KU hosts – Kansas opens a best-of-three super regional at Hoglund Ballpark against Oklahoma on Saturday at 5 p.m. on ESPN2, with the College World Series berth on the line. KU’s pitching matchups include ace Dominic Voegele vs. OU freshman lefty Cord Rager, followed Sund
Lawrence feels different when the stakes get this big.
On Saturday, Kansas will put its unbeaten run through the first-ever Lawrence Regional on the line when it hosts Oklahoma for a best-of-three super regional series, the next stop before the College World Series. The opener begins at 5 p.m., with a broadcast on ESPN2.
KU will start Dominic Voegele (6-3, 5.85 ERA) against Oklahoma freshman lefty Cord Rager (4-3, 5.74 ERA). Sunday’s game—also scheduled for 5 p.m.—matches KU sophomore Mason Cook (5-1. 4.23 ERA) against OU freshman righty Xander Mercurius (0-2. 6.18 ERA). whose brother LJ is also part of the pitching staff. A third game will be played on Monday if necessary.
For the Jayhawks, the timing couldn’t be more consequential. KU is 33 long years removed from a super regional that doesn’t exist as a concept for them until 1999, when the round was created. Now they’re one weekend away from a result that would place them on the national stage in Omaha.
Kansas earned home-field continuity after Oklahoma’s run in the Atlanta Regional ended Georgia Tech’s season in stunning fashion. OU rallied in the seventh and final game of the Atlanta Regional to stun No. 2 overall seed Georgia Tech, perhaps the nation’s best hitting team, on an extra-innings walk-off home run. That win gave KU its shot at playing at home again—and against an opponent that. at least on paper. appears more manageable.
Oklahoma, which tied for 11th in the SEC, also appears to have reached a better version of itself right when the postseason demanded it. The Sooners went 14-16 in conference play and exited early in the league tournament, yet they’ve found momentum in this stretch of elimination baseball.
Junior shortstop Jaxon Willits credits the transformation to the struggles Oklahoma had to work through all season. “I feel like all the struggles and all the hardship that we endured all year kind of brought us together and kept molding us into the team that we are now. ” Willits said. “and I feel like we’ve kind of just embraced one another. and we’ve kind of got to the point where it’s not about individuals anymore. it’s all about going out there and helping the team win. and I feel like when we got to that point as a team we really started to take off.”.
OU has leaned on first-year pitchers in the Atlanta Regional. and junior lefty Cameron Johnson—one of the Sooners’ top arms—has been ineffective since a knee injury in early May. Even with that. the Sooners kept momentum by holding The Citadel at bay twice. led by Rager and first-time starter Nick Wesloski. After falling into the losers’ bracket, they then used enough offense to outgun Georgia Tech on two occasions.
The offensive spark has carried particular names. Left fielder Brendan Brock (.283 average. .882 OPS. 12 home runs and 50 RBIs with 26 stolen bases) went 3-for-5 with four RBIs in a 15-8 win last Sunday. and center fielder Jason Walk—Oklahoma’s leadoff man and an SEC all-defensive selection—went 3-for-6 and drove in three more.
Willits pointed to the late timing of key hits as Oklahoma kept coming back during the Atlanta run. After the Sooners fell behind 7-3 on Monday, he said Oklahoma produced late in the comeback.
At the moment, Oklahoma’s best overall hitter might be catcher Deiten Lachance. The Canadian—who is a former JUCO teammate of Cook—homered in each of the two wins over Tech and has 14 home runs on the year, with all of them coming since April 9.
Senior designated hitter Trey Gambill said the Sooners have the talent they need to reach their goal of “go to Omaha. ” but baseball can beat teams down when they let it. “We’ve always had the talent to do what we are trying to do. which is go to Omaha. ” Gambill said. “But sometimes it’s baseball, and if you let the game beat you down, it will. I think for a little bit. we got stuck in the dog days of summer. right. but when we were able to make those comebacks at Georgia Tech. it really just showed that we still are a team and we’re still together and we can do this.”.
Oklahoma is trying to return to the College World Series after a three-year absence. For Kansas, it’s a chance to turn what has already been one of the most successful non-basketball seasons in recent KU Athletics history into something extraordinary.
“It’s been quite a journey since last August with these guys, and couldn’t be more proud of them,” Fitzgerald said. “They show up every day and they compete, and another great challenge ahead of us with a great OU team, and looking forward to playing them.”
