K-State Concludes Road Swing With Trip to #20 Baylor
May 01, 2003 | Baseball
May 1, 2003
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Probable Starting Rotation:
Friday -
Kansas State: #13 Kevin Melcher (Sr., RHP, 0-5, 9.42 ERA)
Baylor: #12 Steven White (Sr., RHP, 5-3, 4.38 ERA)
Saturday -
Kansas State: #29 Jim Ripley (Jr., RHP, 3-5, 5.20 ERA)
Baylor: #28 Sean Walker (Sr., RHP, 6-4, 5.43 ERA)
Sunday -
Kansas State: TBA
Baylor: TBA
Series Information
Series History: Baylor leads the all-time series, 16-5, in this, the 22nd, 23rd and 24th meetings... The series dates back to 1966 in a 2-0 win by the Bears... BU is 10-1 against K-State at home... Baylor won 15 of the first 17 meetings between the two schools, however, K-State has won three of the last four.
Rankings: Baylor is ranked in all four major college baseball polls, including 20th in Baseball Weekly/ESPN, 23rd in Baseball America, 24th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and 28th in Collegiate Baseball... Kansas State is not ranked.
Coaches: K-State's Mike Clark is in 17th season with a record of 432-482 (.473)... He is 725-618 (.540) in his 24th season overall... Clark is 4-15 versus Baylor, including 1-10 on the road... Baylor's Steve Smith is in his ninth season with a record of 329-197-1 (.625)... Smith is 15-4 all-time vs. K-State, including 10-1 at home.
With a chance to still grab one of the eight coveted spots for the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City, Kansas State (12-30, 2-16 Big 12) returns to league action this weekend with a three-game series against Baylor (31-17, 11-10 Big 12) at the Baylor Ballpark in Waco, Texas... Just four games behind Texas Tech for the final spot, the Wildcats conclude the regular season by playing the sixth (Baylor), seventh (Kansas) and ninth place (Oklahoma) teams... Friday's opener is set for 7 p.m., while games on Saturday and Sunday are slated for 3 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively... All three games can be heard on the radio at 1350-AM KMAN with Matt Walters calling the action, while live stats can be obtained at www.kstatesports.com .
Baylor leads the all-time series with Kansas State, 16-5, in this, the 22nd, 23rd and 24th meetings between the two programs... The series dates back to 1966 in a 2-0 win by the Bears in Waco... K-State had just two wins in the first 17 meetings against Baylor before winning three of four in 2002, including a dramatic 6-2 decision at the Big 12 Tournament at the Ballpark in Arlington... However, the Wildcats are 1-10 all-time against the Bears on the road and haven't won a game in Waco since a 5-0 shutout on March 28, 1966.
The Baylor series concludes a brutal seven-game road stretch... The road swing began with the series at No. 9 Texas and continued in Wednesday's 12-3 loss to Wichita State... The Wildcats will play five of its last seven games at home beginning with WSU on May 6.
Quickly about Kansas State
Kansas State enters the three-game series with Baylor coming off a disappointing 12-3 loss to state rival Wichita State on Wednesday... The Wildcats, who used a season-high seven pitchers, were outhit 18-8 in their sixth straight loss to the Shockers... K-State, which dropped a school and Big 12 record 16 straight from March 21 to April 15, has now lost 24 of its last 27 games, including six consecutive contests.Kansas State has solid offensive team with a collective .286 batting average, while averaging 6.0 runs per game on 10.3 hits per game... The .286 average is ninth in Big 12, while the hits and runs per game average rank sixth and seventh, respectively... The Wildcats rank third in the league with a 1.88 doubles per game ratio... However, K-State are still trying to deal with the loss of two of its stronger bats with the season-ending injuries to RF Gabe Luttrell and 3B Ty Soto... The two represented nearly 20 percent of the team's run, hit and RBIs totals in 2003.Without the duo, the offense is led by the senior trio of 1B Tim Doty, LF Pat Maloney and C Ryan Baldwin, who represent nearly 40 percent of the team's run and hit total... Doty paces the team in average (.350), hits (55), runs scored (41), home runs (8), total bases (89), slugging percentage (.567) and is second in RBIs (35)... Baldwin leads in RBIs (45), doubles (14) and multiple-RBI games (14) and is tied with Doty for the hits lead (55) and Maloney for the most multiple-hit games (16)... Maloney paces in walks (23) and is second in runs scored (31), hits (51) and doubles (12).The injury-plagued pitching staff enters the weekend with a league-worst 7.39 ERA after 42 games... The staff is allowing nearly nine runs per game on 12.0 hits, including 9.4 runs and 12.3 hits per game in Big 12 play... Eight players - Brett Bagley, Jared Bunn, Sean Clancy, Andrew Ehling, Kevin Melcher, Jim Ripley, Eric Rollins and Allan Woodward - have tallied at least 27 innings pitched this season... The ace of the staff, Ripley leads the staff across the board with team-highs in starts (10), innings pitched (53.2), ERA (5.20) and strikeouts (48)... Primarily a reliever, Bagley is second in innings (44.2) and strikeouts (34)... Rollins has been an excellent closer when needed, leading the staff in appearances (19), wins (3) and saves (4).
