Arkansas
Kansas baseball earns chance at NCAA regional title, defeats Arkansas
Kansas baseball coach Dan Fitzgerald, players discuss Arkansas win
Check out some of what Kansas baseball coach Dan Fitzgerald and his players had to say Saturday following a win in the NCAA regional against Arkansas.
LAWRENCE — The mood inside Hoglund Ballpark felt tense Saturday, in the later innings of Kansas baseball’s game against Arkansas.
A highly-anticipated NCAA regional matchup was delivering in all aspects in Lawrence. At first it was Arkansas landing punches, and Kansas that had to counter. And then later it was KU that took control, leaving everyone watching to wonder if Arkansas could counter, too.
But despite the challenges the Razorbacks presented, the Jayhawks (44-16) emerged with a 5-3 victory to secure a chance at winning the NCAA regional on Sunday at 5 p.m. (CT). In a second-straight NCAA tournament appearance, Kansas coach Dan Fitzgerald’s squad has continued to deliver for a fan base that has not lacked energy in the stadium. And while Kansas, the No. 1 seed in this four-team regional, doesn’t know yet if it’ll play No. 2 seed Arkansas or No. 4 seed Northeastern for the regional title, the confidence the Jayhawks can win it should be as high as ever.
“Another awesome game, awesome college baseball game against a great Arkansas team,” Fitzgerald said. “Unbelievable environment. It’s such an incredible experience to look at it in the micro-level, but then also think about it from 30,000 feet of where we’ve come in four years. The crowd today, I mean, our crowd was absolutely incredible and super proud of these guys. I thought they competed at a super high level and they were poised and they were prepared and, yeah, they just — they loved the moment and that was really fun. Proud of these guys.”
Kansas, which is 2-0 in this regional with wins against Arkansas and Northeastern, saw multiple heroes emerge during this victory against Arkansas. On the mound sophomore Riane Ritter and redshirt junior Boede Rahe were both impressive out of the bullpen, after the Razorbacks started to put some pressure on sophomore Mason Cook. KU junior Tyson LeBlanc had three RBI, including a two-run home run, and junior Augusto Mungarrieta had a solo home run himself.
There’s a level of pressure that Kansas is facing, that it hasn’t yet during a rebuild in Lawrence that Fitzgerald started ahead of the 2023 season. After winning the Big 12 Conference regular season and tournament titles this year, the Jayhawks are continuing to raise the bar for what’s possible at KU. And so far, they haven’t fallen short of heightened expectations.
On Sunday, Kansas will have the chance to win a NCAA regional. Maybe the heroes this time will be junior Mathis Nayral and junior Brady Ballinger, or another member of a team that’s enjoyed the success it’s had this season because of its depth. Regardless, KU will step onto the field knowing it has a chance to make an already special season even that more extraordinary.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.