Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - RECORDS FALL: Kansas Jayhawks BEAT Northeastern | Tyson LeBlanc Sets Homer Mark, Dom Voegele STRIKES

Episode Date: May 29, 2026

Kansas Jayhawks snap a decade-long NCAA tournament drought with a commanding 6-3 win over Northeastern, powered by early home runs and dominant pitching from Dominic Voegele and Boede Rahe. Can KU ride this momentum to seize control of the Lawrence Regional? Derek Johnson spotlights Tyson LeBlanc’s record-breaking home run, Brady Ballinger’s clutch return from injury, and strategic moves that kept Northeastern’s offense at bay. The episode breaks down the Jayhawks’ path forward, previewing potential challenges against Arkansas and Missouri State—each posing unique threats with standout aces and high-powered lineups. Don’t miss this comprehensive breakdown of Kansas baseball’s postseason resurgence and their next crucial test on the road to Omaha. Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast   RugietGet 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhlRugiet. Performance medicine for men. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

KU gets their first NCAA tournament win in over a decade. They take down Northeastern 6 to 3. Let's break it down on this episode of the show. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Derek Johnson here? This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for joining us on the show.

And today we're going to break down, Kansas taking down at Northeastern, and they're opening round to the NCAA tournament. We'll also get to what's next. Arkansas or Missouri State will break down a little bit on both of those teams as well. But let's start right here, six to three, the final score, Kansas taking down at Northeastern to move to the winner's bracket. Northeastern will fall to the losers bracket as it is a double elimination pot. And now for Kansas, you set yourself up to have that opportunity at game two, where if you can win that second game, you really are in the driver's seat. It doesn't guarantee that you're going to win.

And teams will actually occasionally lose the first game and when that end up, you know, winning the entire regional. But especially as the host and in theory the best team in the regional, if you can be in the driver's seat as well, that's usually a good combination to be in. So you're a win away now from doing that. But, you know, just savor this win, right? Because I get it. It's the one four matchup. There's still work to be done. But like Northeastern for one, they are a really good four.

but two, Kansas didn't win a tournament game last year. As great of a season as they had a season ago, they lost both of their tournament games, including to the four seed in their second game. So you can't take anything for granted here now that we're in the postseason, and it's the first time that I've seen Kansas win a tournament game. Well, anybody has seen Kansas win the tournament game in a very long time. It's been since, what, 2014 at this point?

So this is objectively an awesome moment for KU Baseball. and while the players obviously have to focus on what's next and tomorrow and getting ready for that one. From the fan perspective, like revel in it, right? Now, the story of this game for me is KU goes bombs away early and then the pitching staff pounds the strike zone. And you get those three early home runs from KU, you jump out to a four to one lead. And from there, that was enough in the end from your pitchers. Obviously, it gets a little, you know, scary there toward the end of the game before you get those insurance runs. But you get nine innings of work between just the two pitchers with Dominic vaguely and Bodey Ray, which the good news there is there only using two pitchers.

You have a bunch available to you for Saturday's game, which will be at five o'clock. They'll have some good time in between there. But the two of those combined with vaguely and Ray, they combined for 12 strikeouts compared to just one walk. that is an incredible strikeout to walk ratio there, and that's going to win you a lot of games. And we came into this one talking about don't give up free passes. That was one of our keys to the game to Northeastern because they can work the count, they can work walks,

and then they turn those into steals. Well, guess what? They only had one walk, and they only had one steel attempt, and it didn't work. They were 0 for one on steel attempts. So some of the keys to the game you did an excellent job at and going back to the pounding the strike zone, this is, you know, maybe the stat of the game for me.

Kansas threw 134 pitches between vaguely and Ray combined. 100 of the 134 were strikes. I mean, you were just pounding the strike zone. That is a very good ratio to be at there, right? And the cool thing is like, yeah, there were a couple moments that KU had to, you know, work out of things. But KU actually left double the base runners on base than Northeastern did. Kansas left 10 on base, northeastern, last five.

left five on base. The reason I bring that up is that, you know, you were, you were even closer to winning this one going away than you might think, right? But obviously, too, beyond that, like one of the big storylines of this one is Brady Bollinger coming back and he doesn't get the start. Obviously, working back with the hamade injury, which is going to be something that's probably going to bother him for the rest of the season. And he's just going to have to kind of play through the pain. But he comes in later in the game as a defense sub and then comes in there to hit.

And he gets a huge hit as part of those two insurance runs for KU late. He brought the energy back after the energy was starting to go kind of toward northeastern. So that was huge for KU and figures to be huge moving forward if they can continue to get production from Bollinger in the lineup. But awesome first game for KU. Like I said, I'm going to enjoy this come tomorrow, time to do it again. All right, let's get into some of our awards of the game, moments of the game.

And then we'll get to what's next with Arkansas and Missouri State. This is locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode is brought to you by Rougiet and beyond the NCAA baseball postseason. We got the NHL playoffs going on right now as we move closer to the Stanley Cup final Vegas awaiting the winner from the east. And every shift matters, every moment's intense, and the pressure is at its highest. I'm San Jose Sharks fan, so ended up missing the playoffs. But I have added hope, one, because Macklin Celebrini is awesome.

