K-State Begins 11-game homestand against #17 Texas A&M This Weekend
Apr 10, 2003 | Baseball
April 10, 2003
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PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION:
FRIDAY -
Kansas State: #29 Jim Ripley (Jr. RHP, 2-3, 7.22 ERA)
Texas A&M: #10 Logan Kensing (So., RHP, 5-4, 3.54 ERA)
SATURDAY -
Kansas State: #13 Kevin Melcher (Sr., RHP, 0-3, 7.45 ERA)
Texas A&M: #30 Zach Dixon (Sr., LHP, 4-1, 4.27 ERA)
SUNDAY -
Kansas State: #15 Allan Woodward (Fr., RHP, 0-1, 3.97 ERA)
Texas A&M: #4 Matt Farnum (Jr., RHP, 6-1, 2.12 ERA)
Series History: Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 19-4, including holdinga 4-2 mark in games played in Manhattan... The series dates back to 1985 ina 10-8 win by the Aggies... Texas A&M has won 13 of the last 15 meetings,including eight of the last 10... A&M is 15-3 since the start of Big 12.
Rankings: Texas A&M is ranked in all four major baseball polls... TheAggies are 17th in Baseball Weekly/ESPN, 19th in Baseball America, 22nd inthe National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and 24th in CollegiateBaseball... K-State is not ranked.
Coaches: K-State's Mike Clark is in 17th season with a record of 430-472(.477)... He is 723-608 (.543) in his 24th season overall... Clark is 4-18versus A&M, including 2-4 at home... Texas A&M's Mark Johnson is in his 19thseason with a record of 785-376-2 (.676)... Johnson is 19-4 all-time vs.K-State, including 4-2 on the road.
Looking to snap the third-longest losing streak in school history, Kansas State (10-20, 0-9 Big 12) begins an 11-game homestand this weekendwith a three-game series against 17th-ranked Texas A&M (26-11, 7-5 Big 12)at Tointon Family Stadium... First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m., whilegames on Saturday and Sunday will start at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively... It will be the first conference night game to be held at thenewly-renovated Tointon Stadium and just the second since defeatingnationally-ranked Arkansas on March 7. Texas A&M leads the all-time series with Kansas State, 19-4, in this,the 24th, 25th and 26th meetings between the two schools... The series datesback to 1985 with a 10-8 win by the Aggies at a tournament at UT PanAmerican... Texas A&M holds a 15-3 advantage since the start of Big 12 playin 1997 and has never lost a series to K-State... However, two of theWildcats' three wins have come on their home field in 1997 and 2001... TheAggies are 4-2 all-time in Manhattan. After Wednesday's 13-2 defeat at the hands of archrival Wichita State,Kansas State has now dropped 18 of its last 22 contests, including ninestraight in league play for the first time since joining the Big 12... The12-game losing streak is the longest since the team also lost 12 in a rowfrom April 3-22, 1994, which constitutes the longest skid in the Mike Clarkera... The nine-game skid to open league play is the longest since dropping15 straight in 1986... The Wildcats' longest losing streak is 14 games setfrom March 10 -April 9, 1984.
Quickly about Kansas State
Kansas State enters the three-game series with Texas A&M coming off aless-than-stellar performance in a 13-2 loss at Wichita State... TheWildcats used seven different pitchers in the defeat with no lasting morethan two innings... They combined allow 13 runs on 14 hits with eight walksand just five strikeouts... K-State, which has lost 18 of its last 22 gamessince starting the season with a 6-2 record, has its longest losing streak -12 games - since also dropping 12 in 1994. Kansas State has solid offensive team with a collective .290 battingaverage, while averaging 6.9 runs per game on 10.7 hits per game... The .290average is eighth in Big 12, while the hits and runs per game average rankfourth and fifth, respectively... The Wildcats rank second in the leaguewith a 2.17 doubles per game ratio and are fourth with a 6.2 RBIs per gameaverage... The team has three players - Tim Doty, Pat Maloney and Ty Soto -that rank among the conference's Top 25 in hitting... The Wildcats have sixplayers batting .280 or better on the year as well as six with 18 or moreruns scored and 12 or more RBIs... Doty paces the team in average (.371),hits (43), runs scored (31), home runs (eight), total bases (76), sluggingpercentage (.655) and on-base percentage (.464) and is second in RBIs(29)... Senior C/DH Ryan Baldwin leads in RBIs (38) and doubles (13), whileSoto is first in multiple-hit games and walks (20), second in average (.351)and home runs (five) and third in hits (40) and RBIs (27)... Maloney issecond in runs scored (27), hits (41), doubles (nine) and walks (19) and isfourth with a .342 batting average. On the other hand, the pitching staff has a league-worst 6.99 ERA after30 games, more than a full run and half higher than ninth-place Texas Tech(5.47)... The staff is allowing just over eight runs per game on 11.6 hits,including 10 runs and 12 hits per game in Big 12 play... During leagueaction, the staff has tallied more walks (43) than strikeouts (39)... Fourplayers - Brett Bagley, Jared Bunn and Kevin Melcher, Jim Ripley - havetallied over 24 innings pitched this season... Bagley, Ripley and EricRollins have at least 20 strikeouts, including Bagley's staff-leading 28...Rollins has been an excellent closer when needed, leading the staff inappearances (14), wins (two), ERA (2.45) and saves (three) .
