KSU Hosts No. 21 Wichita St. Tuesday on Quarter Hot Dog Night
Mar 28, 2005 | Baseball
Kansas State (13-10, 1-5) vs. No. 21 Wichita State (22-6)
March 29, 2005 7 p.m.
Tointon Stadium Manhattan, Kan.
Short Hops
The Series
Overall Record: WSU leads 45-21
In Manhattan: WSU leads 15-14
In Wichita: WSU leads 28-7
Neutral: WSU leads 2-0
Hill vs. Wichita State: 0-2
Last Meeting: WSU won 3-1 (3/18/04)
Current Streak: WSU won 9
Head Coach Brad Hill
Alma Mater: Emporia State 85
Career Record: 457-131 (10-plus)
Record at K-State: 39-40 (2nd season)
Radio
SportsRadio 1350 KMAN (Manhattan)
Brian Smoller and Matt Walters
Internet
Live Stats: www.k-statesports.com
Audio: www.k-statesports.com
Webcast: www.k-statesports.com (Powercat Passport)
Noteworthy
Kansas State is currently leading the Big 12 in hitting at .334... Individually, Brandon Farr is fourth in the league in hitting at .406, Terry Blunt is eighth at .393, Jared Goedert is 17th at .365 and Steve Murphy is 20th at .358... Blunt had a Big 12-leading 15-game hitting streak snapped Sunday against Missouri... K-State has collected 10 or more hits in 14 games this season, including 11 or more in 12 of the team’s 13 wins... Junior Adam Cowart is 11th in the Big 12 in ERA at 1.99, while Mitch Walter is 22nd with a 3.44 mark... Cowart has walked just three batters in 45.1 innings... Cowart’s five wins are the third-most in the Big 12, while his 7.56 innings-per-game average is sixth in the league... In Big 12 play, Kansas State is fourth in the league in ERA with a 3.12 conference mark, while its opponent batting average of .242 during Big 12 games is currently the third lowest in the league... K-State is 8-3 this season when its starting pitcher goes six-plus innings and 12-1 when leading after seven innings... The Cats are 11-1 when leading after the fifth inning, 12-0 after the sixth, 11-1 after the seventh and 11-0 when leading after eight innings... Under Brad Hill, K-State is 35-1 when leading after seven innings... K-State has outscored its opponent 31-6 in the first inning, 32-5 in the fifth and 33-5 in the seventh this season and has only been outscored in two innings (third and ninth)... The Wildcats are 8-1 this season when scoring a run in the first inning and 9-3 when scoring first in a game... KSU is 6-0 when hitting two or more homers in a game and 8-0 when scoring 10 or more runs... The Wildcat bullpen is 1-2 with a 2.04 ERA in 66.1 innings while opponents are hitting just .237.
About the Opponent
Wichita State (22-6) heads into Tuesday’s game ranked 21st in the nation by Collegiate Baseball after sweeping a three-game series from Iowa. Four of the Shockers’ six losses have come against Top-30 teams. WSU heads into the game with a team ERA of 3.16 and the staff has struck out 242 batters in 248 innings so far in 2005. Offensively, the Shox are led by Nick McCoola’s .346 average as the team enters the game with a .294 batting average. Wichita State has stolen 54-70 bases in 28 games while sacrificing a total of 30 batters per the bunt or sacrifice fly.
Last Year Against the Shockers
Wichita State broke a 7-7 tie in the top of the 16th inning by scoring five runs as the ninth-ranked Shockers snapped Kansas State’s 11-game winning streak with a 12-7 win last year on 3/17 before a then-all-time record crowd of 3,053 at Tointon Stadium. The effectiveness of the bullpen kept Kansas State in the game as B.J. Kissel, Brett Bagley, Carlos Torres and Matt Petersen combined to shut out the Shockers for 10 of the middle innings in the 16-inning battle. The following night in Wichita, Wichita State pitchers Steve Uhlmansiek and Derek Roach combined for a two-hitter and a three-run sixth proved to be the difference in the game as the ninth-ranked Shockers rallied to defeat Kansas State, 3-1, at Eck Stadium. About 17 hours after the two teams encountered in a five-hour, 16-inning battle in Manhattan, the second game was one for the pitchers as the contest lasted just 1-hour and 59-minutes.