Soto, Luttrell End Season With Injuries
Junior 3B Ty Soto and senior RF Gabe Luttrell are expected to be out for the reminder of the season after sustaining wrist injuries... Soto fractured his left wrist while trying to score in a 6-4 loss to Texas A&M on April 11, while Luttrell strained ligaments in his right wrist while diving for a ball in practice on April 17... Both have already had successful surgery to repair the damage.A 2002 first team All-Big 12 and All-Big 12 Tournament selection, Soto was one of the Wildcats' most consistent offensive weapons this season... He led the team in multiple-hit games (16), walks (23) and on-base percentage (.471), while he ranked second in batting average (.360), hits (45), home runs (six) and slugging percentage (.568)... Soto had started 75 consecutive games at either second, third or designated hitter for the Wildcats since March 15, 2002. In his two plus years, he has a career .343 average in 132 games played and 124 starts with 87 runs and 161 hits.Luttrell saw action in 31 games, including 28 starts before the injury... He is still first on the team in stolen bases and third in runs scored (31).
The Book on Baylor
A consensus Top 25 team, Baylor enters the three-game series with a 31-17 overall record and 11-10 mark in Big 12 Conference play... The Bears are currently in sixth place in the league standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season... BU is just a game and half behind both fourth-place Missouri (12-8) and fifth-place Oklahoma State (10-8)... The Bears are coming off a 5-4 win over Houston in 10 innings on Wednesday, in which, sophomore C Josh Ford had a walk-off home run ... Baylor is 16-9 at home this season, including 6-6 in Big 12 play... The Bears started league play with back-to-back series wins over Texas Tech and Oklahoma before losing consecutive series to Texas A&M and Texas... BU has won two of its last three Big 12 series on the road over Oklahoma State and Kansas in between a home conference series loss to Missouri.The leading offensive team in the Big 12, Baylor boasts a .327 batting average in 48 games with 393 runs (8.2 per game) scored on 590 hits (12.3 per game), including 199 extra-base hits... The Bears pace the league in runs, hits, doubles, home runs (56) and RBIs (365)... Five players have at least 40 RBIs on the season... Six regular starters are hitting over .300, led by current league batting leader RF David Murphy, who boasts a .424 average with a team-leading 92 hits... CF Chris Durbin leads the team in home runs (15) and runs scored (70), while is second in doubles (18) and third in hits (71).The pitching staff lists a 4.77 ERA in 431.2 innings pitched with 379 strikeouts and 199 walks... Friday night's starter Steven White paces the team across the board in pitching, leading in innings pitched (84.1), games started (13) and strikeouts (92)... Saturday starter Sean Walker is second in innings pitched (61.1), but is one of three pitchers with a team-leading six wins.Baylor is coached by ninth-year head coach Steve Smith, who has guided the Bears to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
2002 Review: K-State Wins 3 of 4 Meetings
After losing 11 straight to Baylor in the series, Kansas State came back to take three of four meetings in 2002, including an exciting 6-2 decision in the Big 12 Tournament at the Ballpark in Arlington... K-State took two of three in Manhattan on April 26-28 against BU... The Wildcats hit .310 with 37 runs scored on 44 hits compared to the Bears' .336 average with 26 runs scored on 50 hits... Junior 3B Ty Soto paced the K-State attack with a .733 average with six runs scored and five RBIs, while senior 1B Tim Doty hit .400 with a team-best seven RBIs and six runs scored... Senior SS Brett Williams and senior LF Pat Maloney posted .333 and .312 averages, respectively, while senior C Ryan Baldwin had six RBIs to go with a .294 average.
