Kansas opens first-ever NCAA regional at newly reconfigured Hoglund Ballpark
Lawrence's first NCAA regional turned Hoglund Ballpark into a 4,000-seat postseason stage, with Kansas chasing a home-field edge against speedy Northeastern.
Hoglund Ballpark opened its first NCAA regional Friday with a bigger footprint, a louder crowd plan and a Kansas team trying to turn a long-awaited home event into a postseason edge. The newly reconfigured park now holds about 4,000 fans, up roughly 60% from 2,500, and the Lawrence Regional brought Kansas, Northeastern, Arkansas and Missouri State to town for a double-elimination bracket that can run as many as seven games through June 1.
For Lawrence, the regional is more than a baseball milestone. It puts fans, families and visiting teams into a city already filling up with graduation traffic and early-summer activity, while giving the University of Kansas a showcase for the kind of national event it has wanted to stage at home. The Jayhawks entered the bracket at No. 13, 42-16 overall and 22-8 in Big 12 play, riding back-to-back postseason appearances for just the second time in school history and their seventh NCAA Tournament berth overall.
KU also arrived with a résumé built for a host site. The Jayhawks won both the Big 12 regular-season title outright and the league tournament title for the first time since Texas in 2009, then went 3-0 in Arlington and blanked No. 9 West Virginia 9-0 in the championship game on May 23. Kansas was one of 16 host institutions selected into the 64-team field, and Lawrence was one of the NCAA’s 16 regional sites.
The ballpark itself has been part of the story. Opened in 1988 and named for Forrest Hoglund, who played at Kansas from 1954 to 1956, the facility has been reworked for a stage like this. The visiting bullpen moved underneath the Rich Jantz Player Development Center, the former bullpen area became standing-room-only fan space, and a new section beyond the left-field fence called The Backyard now welcomes lawn chairs. Outside food and drink are not allowed there, but concessions will be open, and all grandstand seating is reserved with tickets sold in all-session and single-game formats.
On the field, the regional’s most disruptive variable may be Northeastern’s running game. The Huskies entered with 209 stolen bases in 57 games, and Harrison Feinberg had 42 of them himself. Northeastern’s speed-heavy approach, paired with the power of Mike Sirota, who hit .344 with 18 home runs, 54 RBI and 19 steals in 2024, gives Kansas a different kind of test in its own park. Kansas opens against a team built to pressure the bases, and the home crowd in Lawrence will find out quickly whether the upgraded setting can become a real postseason advantage.
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