Fayetteville, Ark. – Kansas went back-and-forth with Creighton for five innings, but the Bluejays exploded for a seven-run sixth inning to take the opening game of the Fayetteville Regional 11-4. The Jayhawks will play an elimination game tomorrow at 2 p.m. against North Dakota State in an attempt to keep their season alive.

“With the loss, you mourn it for five minutes,” Dan Fitzgerald said postgame. “This game does not wait. We’ve got a really good North Dakota State team we gotta play tomorrow.”

Dominic Voegele battled throughout this start, but looked like he was finding his stride after getting out of jams in the fourth and fifth innings. However, the Bluejays notched three straight hits to chase him from the game with Creighton leading 5-3. Things got worse exponentially from there, with the Bluejays sending 12 batters to the plate, scoring seven runs against three different pitchers.

“They did a really nice job of moving the ball,” Fitzgerald said. “Obviously hindsight’s 20-20, and would have liked to have done some things differently in the sixth inning.”

Dominic Cancellieri quickly got the Jayhawks off-balanced with a rapid tempo on the mound while pumping strikes in the first inning. He struck out the first two batters he faced and got through the top of the Kansas lineup on just 11 pitches.

Creighton got on the scoreboard first, with Will MacLean smashing a 109-mph, 455-foot bomb to open the scoring at 1-0.

The Jayhawks responded as they have been doing all season. Cancellieri quickly got the first two outs, but then Michael Brooks worked a walk to extend the inning. Tommy Barth followed with a two-run homer, his first since March 23rd, to give Kansas a 2-1 lead.

“He got a great swing off to put us up two to one,” Fitzgerald said. “And then, you know, lost the ball in the sun in the first and then robbed a home run. But yeah, a great player, a great teammate.”

The back-and-forth swings ensued in the top of the third as the Bluejays went to work against Voegele. Three straight baserunners loaded the bases before Voegele walked Nolan Sailors on four pitches to tie the game. Creighton took a 3-2 lead following a hard-hit fielder’s choice to third base, where Brady Counsell’s only play was to step on the bag.

Kansas got momentum back on its side after Voegele got out of a major jam in the fourth. He walked Tate Gillen to load the bases with two outs, but then caught Matt Scherrman looking on a three-pitch strikeout to give the Jayhawks some life.

Derek Cerda followed with a home run on the first pitch he saw in the bottom frame to tie the game at 3-3. The Jayhawks managed some solid contact against Cancellieri and forced him out of the game after four innings.

Voegele pitched his best inning of the game in the fifth after allowing a leadoff triple. He then struck out back-to-back batters and induced a weak pop-up to strand the runner and keep the game tied.

“It was frustrating because Dom’s best stuff was in the fifth,” Fitzgerald said postgame. “They hit a leadoff triple and then, I thought his stuff was electric.”

However, Creighton rebounded to take the lead in the sixth. Gillen remained a thorn in Voegele’s side, picking up his third hit of the day on a two-run single to give the Bluejays a 5-3 lead. Voegele was pulled after Scherrman singled, and Sailors doubled home two off Manning West to provide Creighton with a four-run lead. The Bluejays wouldn’t stop scoring, leading 10-3 after a 7-run frame, scoring runs on a sacrifice fly and two RBI doubles.

Sailors added to the lead with a solo shot off the scoreboard, putting him a single away from the cycle, to make it an 11-3 game in the seventh.

Ian Koosman kept Kansas at bay, tossing scoreless innings in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. The Jayhawks awoke out of their multi-inning offensive slumber, as Dariel Osoria hit a homer to make the score 11-4 in the eighth.

Kansas was set down in order in the ninth, sending the Jayhawks to an elimination game.

“Nothing really changes from here on out,” Osoria said. “Based off our preparation, we have to just do the same thing and stick to our true approach. Coach always preached about making sure we approach the game the right way and then always prepare the right way. So just another day to try and go and get a win.”

Kansas City Royals’ ace Cole Ragans is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Saturday at Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

He’s been on the injured list with a groin issue. The Royals made the announcement on social media.

An All-Star in 2024, Ragans has gone 2-3 with a 4.53 ERA thus far. One of the best strikeout artists in the game, he’s fanned a whopping 72 batters in 45.2 innings. He’s pitched to a 1.204 WHIP in nine starts.