Trying to Break the Streak
In an effort to break Kansas State's longest losing streak in nearly 10years, head coach Mike Clark has announced several changes for thisweekend's series against Texas A&M... The changes remain in place for therest of the season... Clark will coach third base after spending much of thelast several years in the dugout, while hitting coach Steve Miller will movefrom third to first base... The pitchers and catchers will call their owngame from the field, while pitch-out and pickoffs will still be called fromthe dugout.
The Best 3-4-5 Hitters in the Big 12?
Kansas State may very well have the best middle of the order in the Big12... Senior 1B Tim Doty, senior OF Pat Maloney and junior 3B Ty Soto allrank among the league's Top 25 in hitting, while the trio have combined toscore 79 runs on 124 hits with 24 doubles, 17 home runs and 74 RBIs... Therun, hit and double totals are more than 37 percent of the team total, whilethe home run tally is over 70 percent of the team total... They have 40percent of the RBI and walks total.
The Book on Texas A&M
A consensus Top 25 team, Texas A&M enters the three-game series with a26-11 overall record and 7-5 mark in Big 12 Conference play... The Aggiesare currently in fifth place in the league standings, just 1.5 games behindfourth place Missouri... A&M is coming off an 8-0 loss to top-ranked Rice onTuesday, as the Aggies managed just three hits off Owl hurler WadeTownsend... After starting the season with a 17-4 record, Texas A&M cooledabit since the start of league play, winning just nine of its last 16contests... However, the Aggies have taken the season series fromnationally-ranked Nebraska and Baylor as well as Oklahoma. They are 6-7 onthe road in 2003. A solid offensive team, Texas A&M boasts a .288 batting average in 37games with 220 runs (5.9 per game) scored on 352 hits (9.5 per game),including 96 extra-base hits... Four players are hitting over .300, whilesix players total at least 20 runs scored and 18 RBIs... Junior OF ScottBeerer paces the squad with a .341 batting average with a team-leading 29RBIs... Beerer also leads in appearances (14) and saves (six)... He is 4-0in 27.1 innings pitched with a 1.32 ERA... Junior OF Cory Patton paces thesquad in hits (48) and home runs (five), while he is second in average(.322), runs (26) and RBIs (28)... Junior OF Justin Ruggiano adds a .320average and is second in runs (26), doubles (nine) and home runs (four),while junior SS Matt Alexander is first in doubles (13) and second in RBIs(28). The pitching staff lists a 3.74 ERA in 313 innings pitched with 256strikeouts and 95 walks... Friday's night starter Logan Kensing has a 5-4record and 3.54 ERA in 11 appearances and eight starters with a team-bestthree complete games and 47 strikeouts... Saturday starter Zach Dixon postsa 4-1 mark and 4.27 ERA in nine appearances, while Sunday hurler Matt Farnumlists a team-best 6-1 record and 2.12 ERA. Texas A&M is coached by 19th-year head coach Mark Johnson, who hasguided the Aggies to 11 NCAA Tournaments and two College World Seriesappearances.
2002 Review: Texas A&M wins series, 2-1
For the sixth straight season, Texas A&M claimed the season series overKansas State in 2002 by winning two of three games at home... The Aggies wonthe first game, 7-3, before the teams split a pair of one-run contests...The Wildcats won 7-6 on Saturday before the Aggies claimed a 6-5 win onSunday... Senior OF Pat Maloney posted a .467 against Texas A&M with twoRBIs, two doubles and two runs scored, while seniors 2B Brandon Taylor and CRyan Baldwin each hit .333... Junior 3B Ty Soto had two RBIs.
