LAWRENCE — Kansas baseball's season has come down to a pivotal point this week.

The Jayhawks, led by first-year head coach Dan Fitzgerald, are going to play in the Big 12 Conference tournament. As the No. 8 seed in the field, they’ll play No. 1 seed Texas on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas. And considering Kansas (24-30, 8-16 in Big 12) has to win the tournament in order to make the NCAA tournament, Fitzgerald and company are committed to doing what’s necessary to survive and advance through the double-elimination gauntlet.

But even still, there’s a confidence the Jayhawks will take the field with when they face the Longhorns. Graduate pitcher Collin Baumgartner, who started Kansas’ lone win against Texas earlier this season, is set to start in this matchup. And if Baumgartner’s play this season is any indication, having one of the Big 12’s best on the mound gives the Jayhawks a chance.

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“Our guys are extremely confident when he’s pitching, and you see that with all teams,” Kansas assistant Brandon Scott, the pitching coach, said Sunday. “When your guy’s on the mound you tend to have a little more confidence and everybody plays better. I promise you the guys on this team, they feel like Collin is going to pitch well enough that we can beat Texas. And we do, too. And obviously, for us to win this tournament, he’s going to have to beat Texas and probably bounce back and do it again later in the week.”

Scott added: “We’ve already talked about that. He actually told me. He was like, ‘I’m going to pitch twice in this tournament.’ That’s just the kind of competitor and person he is.”

Choosing Kansas

Baumgartner’s college baseball journey did not start at Kansas.

Baumgartner, who’s in his sixth year, started out close to his hometown of Brighton, Illinois. He spent five years at SIU-Edwardsville — which competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. At different points, he seemed poised to start his professional career.

But then came the pandemic, which forced the cancellation of what remained of the 2020 season — Baumgartner’s third year there. Then came an injury that meant Tommy John surgery, which forced him to miss the 2021 season. And although he returned in 2022, that season wouldn’t be enough to propel him to the professional ranks.

So, feeling he’d gotten everything he could out of his SIU-Edwardsville experience, Baumgartner chose to try and get out of his comfort zone. Although he loved his time there, he wanted something different for his last year in college. He decided to test himself, and made the jump up in competition in the Big 12 by transferring to Kansas.

“Kansas was able to do that for me, and I’m really glad I did it,” Baumgartner said. “Looking back, I’ve gotten a lot of memories and a lot of just really good moments to look back on.”

That Baumgartner was on Kansas’ radar at all, though, starts with Scott and Scott’s friendship with Fitzgerald.

Scott was an assistant on the SIU-Edwardsville coaching staff during Baumgartner’s time there, and prior to Baumgartner’s decision to transfer had decided to join Fitzgerald’s staff at Kansas. Fitzgerald already knew about Baumgartner because Fitzgerald had followed the SIU-Edwardsville program. So, after Baumgartner hit the portal, a recruitment began that finished in likely the only place it could have.

However much Baumgartner might have considered other options, Kansas had an assistant in Scott who he shared a special bond with. Not only had they spent those years together at SIU-Edwardsville, but Scott was there for Baumgartner every step of the way as Baumgartner rehabbed from Tommy John surgery. That included Christmas Eve that year, as Baumgartner continued to work his way back.

“If he didn’t get the job at Kansas,” Baumgartner said about Scott, “I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Thriving as one of the Big 12’s top pitchers

Considering how much of the roster Fitzgerald and his staff had to put together ahead of the 2023 season, he said the mentality they took — as they suggested possible players to add — was there were no bad ideas.

But with Baumgartner, the choice seemed simple. Fitzgerald remembers Scott calling the decision on whether or not to add Baumgartner a “no-brainer.” Scott, highlighting the experience Baumgartner already had at the Division I level, saw him as someone who could be one of their weekend starters.

So, to see what Baumgartner’s done as Kansas’ lead starter every Big 12 series doesn’t exactly come as a shock. It’s everything Scott expected Baumgartner to be capable of at this stage of his career. It’s just happening in college, in the Big 12 at Kansas, instead of at the professional level.

“He’s a special one, man,” Fitzgerald said about Baumgartner, an All-Big 12 second-team selection. “I wish I could have coached him the last five years.”

For the season, Baumgartner has a 3.79 ERA and 5-1 record in 14 appearances — all starts. He leads the Jayhawks in innings pitched and strikeouts. He’s played with a confidence he said comes from the support he’s received from Scott and Fitzgerald.

In Big 12 play alone, although the ERA rises to 4.69 he is still 3-1 in eight starts and the team leader in innings and strikeouts. Despite what the ERA indicates, there were only two games in which it looked like he truly struggled. In those eight Big 12 games he pitched in, Kansas came away with a record of 5-3 in a season the Jayhawks were 8-16 overall in conference play.

There were those back-to-back starts against Kansas State and Oklahoma State where, in Kansas losses, Baumgartner only went four innings and in the latter received the loss. But after the OSU defeat, Scott said Baumgartner mentioned how he just needs to get deeper into games. And every start since he’s shown the ability to do that if the team needed him to, as he had earlier in the season in his win against Baylor.

“He understands himself and his ability and, man, I think those last four starts were like, ‘All right, he has truly solidified himself as one of the best pitchers in the Big 12,’” said Scott, who highlighted Baumgartner’s wins against Oklahoma and Texas. “And for us, it’s been really fun to watch. And it’s a time that we needed it.”

Deciding on his future

In a way, Baumgartner is thankful for the injury he suffered.

Although baseball had been his identity, he was able to learn there’s more to life. And it’s helped him be at peace with whatever happens after this season, whether that’s the start of a professional baseball career or him moving on to start law school.

But if a professional opportunity presents itself, Baumgartner said he is going to take it. Both Fitzgerald and Scott said they think he’s in a position where someone will give him a chance. And whoever does, Fitzgerald added, is going to be fortunate to have him.

“He could literally go to Double-A and pitch and I don’t think anyone would freak out and say, ‘What’s this guy doing on the mound?’” said Fitzgerald, who noted he’s talked to scouts about Baumgartner. “He’s just so mature and he can command it.”

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.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas pitcher Baumgartner is thriving ahead of the Big 12 tournament