Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, February 16
Myrtle Beach, S.C.
3 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
South Alabama
K-State Opens 2018 Season at Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach
Feb 15, 2018 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State baseball embarks on its 2018 season at the 19th Annual Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach held in Myrtle Beach and Conway, South Carolina, where it will meet South Alabama, Indiana, host Coastal Carolina and Virginia Tech.
GAME #1
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. #20 SOUTH ALABAMA (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Friday, February 16, 2018 // 3 p.m. CT // TicketReturn.com Field (6,599) // Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Projected Starters: RHP Kasey Ford (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Andy Arguelles (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz (play-by-play) / Christopher Brown (analyst)
Listen Online (free): K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats: K-StateSports.com
GAME #2
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. #17 INDIANA (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Friday, Saturday 17, 2018 // 11 a.m. CT // TicketReturn.com Field (6,599) // Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Projected Starters: RHP Gabe Littlejim (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Pauly Milto (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Listen Online (free): K-StateSports.com/watch // John Kurtz (play-by-play) / Christopher Brown (analyst)
Live Stats: K-StateSports.com
GAME #3
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) at COASTAL CAROLINA (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Saturday, February 18, 2018 // 1:30 p.m. CT // Spring Brooks Stadium (5,400) // Conway, S.C.
Projected Starters: RHP Justin Heskett (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Anthony Veneziano (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz (play-by-play) / Christopher Brown (analyst)
Listen Online (free): K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats: K-StateSports.com
GAME #4
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. VIRGINIA TECH (0-0, 0-0 ACC)
Monday, February 18, 2018 // 11 a.m. CT // TicketReturn.com Field (6,599) // Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Projected Starters: RHP Quinton Potter (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBD (--)
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz (play-by-play) / Christopher Brown (analyst)
Listen Online (free): K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats: K-StateSports.com
A LOOK AT K-STATE
Kansas State embarks on its 2018 season at the 19th Annual Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach in Myrtle Beach and Conway, South Carolina ... K-State will have four games in four days, beginning Friday, against South Alabama, Coastal Carolina, Indiana and Virginia Tech ... Three of the four games will be held at TicketReturn.com Field, home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Chicago Cubs Class-A affiliate), while Sunday's game will be at CCU's home field, Spring Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina ... The four-game weekend kicks off an eight-game, 10-day roadtrip to begin the season ... South Alabama and Indiana each reached an NCAA Regional in 2017 and begin the season ranked in at least one top-25 poll ... The Cats will send sophomore Kasey Ford to the mound on Opening Day ... After moving to the starting rotation on April 18, the 6-foot-6 righty went 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA and a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ration ... Saturday, K-State will send junior-college transfer Gabe Littlejim to the hill for his Wildcat debut ... the 6-3 righty is the older brother of fellow K-State pitcher sophomore Caleb Littlejim ... Justin Heskett, a senior right-hander who primarily started on Fridays last season, will get the nod on Sunday at Coastal Carolina in Conway ... Heskett tied for the team lead with five quality starts last season, his first for K-State ... Freshman Quinton Potter, a righty from Moorpark, California, will start the series finale on Monday against Virginia Tech.
2017 RECAP
K-State finished the 2017 season with a 29-26 overall record and 8-16 mark in Big 12 play ... K-State finished in ninth in the league standings, snapping a two-year streak of qualifying for the Big 12 Championship ... The Wildcats ended the season with a doubleheader sweep of Baylor in Waco on the final day of the regular season to claim the series with the Bears ... K-State had its best start to a season since 2011, winning 11 of the season's first 13 games, but lost its first six games of the Big 12 schedule as part of a 1-10 stretch ... The Wildcats had a trio of breakout freshmen in 2017 - Will Brennan, Cameron Thompson and Kasey Ford - as Brennan and Thompson were each selected as freshman all-Americans and Ford became the program's first freshman to earn Big 12 Pitcher of the Week.
