LAWRENCE — Kansas baseball’s recent road series against Texas didn’t see the Jayhawks enjoy the success they could have.
Kansas held a lead in the ninth inning Thursday before it allowed Texas to earn a walk-off victory. The Jayhawks watched the Longhorns earn another walk-off victory Friday in another game the visitors led in the ninth inning. Saturday saw Kansas lose another close matchup after a near-comeback against Texas.
But while KU didn’t leave its final series of the regular season with the résumé it could have, ahead of postseason play, head coach Dan Fitzgerald’s side did see another quality outing from freshman pitcher Dominic Voegele. Voegele went five innings Friday without allowing an earned run, before exiting the game with the score tied 1-1. He’s been a standout all year long in his first season in college, for a team that will be a tough out in the Big 12 Conference tournament.
Here are five things to know about Voegele, who spoke prior to the start of the Texas series, before Big 12 tournament play unfolds for Kansas (29-21, 15-15 in Big 12) in the days ahead:
This is why Dominic Voegele decided to play for Kansas
Voegele, who’s from Columbia, Illinois, left high school as one of the top prospects in his state — not just pitchers, but prospects overall. He even garnered interest to get a head start on his professional career. But Voegele elected to play in college first and chose Kansas.
“When I came on my visit here, it kind of just — it felt like home,” Voegele said. “Coaches welcomed me with open arms, and everybody was — they were all great people. So, just figured that was a place I wanted to be and people I wanted to be around.”
This is why Dominic Voegele delayed the start of his professional career
How starting a professional career right out of high school would have gone for Voegele is just speculation at this point, but he was selected in the 2023 MLB draft. The Arizona Diamondbacks picked him in the 20th round. Voegele, though, evaluated his options and decided starting a college career at Kansas was a better option for him.
“I felt like, coming here, it’d help me develop a little bit more, kind of get bigger and help improve all of my pitches,” Voegele said. “And then, I mean, just to help get more money in the future.”
When Dominic Voegele steps onto the mound, here’s what’s on his mind
Voegele said: “Just getting ahead. Just first-pitch strikes, and then locating the pitches where I want them to be and just attacking the hitters.”
This moment still stands out to Dominic Voegele
Voegele has helped Kansas to some memorable accomplishments this year. Among his quality outings in Big 12 play have been a few that aided the Jayhawks’ ability to win a series at home against TCU, another on the road against BYU and another at home against Texas Tech. But it’s that series win against TCU, when he earned a win against himself during the series, that has stuck with him the most.
“Probably whenever we beat TCU, whenever we took the series from them,” Voegele said. “That was pretty cool.”
Dominic Voegele is leaving his options open, when it comes to what he’ll do when he’s done playing
If Voegele’s freshman year at Kansas is any indication, and it isn’t over yet, he has a future playing baseball. To date he’s 7-2 with a 3.32 ERA across 14 starts, with an advantage of 74 strikeouts to 29 walks across 76.0 innings pitched. But there will be a day when Voegele’s playing career, collegiately and professionally, comes to an end, and when that day comes he just might remain in sports.
“I don’t really know,” Voegele said. “I haven’t thought about that too much yet, but probably coach or something like that.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
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