It’s been over ten years since the Kansas baseball team made a regional. The last time the Jayhawks found themselves in the postseason was all the way back in 2014 under longtime head coach Ritch Price.
Price was the head skipper for the Jayhawks for nearly two decades (2003-2022) before announcing his retirement after the 2022 season. Under Price, Kansas made three regional appearances (2006, 2009, and 2014) including a Big 12 tournament title (2006).
Once Ritch called it a career, it was now up to Dan Fitzgerald to bring back some juice into the program. Fitzgerald spent a majority of his coaching career at Dallas Baptist where he had a key hand in their success.
In his nine seasons with the program, Dallas Baptist played in seven NCAA Regionals, won three regular-season conference championships, and won three conference tournaments.
While he had great achievements at Dallas Baptist, he was given a much tougher task when he took over at Kansas. But it didn’t take long for him to hit the ground running. In just his second season on the job, Fitzgerald led his team to a 31-23 overall record including a .500 finish in conference play.
The 31 wins were the most for Kansas since 2019 and the 15 victories in conference games were tied for the most in program history. Plus, the Jayhawks advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship for the first time since 2013.
As big as a step forward Kansas took in 2024, they look like they will take an ever bigger one in 2025. And to their credit, they have the talent to make it happen.
It all starts on the mound for the Jayhawks. Right-handed pitcher Dominic Voegele earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors a year ago and enters 2025 as the Preseason Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.
Last season Voegele posted an impressive freshman state line of 7-2, 3.89 ERA, 80 strikeouts and a .235 BAA over 15 starts and 81 innings. Meanwhile Patrick Steitz is making a full recovery from Tommy John surgery and posted a 2.16 ERA through six starts before his surgery last April. Of course you can’t forget about Cooper Moore who led the team with 29 appearances last season.
With an experienced pitching staff in place, the Jayhawks also have some notable names to keep an eye on in the field. Fifth year senior Michael Brooks had his best college season in 2024, hitting .331 with a 1.037 OPS, before an injury ended his year early. Another senior to watch is Chase Diggins. He can play anywhere in the infield and had a batting average of .333 when he came back from an injury late last season.
The Jayhawks were also able to bring in a couple of key transfers in as well. Brady Counsell (son of Craig Counsell) comes in from Minnesota where he had a breakout season last year as he posted a .905 OPS season with 25 extra-base hits and 16 stolen bases.
Outfielder Derek Cerda comes in from Western Oklahoma State College and was somebody who turned some heads in the fall. Cerda was listed as the number eight impact JUCO transfer hitter for 2025 by D1Baseball.
Transfer Max Soliz Jr. (Chattahoochee Valley CC, Ala.) takes over at catcher. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound righthanded hitter started his career at Arkansas and is the number 17 impact JUCO transfer hitter for 2025 by D1Baseball.
What I love about this team is that they have a star pitcher and other quality arms as well. Between the pitching staff and the mix of veteran transfers, the pieces are in place in Lawrence. Now is the time for Dan Fitzgerald to start putting them together.
Last season, the Jayhawks nearly broke the postseason drought. Between 15 conference wins and a solid RPI, Kansas was knocking on the door. But this team doesn’t just want to knock on the door, they want to kick it wide open.
