Baseball Hosts Creighton Tuesday in 2005 Home Opener
Feb 28, 2005 | Baseball
Kansas State (4-4) vs. Creighton (6-2)
March 1, 2005 3 p.m.
Tointon Stadium Manhattan, Kan.
Short Hops
RADIO: Tuesday’s game will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1350 KMAN in Manhattan and online at k-statesports.com and 1350kman.com with Brian Smoller calling the action.
INTERNET: Live stats of Tuesday’s game will be available at k-statesports.com.
SERIES: K-State is 43-31-1 against Creighton, including a 33-14-1 record in Manhattan. Last season, the two teams split the two games, with K-State taking a 7-0 win in Manhattan and CU winning 4-1 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
RANKINGS: Neither team is ranked in any of the major college baseball polls.
COACHES: K-State’s Brad Hill is 30-34 in his second season in Manhattan after compiling a 26-30 record last season. In 10 years, Hill has a career head coaching record of 448-125, which includes nine seasons at Central Missouri State and one-plus at K-State.
Noteworthy
Kansas State is fifth in the Big 12 in hitting at .317... Jared Goedert is third in the league in hitting at .500, while Terry Blunt is 20th at .375 and Barret Rice is 23rd at .360... Rice currently is riding a team-best five-game hitting streak... Junior Adam Cowart is tied for the Big 12 lead in ERA with a 0.00 mark... The K-State bullpen has a 0.89 ERA in 20.1 innings this season while giving up just two earned runs... K-State has collected 11 or more hits in six of its last seven games... Senior Eric Rollins’ first seven outs against Northwestern on 2/10 were all recorded by strikeouts... Senior Mitch Walter made his first mound appearance in two seasons against Northwestern and threw 5.0 shutout innings with five strikeouts... K-State has outscored its opponent 9-1 in the first inning and 13-2 in the fifth this season.
About the Opponent
Creighton heads into the game on a five-game winning streak and a 6-2 overall record. The Bluejays are hitting .316 as a team, have hit 13 homers and have stolen 11 bags through eight games. Eight players are hitting .300 or better, led by Tony Roth’s .457 average, and seven different players have hit homers. On the mound, six different pitchers have picked up wins and the team currently has a 5.53 ERA with 51 strikeouts and 32 walks in 70.0 innings.
Bullpen Strong Early On
Through eight games in 2005, the K-State bullpen has compiled an 0-1 record with a 0.89 ERA in 20.1 innings of relief. The group has given up four runs, two earned, on 16 hits while walking six and striking out 16. Five relievers have ERA’s of 0.00, while Daniel Edwards has a 1.93 ERA and Eric Rollins a 6.43. The bullpen has inherited seven runners and only two have come around to score, while they have retired eight of the 12 first-batters they have faced. The starters have combined for a 4-3 record with a 4.44 ERA in 46.2 innings.
Cowart Delivers in First Two Starts
Junior Adam Cowart, in his first start, was brilliant through 8.0 innings in a win over Northwestern, giving up just one unearned run in the first inning while striking out four and walking none. The junior scattered eight eights, seven singles and a double, on the afternoon and shut out the Wildcats over the final 7.0 innings of his outing. Cowart threw just 83 pitches in eight innings and recorded 11 ground ball outs. He followed that up with another stellar outing against Northern Iowa. Cowart was brilliant and struck out 10 Panther hitters while not walking a batter in eight innings. The Pearland, Texas, native retired the final 12 batters he faced and scattered six hits, all singles. Cowart threw 100 pitches on the night, 77 of which were strikes, and only fell behind in the count to two of the 28 batters he faced. In 16.0 innings this season, Cowart has yet to give up a run or a walk, has struck out 14 batters and has given up just one extra base hit.
Putting It Blunt-ly
Senior outfielder Terry Blunt has started the season hot at the plate for Kansas State. Blunt, in eight games, is hitting .375, second-best on the team, with 12 hits, five walks and four stolen bases after being one of the top offensive threats in the Big 12 last season.
