overall: .318/.405/.464, 13 2B, 7 HR, 42 RBI, 46 R, 23 BB, 108 TB in 55 games (all starts)
Conference: .346/.416/.481, 6 2B, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 23 R, 12 BB, 64 TB in 30 games (all starts)

INF Josh Dykhoff, All-Big 12 Second Team
Overall: .302/.384/.609, 11 2B, 3 3B, 14 HR, 50 RBI, 42 R, 27 BB, 117 TB in 54 games (50 starts)
Conference: .327/.395/.636, 7 2B, 9 HR, 28 RBI, 26 R, 14 BB, 70 TB in 30 games (all starts)

RHP Dominic Voegele, All-Big 12 Second Team
Overall: 5-3, 6.43 ERA, 14 G, 14 GS, 78.1 IP, 33 BB, 100 SO
Conference: 3-1, 5.55 ERA, 10 G, 10 GS, 61.2 IP, 22 BB, 79 SO

INF/OF Brady Ballinger, All-Big 12 Honorable Mention
Overall: .286/.398/.476, 13 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 43 RBI, 49 R, 40 BB, 100 TB in 55 games (all starts)
Conference: .306/.408/.559, 6 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 31 R, 22 BB, 62 TB in 30 games (all starts)

RHP Mason Cook, All-Big 12 Honorable Mention
Overall: 4-1, 4.53 ERA, 15 G, 10 GS, 55.2 IP, 21 BB, 57 SO
Conference: 4-1, 4.24 ERA, 10 G, 7 GS, 40.1 IP, 14 BB, 43 SO

University of Kansas Athletics

Dan Fitzgerald Wins Big 12 Coach of Year in Back-to-Back Seasons; 7 Jayhawks Earn All-Big 12 Honors

Related News

Players Mentioned

Cade Baldridge

Brady Ballinger

Mason Cook

Josh Dykhoff

Tyson LeBlanc

Boede Rahe

Dominic Voegele

Related Videos