The weekend’s pressure is showing up in more than just matchups and numbers. In the bullpen, Kansas is leaning heavily on a reliever who has turned moments into velocity. Sophomore righty Riane Ritter is tied for the national lead with 37 appearances. and in the 36 appearances before this season’s latest stretch. he had never touched 98 mph. Last Sunday. he reached 98 mph twice for strikeouts in 1-2 counts in the bottom of the seventh inning as KU led 11-7 and Arkansas was threatening with runners on second and third.
Ritter described why he pushes for that kind of precision in high-leverage innings. “I’m never really trying to hit a PR (personal record) or anything like that. it’s more of just like the moment. like knowing with a guy on second and third. a mistake can flip this game over. and just try to hit my spot as hard as I can. ” Ritter said. “If you’re going to miss, you better miss up. And then everybody yelling at you and the environment definitely creates that.”.
He also acknowledged he wanted to be a starter when the season began—he worked as a starter his first year at St. Thomas—but Fitzgerald has repeatedly referred to him as a prospective weekend starter for 2027. Even so, Ritter has made the relief role work for him.
Fitzgerald said Ritter is valuable because he can pitch to lefties and righties, he bounces back quickly, and he gets put into “every game.” Fitzgerald said KU expects him to be a rotation piece next year and that if he were needed to start right now, “he could certainly do that.”
The atmosphere around the series is being built just as deliberately as the pitching plan. Kansas has expanded Hoglund Ballpark specifically for postseason crowds. Casey Cook—an associate athletic director for events and a longtime KU Athletics employee who has played a leading role in various expansions to Hoglund Ballpark for postseason play—spoke to a small group of reporters at the park on Friday afternoon amid final preparations for the weekend.
After The Backyard section was implemented outside a new transparent left-field fence during the Lawrence Regional. KU added “Backyard Decks. ” standing-room-only bleachers beyond right field. to push capacity further above 4. 000. Cook explained the choice to provide standing-room space rather than seating reflects a decision to cram in more people.
“It should give viewers a really unprecedented view of the game that they’ve never seen at Hoglund Ballpark. ” Cook said. “Standing up there. it’s kind of surreal. you’re looking out over the field. and you’re about waist high to the top of the wall. so it should give them a really good vantage point of what’s going on on the field.”.
Cook said The Backyard was inspired by similar areas at Arkansas and Louisville—places he had seen while watching college baseball. He also described the reaction he’s heard from players and fans, and how close proximity reshapes the feeling of a game.
“To see the players react to the fans out there and see the fans react to the space and their proximity to the field, it was really, again, surreal, to see that all come full circle and see them interact,” Cook said.
The name itself came from Ethan Derstine, a recent full-time hire serving as the tournament manager. Cook said they were designing during the process, and Derstine “slapped ‘The Backyard’ on it on a map, and it stuck.”
Cook added that taking on a brand-new event is different from running the same routine again and again. “We do a lot of. I don’t want to call the mundane. but you know. you’re doing the same game. same event. over and over and over again. ” Cook said. “To get something like this thrown at you to kind of allow yourself to be a little bit creative. I think. gets those juices flowing. and gives us a little time to be problem solvers.”.
The sense of unity around Kansas has moved beyond the baseball field, too. KU’s athletic department’s 12 other coaches recorded a social media video published on Friday morning wishing the baseball team good luck ahead of the series with Oklahoma. Volleyball coach Matt Ulmer recorded himself hitting a wiffle ball. Softball coach Jennifer McFalls offered praise for the record-breaking campaign, saying, “Man, keep the momentum going. You got a chance to get to the big dance and get to the World Series.”.
Swim and dive coach Clark Campbell told the team, “We are so very proud of you,” and urged them to “Keep playing loose, playing free and for each other. You do that better than anyone in the country. Go get it.”
Fitzgerald said he was “fired up” by the support and not surprised to see it. “(The) department’s fantastic, and everyone uses the word ‘family’ in regard to everything athletically, but it really is here,” Fitzgerald said.
By Saturday afternoon. all of that—pitching decisions. momentum from previous series. a ballpark redesigned for postseason noise—will funnel into one thing: three games between Kansas and Oklahoma. with the College World Series berth at stake. If the Lawrence Regional was about proving they could keep going. this super regional is about doing it one more time.
Kansas Jayhawks Oklahoma Sooners super regional Hoglund Ballpark Dominic Voegele Cord Rager Mason Cook Xander Mercurius Riane Ritter College World Series Lawrence Regional