For the first time in program history, Kansas baseball has been chosen to host an NCAA Regional as part of the 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament. The Jayhawks are one of 16 teams to be selected as hosts, as announced by the NCAA on Sunday.

KU, who is ranked as the No. 15 seed in the country overall, is one of just two Big 12 teams to earn the honor along with the West Virginia Mountaineers – whom the Jayhawks dominated in the Big 12 Tournament Championship on Saturday by a score of 9-0 to capture the program’s second Big 12 Tournament title in school history and the first since 2006. This is also just the seventh time that KU has reached the NCAA Tournament in program history.

As host, KU is the No. 1 seed in a four-team regional played at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence that includes No. 2 seed Arkansas, No. 3 seed Missouri State, and No. 4 seed Northeastern. There will be a maximum of seven games played between the four teams from May 29 to June 1 in a double-elimination format.

The Jayhawks will first face off in Game 1 of the regional against Northeastern at 12 p.m. CT on Friday, May 29, with the game airing live on ESPN+. Arkansas and Missouri State will then follow in Game 2 at approximately 5 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

The loser of Game 1 will play the loser of Game 2 at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 30. The winners of Game 1 and Game 2 will then meet at 5 p.m. CT later that day.

The winner of the Lawrence Regional will move on to play in the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend against the winner of the Georgia Tech Regional (Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, The Citadel, UIC) in a three-game series for the right to play in the College World Series.

Full details about tickets, parking, and other information can be found at KUathletics.com.

Blue Valley West High School, located in Overland Park, KS, won the Kansas 6A Girls’ High School State Championships in a commanding 333 points, 44.5 points ahead of runners-up Shawnee Mission East (288.5 points). Blue Valley West’s team and the meet overall were highlighted by strong performances from underclassmen swimmers, particularly freshmen.

Blue Valley West kicked off the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay, winning by over two seconds in 1:47.51. The team of freshman Sasha Weiner (27.09), sophomore Caitlyn Chopra (31.11), sophomore Avery Johnson (26.01), and freshman Anya Pivonka (23.30) was tied with Lawrence Free State at the 150-yard mark, only to see Pivonka pull away and post the fastest freestyle split by a margin of 1.14 seconds. Given the team’s youth, the State Record of 1:45.28, set by Blue Valley North in 2024, will be tested over the next few years.

Shawnee Mission East’s team of CoCo Reiser (25.17), Darcy Kroening (24.30), Georgia Boyd (24.79), and Teni Oyetunji (24.21) won the 200 freestyle relay in a 1:38.47. Blue Valley West’s quartet of sophomore Greta Reardon (25.42), Sophomore Johnson (25.19), freshman Amber Stringer (25.57), and freshman Hayden Benbow (24.21) took third in 1:40.39.

The last race of the day, the 400 freestyle relay, was won by an entirely freshman quartet from Blue Valley West. Stringer (54.49), Weiner (54.80), Pivonka (52.81), and Benbow (52.96) combined for a time of 3:35.06, more than three seconds ahead of runners-up Blue Valley North (3:38.42).

Stringer went on to become Blue Valley West’s only individual champion, winning the 500 freestyle in 5:05.68, recording a 4.32-second margin of victory in the process over fellow freshman Evie Boshart of Shawnee Mission Northwest. Benbow and Johnson placed fourth (5:16.34) and fifth (5:16.36), respectively, in the 500 freestyle, earning Blue Valley West 49 points in a single heat. Stringer also took second in the 200 IM 2:10.14. Both swims were off of Stringer’s lifetime bests of 5:01.54 and 2:09.03, respectively, both recorded in March at the 2026 Speedo Sectionals Region VIII Championships.

Lawrence Free State freshman Ella Marsh won the 200 IM in 2:02.80, shaving 1.40 from her prelims time and winning by 7.34 seconds. In March at the 2026 Speedo Sectionals Region VIII Championships, Marsh posted a 2:04.84 in the 200 IM to place 12th, which itself represented a 2.49-second drop from her previous lifetime best, meaning that Marsh has shaved a total of 4.53 seconds in the event in a 10-week time period. Marsh later recorded a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly with a 57.23.

Senior Maggie Dahl of Blue Valley Southwest claimed both sprint freestyle titles, first winning the 50 freestyle in 23.14, making her the only swimmer to break the 24-second barrier in the field. Freshmen Anya Pivonka and Sasha Weiner of Blue Valley West placed second and third, respectively, in times of 24.12 and 24.55. Dahl later won the 100 freestyle in a similar fashion, posting a 50.77 to make her the only swimmer sub-53 in the field. Meanwhile, the duo of Pivonka and Weiner would switch places in the 100 backstroke, this time with Weiner placing second in 57.59 and Pivonka placing third in 58.46

Fia Boshart, a junior from Shawnee Mission Northwest, captured two individual state titles. First, in the 100 butterfly, Boshart posted a 55.22, more than two seconds clear of the next-fastest competitor. Later, in the 100 backstroke, Boshart posted a 57.28, still 0.31 clear of the runner-up. Boshart also contributed a 24.68 butterfly split on Shawnee Mission Northwest’s 7th-place 200 medley relay, as well as a 24.85 lead-off split on the 200 freestyle relay to earn fifth. Younger sister Evie Boshart placed second in the 500 freestyle with a 5:09.00 and picked up a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle with a 1:55.64. E. Boshart also contributed a 25.12 split on Shawnee Mission Northwest’s 5th-place 200 freestyle relay, and also led off the 200 medley relay in a 28.35.