K-State-Texas A&M Connections
Kansas State has just two players on its roster from the state of Texasin reserve CF Brian Patty (Burkburnett) and LHP Jared Bunn (Austin)... TheWildcats have two other players with connections to the Lone Star State, asRHP Kevin Melcher spent his freshman year at TCU and RHP Ryan Ashley went toTexarkana Junior College in Texarkana, Texas... Ashley played one year withA&M C Jordy Mitchell... A&M junior OF Cory Patton was a teammate of Wildcatsjunior C Josh Heinrich and Patty at Seward County Community College...Junior IF Eric Scheidt was a teammate of Wildcat C/DH Ryan Baldwin, 2B/SSMarc Chabot, RHP Jim Ripley and U Zack Saunders at Connors State College.
Scoring with Two Outs
Despite being down two outs in an inning, Kansas State has shown animpressive streak of scoring runs this year Of the 206 runs scored, 93 or45.1 percent of them, have been scored with two outs in an inning In 24 ofthe 30 games this season, the team has scored at least one run in each gamewith two outs During the team's Spring Break trip, the Wildcats scored 38of their 65 runs (58.5 percent) with two outs in an inning, including aseason-best 14 in the 21-2 romp over Rider... The team also scored 10 of its17 runs against nationally-ranked Florida International with two outs...This is particularly telling in the last five wins for Kansas State, wherenearly 65 percent of the Wildcats' runs (40 of 62) have come with twoouts... This trend is nothing new for the Wildcats in the last two years Ofthe 416 runs scored in 2002, 156 (37.5 percent) were scored with two outs inan inning In the Big 12 Tournament, 14 of the 24 runs were scored down twoouts.
Double Your Pleasure
After setting a new school-record for singles in a season in 2002,Kansas State has set its sights on the doubles mark in 2003, as the Wildcatshave already totaled 65 two-baggers in 30 games... The team's 2.17 doublesper game average paces the Big 12... The Wildcats have 13 players with atleast one double this season, including eight with four or more. Senior C Ryan Baldwin ranks first in the Big 12 in doubles per game witha .46 average with a team-leading 13 on the season... He is just fourdoubles away from jumping into the school's top-10, while he is just 10 awayfrom tying the school-record of 23 set by Scott Poepard set in 1997....Senior OF Pat Maloney, who has eight doubles in the last 18 games, rankseighth in the league with nine, while junior 3B Ty Soto extended his totalto eight with two against WSU... Seniors 1B Tim Doty and OF Gabe Luttrellare just out of the Top 10 with seven each.
Hitting Streaks
Kansas State has had four players register at least one hitting streakof more than 10 games in 2003... Junior 2B Ty Soto and senior SS BrettWilliams each extended their hitting streaks from 2002 to 16 games thisyear, while senior OF Pat Maloney and senior 1B Tim Doty have hit safely in13 and 11 games, respectively. The 16-game hitting streaks by Soto and Williams tied for theseventh-longest in school history, along with David Chadd (1988), CraigWilson (1992), Heath Schesser (1997) and Josh Cavender (2001)... Williamsentered the season with an 11-game hitting streak, while Soto had anine-game streak. Maloney saw his 13-game hitting streak end in the first game againstNebraska with a 0-for-4 effort... The 13-game streak marked the fourth timethat Maloney has posted a hitting streak of at least 10 games in hiscareer... He registered the third-longest hitting streak in school historyas a sophomore with a 20-game streak, while he had a 12-game and 10-gamestreak in 2002.
Coming Through in the Clutch
Senior C Ryan Baldwin has been another potent bat in the Wildcat lineupin 2003... The team leader with 12 multiple-RBI games, Baldwin ranks firstin the Big 12 in doubles per game (.46) and second in RBIs per game(1.36)... With 13 doubles and 38 RBIs on the season, he is within strikingdistance of breaking both single-season marks... He needs just four doublesto jump into the top-10 and 11 to break Scott Poepard's school-record of 23,while he lacks 19 RBIs to break into the school's top-10 and 49 to surpassHeath Schesser's school mark of 85... Baldwin has been his best when thepressure has been on... 16 of his 38 RBIs (over 40 percent) have come withtwo outs in an inning... In fact, he is hitting a team-best .372 withrunners on base and .340 with runners in scoring position... He hits at a.366 clip with two outs.