The 27-year-old is one of the best lefties in baseball, and he broke out in a big way last season, helping lead the Royals to the American League Division Series. He went 11-9 with a 3.14 ERA, striking out 223 in 186.1 innings.

Ragans came up with the Texas Rangers but was traded to the Royals in 2023 as part of the deal that sent Aroldis Chapman to Texas. They went onto win the World Series that season. Lifetime, he’s 20-20 with a 3.60 ERA.

At the big-league level, the Royals enter play on Friday at 30-27 and in fourth place in a crowded American League Central. They’ll take on the first-place Detroit Tigers on Friday night at 8:10 p.m. ET.

Right-hander Seth Lugo, also recently off the injured list, will pitch for Kansas City. He’s gone 3-4 this season with a 3.02 ERA.

Casey Mize, the former No. 1 overall pick in the draft, will pitch for Detroit. He’s out to a stellar 6-1 start with a 2.45 ERA.

Detroit is 37-20.

RISING UP THE RANKS: Max Clark is now the No. 2 prospect in baseball, according to Keith Law of the Athletic. CLICK HERE:

CORA PUSHING THE ENVELOPE? Red Sox manager Alex Cora spoke to local radio in Boston on Thursday about top prospect Roman Anthony, and it seems like he may be pushing the front office into promoting him. CLICK HERE:

ISABELLA! Isabella Robb umpired a game at Double-A Springfield this week, marking the first time a female umpire had worked at Hammons Field, which has been open for 20 years. CLICK HERE:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – It has been five years since the killing of George Floyd, a moment that ignited nationwide protests and renewed demands for racial justice and police reform. In Kansas City, some protestors feel their calls for justice remain unanswered.

At Mill Creek Park on the Country Club Plaza, where demonstrations erupted in May 2020, community members gathered to reflect on the progress made and the work that remains.

Demonstrators recall scenes of chaos that unfolded during the protests. People recall shielding their eyes from tear gas, seeing water bottles thrown, and people getting trampled in the crowd.

“That situation that day, man, it changed the look of America,” said Pat Clarke, a longtime community outreach advocate who was on the ground trying to de-escalate tensions.

Eric Morrison, senior pastor at Kingdom Word Ministries, said what he witnessed shows how cries for racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death reached a tipping point in Kansas City.

“When you see something like that happen to a person, and knowing this country’s history, you recognize a breaking point,” Morrison said. “As a 62-year-old Black man, it’s the repetitiveness of it. If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it again.”

Now, five years later, questions remain whether the city has truly seen progress.

Despite the passage of time, many activists say their calls for justice remain unanswered.

“It still hasn’t changed for me,” said Morrison, “until we see policies being implemented, when we see police officers that have been in these places abusing people white, black or whatever, and they’re still on the force, and they’re being suspended with pay… until that goes away, until they are literally charged with a crime, then it’s there and it’ll be there,” he said.

Since 2020, city leaders say some reforms have been made. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas pointed to new transparency efforts, including more opportunities for public comment during Board of Police Commissioners meetings and shifting officer-involved shooting investigations to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

“Often, rioting is the voice of the unheard,” Lucas said. “A lot of people felt unheard in the system and the process. Hopefully, after all these years, people feel more heard.”

According to a KCPD spokesperson, 2020 also marked the rollout of body cameras for officers and updated use-of-force training. Chief Graves implemented ICAT training for our law enforcement members, which stands for Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics. KCPD describes it as an ‘innovative and evidence-based approach’ to use-of-force training.

Clarke said it’s hard to tell where change is headed.

“I’d say it’s changing,” he said. “But in what direction? I can’t tell you.”

He has had ongoing conversations with local police about what police reform could look like, even proposing the idea of sensitivity training.

“There’s a lot of officers who come in that’s never dealt with a community like this before,” said Clarke, “They didn’t grow up in one.”

Activists say the next step forward must involve community unity and legislative action.

“Things have to change in that way because behind the blue wall is freedom.”

Meanwhile, city leaders say the work for justice continues.

“It’s making sure that when we talk about Black people — in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas, and America — that we’re actually standing up for victims in more situations,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas. “On the accountability side, including with policing and the city more broadly, it is making sure that we’re not only paying high legal settlements — which we do — but also making sure that we’re finding ways to not be in those settlements at all. That we’re doing the training necessary to not get in those situations.”

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