Kansas Baseball Makes Case To Be Ranked After Claiming Series Over No. 25 Cincinnati

Kansas has yet to crack the Top 25 this year, but that might change this week after taking two of three from No. 25 Cincinnati. Following Sunday's win, Kansas is 18-10 overall and 6-3 in Big 12 play.

SERIES WINNNNN 😤 pic.twitter.com/W3OycG2Brd
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) March 29, 2026

The Jayhawks have now won back-to-back Big 12 series and have lost just one series all season.

The Results

Game 1: Cincinnati 5, Kansas 0
Game 2: Kansas 8, Cincinnati 2
Game 3: Kansas 13, Cincinnati 6

Why Kansas Deserves to be Ranked

The direct answer is they're currently one of the best 25 teams in the country, especially after No. 23 Notre Dame got swept by North Carolina and No. 22 Arizona State lost two of three to West Virginia.

But there's more to it than that. Kansas' offense is as good as any in college baseball. Not only are the Jayhawks as efficient as any team on the bases, but they manufacture runs in so many different ways -- home runs, stealing bases, sacrifice flies, etc.

Not every team can do that. And the pitching staff seems to have finally turned the corner.

Mathis Nayral Makes Case For Big 12 Pitcher of the Week Honors

It's been an up-and-down season for starting pitcher Mathis Nayral, but Saturday was arguably his best start of the season. Nayral went seven innings, allowed just one run on three hits, and struck out a season-high 11 batters.

He was dealing all dayyyy 🔥#RockChalk x @MathisNayr31958 pic.twitter.com/dOq5AE2GZd
— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) March 28, 2026

Without Nayral, Kansas doesn't win on Saturday or the series. But more importantly, maybe this is the start that gets him back on track.

Nayral allowed just one run over seven innings in his KU debut, but before Saturday's outing, he had struggled to go deep in his previous three starts. The Jayhawks' pitching staff has struggled at times, so Nayral's strong start is something KU desperately needed.

Jayhawks Continue to Succeed at Stealing Bases

Kansas is far from the top of the leaderboard when it comes to stolen bases, but they're certainly one of the most efficient teams in college baseball.

The Jayhawks were a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts this weekend and an insane 25-for-26 on the season. In case you didn't do the math, that's a 96% success rate. That's insane.

And as long as Kansas continues to steal bases at a 90% clip, opposing catchers should worry anytime a KU player reaches first base.

Next Up

The Jayhawks next game is on Tuesday against Missouri. First pitch is at 7 p.m. (CT) and available via the SEC Network.