Updated 2:19 p.m. Tuesday, July 16:
The top-ranked JUCO classes have garnered much of the attention, but in the two years since Dan Fitzgerald took over as Kansas baseball coach, the conventional transfer portal — at least conventional by modern standards — has played a significant role in the Jayhawks’ success.
Many of the players who have helped KU achieve renewed relevance in the past two seasons came from other four-year colleges.
Fitzgerald’s first roster saw him draw players not only from his previous school LSU, like Collier Cranford and Luke Leto, but also other key pieces such as Collin Baumgartner (SIUE) and Cole Elvis (Cal), who each earned MLB deals after one season at KU. That’s without mentioning the likes of Michael Brooks (UCF) and Hunter Cranton (San Diego State). And then the following season Fitzgerald and recruiting coordinator Jon Coyne built the roster out further with Reese Dutton (USC Upstate) and the like.
KU has also been known to recruit talent from below the Division I level with great success, as when Thaniel Trumper was one of the Jayhawks’ best pitchers in 2023 fresh out of NAIA Doane University, or when John Nett led KU in batting average in 2024 out of St. Cloud State.
The Jayhawks have continued on all fronts this offseason. After an initial flurry of offseason transfers that bolstered the bullpen with Jake Cubbler (USC Upstate), Eric Lin (South Alabama), Connor Maggi (Gardner-Webb) and Malakai Vetock (Creighton) and shored up the infield with shortstop Sawyer Smith (St. Cloud State) and second baseman Brady Counsell (Minnesota), KU has continued to work in the portal and added three more transfers from four-year colleges to bring the total to nine.
Here’s more on each of those acquisitions.
California Baptist starting pitcher Brandon Downer (36) throws a pitch during an NCAA baseball game against UC Riverside on Monday, March 27, 2023, in Riverside, Calif.
Brandon Downer
Downer, who committed on June 22, was selected by the Baltimore Orioles 399th overall in the 13th round of the MLB Draft on Tuesday, so he has to choose whether he will come to KU at all.
If he does, he will factor into the steadily growing transfer group of right-handed pitchers with substantial Division I experience. In his case that means three seasons at Cal Baptist in Riverside, California, near his native Corona. The difference between him and the rest is that he served primarily as a starting pitcher, while KU’s four prior transfers worked out of the bullpen.
He joined the Lancers at the tail end of their transition to D-I as a freshman in 2022. At the time, now-KU hitting coach Tyler Hancock served as an assistant and recruiting coordinator for CBU.
Downer had an uneven three years with the team, spending two of them as a starter but struggling as a sophomore in 2023 (to the tune of an 8.86 ERA and .366 opposing batting average in 23 appearances).
Restored to the rotation as a junior, Downer found a groove in WAC play in late March and early April. Across one stretch of five starts — about a third of his season — he allowed just five runs in 34 1/3 innings, striking out 30 while walking seven. However, he concluded the season with his ERA nearly two points higher after poor starts against Utah Valley and Utah Tech in particular.
Youngstown State’s Ian Francis (7) in action, at bat against Ohio State during an NCAA baseball game on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio.
Ian Francis
Another three-year contributor, Francis has experience working as a catcher, first baseman and designated hitter, playing all three roles at various points during his 58-start 2024 season at Youngstown State. The Youngstown, Ohio, native should help fill the void left by the graduated Jake English, seeing time at catcher and first base, although KU also has some younger catchers on the roster.
After struggling at the plate in a small sample of at-bats as a freshman in 2022, Francis has established a regular pace over the following two seasons, slashing .287/.408/.475 as a sophomore and .284/.366/.483 as a junior, the latter line bolstered by eight home runs, four triples and 10 doubles.
Francis was a Horizon League all-tournament selection, as his five-game run at the tournament in Dayton, Ohio, included a pair of 4-for-5 performances with a combined nine RBIs. The Penguins made it all the way to the tournament final but fell one game short of an NCAA Tournament bid, losing 23-5 to Northern Kentucky in the final.
He announced on July 1 that he was coming to KU for the 2025 season.
ETSU outfielder Tommy Barth (23) against Tennessee Tech during an NCAA baseball game on Friday, March 17, 2023, in Cookeville, Tenn.
Tommy Barth
As much as the Jayhawks loaded up in the infield to account for graduations and draft possibilities, they did not seem quite as deep in the outfield for much of the offseason. Mike Koszewski, who hit .300 in 47 games with 31 starts, will be back, as will Ty Wisdom, who spent some time in right field as a freshman and started 30 games in all.
However, Nett exhausted his eligibility and players like Lenny Ashby, Cooper Combs, Chase Jans and Janson Reeder are gone as well, leaving the outfield reliant on a few returnees with JUCO transfer Derek Cerda and freshmen Blake O’Brien and Xander Schmitt coming in.
Enter Barth, KU’s most recent commitment (July 10). The incoming senior, who arrives from East Tennessee State, was once the Southern Conference’s freshman of the year in 2022. Primarily starting in right field, he hit .369 with 16 doubles, six home runs and 38 RBIs, and the Brecksville, Ohio, native was one of the SoCon’s top players, let alone freshmen.
He hasn’t quite retained that level of production since. Leading off and playing center field for much of his sophomore year, Barth started his season strong but suffered 2-for-28 and 4-for-33 slumps down the stretch in conference play. He concluded the year with a .289 batting average, but did post a fielding percentage of 1.000 with 113 putouts. His season came to a premature end after he collided with a teammate during a game against VMI on May 12, 2023, and did not play in the remaining eight games.
As a junior, though, Barth regained second-team all-conference form, this time spending much of the year in left field but playing all three spots. He hit .319 with 32 RBIs and was the seventh-hardest player to strike out in the country.
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