Goedert’s Got It Going
Sophomore transfer Jared Goedert has started all eight games thus far at first base and is hitting .500, third-best in the Big 12 Conference, with 13 hits, a .615 slugging percentage, a .563 on-base percentage, six RBI’s and four walks. Goedert has also yet to make an error defensively and has 72 putouts and three assists.
Captains Selected for 2005 Season
The 2005 team captains were selected before the start of the season as senior Josh Dent and junior Steve Murphy will lead the team in 05. Murphy was an All-Big 12 selection as an outfielder a year ago, while Dent was the mainstay in centerfield in 2004. Both enter their second year at Kansas State.
Comeback Kid
Mitch Walter, a 2002 All-Big 12 pitcher, returns for his senior season in 2005 after missing two seasons with arm surgeries. Walter, a lefty from Trinidad, Calif., was 4-4 with a 4.15 ERA and six saves during the 2002 season. He struck out 35 in 43.1 innings while opponents hit .263 against him. Walter made his first appearance in 2005 in the opener against Northwestern. The lefty threw 5.0 shutout innings while striking out five batters. Then, Walter shut down Texas-Arlington through 6.0 innings to earn his first win of the season and then gave up just four hits in a 2-0 loss at Northwestern State. Unfortunately for Walter, two of the four hits were solo homers in the 2-0 loss.
Rollins the Workhorse
Senior Eric Rollins is currently third all-time at Kansas State in saves with eight and could see time in 2005 as both a starter and a reliever. Last season, Rollins was 1-2 with a 4.31 ERA in 39.2 innings. Rollie appeared in 15 games and started one, a win over Morehead State in which he gave up just one hit in six innings. Rollins struck out seven batters in 3.0 innings in his opening-day start against Northwestern. Rollins then earned his ninth career save, the third-most in school history, after throwing the final 3.0 shutout innings against UTA.
Wildcats Get Dose of MLB Spring Training
Kansas State opened the 2005 season against Northwestern at Papago Park, the home of spring training workouts for the Oakland A’s. After rained washed out the next two games, the Wildcats were able to drive 45 miles north to Surprise, Ariz., to play Portland at Nolan Ryan Field, which is one of the practice fields for the Texas Rangers during spring training. The facility boasted 12 practice fields and Surprise Stadium for both the Rangers and Kansas City Royals during spring training.
Murphy Garners Preseason Honors
Junior outfielder Steve Murphy, a .338 hitter and All-Big 12 selection in 2004, was honored this preseason by the Dallas Morning News and InsideBig12Baseball.com by being named to each of their 2005 Preseason All-Big 12 teams. Murphy was the only Wildcat to be named preseason all-conference after he led the Wildcats in average, slugging percentage and RBI’s last season.
Outfield Trio Remains InTact
With 25 newcomers on the 2005 K-State squad, most of the positions on the field will be occupied by first-year players in Brad Hill’s program. All but the outfield spots,that is. The Wildcats return all three outfielders from a year ago in Terry Blunt in left, Josh Dent in center and Steve Murphy in right. Blunt and Murphy were All-Big 12 performers a year ago, while Dent started all 56 games in center last season and was named, along with Murphy, as a team captain in 2005. Murphy hit a team-best .338 last season with three homers, 14 doubles and 40 RBI to go along with five outfield assists. Blunt was right behind Murphy with a .305 average, four homers and 26 RBI. Blunt was the Wildcats’ top running threat with 15 stolen bases and also threw out eight runners from his left field position. Dent hit .270 with four homers and 34 RBI last season.
Strong Up the Middle
After setting a new K-State record with a .963 fielding percentage in 2004, K-State will look to be even better defensively in 2005 with the addition of transfer shortstop Eric Eymann and senior second baseman Marc Chabot returning after taking a medical redshirt in 2004 and the emergence of junior Eric Durante. Eymann was a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American and All-Big 10 performer at Illinois in 2003 before returning closer to his native hometown of Omaha, Neb. Chabot and Durante at second and Eymann at short should give the Wildcats their strongest double-play combination in years.