K-State-Baylor Connections
Kansas State has just two players on its roster from the state of Texas in reserve CF Brian Patty (Burkburnett) and LHP Jared Bunn (Austin)... The Wildcats have two other players with connections to the Lone Star State, as RHP Kevin Melcher spent his freshman year at TCU and RHP Ryan Ashley went to Texarkana Junior College in Texarkana, Texas... Ashley and Baylor C/OF Clay Coates both attended Texarkana... 3B Ty Soto played with Baylor's Chris Durbin, Josh Ford, David Murphy and Trey Taylor for Cape Cod League champion Wareham last summer.
Not Your Everyday Lineup
When you are suffering through a difficult season, you will try anything to change the momentum... Kansas State has only used the same lineup only five times in 2003 with a different lineup in 37 of the team's 42 games... The same lineup was used in games two and three, games 12 and 14, games 24 and 25, games 35 and 38 and games 40 and 41... The Wildcats used the same lineup in back-to-back games against Texas for the first time since the Missouri series on March 28-30... The team has used four different leadoff hitters (Brad Anzman, Terry Blunt, Marc Chabot and Gabe Luttrell)... The seven and eight spots has seen the most change with eight different players occupying at least one start, while the six hole has seen seven players... The most consistent spots are three-hole and clean-up spot where senior OF Pat Maloney has hit third in 34 games and senior 1B Tim Doty has 40 starts at cleanup...Senior SS Brett Williams has seen the most change with starts at six different positions in the lineup... He has hit second (3), fifth (3), sixth (4), seventh (15), eighth (6) and ninth (5)... Terry Blunt has started at five spots - leadoff (7), second (12), sixth (1), seventh (3) and ninth (7).
Saunders Excelling In Place of Soto
Kansas State lost one of its most valuable weapons when junior 3B Ty Soto went down with a season-ending injury on April 11... However, junior 3B Zack Saunders has proven to be a capable replacement... Since taking over for Soto on April 15, Saunders leads the team in average (.364), hits (12), doubles (2), home runs (3) and RBIs (8)... For his efforts, Saunders was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week on April 22 after hitting .467 in three starts with team-highs in runs (4), hits (7), home runs (3) and RBIs (8)... He provided the heroics in the 10-8 win over Texas Tech on April 18, as he blasted the second of his two home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to snap the Wildcats' 16-game losing skid.
Ripley Starting To Heat Up
On a pitching staff plagued with injuries, junior RHP Jim Ripley has become one of its bright spots in 2003... He currently leads the staff in games started (10), innings pitched (53.2) and strikeouts (48)... He has at least four strikeouts in nine of his 10 starts, including a career-high nine strikeouts at Texas on April 26... Ripley has been quite impressive in last two outings, as he has allowed just two earned runs (four total) on nine hits, including eight singles, with 16 strikeouts and three walks in 15 innings pitched... He allowed one run on three hits in seven innings against Texas Tech on April 19 with seven strikeouts and three walks in helping the Wildcats clinch the season series for the second straight year... Despite the loss, he is coming of his finest outing of the season against ninth-ranked Texas where he allowed just one earned run on six hits (all singles) in a complete game effort with a career-high nine strikeouts.
Scoring with Two Outs
Despite being down two outs in an inning, Kansas State has shown an impressive streak of scoring runs this year... Of the 252 runs scored, 111 or 44.0 percent of them, have been scored with two outs in an inning... In 34 of the 42 games this season, the team has scored at least one run in each game with two outs... During the team's Spring Break trip, the Wildcats scored 38 of their 65 runs (58.5 percent) with two outs in an inning, including a season-best 14 in the 21-2 romp over Rider... The team also scored 10 of its 17 runs against nationally-ranked Florida International with two outs... This is particularly telling in the last seven wins for Kansas State, where nearly 58 percent of the Wildcats' runs (45 of 77) have come with two outs... This trend is nothing new for the Wildcats in the last two years... Of the 416 runs scored in 2002, 156 (37.5 percent) were scored with two outs in an inning... In the Big 12 Tournament, 14 of the 24 runs were scored down two outs.
