Soto Named Phillips 66 Big 12 Co-Player of the Week
Apr 29, 2002 | Baseball
April 29, 2002
Dallas, Texas - Sophomore third baseman Ty Soto was selected as the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball co-Player of the Week, along with Baylor junior first baseman Mike Huggins, on Monday afternoon after his impressive performance at the plate in helping Kansas State to a 3-1 record last week, including its first series win over 15th-ranked Baylor over the weekend.
Along Soto and Huggins, Kansas senior Dan Olson and Nebraska sophomore Aaron Marsden were named the conference's co-Pitchers of the Week in voting by a select panel of media covering Big 12 baseball for games played from April 22-28.
"Ty (Soto) has been big for us all season especially the last couple of weeks," said Wildcat head coach Mike Clark. "He really has been patient at the plate; waiting for the right pitches. He was big reason for our success against a talented Baylor squad."
A native of Bakersfield, Calif., Soto was a major part of a Kansas State offense that posted a .340 batting average and scored 55 runs in four games last week. For the week, he hit .688 (11-of-16) with two doubles and a home run and earned eight runs scored and seven RBIs. In all, he tallied a .750 on-base percentage with three walks and a hit-by-pitch and struck just once. Against Baylor's vaulted pitching staff, Soto posted a .750 average (9-of-12) with five RBIs and five runs scored. In the first game on Friday, he helped the Wildcats' rally from an 8-0 deficit for a 14-9 victory that snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Bears. He went 3-for-4 in the game with three runs scored and two RBIs, including a solo home run in the fifth inning that gave the Wildcats the lead for good at 10-8. On Saturday, he posted his second five-hit game of the season, as he went a perfect 5-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored.
Soto currently ranks second behind Pat Maloney in six offensive categories, including batting average (.368), hits (60), RBIs (36), total bases (76), multiple-RBI games (10) and on-base percentage (.461). He also places among the top 5 on the team in several other categories, including runs scored (34), at-bats (163), doubles (10), multiple-hit games (15) and walks (20). In conference games he is performing even better, posting a team-best .389 batting average with 15 RBIs and 13 runs scored in 18 games.
Soto is in his second year with the Kansas State program after producing an impressive freshman campaign for the Wildcats. Last season, he saw action in 46 games with 39 starts and posted a .288 average with 29 RBIs and 20 runs scored. His 14 doubles not only led the team, but also set the school freshman record of 11 set by David Hendrix in 1993.
Soto is Kansas State's second Big 12 Player of the Week and third Wildcat overall to receive either Player or Pitcher of the Week accolades this season. Junior right-handed pitcher Mitch Walter was named the conference's co-Pitcher of the Week on April 8, while senior shortstop Osmar Castillo was honored as the Player of the Week on April 1. In all, Soto is the 12th Kansas State player to be named the conference player/pitcher of the week since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1997.
Kansas State clinched the season series for the first time against Baylor in Saturday's 12-9 victory. The pair of the victories over the Bears also secured the program's first-ever season series wins over two teams from the state of Texas in conference play. Earlier in the season, the Wildcats took two of three from nationally-ranked Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas.
At 8-10 in Big 12 play, Kansas State is currently in an eighth-place tie with Oklahoma for the final spot in the Big 12 Tournament. The two teams are just percentage points behind Oklahoma State (29-15, 8-9) and Missouri (22-20, 9-11), who stand in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Only 2.5 games separate third place (Baylor) from eighth place with just three weeks left in the season.
Kansas State (23-20, 8-10 Big 12) returns to Big 12 Conference play next weekend, as the Wildcats travel to Norman, Okla., to take on Oklahoma (24-20, 8-10 Big 12) in a pivotal three-game series at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The times for games on Friday and Saturday have been changed to 7 p.m., while Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m.
