Dominant Kansas Baseball Storms Past No. 12 UCF in Sweep, Extends Win Streak to 10

TOPEKA — Rock Chalk Jayhawk, indeed.

Kansas baseball delivered the kind of weekend that reminds the rest of the Big 12 why the Jayhawks belong at the top of the conference standings. A three-game sweep of No. 12 UCF — capped by a doubleheader sweep on Saturday — sent a clear message that this Kansas team is no longer a surprise package. They are a force.

The Jayhawks arrived in Topeka having won seven straight. They left having made it ten. The series win against a nationally-ranked opponent is the most significant statement the program has made in years.

Dominic Voegele was the story of the opening game. The right-hander twirled seven innings of five-hit ball, striking out ten batters in a performance that tied his career high. The Knights managed three runs off him, but by that point the Jayhawks had already built an insurmountable lead.

Max Soliz Jr. got things started in the second inning, lifting a two-run home run over the fence to put Kansas on the board. Josh Dykhoff then delivered the biggest blow of the game in the third, cracking a three-run double that pushed the lead to 5-0. UCF mounted a late rally with three runs across the seventh and eighth innings, but Jordan Bach’s sacrifice fly in the eighth restored a two-run cushion and sealed a 6-3 victory.

Game two was a different kind of triumph — a pitchers’ duel that Kansas pitchers Mason Cook and Boede Rahe won decisively. Cook worked six innings, allowing three hits and a single run while striking out six. Rahe closed the door in the ninth, pitching around a hit to record the save.

Offensively, Brady Ballinger drove in the first run with a groundout to third in the early innings. UCF answered to tie it, but Cade Baldridge’s go-ahead single in the bottom of the third put Kansas ahead to stay. Augusto Mungararieta’s sacrifice fly later in the inning provided the final margin in a 3-1 win.

The sweep elevates Kansas to the top of the Big 12 with a perfect conference record in league play. With ten consecutive victories — and a schedule that continues with an in-state clash against Wichita State on Tuesday — the Jayhawks are building something special.

Head coach Patrick Gunsolley will hope the momentum carries into next week, but for now, this weekend belongs to Kansas. The Knights were the highest-ranked team to visit Hoglund Ballpark this season. They left thoroughly outplayed.