Kansas baseball will host No. 12 University of Central Florida in a three-game series at Hoglund Ballpark beginning Friday, April 10. The matchup features the top two teams in the Big 12 standings, with Kansas entering the weekend at second place and UCF holding first.
The outcome of this series could determine which team takes control of the conference standings as both programs have started strong in Big 12 play.
Head coach Dan Fitzgerald said, “I think [our guys] love being together. They love competing. When you make it about other people on your team and not about yourself, there are endless things to get behind and endless things to cheer for during a baseball game. It just feeds on itself. We just try to make it about us and try to make it about us being behind each other and with each other each pitch.”
Kansas (23-10, 9-3 Big 12) has matched its best start ever in conference play with a current nine wins and three losses record. The Jayhawks have won three consecutive conference series against Houston, Cincinnati, and Utah—marking their first such streak since 2014—and are undefeated at home so far this season within conference games.
Last weekend saw Kansas sweep Utah while scoring a program-record 41 runs over three games in a Big 12 series. The team enters the UCF matchup riding a seven-game winning streak and has gone 13-2 over its last fifteen contests while averaging ten runs per game during that span.
UCF (20-9, 10-2 Big 12) comes into Lawrence ranked No. 12 by D1Baseball among several national polls after winning recent series against West Virginia, TCU, Oklahoma State, and Arizona.
Tyson LeBlanc was recognized nationally for his performance last week by receiving multiple awards including Brooks Wallace Award Player of the Week and NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy National Hitter of the Week honors after hitting .529 with nine RBIs across four games.
Looking ahead, Kansas will host Wichita State on Tuesday for one of two midweek matchups between the teams this season.