But two, the Vegas Golden Knights won the same amount of games. is the San Jose Sharks. Now, Vegas had more overtime losses where you still get a point. So that's how they made the playoffs in San Jose didn't. But that gives me hope that, you know, maybe you're closer than you might think. But that is the beauty of the NHL playoffs. Anything can really happen. And just like the performance matters on the ice.

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to that early lead. We had the voice of Jayhawks, Brian Haney on with us earlier this week, and he talked about the importance of getting out to the early lead, and they were able to do that in the big 12th tournament and able to do that once again here. Another key moment of the game, I think so in the fifth inning was when things got probably the spiciest for Northeastern. And KU is in a position where it looks like Dominic vaguely has a double play ball that he has pitched into. It ends up being an error on the throw from the second baseman to LeBlanc who's covering the bag. And ends up scoring a run for Northeastern.

It also puts them in, you know, more territory to potentially score more runs. But then Vagley gets a strikeout and then he gets a grand. roundout to end the threat and keep it at four to two. Then you get the K to end the seventh inning. He also works out of a bit of a one in the six. Just getting out of those moments without relenting the lead were pretty huge for KU. And then, you know, it felt like the insurance runs you got in the eighth were kind of the, okay, now you can breathe situation.

Brady Bollinger gets a hit in the eighth and his first at bat returning from the injury. That allows the lineup to flip back over. LeBlong ends up getting a what was close to should have been an error, should it have been a hit. They give him a hit with an RBI. But think about this too. Like LeBlon was intentionally walked to his previous plate appearance. I believe it was the previous one. They couldn't this time because of the Bollinger hit, put it in a position where you know,

you had nowhere to put him. And so that allowed him to eat the RBI single. I think some of the other unsung moments of the game, the strikeout looking to end the the first. After there was a foul ball home run, you know, there was one that was rocked foul, and then vaguely gets a, you know, looking strike out with a runner on base to end the first to kind of, you know, establish that rhythm. And then the, the Tyson Owings sliding catch in the eighth for a one, two, three inning when, you know, you had, I don't know, it was four to three. It was a little bit closer there. And you get Bode Ray in the.

game and you're able to just get a one, two, three inning to kind of stop their momentum where they had been inching closer. The last few innings, I thought that was important as well. Home run of the game. Do you go with Mungariata to make it two nothing? That was the only two run home runs. So that was technically the most valuable. Osoria makes it three nothing. And then you get the LeBlanc. I think that's the one to me that becomes the, I don't know, second most, I don't know, all home runs are important. That one became really important because it was after Northeastern scored their first run. So you're responding right back, right? Preventing. them from having all the momentum.

It probably is Mungariata, though. It gets you off to the hot start. It gets all the fans into the game, and you never turn the lead down from there. History of the game. A lot of history for KU and this one. Tyson LeBlong ends up breaking the single season home run record for KU by hitting his solo shot.

So that's cool history there. Dominic vaguely ends up breaking the KU single season strikeout record. So cool stuff there. I think he's now 21 strikeouts away from the career record. which obviously he's going to need to advance far. Like they're going to have to get out of the regional at the very least. Like if they had to play on Monday, would he be available in relief at all for a few innings, get some strikeouts?

Then you have a super. But yeah, you're probably looking at having to make it to the College World Series if vaguely is going to break that record. It's also the first hosting regional win in program history. And it's the first NCAA tournament win for KU since 2014. Last time KU won two NCAA tournament games in the same year, by the way, you might ask, 2009 was the last time to go back to that. Our pitching MVP, you only have two options here for KU,

Dominic vaguely, seven innings of work, seven hits allowed, just one walk, three earned runs, nine strikeouts, and he gets the win. You have Bodie Ray, who goes two innings of work. He does not allow a base runner, had three strikeouts. I think it, I don't know, it's hard to say because, like, Bodie Ray was pretty perfect in this game to where, like, he would be technically the pick, but vaguely pitched so well in a

allowing you to get that lead and stifled them at the early moments of the game. So I don't even know that I could give it to one or the other. I honestly am just going to chicken out and make it a co-MvP for pitching MVP between the two. Hitting MVP in this one for KU. A couple guys you could go with, right? Like Cade Baldridge ends up getting three hits for Kansas. You get multi-hit games from Dario L'Ariola, who had two of them, and Tyson LeBlon, who had two of them.

LeBlon also ends up with two RBI. Mungarietta ends up with two RBI. But the name that keeps coming up here among all these categories is LeBlanc. And that's going to be my pick here for the offensive MVP. Again, I thought that was so important to have the response with his home run, but then also breaking the single season home run record. I think that adds a little extra to it there. All right.

