LAWRENCE, Kan. (KUAthletics.com) –Mike Koszewski hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to lift Kansas to a 7-6 victory against BYU and a series win on Saturday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. With the victory, Kansas has set a new school record for the most wins in a regular season with 39 in only the third season under head coach Dan Fitzgerald.
Kansas improved to 39-14 overall on the year and 17-10 in Big 12 play. The 39 wins are the most in a season since 2009 and the 17 conference victories are tied for the most in school history. The Jayhawks have now won six Big 12 series in a season for the first time ever.
KU ended its regular season at Hoglund Ballpark the same way it started the season at home, with a walk-off victory. Five walk-off wins were a part of the Jayhawks’ 20 wins at home this season, which is the most since 2018.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Trailing 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, Kansas mounted a rally like it has all season. Dariel Osoria led off the inning with a double. Next, Derek Cerda singled to put the tying run on third base and himself at first base as the winning run. Michael Brooks then drew a walk to load the bases. Sawyer Smith was next and hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 6-6. Then, Koszewski came up with the infield drawn in and lined the first pitch he saw to right field for the game-winner.
• Kansas sprinted out to an early lead in the first inning. Osoria hit a two-run homer to give the Jayhawks an early advantage.
• KU added three more runs in the second inning. Brady Ballinger and Jackson Hauge hit back-to-back RBI doubles off the wall and Brady Counsell drove in a run on an RBI fielder’s choice. At the end of two innings, Kansas led 5-0.
• BYU (24-25, 8-19 Big 12) chipped away at the deficit in the third inning. Cooper Vest hit a three-run homer to trim the Cougars deficit to 5-3.
• In the seventh inning, BYU took the lead with two home runs. Ryder Robinson led off the inning with a solo home run and Brock Watkins hit a go-ahead two-run homer. BYU led 6-5 at the seventh inning stretch.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Alex Breckheimer (4-0)
Final line: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
Loss: Ashton Johnson (3-1)
Final line: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 SO
QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
“It’s a really special group of guys. A group that loves competing and loves being together. They love the tight moments. They’ve just embraced everything that comes with being a super competitive, gritty, tough team. We missed some opportunities early in the game to score some runs and then when it got to the ninth our dugout was bonkers. It was like sweet, we get to do this again. They have probably taken a couple months off my life, but they’ve probably given a couple years back. They’re so enjoyable to be around. They’re such great teammates and I don’t think it could be more special than to have Mike Koszewski do it.” – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald
“It’s really special (having the most regular season wins in program history). We’ve been so blessed to break a number of records this year. At some point at the end of the season I’ll take some time to really think about it, but what I’m most proud of is this team will be remembered as the group of guys that did all that. They’re a special group. They’re gentlemen, they’re tough…I think it’s such a blessing to have such high integrity, high character guys. To me, it’s special because they’re the ones who got to accomplish it.” – Head Coach Dan Fitzgerald
“I’m always just trying to stay ready. Like I said earlier, you never know when your name is going to get called. My name was called upon today and I was ready to go. It was great. It was awesome. I’ve never experienced anything like that. Fitz having the confidence in me to go out there and compete and help the team win, it just means everything.” – Mike Koszewski
“Fitz always talks about how we’re a great team and we truly believe that. We think on any given day we’re ready to go out and we can beat anyone that’s in front of us. We’re super confident in each other. We know we can get the job done.” – Mike Koszewski
“We’re feeling really good. We’re all just excited about how we were able to close it out the same way we started it here, on a walk-off win…ending it like this just really got us going and we’re really excited for what’s next.” – Dariel Osoria
• Kansas has set a new school record for the most wins in a regular season with 39. This is the 135th season of baseball at Kansas (first season was 1880).
• Kansas improved to 39-14 this season and 17-10 in conference play. The 39 wins are the most in a season since 2009 (39 wins).
• Kansas has now won 17 conference games, which is tied for the most in school history. The Jayhawks had 17 conference victories in 1993 and 1994 as a member of the Big Eight Conference. It is the most Big 12 wins in program history.
• Kansas has won six Big 12 series in a season for the first time in program history.
• Kansas finished the regular season with 20 wins at home. That is the most wins at home since the 2018 season (20 wins).
• Kansas has five walk-off wins this season (Feb. 27, March 6, March 9, March 29, May 10).
• Kansas has a program-record 93 home runs this year.
• Osoria hit his eighth home run of the season. He extended his on-base streak to 19 games.
UP NEXT
Kansas will wrap up the regular season with a three-game series in Morgantown, West Virginia, from May 15-17. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
