KANSAS

Kansas Baseball Wins On Walk-Off Over Oklahoma State, Advances to Big 12 Semifinals

Kansas advanced to the Big 12 Tournament Semifinals thanks to Mike Koszewski's walk-off single against Oklahoma State on Thursday.
Jared Shlensky|
Kansas' center fielder Mike Koszewski (2) runs to the ball against Texas Tech in game two of their Big 12 baseball series, Friday, May 19, 2023, at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
Kansas' center fielder Mike Koszewski (2) runs to the ball against Texas Tech in game two of their Big 12 baseball series, Friday, May 19, 2023, at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. | Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Kansas JayhawksOklahoma State Cowboys

The 2025 baseball season just keeps on getting better and better for Kansas. The Jayhawks closed out the regular season ranked No. 25 in the nation, head coach Dan Fitzgerald was named Big 12 Coach of the Year, and five players were named to the All-Big 12 Team earlier this week.

And on Thursday, Kansas advanced to the Big 12 Tournament Semifinals after Mike Koszewski hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Jayhawks to a 7-6 victory.

Thursday's victory was the Jayhawks' 26th comeback win, sixth in a row and seventh in their last eight games. And if you're a Jayhawks fan who watched this game from start to finish, things weren't looking good for the majority of it.

Kansas took an early 1-0 lead in the first before Oklahoma State scored three two-out runs in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead. Kansas made it a 3-2 game with a run in the bottom of the third before the Cowboys took the biggest lead of the game at 6-2 with another three runs in the fourth, all of which came with two outs again.

But the Jayhawks simply wouldn't go away. Tommy Barth brought home the first of four runs in the seventh with a sacrifice fly before Brady Ballinger delivered arguably the biggest swing of his career with a two-out, three-run game-tying homer.

The Kansas bats are going to get most of the credit in Thursday's victory, but the bullpen was the underlying hero in this one. Manning West and Alex Breckheimer didn't allow a run in five combined innings of relief, giving the Jayhawk offense a chance to rally.

Kansas plays the winner of TCU and Houston on Friday in Big 12 Tournament Semifinals. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (CT).

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Jared Shlensky
JARED SHLENSKY

Jared Shlensky is a contributing writer for On SI and a freelance play-by-play broadcaster. Jared was previously a sports betting writer for Yardbarker, an On-Air YouTube Personality for the Sports Geek and a minor league play-by-play broadcaster

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