Senior Libby Barney of Olathe East achieved victory in the 200 freestyle with a 1:53.11, adding slightly to her time of 1:52.80 from prelims. Barney also placed third in the 500 freestyle with a 5:09.71. Abby Stidham-Ebberts, a junior from Mill Valley, won the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.36, dropping nearly two seconds from her prelims time of 1:06.34. Sophomore Katharine Costello of Olathe East also dipped under the 65-second barrier, posting a 1:04.82 after registering a 1:06.13 to emerge as the top seed in prelims.

Irene Gettya, a junior from Olathe East, won the diving with 409.00 points, with senior Avery Metcalf of Olathe North coming in second with 311.95 points.

Top-10 Team Scores

1. Blue Valley West – 333 points
2. Shawnee Mission East – 288.5 points
3. Olathe East – 245 points
4. Blue Valley North – 209 points
5. Free State – 188 points
6. Wichita-East – 164 points
7. Shawnee Mission Northwest – 148 points
8. Blue Valley Northwest – 122 points
9. Olathe Northwest – 111 points
10. Mill Valley – 83 points

The Mariners did not score, and they did not win.

The Mariners dropped game two of their series in Kansas City on Saturday by a score of 5-0. They collected just four hits — three from Luke Raley — and drew one walk, allowing Stephen Kolek to work through all nine innings with ease. The few chances they had ended with bad base running. George Kirby was fine but had a bit of a paper cut problem, with the Royals finding every nook and cranny on the infield grass to score. The Mariners fell to 25-28.

Kirby’s had a bit of a weird season to do date, striking out batters at a career low while walking batters at a career high. He’s gotten by with tons of grounders, which is why his xERA entering the day was an impressive 3.21. Still, the result of that approach has been a mix.

We saw the downside of balls in play — even grounders — right from the jump. Maikel Garcia led off the game with a low sinking liner that snaked its way into the outfield gap for a double. Then began a sequence of five weak grounders, none of which left the infield and all of which helped the Royals. The speedy Bobby Witt Jr. hit a weak chopper to no man’s land at third, and beat the throw to first, moving Garcia up. Vinnie Pasquantino hit a weak chopper to second that took Cole Young to his right, but his flip to second was awkward and not in time, scoring a run. Witt and Pasquantino stole second and third. Salvador Perez then hit a weak chopper back at Kirby, who reached for the ball over his head, deflecting it to J.P. Crawford, who got the first out of the inning. Carter Jensen then hit a hard grounder to Josh Naylor at first, who had to range his right and then race back to first, getting the second out and allowing a run to score. Jac Caglianone singled in a third run on a grounder into the outfield. A strikeout would end the inning at 3-0.

That’s a mouthful. Basically, the Royals hit 5 1/2 grounders, four of which never left the infield, and it resulted in three runs. That inning is case in point for why strikeouts are so coveted: Even great contact suppression can result in minor meltdowns. And while it wasn’t bad defense so much as just perfectly placed BABIP, a grounder-first approach isn’t ideal in front of the Mariners’ bottom ranked infield defense.

Things got more normal from there for Kirby, but not quite better. The Royals got a couple legit singles in the second and a sac fly to make the game 4-0. They got a couple legit singles in the sixth to make it 5-0. He finished the day after six with three strikeouts, no walks, nine hits (including eight singles), and a 50% groundball rate. That’s pretty much in line with his season to this point.

The Mariners were bad on offense. Again, they managed just four hits and couldn’t score. They sent the minimum to the plate in all but one inning, allowing Kolek to cruise through nine innings unbothered. They did have a couple opportunities to score, but base running mistakes cut those threats short.

With one out in the second, Luke Raley beat out an infield single (he was initially called out but was clearly safe after review). Cole Young singled him to third. Dominic Canzone then hit a sharp grounder right to Pasquantino, who was literally standing on the bag while holding the runner at first. Pasquantino stepped on the base and threw home in one motion, getting Raley in a pickle, eventually ending in a 3-2-5 double play.

Raley led off the fifth with a single. Young traded places with him on a fielder’s choice. After a Canzone fly out, Young tried to make it all the way to third on a passed ball. He was thrown out to end the inning.

That was it. They’ll go for a series win Sunday.