It is officially crunch time in the world of college baseball.
The Kansas Jayhawks were handed hosting privileges in this season’s NCAA Tournament after posting a 42-16 record, including a Big 12 regular-season title (their first in 77 years) and a Big 12 Tournament title, marking their first tournament title since 2006.
Kansas’ phenomenal season allowed them to host Northeastern (No. 88 RPI), Arkansas (No. 21 RPI) and Missouri State (No. 23 RPI). The Jayhawks first took to Hoglund Ballpark earlier Friday afternoon against the Huskies from the Coastal Athletic Association.
In the bottom of a tight 8th, with the Jayhawks up 4-3 and one man on base with one out on the board, Hoglund rose its energy to another level when Brady Ballinger stepped up to the plate, in an appearance that was a long time coming.
Ballinger comes in clutch to get the Jayhawks flying
Heading into this season, the junior was tipped as one of the best players in the nation, having been tabbed as a member of the Preseason All-Big 12 Team and the Baseball America 2026 College Preseason Player Of The Year Watch List. All while being projected as the nation’s No. 59 overall MLB Draft prospect for 2026 by Baseball America.
Unfortunately for Ballinger, though, this season never saw him click into full gear. Ballinger had notched a .289 batting average with seven home runs and 60 hits and 49 runs scored. To make things worse, Ballinger was forced to sit out the entirety of the Big 12 Tournament, as a wrist injury forced him to the sidelines.
However, Ballinger’s name was called for the first time in 13 days on Friday in a crucial scoring situation and Ballinger stepped up to the plate and played a big part in ensuring Kansas victory with a stellar one-out single that sent Dylan Schlotterback onto second base, setting up for both Schlotterback and Ballinger to eventually be rang in in what turned into a 6-3 win for the Jayhawks.
“Ballinger came up and first at-bat back, went backside. That was huge for him to step up and be able to do that. And our goal is to tack on as many runs as possible in the late innings, and that's what we do,” quoted Tyson LeBlanc post game.
Pitcher Dominic Voegele spoke on Ballinger’s return, saying, “I thought it was pretty cool that he was able to bounce back as quick as he did, and come out there and compete and come through in a really big moment. I thought it was super cool.”
Head coach Dan Fitzgerald was later quoted as saying that he probably would not have brought in Ballinger to give him more rest if Kansas had a bigger lead, but with the close score and frequent shots to left field, Fitzgerald came to Ballinger during the middle of the game and asked if Ballinger could play high-level defense, to which Ballinger answered “of course I can.”
The Jayhawks will find out their opponents over the coming hours, as Arkansas is currently taking on Missouri State, with the winner of that matchup set to take on the Jayhawks tomorrow evening.
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