So now we know Kansas is going to be in the winners game on Saturday. I guess barring weather, who knows what's going to happen with the schedule of games. Are they can play Arkansas or they can play Missouri State? Let's break down both of those potential opponents next. Don't forget you can join the everyday air club to get the ad free version of the show. Locked on jahawks.supercast.com. Kansas moving on to the winners side of the bracket. They are 1 and 0, and they're going to face the winner of Arkansas and Missouri State.

Arkansas, the 2 seed, Missouri State, the 3 seed. Both of them good enough to be two seeds, if not even hosting a regional, to be completely honest. It's going to be a heck of a matchup at Hoagland. And you'll play the winner in an all-important second game where the winner of the winner of that game will, you know, be in the driver's seat in the Lawrence Regional. Now, if it ends up being Arkansas, one of the things Arkansas is doing, so Kansas used their ace in the first game, Arkansas is not using their ace in the first game against Missouri State. They're using Hunter Deetz, who is their ace in game two. And he's got an incredible 2.05 Sierra. He's got 117 strikeouts

in just 79 and a third inning's pitch. He's also a lefty, which KU went just two of 10. against lefties today, albeit the lineup was designed for a righty starter, but still, he's an excellent pitcher, and that would make things difficult for KU. Then you have Cam Coziel, who, you know, he is one of the best players in the regional. He's hitting 322, nearly in 1,100 OPS. He's got 20 home runs coming into the regional this week. When you look at Arkansas overall, this is a top 20 team in the field in ERA, in WIP, in Sierra, in Bullpen ERA.

So they've got the stud starter. They've got the stud bullpen to back it up. They do it behind huge strikeout numbers. Like the top 10 among the 64 team field in K rate, but they also don't walk you. They're top 10 in there in walk rate as well. So they're not going to give you freebies. You have to earn it.

They're also a good power hitting team. 22nd in the tournament field and slugging percentage. They're 13th in total home runs hit. And they're kind of a speed power team too. They're in the top 20 and stolen bases as well. they're a team that can beat you with the pitching and a couple big flies for the game, right? Now, you look at the weaknesses. If you can keep them from going deep, which is easier said than done,

they are outside of the top 50 of the 64 tournament teams in average and on base percentage. So they're not a team that puts a lot of traffic on the bases. It's more so they're just going to go deep on the ones they hit. It's like the Dosaki's guy. Like, I don't always drink beer. I don't always get hits. but when I do, they tend to be home runs, right? But overall, they're middle of the pack in the tournament field,

34th in Wobah and WRC Plus, kind of a overall measurement of your offense, kind of just average for the tournament field there, but again, dangerous to the home run. But they're 12th in Sierra. So they are one of the best pitching teams and knowing you would be getting Hunter Deats in the second game makes it so that it's not just that they're one of the better pitching teams in general.

You would be getting the full brunt of their pitching ability. So that would make things interesting there. I don't know, do you almost root for Missouri State from the standpoint of not having to face deeds? But then you get into a situation where it's like Missouri State wins that game, you're going to be viewing Missouri State as just as big of a threat because they will have won the game. And because Missouri State has this incredible lineup. They're using Max Knight against Arkansas. He's got like 470 RA.

The main three starters for them in terms of by innings pitch, they all have ERAs over 5.3. Like when you look at the weaknesses from Missouri State, it is the pitching. They're outside the top 50 in the 64 team tournament field in ERA and WIP. And if you look at the starters ERA specifically, they are 62nd in the field and dead last in WIP. So they have not had the best starting pitching. So it doesn't really matter how they line up theirs. They're also not really a speed team, 50 second and stolen bases.

The reason that they are such a threat is because from a hitting perspective, they have three players with a team best 16 home runs. So it's a balanced lineup. Curry Sutherland leads the way in RBI and OPS and has is one of those players 16 home runs. But as a team, they have 10 players who have a 900 OPS or better. Like out of comparison, Arkansas and Kansas combined have nine of them. Now, Arkansas and Kansas are playing in a power league. Missouri state's not. So some of those numbers might go down against better competition more often. But like that just shows the absurdity of this lineup for the Bears. And you look at them, they are top 16, so basically the top, you know, 75th percentile or better, if you want to look at it that way, in the tournament

field, an average on base percentage, slugging and home runs. They're the rare team that hits a lot of home runs, but they don't hit for a high average. Well, Missouri State hits a lot of home runs and they hit for a high average. They're pretty much above average at avoiding giving up walks from pitching perspective, too. So you do have to earn it at least against them there. but the main takeaway with Missouri State, they're seventh in the tournament field in Wobah and WRC Plus. Again, one of the best offenses in the entire field. They are only 41st in Sierra from the pitching perspective.

So it's kind of pick your poison a little bit from a certain standpoint. Like there are certain things that Missouri State does well pitching, right, avoiding those walks. There are certain things that Arkansas does well hitting, hitting those home runs. But for the most part, if you play Arkansas, it's going to probably be about the Arkansas pitching. if you play Missouri State, it's going to be about the Missouri State hitting. All right, that'll do it for this episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show.

And we'll see you next time for another edition of LOJ.