58 and Done
After a 0-for-4 performance on Friday against nationally-ranked OklahomaState, senior OF Pat Maloney saw his amazing streak of reaching base end at58 games... Ironically, it marked the first time since the Cowboys did it onMarch 23, 2002 that Maloney was held off the base paths... However, Maloneyresponded by reaching base in the last two games of the series... Maloneyhad reached base in every game since the C.W. Post (the 25th game of 2002)on March 26, 2002 by either hit, walk, hit by pitch or fielder's choice...During this 58-game span, Maloney hit .375 (89-for-237) with 63 runsscored, 46 RBIs, 40 walks, 17 doubles, two triples and eight home runs... Infact, he reached base via a hit in 50 of the 58 contests... In all, he hasreached base in 80 of the Wildcats' last 84 games, including 61 of the last62 games... Even more impressive than the 58-game streak is the fact thatMaloney has recorded a hit in nearly 81 percent of the games he has playedat K-State with at least one in 142 of the 176 games he has played sincedebuting in 2000... So far in 2003, he has a hit in 24 of the 29 games he'splayed in.
Maloney Sees Consecutive Start Streak End
With his consecutive games reaching base streak now history, senior OFPat Maloney has now seen two significant milestones end in 2003... He sawhis first streak end on March 16 against St. Peter's in the Papa John'sChallenge in Homestead, Fla ... For the first time since his redshirtfreshman season in 2000, Maloney failed to start a game in either theoutfield or at designated hitter against the Peacocks, snapping his streakof 153 consecutive starts... The non-start was just to give Maloney a restaccording to head coach Mike Clark... Ironically enough, the streak startedat the Homestead Challenge in Homestead, Fla., against Ohio State on March24, 2000... Maloney's 169 career starts rank seventh on the K-State all-timechart, while his 176 games played is just one game from moving into thecareer Top-10.
Maloney Back To His Old Self
The term "Senior Slump" was thrown around earlier this year after seniorOF Pat Maloney started the first 11 games of the season with a less thanstellar .245 batting average... However, the two-time first team All-Big 12selection has resumed his post his arguably the conference's top hitter byraising his batting average 97 points in the last 18 games to .342. Maloney, who hadn't seen his batting average slump that low sincestarting the first six games of the 2001 season with a .208 average, hasposted a team-leading .408 batting average in the last 18 games with 15 runsscored, 12 RBIs, eight doubles and three home runs... He also has 11multiple-hit games and four multiple-RBI games... In comparison to the first11 games, he has more than doubled his hit total (29-12), has seven moredoubles, six more RBIs and two more runs scored in the last 17... He managedjust two multiple-hit and one multiple-RBI game in the first 11... He alsohas 10 strikeouts in the last 18 compared to 11 during his hitting "slump".
Maloney Quickly Moving Up the Career Charts
Senior OF Pat Maloney ranks among the Kansas State career Top 10 in anamazing 14 offensive categories, while he has a chance to join four otherlists as the season progresses. Here's how the fifth-year senior ranks among each of these careerrecords going into the weekend. He needs one double, two triples and onesacrifice hit to move into those respective career Top 10s.
Consistency Times Two
The only players to start all 30 games in 2003, senior 1B Tim Doty andjunior 2B Ty Soto have been remarkably consistent offensive weapons for theWildcats... Both players have at least one hit in 26 of 30 games and havenot gone back-to-back games without a hit... Each has had at least twohitting streaks of at least seven games each, including an 11-game streaksfor both Soto and Doty... This is particularly impressive when you factor inthat both hitters follow Pat Maloney in the Wildcat lineup. Doty, the clean-up hitter in all but two games, ranks among the leagueleaders in five categories... He is tied for third in home runs (eight),fourth in slugging percentage (.655), eighth in on-base percentage (.464),10th in total bases (76) and 11th in batting average (.371). Soto, who ranks second on the team in multiple-hit (12) and multiple-RBIgames (six), had the seventh-longest hitting streak in school history endearlier this season with a 16-game streak that dated to 2002.
Rollins Settling Into Closer's Role
Sophomore RHP Eric Rollins has had a hand in half of Kansas State's 10win in 2003, as the Wildcats' new closer has been responsible for two winsand three saves this season... With the loss of all-conference selectionsFranco Pezely to graduation and Mitch Walter to injury, the coaching staffmoved Rollins from occasional starter/set-up man to closer... Thenative of Ada, Okla., paces the team in appearances (14), ERA (2.45), wins(two) and saves (three)... He has 22 strikeouts to just four walks on theseason... He has been even more impressive the last seven outings for theWildcats, where he has not allowed a run in 10-1/3 innings of relief... Inthat span, he has allowed just five hits with 11 strikeouts and just onewalk... On Sunday, he pitched two scoreless innings against O-State,allowing just one hit with two strikeouts.
Recapping the Oklahoma State Series
Kansas State was outscored 32-11 in the three-game series with OklahomaState... It marked the first time since 1999 that the Cowboys swept theWildcats... Senior 1B Tim Doty paced a dismal offense that managed just a.216 batting average with a .500 average (5-for-10), while junior OF BradAnzman led the squad in RBIs (three)... The Wildcats managed just twoextra-base hits and nine RBIs.
