Kansas baseball doesn't get talked about nationally. That's going to have to change.
The Jayhawks swept No. 12 UCF at home last weekend, took sole possession of first place in the Big 12, and have now won 10 games in a row. At 26-10 overall and 12-3 in conference play, Kansas sits two full games ahead of the field at the midpoint of league play — and they got there by beating the team that had been sitting where they are now.
Friday's series opener needed extra innings. Kansas won it 4-3 in the 10th when Max Soliz Jr. delivered a walk-off hit after Brady Ballinger worked a walk and Augusto Mungarrieta got plunked to load the bases. Saturday's doubleheader was less dramatic but more impressive. In the first game, right-hander Dominic Voegele struck out 10 over seven innings in a 6-3 win. In the second, Mason Cook went six innings of one-run ball to close out a 3-1 sweep.
"This is a special group of guys," head coach Dan Fitzgerald said after the series. "They love each other, they love playing the game together." The pitching has been the story of the streak — Kansas's staff has allowed more than four runs just once in the 10-game run.
The rest of the Big 12 isn't going away. UCF, at 10-5 in league play, still has the roster and the rotation to make a push, and they own a series win over West Virginia from earlier in the conference slate. West Virginia has been scoring in bunches, putting up 10-plus runs in both of their wins over Texas Tech last weekend. Arizona State — powered by sophomore slugger Landon Hairston, who is having one of the most productive individual seasons in college baseball this decade — took their series from Utah. Kansas State won the first two games of their series with Oklahoma State, keeping themselves in the top-five conversation in the conference.
The schedule won't let Kansas coast. They host Wichita State in a midweek matchup, then travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State in a road series that will tell us a lot about whether this team can win on the road against a program with real postseason experience. If they take that series, the Big 12 race might already be decided.
For now, Kansas is sitting alone at the top — and there's nothing accidental about how they got there.