Hosting its first-ever NCAA Baseball Regional, No. 15 Kansas homered three different times, and Boede Rahe dropped the hammer on Northeastern in the ninth for a 6-3 win in Friday’s opening contest at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence, Kansas.
Augusto Mungarrieta, Dariel Osoria and Tyson LeBlanc all homered in Friday’s win, and a two-run eighth inning was executed by LeBlanc and Cade Baldridge for the insurance needed to tame the Huskies.
With the win, the Jayhawks improve to 43-16 on the season and advance to the winner’s portion of Saturday’s bracket to face the winner of Arkansas and Missouri State, which contest their postseason opener Friday afternoon in Lawrence. Northeastern (38-21) threatened Kansas throughout Friday’s matchup and even cut within as little as one run with a Charlie Criscola RBI in the sixth.
First pitch for Arkansas and Missouri State is slated for 5 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
HAMMERING HISTORY
Building on Mungarrieta and Osoria homers in the first, the Jayhawks made a bit of history in their first-ever regional.
Tyson LeBlanc, hanging the third homer of the game for a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the third, set a new single-season home run record with his 23rd home run on Friday against the Huskies.
That pushes Kansas over the hump with 105 home runs, the new single-season team record.
Following LeBlanc’s lead, Dominic Voegele, dealing seven complete innings of seven-hit, three-run baseball with one walk and nine strikeouts, broke the single-season strikeout record with his 113th strikeout, getting AJ Schettino swinging in the fourth.
WELCOME BACK BRADY
Brady Ballinger returned to right field for the Jayhawks on Friday in the top of the seventh, and made his return official with a single, giving way to two RBI by LeBlanc and Baldridge in the bottom of the eighth.
Ballinger missed the Big 12 Tournament due to a wrist injury while managing his pain ahead of the postseason.
NORTHEASTERN IS NO PUSHOVER
The Huskies competed directly with the Jayhawks at the plate with seven hits, three RBI and a home run by Will Fosberg in the top of the third.
Northeastern moves to the elimination bracket, where they’ll meet the losing team of Arkansas/Missouri State on Saturday. Regardless, the Huskies will need to win four games as opposed to two more needed by the Jayhawks to earn a CWS berth.
