This week’s edition of K-Nation highlights the final home series for Kansas and Kansas State baseball, along with the NCAA Tournament Selection Show for Kansas softball.
No. 7 Kansas baseball suffered its first sweep of the season, losing 13-2 to No. 15 West Virginia in a run-rule-shortened series finale. In contrast, Kansas State baseball snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over Cincinnati on Sunday.
On the softball side, KU’s Ella Boyer and Hailey Cripe headlined the team’s Big 12 honors, winning Freshman of the Year and Co-Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. The No. 5 seed Jayhawks edged No. 4 seed UCF 6-5 on Thursday before falling 14-0 to No. 1 seed Texas Tech on Friday. Kansas softball will make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015 as the No. 8 seed (No. 2 in the regional) in the Norman, Oklahoma regional.
In men’s basketball, Kansas State will compete in the ‘Players Era Sixteen’ of the Las Vegas tournament, while former Wildcat Abdi Bashir Jr. has committed to LSU. Kansas men’s hoops landed Radford transfer Dennis Park. Additionally, Kansas men’s basketball alum Joel Embiid scored 24 points in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 144-114 loss to the New York Knicks, getting swept in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
In golf, Kansas State’s Alex Lindstrom qualified for an individual spot in the NCAA Corvallis Regional, while Kansas men’s golf will make its 10th-consecutive NCAA Regional appearance as the No. 7 seed in the Athens Regional.