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 Wildcats have already totaled 79 two-baggers in 42 games... The team's 1.88 doubles per game average ranks third in the Big 12... The Wildcats have 14 players with at least one double this season, including eight with four or more.Senior C Ryan Baldwin ranks fifth in the Big 12 in doubles per game with a .36 average with a team-leading 14 on the season... He is just three doubles away from jumping into the school's top-10, while he is just nine away from tying the school-record of 23 set by Scott Poepard set in 1997.... Senior OF Pat Maloney, who has 11 doubles in the last 30 games, ranks second on the team with 12, while senior 1B Tim Doty extended his total to eight with one against SE Missouri State... Senior SS Brett Williams also has eight, while junior 3B Zack Saunders adds six.
58 and Done
After a 0-for-4 performance on April 4 against nationally-ranked Oklahoma State, senior OF Pat Maloney saw his amazing streak of reaching base end at 58 games... Ironically, it marked the first time since the Cowboys did it on March 23, 2002 that Maloney was held off the base paths... However, Maloney responded by reaching base in the last two games of the series... Maloney had 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 runs scored, 46 RBIs, 40 walks, 17 doubles, two triples and eight home runs... In fact, he reached base via a hit in 50 of the 58 contests... In all, he has reached base in 88 of the Wildcats' last 96 games, including 69 of the last 74 games... Even more impressive than the 58-game streak is the fact that Maloney has recorded a hit in nearly 80 percent of the games he has played at K-State with at least one in 150 of the 189 games he has played since debuting in 2000... So far in 2003, he has a hit in 32 of the 41 games he's played in.
Maloney Sees Consecutive Start Streak End
With his consecutive games reaching base streak now history, senior OF Pat Maloney has now seen two significant milestones end in 2003... He saw his first streak end on March 16 against St. Peter's in the Papa John's Challenge in Homestead, Fla ... For the first time since his redshirt freshman season in 2000, Maloney failed to start a game in either the outfield or at designated hitter against the Peacocks, snapping his streak of 153 consecutive starts... The non-start was just to give Maloney a rest according to head coach Mike Clark... Ironically enough, the streak started at the Homestead Challenge in Homestead, Fla., against Ohio State on March 24, 2000... Maloney's 182 career starts place him sixth on the K-State all-time chart, while his 189 games played ranks sixth on the career list.
Maloney Quickly Moving Up the Career Charts
Senior OF Pat Maloney ranks among the Kansas State career Top 10 in an amazing 15 offensive categories, while he has a chance to join two other lists as the season progresses.The chart below lists how the fifth-year senior ranks among each of these career records going into the week... He needs two triples and one sacrifice hit to move into those career Top 10s... Already in the career Top 5 in five categories (runs, hits, singles, home runs and total bases) and 10 games to play, he could finish in the top-5 in starts, games and walks.
Everybody's All-American
Senior 1B Tim Doty has come along way since entering Kansas State in the fall of 1998... The fifth-year senior is not only having one of his finest seasons on the field, but he is also continuing to excel off the field... The Oklahoma City, Okla., native, is looking to become the Wildcats' first three-time Academic All-District VII first team selection after earning the award in 2000 and 2002... An accounting/pre-law major with a 3.53 cumulative GPA, Doty has a chance to become K-State's second first team Academic All-American and the first since Jeff Ryan earned it in 1991.The only player to start in all 42 games, Doty currently leads the six offensive catgories, including batting average (.350), runs scored (41), hits (55), home runs (8) and slugging percentage (.567).... He is also second in RBIs (35), walks (19) and on-base percentage (.444)... His current .350 average is 20 points higher than his junior mark of .330, while his eight home runs in 2003 match his career total of the last three years... Nearly 40 percent of his hit, doubles, run and RBI totals have come in 2003... He has at least one hit in 34 of the 42 games and has gone back-to-back games without a hit just once.
Rollins Excelling As Wildcat Closer
Sophomore RHP Eric Rollins has had a hand in half of Kansas State's 12 wins in 2003, as the Wildcats' new closer has been responsible for three wins and four saves this season... He recorded a win and a save in the team's first Big 12 series against Texas Tech, as he allowed just one run on four hits in four innings with two strikeouts.The native of Ada, Okla., paces the team in appearances (19), wins (3) and saves (4)... He has 27 strikeouts to just eight walks on the season... Before allowing five earned runs on five hits without recording an out against Wichita State on Wednesday, he had been impressive in his last 10 relief outings for the Wildcats, where he has allowed just two runs in 15-2/3 innings of relief... In that span, he allowed just 14 hits with 14 strikeouts and two walks... Before allowing a run to Tech on April 18, Rollins had not allowed a run in seven straight relief appearances.
