No. 7 Kansas Drops Saturday’s Contest 5-2 to No. 15 West Virginia

Saturday, May 9

Lawrence, Kan.

2 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

37-14, 20-6

West Virginia

34-12, 18-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
West Virginia	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	5	12	0
Kansas	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	1

No. 7 Kansas Drops Saturday’s Contest 5-2 to No. 15 West Virginia

5/9/2026 6:13:00 PM | Baseball

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 7 Kansas Baseball fell 5-2 to No. 15 West Virginia on Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark. Three runs for the Mountaineers in the final two innings proved to be the difference.

Tyson LeBlanc and Josh Dykhoff each hit home runs for Kansas. Dykhoff's was an inside-the-park homer that was hit to center field off the batter's eye and ricocheted back towards the infield.

Mason Cook started for Kansas and threw 5.2 strong innings. Cook allowed only one earned run and six hits to go with three strikeouts. He has allowed two earned runs or less in five of his last six outings. Riane Ritter received the loss after an unearned run scored in the eighth inning.

Kansas is now 37-14 overall and 20-6 in conference play this season. The Jayhawks hold a 2-game lead atop the Big 12 standings with four games to go.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• West Virginia (34-12, 18-8 Big 12) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a solo homer by Paul Schoenfeld.
• Kansas matched West Virginia with a solo homer in the bottom of the first off the bat of LeBlanc. That made it a 1-1 game.
• The Mountaineers pulled ahead with an unearned run in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead.
• The Jayhawks were able to tie up the game in the fifth inning on the inside-the-park home run by Dykhoff. That evened the game at 2-2.
• West Virginia was able to regain the lead in the eighth inning on an unearned run.
• Then, in the ninth the Mountaineers stretched that advantage on a two-run homer by Gavin Kelly.
• Kansas was unable to score in the ninth which ended the game at 5-2.

PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Ian Korn (4-0)
Final line: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
Loss: Riane Ritter (5-2)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
"Those are two really good teams. Two really disciplined teams that play different styles for sure, but a lot of similarities in terms of some of the general pieces. All the respect in the world for Steve [Sabins] and his staff and the way they do it. I thought their starter was great and then Korn did a great job coming in. We didn't have as many opportunities as we needed to really put pressure on. Frankly, giving up 12 hits and they stranded eight runners, we were lucky to be in that game. We just weren't able to generate offensively. Outside of a handful of teams in college baseball, you're going to win a bunch of series and you're going to lose a series every once in a while too. It's a great opportunity for us to learn. We talk about persevering all the time and the old adage of if you're not persevering in baseball, wait for 15 minutes. So, we are at our 15 minutes now. We have to bounce back, make some adjustments and come out and win tomorrow."

"Run as fast as you can with as much energy as you got left. I'm a big boy. It's hard trucking around those bases all the way around." – Josh Dykhoff on his inside-the-park home run

"I don't think it's really much. I mean, we're just missing. It's baseball. It's going to happen. We prepare well. If you watch our batting practice, you watch our ground balls and everything like that, our preparation is good. It's just about going and doing it now." – Josh Dykhoff

• Kansas moved to 37-14 overall and 20-6 in conference play.
• The road team in the Kansas-West Virginia series has won 10 of the last 11 games.
• Dykhoff hit the first inside-the-park home run by a Jayhawk since Chase Jans at Belmont on March 5, 2023. It's the first inside-the-park homer at Hoglund Ballpark since Devin Foyle on March 16, 2016 vs. Murray State. The inside-the-park home run was the first in conference play for Kansas since Gus Milner on April 9, 2005 at Oklahoma.
• LeBlanc hit his 17th home run of the season. His 17 homers are tied for the fourth most in a season in KU history with Russ Blaylock in 1981.
• Cook has allowed two earned runs or less in five of his last six appearances.

UP NEXT
Kansas and West Virginia will play 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+.