Central Missouri “West”
With the new staff coming to Manhattan last June to take over the baseball program, Kansas State can also take on the name of “Central Missouri West” as head coach Brad Hill brought with him Tom Myers, who served as his hitting coach in 2003, Sean McCann, who was an assistant from 1995-97, Scott Thomason, who was an assistant in 2003 as well. Hill also named former Mule All-American pitcher Josh Reynolds his volunteer assistant coach in 2004 after a stint in the professional ranks as a pitcher. Hill and company also brought players from Central Missouri as pitcher B.J. Kissel and outfielder Steve Murphy transferred to Kansas State in 2004. Also, Wildcat basketball coach Jim Wooldridge served as the Mules head basketball coach from 1985-1990.
Wildcats Face Tough Slate in 2005
Kansas State’s 2005 schedule includes 23 games against teams that advanced to 2004 NCAA Regional play. The Wildcats open the 2005 campaign February 10 in Phoenix, Ariz., against Portland, Northern Iowa, Northwestern and Washington State. The Wildcats, after opening with four games in Arizona, then head to Arlington, Texas, on February 18-20 where they will face Arkansas State, Texas-Arlington and Northwestern in a weekend tournament. K-State wraps up preseason tournament action on February 25-27, when it travels to Natchitoches, La., to face Arkansas-Little Rock, Northern Iowa and host Northwestern State. Then, K-State hosts nine straight non-conference games at Tointon Family Stadium with Creighton, St. Francis, Eastern Michigan and North Dakota State all making trips to Manhattan. The Big 12 schedule begins March 18-20 when the Wildcats travel to Stillwater, Okla., for a three-game series with the Cowboys. Missouri then heads to Manhattan the following weekend for a Big 12 series, before Wichita State comes to Tointon Stadium for a March 29 mid-week tilt. The Cats return the trip to Wichita on April 19 to face the Shockers. Other Big 12 home series include Texas Tech (April 15-17), Texas A&M (April 22-24) and Oklahoma (May 6-8), while road series will take place at Texas (April 1-3), Baylor (April 8-10) and Nebraska to wrap up the regular season (May 20-22). K-State and Kansas will play a split series from April 29-May 1, with the first game taking place in Manhattan and the final two in Lawrence.
Wildcats Ink 10 Prep Stars During Fall Signing Period
Head coach Brad Hill announced in November the signing of 10 prep student-athletes to letters of intent to play for the Cats in 2006. Among the 10 signees are Kansas products Justin Murray from Manhattan High School and Jordan Cruz from Hutchinson High School. Joining Murray and Cruz are Trevor Hurley (RHP, Tomball, Texas/Tomball HS), Robbie Knight (OF, Bennington, Neb./Millard North HS), Tyler Link (IF, Houston, Texas/Langham Creek HS), Corey Morehouse (RHP, Houston, Texas/Langham Creek HS), Anthony Morris (RHP, Humble, Texas/Humble HS), Rob Vaughn (C, Humble, Texas/Humble HS), Todd Vogel (RHP, Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny HS) and Byron Wiley (OF, Tomball, Texas/Tomball HS). Recently, three of K-State’s signees, Hurley, Wiley and Vaughn, were named to the 2005 Preseason All-Greater Houston Baseball Team.
Kansas State Baseball Signees
Name Po. Ht. Wt. Hometown (Last School)
Jordan Cruz OF 6-1 200 Hutchinson, Kan. (Hutchinson HS)
Trevor Hurley RHP 6-3 200 Tomball, Texas (Tomball HS)
Robbie Knight OF 5-10 160 Bennington, Neb. (Millard North HS)
Tyler Link IF 5-9 160 Houston, Texas (Langham Creek HS)
Corey Morehouse RHP 6-0 175 Houston, Texas (Langham Creek HS)
Anthony Morris RHP 6-2 170 Humble, Texas (Humble HS)
Justin Murray RHP 6-3 190 Manhattan, Kan. (Manhattan HS)
Rob Vaughn C 5-10 165 Humble, Texas (Humble HS)
Todd Vogel RHP 6-4 185 Ankeny, Iowa (Ankeny HS)
Byron Wiley OF 6-2 215 Tomball, Texas (Tomball HS)