2018 OUTLOOK
The Cats said farewell to nine seniors from the 2017 team, and 14 total letterwinners from a year ago, including Jake Scudder, who led the team each of the past two seasons in homers and RBI ... K-State welcomes in 14 newcomers to the 2018 Wildcats (11 freshmen. 3 transfers), to pair with key returners Will Brennan, Cameron Thompson, Kasey Ford and others ... K-State graduated its entire starting infield while catcher Josh Rolette was selected in last season's MLB Draft ... Four position players - Brennan, Thompson, Kyle Barfield and Hanz Harker - are the only players set to return that started at least 20 games last year ... The Cats will lean heavily on their group of newcomers, including junior-transfer Drew Mount who is expected to earn the starting center field job, moving Thompson to his natural position of shortstop ... K-State was selected to finish ninth in the Big 12's preseason coaches' poll.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
K-State opens its 2018 season with back-to-back matchups against ranked opponents in South Alabama and Indiana, ranked as high as No. 20 and No. 17, respectively, in preseason polls ... It marks the first time under head coach Brad Hill that the Wildcats will face a top-25 team on Opening Day and the first time since Hill's first season (2004) in which K-State will meet a ranked opponent in the season's first weekend ... USA and IU both earned a spot in an NCAA Regional in 2017, as the Jaguars finished second in the Sun Belt and the Hoosiers finished sixth in the Big Ten ... USA retains eight positional starters ... Coastal Carolina, the 2016 national champion, won the Sun Belt regular season total in 2017 with a 37-19-1 (22-7-1 Sun Belt) record ... Virginia Tech (23-32, 9-21) finished seventh in the Coastal Division of the ACC and are coached by former K-State associate head coach John Szefc (2011-12), who enters his first season in Blacksburg.
MAKING HISTORY
K-State head coach Brad Hill became the program's all-time winningest coach as he collected career win No. 436 last season on Saturday, April 22 vs. West Virginia (8-4) ... Hill surpassed longtime K-State head coach Mike Clark's program record of 435 wins ... Clark was the program's longest tenured head coach from 1987-2003 (17 seasons) ... Hill completed his 14th season at the helm of the Wildcats and owns a career record of 445-360-3.
CARDIAC CATS
K-State was 15-9 in games decided by two runs or fewer, including going 11-6 in one-run games ... In 2016, the Wildcats were 3-10 in one-run games ... K-State won three games in 2017 when trailing after eight innings and posted two walk-off victories ... At Tointon Family Stadium last season, K-State was 15-0 when leading after six innings and 15-0 when leading through eight frames ... The Cats tallied a dozen come-from-behind wins in the 2017 season after having just four in 2016.
MLB DRAFT
Four Wildcats were selected in MLB's 2017 First-Year Player Draft ... Senior LHP Jordan Floyd was the first K-State player taken off the board in the 10th round (300th overall) by the Kansas City Royals ... Senior 1B Jake Scudder was then taken by the Washington National in the 16th round (493rd overall) and senior LHP Parker Rigler was chosen by the Chicago White Sox in the 31st round (927th overall) ... Finally, sophomore catcher Josh Rolette was picked by the Cleveland Indians in the 39th round (1,182nd overall) ... The quartet marks the 14th consecutive season under head coach Brad Hill that K-State has had multiple selections in the MLB Draft, as Hill has now overseen 46 MLB Draft selections in his 14 seasons in Manhattan.
GAME #1
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. #20 SOUTH ALABAMA (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Friday, February 16, 2018 // 3 p.m. CT // TicketReturn.com Field (6,599) // Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Projected Starters: RHP Kasey Ford (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Andy Arguelles (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz (play-by-play) / Christopher Brown (analyst)
Listen Online (free): K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats: K-StateSports.com
GAME #2
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. #17 INDIANA (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Friday, Saturday 17, 2018 // 11 a.m. CT // TicketReturn.com Field (6,599) // Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Projected Starters: RHP Gabe Littlejim (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Pauly Milto (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Listen Online (free): K-StateSports.com/watch // John Kurtz (play-by-play) / Christopher Brown (analyst)
Live Stats: K-StateSports.com
GAME #3
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) at COASTAL CAROLINA (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Saturday, February 18, 2018 // 1:30 p.m. CT // Spring Brooks Stadium (5,400) // Conway, S.C.