What a Game!
Kansas State made history in a number of ways in its 18th-inning 8-7loss to Troy State on March 2.
- The 18-inning affair lasted a school-record five hours and 22 minutes andfinished at 1:02 a.m., shattering the previous school-record of four hoursand 45 minutes set vs. Texas Tech on April 5, 2002.
- It broke the school record for the longest game by three innings,surpassing the 15-inning contest throw against Creighton at home on March23, 1986 and 15-inning affair at Texas Tech on April 5, 2002.
- There were nearly 532 pitches thrown in the game. Kansas State threw 288pitches, while Troy State tossed 244 on the evening. The Wildcats had two100-pitch performances (Jim Ripley and Brett Bagley). The Trojans used fivedifferent pitchers.
- K-State set four (4) team school-record for at-bats (67), putouts (51),total chances (71) and innings pitched (18).
- After Troy State tied it in the bottom of the eighth inning, the teamsmatched each other run-for-run, scoring one each in the 11th inning and twoeach in the 16th inning before the Trojans outscored the Wildcats, 2-1, inthe pivotal 18th inning.
Connors State North
In the Wildcats' 15-2 win over Creighton on Feb. 18, Kansas State hadfour players - 1B Zack Saunders, SS Marc Chabot, DH Ryan Baldwin and SP JimRipley - in its starting lineup from the same junior college, Connors StateCollege in Warner, Okla. Baldwin is in his second year in the program,while the other three are in their first year after helping the Shabs to a44-8 overall record and a No. 8 ranking in the final NJCAA poll in 2002Chabot, Ripley and Saunders were named first team All-Region II for theConnors, including Chabot being named the region's Defensive Player of theYear Chabot and Saunders combined for 81 runs scored on 86 hits with 78RBIs, while Ripley ranked third in the NJCAA with 94 strikeouts en route totallying a 9-2 mark in 12 appearances with two complete games.
Cape Crusaders
Two Wildcats - Pat Maloney and Ty Soto - played in the prestigiousall-wood bat Cape Cod League during the summer of 2002 Soto played for theleague champion Wareham (Mass.) Gatemen where he played alongside Baylor'sChris Durbin, Josh Ford, David Murphy and Trey Taylor and Texas' Tim MossSoto posted a .226 batting average for the Gateman in 34 games with eightruns scored on 24 hits and nine RBIs He was third on the team with 15walks Maloney played for the Brewster (Mass.) Whitecaps where he playedalongside San Diego State's Anthony Gwynn and Missouri's Justin James andJayce Tingler Maloney led the Whitecaps in RBIs (22), doubles (seven),triples (two) and home runs (three) with 15 runs scored on 31 hits.
Night baseball returns to Manhattan
For the first time in nearly five years, night baseball returns toTointon Family Stadium as the Wildcats host 11 evening contests, includingnon-conference contests with Arkansas, Wichita State, SE Missouri State andWashington and Big 12 tilts with Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahomaand Kansas The first night game was scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 againstWichita State at 6 p.m., but inclement weather delayed it until the Arkansason March 7 The Shockers were the Wildcats' last opponent to play under thelights at Tointon Stadium on May 6, 1998 Completed in early December, thelighting system boosts 152 fixtures mounted on eight poles Together, theyprovide 100 footcandles in the infield and 70 footcandles to the outfield,which meet Class I IEC standards for collegiate baseball venues and producenearly three times the amount of illumination as the former field lighting.
K-State-Texas game to be televised on FOX
The Kansas State-Texas baseball game in Austin, Texas on Saturday, April26, has been selected as one of five Big 12 Conference games to be televisedthis season by Fox Sports Net. The total schedule includes four regularseason contests and the championship game of the Phillips 66 Big 12Conference Tournament. Other games selected for telecast include Nebraskaat Oklahoma (March 29), Missouri at Baylor (April 19) and Texas A&M at Texas(May 17). K-State has not appeared on the network since a 7-3 win overMissouri on April 28, 2001.
Tough Schedule Awaits 'Cats in 2003
Eleven NCAA Tournament teams, including defending national championTexas and College World Series participant Nebraska, highlight the 2003Kansas State baseball schedule In addition to the Longhorns andCornhuskers, the 59-game schedule features battles with NCAA Tournament foesArkansas, Baylor, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Oklahoma, SEMissouri State, Washington and Wichita State In all, the schedule includes30 games against NCAA Regional teams, including 11 against Super Regionalteams, and 18 contests with teams ranked in the final Baseball America Top25 or the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 polls.