Just Keep It Close
K-State held Missouri in its home-opening Big 12 series to just a .185 batting average in three games. The Wildcats dropped three close games to the Tigers on the weekend but got superb efforts on the mound by both their starters and relievers. So far in Big 12 play, K-State is fourth in team ERA with a 3.12 mark, while Big 12 opponents are hitting just .242 against Wildcat pitchers, the third-lowest mark in the league.
Farr Better
Junior outfielder/designated hitter/catcher has been a welcomed addition to the Wildcat lineup in 2005. Through 23 games, Farr is hitting .406, which is fourth-best in the Big 12 Conference. The junior from Humble, Texas, and Blinn College leads the team in average and on-base percentage (.482) while is in the top-three on the team in hits (28), RBI (20) and stolen bases (7).
Just Throw Strikes
The Kansas State pitching staff in 2005 has walked just 62 batters in 197.0 innings, a 2.6 walks-per-nine-innings average. The staff has struck out 139 batters in 197.0 innings. Wildcat starters have walked 41 of the 62 batters, while starter Adam Cowart has walked just three batters in 45.1 innings.
Slamming the Door
Through 23 games in 2005, the K-State bullpen has compiled a 1-2 record with a 2.04 ERA in 66.1 innings of relief. The group has given up 21 runs, 15 earned, on 57 hits while walking 21 and striking out 45. Four relievers have ERA’s under 4.00, led by Bryan Peterson’s 0.00 mark, B.J. Kissel’s 2.53 and Daniel Edward’s 2.61. The bullpen has inherited 30 runners and only 12 have come around to score, while they have retired 25 of the 43 first-batters they have faced.
Break Out the Bats and the Brooms
Kansas State doubled its team offensive numbers after a three-game sweep of St. Francis as the Wildcats hit .478 on the weekend, led by Terry Blunt’s .692 effort (9-for-13). K-State raised its team batting average to .351 on the season, second-best in the Big 12, and doubled its total number of doubles (36), homers (10) and RBI’s (92) from the previous nine games. Ten Wildcats hit .300 or better on the weekend and K-State was also 11-of-12 in stolen bases on the weekend. In Sunday’s win, the Wildcats set a new single-game record with 11 doubles and tied the school record for runs (30) and hits (26) in a game.
Blunt Named Big 12 POW After St. Francis Series
Senior Terry Blunt led Kansas State in the St. Francis series and Creighton game by going 11-for-17 (.647) at the plate in four games. Blunt, K-State’s first player of the week honoree this season and third under head coach Brad Hill, went 5-for-5 with two doubles, four RBI and four runs scored in Friday's 17-1 win and had a stretch of seven straight at-bats with a hit. Blunt finished the week with five doubles, eight runs scored, six RBI, 16 total bases, a .941 slugging percentage, a .647 on-base percentage and was 4-of-4 in stolen bases. Blunt also collected eight putouts without recording an error. The senior led a Kansas State offense that scored a school-record 61 runs in a three-game sweep of St. Francis, which included a 30-4 win on Sunday.
Cowart in the Zone
Junior Adam Cowart has become the most consistent starting pitcher for K-State so far in 2005, opening up 5-1 with a 1.99 ERA in 45.1 innings while walking just three. Cowart did not walk a batter until the sixth inning of start No. 5. In his first start, Cowart 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 hits, 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. Cowart moved to 3-0 after throwing 5.0 innings in a 30-4 win over St. Francis and 4-0 after a win over Eastern Michigan. Then, Cowart threw eight shutout innings in his Big 12 debut at Oklahoma State to move to a perfect 5-0.
Putting It Blunt-ly
Senior outfielder Terry Blunt has started the season hot at the plate for Kansas State. Blunt, in 23 games, is hitting .393, second-best on the team and eighth in the Big 12, with 35 hits, six doubles, two triples, a homer, 10 walks and 11 stolen bases after being one of the top offensive threats in the Big 12 last season. Blunt was 9-for-13 in the St. Francis series and 11-for-17 during the week of March 1, thus earning Big 12 Player of the Week honors. Currently, Blunt is riding a career and team-best 13-game hitting streak.
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. Walter tossed a 7-inning complete game against St. Francis to move his record to 2-1 with a 1.88 ERA on the season.
Rollins the Workhorse
Senior Eric Rollins is currently second all-time at Kansas State in saves with 10, which includes two so far in 2005. 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 after throwing the final 3.0 shutout innings against UTA and his 10th career save in a 5-4 win over Eastern Michigan after pitching a scoreless ninth.
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. So far in 2005, the Wildcats have turned 28 double plays to their opponents eight.
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)
