No. 23 Kansas Falls in Fayetteville Regional Opener to Creighton

Via Kansas Athletics

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 23 Kansas dropped its regional opener 11-4 to Creighton on Saturday night at Baum-Walker Stadium. A seven-run sixth inning by Creighton proved to be the difference.
 
Tommy Barth, Derek Cerda and Dariel Osoria each hit home runs for Kansas to provide the offense. Dominic Voegele started and battled through the first five innings before Creighton jumped on him in the sixth. His night ended after 5.1 innings and seven earned runs.
 
Kansas (43-16) will take on North Dakota State on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT in an elimination game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• After a scoreless first inning for both teams, Creighton was able to get on the scoreboard first. Will MacLean hit a solo home run in the second inning to give the Bluejays a 1-0 lead.
• Kansas had an answer in the bottom of the second as the Jayhawks put together a two-out rally. Michael Brooks drew a walk and Barth took a 1-0 pitch out to left field for a 2-1 lead.
• Creighton (41-14) responded in the top of the third with a pair of runs. The Bluejays drew a bases loaded walk and scored a run on a fielder’s choice. That gave Creighton a 3-2 edge.
• The Jayhawks tied it up on the first pitch of the fourth inning. Cerda sent a ball out to left field to even the game at 3-3.
• The Bluejays regained the lead in the sixth with a seven-run inning. Tate Gillen had a two-run single, Nolan Sailors delivered a two-run double, Connor Capece drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, MacLean hit an RBI double and Teddy Deters capped off the scoring with an RBI double. Midway through the sixth, the Bluejays led 10-3.
• Creighton added another run in the seventh on a solo homer by Sailors.
• Osoria got a run back in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run to left-center field. The homer made the score 11-4.
 
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Ian Koosman (9-4)
Final line: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
Loss: Dominic Voegele (7-5)
Final line: 5.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 4 BB, 5 SO

QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
“You have to tip your cap to Creighton; I thought they played great. Obviously, they had a good plan and a good approach, and they executed it. It’s obviously not the way we drew it up. But when you look at the grand scheme of how we played in the ebbs and flows of a season, we’ve talked from day one about adversity, and now we get a chance to face it. I told the guys at the end of the game that this stuff’s never easy and no one said it would be, so it’s a great opportunity for us to bounce back and look forward to getting after it tomorrow.” – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald
 
• Kansas is now 43-16 this season. The 43 wins are tied for the second most in a season in program history with 43 wins in 2006 and trailing 45 wins in 1993.
• Kansas moved to 9-10 all-time in NCAA Regionals.
• Kansas now has four players with at least 10 home runs this season (Hauge – 19, Ballinger – 16, Counsell – 12, Cerda – 10). The last time Kansas had four players with at least 10 home runs was 2023 in Coach Fitzgerald’s first season.
• Cerda connected on his 10th home run of the year.
• Barth hit his sixth home run of the season.
• Osoria launched his ninth home run this year.
 
UP NEXT
Kansas will play North Dakota State in an elimination game on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT at Baum-Walker Stadium. The Jayhawks will serve as the visiting team. That game will be broadcast live on Classic Rock Z-96.3 The Lake.