LAWRENCE — That Kansas baseball could potentially host a NCAA regional this postseason isn’t lost on the team.
KU sophomore Mason Cook said it would be awesome to be able to play in front of their home fans. That’s what they’re hoping for.
KU head coach Dan Fitzgerald said they have an incredible home field advantage. He added they have the best student section in college baseball.
But the Jayhawks (39-16) aren’t just resting on how Hoglund Ballpark has looked during the regular season. There’s some construction happening out in the left field area, as Cook would point out, that as of Tuesday had a new-look fence — compared to other parts of the outfield. Fitzgerald noted there would be some options on the third base side, too, and expressed excitement for what things will look like in left field.
“It looks pretty sweet,” Fitzgerald, the Big 12 coach of the year, said. “Honestly, I don’t know much about what’s going on. I know that we’re constantly changing things around here. And so, those were — I was informed that that was happening. It’s really something that is awesome and I think is going to open up more eyeballs on our stadium. But, in terms of the finished product, I don’t know exactly — I have an idea of what it’s going to look like, but I think it’s awesome. It’s a really cool view when you drive up from Naismith just to be able to see into the ballpark. It’s pretty sweet.”
A look at the change in left field for #RockChalk baseball: pic.twitter.com/CYZuzX3jhe
— Jordan Guskey (@JordanGuskey) May 19, 2026
Travis Goff, Kansas’ director of athletics and vice chancellor, added that they are working to maximize capacity and enhance fan experience. Final details, though, are still to be determined. Evaluations are still underway for how to be ready for a NCAA regional, should that come KU’s way.
This week, Kansas is competing in the Big 12 Conference tournament in Surprise, Arizona. That’ll start for the Jayhawks on Thursday in the quarterfinals, against an opponent that’s to be determined as of Wednesday morning. KU enters the tournament as the conference’s regular season champion.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: What Kansas baseball’s constructing at Hoglund Ballpark for postseason