Williams Finding Groove at Shortstop
After starting the first 16 games at second base, senior Brett Williams has made a nice adjustment in returning to his 'natural' position of shortstop the last 19 games... Judged the Best Defensive First Baseman in the Big 12 by Baseball America after making 40 starts at first in 2002, Williams has made eight errors in 95 total chances since moving to shortstop... He has also hit better, compiling a .296 batting average with nine RBIs and seven runs scored... He posted a .244 average in the team's first 23 games (with 20 starts at second) with 12 RBIs and 13 runs scored... He has at least one hit in 17 of the last 22 games, including a nine-game hitting streak.
What a Game!
Kansas State made history in a number of ways in its 18th-inning 8-7 loss to Troy State on March 2.
- The 18-inning affair lasted a school-record five hours and 22 minutes and finished at 1:02 a.m., shattering the previous school-record of four hours and 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 March 23, 1986 and 15-inning affair at Texas Tech on April 5, 2002.
- There were nearly 532 pitches thrown in the game. Kansas State threw 288 pitches, while Troy State tossed 244 on the evening. The Wildcats had two 100-pitch performances (Jim Ripley and Brett Bagley). The Trojans used five different 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 teams matched each other run-for-run, scoring one each in the 11th inning and two each in the 16th inning before the Trojans outscored the Wildcats, 2-1, in the pivotal 18th inning.
Connors State North
In the Wildcats' 15-2 win over Creighton on Feb. 18, Kansas State had four players - 1B Zack Saunders, SS Marc Chabot, DH Ryan Baldwin and SP Jim Ripley - in its starting lineup from the same junior college, Connors State College 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 a 44-8 overall record and a No. 8 ranking in the final NJCAA poll in 2002... Chabot, Ripley and Saunders were named first team All-Region II for the Connors, including Chabot being named the region's Defensive Player of the Year... Chabot and Saunders combined for 81 runs scored on 86 hits with 78 RBIs, while Ripley ranked third in the NJCAA with 94 strikeouts en route to tallying a 9-2 mark in 12 appearances with two complete games.
Cape Crusaders
Two Wildcats - Pat Maloney and Ty Soto - played in the prestigious all-wood bat Cape Cod League during the summer of 2002... Soto played for the league champion Wareham (Mass.) Gatemen where he played alongside Baylor's Chris Durbin, Josh Ford, David Murphy and Trey Taylor and Texas' Tim Moss... Soto posted a .226 batting average for the Gateman in 34 games with eight runs scored on 24 hits and nine RBIs... He was third on the team with 15 walks... Maloney played for the Brewster (Mass.) Whitecaps where he played alongside San Diego State's Anthony Gwynn and Missouri's Justin James and Jayce 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 to Tointon Family Stadium as the Wildcats host 11 evening contests, including non-conference contests with Arkansas, Wichita State, SE Missouri State and Washington and Big 12 tilts with Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Kansas... The first night game was scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 against Wichita State at 6 p.m., but inclement weather delayed it until the Arkansas on March 7 ... The Shockers were the Wildcats' last opponent to play under the lights at Tointon Stadium on May 6, 1998... Completed in early December, the lighting system boosts 152 fixtures mounted on eight poles... Together, they provide 100 footcandles in the infield and 70 footcandles to the outfield, which meet Class I IEC standards for collegiate baseball venues and produce nearly 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, April 26, has been selected as one of five Big 12 Conference games to be televised this season by Fox Sports Net. The total schedule includes four regular season contests and the championship game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Tournament. Other games selected for telecast include Nebraska at 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 over Missouri on April 28, 2001.
Tough Schedule Awaits 'Cats in 2003
Eleven NCAA Tournament teams, including defending national champion Texas and College World Series participant Nebraska, highlight the 2003 Kansas State baseball schedule... In addition to the Longhorns and Cornhuskers, the 59-game schedule features battles with NCAA Tournament foes Arkansas, Baylor, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Oklahoma, SE Missouri State, Washington and Wichita State... In all, the schedule includes 30 games against NCAA Regional teams, including 11 against Super Regional teams, and 18 contests with teams ranked in the final Baseball America Top 25 or the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 polls.
