Kansas took both games of the doubleheader from Kansas State on Saturday to sweep the Wildcats for the first time since 2019. The Jayhawks took game one 6-3 behind a great start from Cooper Moore, and game two 6-5 thanks to offensive responses and strong outings out of the bullpen.

The Jayhawks improved to 31-10 on the season and 12-6 in Big 12 play after sweeping a team right next to them in the conference standings. It was an impressive response from last weekend against TCU, where Kansas was swept.

“Last week wasn’t a good week. We just didn’t play great,” Dan Fitzgerald said after the game. “We played ugly on Tuesday, but we found a way and they competed really hard, and then it was awfully complete this weekend.”

Moore was dominant throughout game one. The sophomore, slotted into the Saturday spot this week, tossed eight innings, striking out eight, and allowing just three runs. Moore put Kansas in great position for game two, tossing five straight scoreless innings to limit the bullpen to just one inning.

Moore was fired up throughout his start, no more after coming off the mound for the last time. Chase Diggins, who entered the game as a defensive replacement, made a nice play to his backhand and flipped the ball to Sawyer Smith to end Moore’s start and the inning.

“That’s one of the coolest plays I’ve seen,” Moore said. “I know those guys work on it a lot, like that’s something they talk about… It’s really cool to see it happen in game.”

Moore and Sam Flores, who grounded out and earlier homered off Moore, started jawing at each other as the teams walked off the field.

“He had some words for me in the fifth inning,” Moore said. “If you’re going to talk, you better back it up. That’s Fitz’ number one rule. If you’re going to chirp and talk, you better be able to back it up on the field.”

The Jayhawks scored all their runs over the second through fifth innings, scattering 11 hits. Three straight hits in the fourth tied the game after Kansas State took an early lead.

Kansas chased Kansas State starter Lincoln Sheffield at the beginning of the fifth inning after he walked the leadoff batter. The Jayhawks got to the Wildcats' bullpen early again, scoring runs on hits from Dariel Osoria and Michael Brooks to take the definitive 6-3 lead.

Ty Ruhl did a good job bridging the gap for the Wildcats, covering 3.2 and helping Kansas State use only three relievers over four innings. However, Moore shut down Kansas State’s offense, which tallied just two hits after the third.

Alex Breckheimer picked up the save in game one after notching a six-out save on Friday night. The defense flashed the leather again, with Michael Brooks initiating a 5-4-3 double play with a sliding stop after moving to third base.

Brady Ballinger got the Jayhawks started in game two with a solo home run, but Kansas State instantly punched back to take the lead. The Wildcats loaded the bases with nobody out and got three runs in via a sacrifice fly and a two-RBI single from Maximus Martin.

However, in what was a common occurrence throughout the series, Kansas answered right back. The Jayhawks tied the game after scoring runs in the second and third with RBI hits from Smith and Osoria, respectively.

Donte Lewis showed off the wheels to put Kansas State ahead momentarily, scoring from first on a softly hit ball to right field. Kansas again had a counter-punch, scoring three runs to take a 6-4 lead. Jackson Hauge hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded before Brady Counsell hammered a two-run ground-rule double into the left-center gap.

“I think our offense is pretty relentless no matter the situation,” Counsell said. “It’s good to score runs especially when they score because it kept the game close and then obviously got us the lead in the end.”

Kannon Carr only lasted four innings, allowing four runs on six hits. The bullpen picked him up as Thaniel Trumper, Malakai Vetock, Manning West, Dalton Smith, and Eric Lin all tossed scoreless innings to finish off the sweep.

“I think when we can match guys up in those spots, feel really good about it,” Fitzgerald said. “I do feel like we walked out of this weekend with maybe a little bit better idea of what 5-6-7 [innings] look like.”