COLUMBIA, Mo. (KUAthletics.com) – Kansas baseball set a new program record for road wins in a season with a 6-5 victory against Missouri at Taylor Stadium. The Jayhawks now have 17 road wins this season under third-year head coach Dan Fitzgerald after securing a sweep of the Border Showdown for the first time since 2021.
Kansas trailed 5-3 after five innings before mounting a comeback with three runs in the next three innings. The go-ahead run came in the eighth inning on an RBI infield single by Sawyer Smith where TJ Williams, who entered the game as a pinch runner, scored from second base with two outs in the inning.
Jackson Hauge and Michael Brooks each hit home runs, while the Jayhawks used eight pitchers on Tuesday night. Eric Lin and Alex Breckheimer each pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game. Lin received the win and Breckheimer earned the save. The victory pushed Kansas to 37-13 overall this season, with the 37 wins being the most since 2009.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Kansas jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning. After a single and a walk to start the game, Hauge came up and belted a three-run homer to right-center field.
• Missouri (13-35) scored a run in the third inning on a wild pitch.
• The Tigers added two more runs on solo home runs in the fourth inning. Brock Daniels led off the inning with a solo shot and Jackson Lovich smashed a solo homer off the scoreboard in left-center field. That made it a 3-3 game at the end of the fourth.
• Missouri took the lead with a pair of runs in the fifth inning. Chris Patterson had an RBI double and Keegan Knutson brough in another run on an RBI single. The Tigers led 5-3 after five innings.
• The Jayhawks got one of those runs back in the top of the sixth on a solo home run by Brooks. Kansas still trailed 5-4 midway through the sixth inning.
• Kansas put the pressure on the Missouri pitching staff in the eighth inning as Hauge, Dariel Osoria and Brooks all walked to load the bases. Tommy Barth hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 5-5. Smith came up next and sent a ground ball up the middle that the second baseman kept in the infield, but Williams’ speed got him home safely to take a 6-5 lead.
• Missouri got a leadoff single in the ninth, but Breckheimer got a groundout and two strikeouts to end the game and secure the win.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Eric Lin (3-2)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO
Loss: Tony Neubeck (0-4)
Final line: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 0 SO
Save: Alex Breckheimer (6)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
“So proud of these guys. I thought we competed at an incredibly high level tonight. We played like ourselves tonight which was awesome. The belief was awesome, the preparation was awesome, and the guys were behind each other all night. When we got punched, we just punched right back. What a great effort out of the bullpen. Couple hiccups in there, but for the most part really clean defense and then some really timely hitting. We ended up with only seven punch outs and six walks offensively and some big hits to put it away. I thought that the first inning was huge to get out front, but then I thought the bullpen gave us some great innings. The great part is we didn’t have to stress anyone. All the pitch counts were down.” – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald
“Two outs and I’m on second base. I’m just going on contact. (Missouri) keeps it in on a diving play on the infield. I didn’t even know what happened until I got back in the dugout. Coach Hancock was sending me so I just went and got to the plate and we won the game.” – TJ Williams
• Kansas has now set a new program record with 17 road wins this season. The previous record was 16 road wins in 2003.
• Kansas improved to 37-13 overall this season. The 37 wins are the most in a season since 2009.
• Kansas last swept the season series against Missouri in 2021.
• Kansas has a program-record 90 home runs this year.
• Hauge hit his 18th home run of the season and recorded his 66th RBI. The 18 homers are tied for second most in program history and 66 RBIs is fifth most in school history.
• Brooks launched his eighth home run of the season.
• Smith has reached base safely in each of the last 26 games.
• Osoria extended his on-base streak to 16 games.
UP NEXT
Kansas will wrap up its 2025 home schedule later this week with a three-game series against BYU at Hoglund Ballpark. The series will begin on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT and all three games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can purchase tickets by clicking here.
