Kansas Baseball Upsets No. 14 West Virginia for 40th Win of the Season

The Kansas Jayhawks picked up a big win Thursday night in the first of three games against the 14th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers.
Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The Kansas Jayhawks kicked off their final series of the Big 12 regular season with a bang following a 3-0 win over the nation’s 14th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers.

The Jayhawks jumped out to a 1-0 start in the top of the first inning thanks to an RBI courtesy of senior Brady Counsell. And thanks to a stellar night from KU’s ace pitcher Dominic Voegele, KU was able to hold onto that 1-0 lead through seven scoreless innings.

Voegle – a sophomore who earned multiple freshman All-American honors last season for KU and was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year – finished the game with six strikeouts and allowed just six hits, zero walks, and zero runs scored in seven innings.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Jayhawks extended their lead 2-0 following a solo home run from senior infielder Michael Brooks – his ninth of the year. KU added another solo shot in the top of the ninth from senior catcher Ian Francis to help solidify the Jayhawks’ victory.

The win gave KU its 40th of the season, the most in program history. It’s the third consecutive win for the Jayhawks, and it was a crucial one as they aim to build up their postseason resume.

KU is now tied for second in the Big 12 standings, and they currently sit on the two-seed line in D1 Baseball’s latest NCAA Tournament projections. The one seeds are the teams most likely to host a four-team regional in their home stadium and have the more favorable matchups.

The Jayhawks will look to add a couple more key wins starting Friday at 4 p.m. CT when they face the Mountaineers in game two of a three-game series on ESPN+.


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Dillon Davis
DILLON DAVIS

Being a Kansas Jayhawks fan was never a choice for me. I grew up in Topeka, Kansas, surrounded by a family full of Jayhawks. I was even born during a Kansas basketball NCAA Tournament game, so I guess you could say it was fate for me to be a Jayhawk too. When it came time for me to go to college, there was only one place I applied and only one place I wanted to go – KU. I've since turned that passion into sports writing. I've written about KU sports for more than seven years and produced hundreds of KU news articles in that time. I love storytelling, I love KU and I love interacting with my fellow Jayhawks. Rock Chalk!

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