Projected Starters: RHP Justin Heskett (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Anthony Veneziano (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz (play-by-play) / Christopher Brown (analyst)
Listen Online (free): K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats: K-StateSports.com
GAME #4
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. VIRGINIA TECH (0-0, 0-0 ACC)
Monday, February 18, 2018 // 11 a.m. CT // TicketReturn.com Field (6,599) // Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Projected Starters: RHP Quinton Potter (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBD (--)
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz (play-by-play) / Christopher Brown (analyst)
Listen Online (free): K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats: K-StateSports.com
A LOOK AT K-STATE
Kansas State embarks on its 2018 season at the 19th Annual Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach in Myrtle Beach and Conway, South Carolina ... K-State will have four games in four days, beginning Friday, against South Alabama, Coastal Carolina, Indiana and Virginia Tech ... Three of the four games will be held at TicketReturn.com Field, home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Chicago Cubs Class-A affiliate), while Sunday's game will be at CCU's home field, Spring Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina ... The four-game weekend kicks off an eight-game, 10-day roadtrip to begin the season ... South Alabama and Indiana each reached an NCAA Regional in 2017 and begin the season ranked in at least one top-25 poll ... The Cats will send sophomore Kasey Ford to the mound on Opening Day ... After moving to the starting rotation on April 18, the 6-foot-6 righty went 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA and a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ration ... Saturday, K-State will send junior-college transfer Gabe Littlejim to the hill for his Wildcat debut ... the 6-3 righty is the older brother of fellow K-State pitcher sophomore Caleb Littlejim ... Justin Heskett, a senior right-hander who primarily started on Fridays last season, will get the nod on Sunday at Coastal Carolina in Conway ... Heskett tied for the team lead with five quality starts last season, his first for K-State ... Freshman Quinton Potter, a righty from Moorpark, California, will start the series finale on Monday against Virginia Tech.
2017 RECAP
K-State finished the 2017 season with a 29-26 overall record and 8-16 mark in Big 12 play ... K-State finished in ninth in the league standings, snapping a two-year streak of qualifying for the Big 12 Championship ... The Wildcats ended the season with a doubleheader sweep of Baylor in Waco on the final day of the regular season to claim the series with the Bears ... K-State had its best start to a season since 2011, winning 11 of the season's first 13 games, but lost its first six games of the Big 12 schedule as part of a 1-10 stretch ... The Wildcats had a trio of breakout freshmen in 2017 - Will Brennan, Cameron Thompson and Kasey Ford - as Brennan and Thompson were each selected as freshman all-Americans and Ford became the program's first freshman to earn Big 12 Pitcher of the Week.
2018 OUTLOOK
The Cats said farewell to nine seniors from the 2017 team, and 14 total letterwinners from a year ago, including Jake Scudder, who led the team each of the past two seasons in homers and RBI ... K-State welcomes in 14 newcomers to the 2018 Wildcats (11 freshmen. 3 transfers), to pair with key returners Will Brennan, Cameron Thompson, Kasey Ford and others ... K-State graduated its entire starting infield while catcher Josh Rolette was selected in last season's MLB Draft ... Four position players - Brennan, Thompson, Kyle Barfield and Hanz Harker - are the only players set to return that started at least 20 games last year ... The Cats will lean heavily on their group of newcomers, including junior-transfer Drew Mount who is expected to earn the starting center field job, moving Thompson to his natural position of shortstop ... K-State was selected to finish ninth in the Big 12's preseason coaches' poll.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
K-State opens its 2018 season with back-to-back matchups against ranked opponents in South Alabama and Indiana, ranked as high as No. 20 and No. 17, respectively, in preseason polls ... It marks the first time under head coach Brad Hill that the Wildcats will face a top-25 team on Opening Day and the first time since Hill's first season (2004) in which K-State will meet a ranked opponent in the season's first weekend ... USA and IU both earned a spot in an NCAA Regional in 2017, as the Jaguars finished second in the Sun Belt and the Hoosiers finished sixth in the Big Ten ... USA retains eight positional starters ... Coastal Carolina, the 2016 national champion, won the Sun Belt regular season total in 2017 with a 37-19-1 (22-7-1 Sun Belt) record ... Virginia Tech (23-32, 9-21) finished seventh in the Coastal Division of the ACC and are coached by former K-State associate head coach John Szefc (2011-12), who enters his first season in Blacksburg.
MAKING HISTORY
K-State head coach Brad Hill became the program's all-time winningest coach as he collected career win No. 436 last season on Saturday, April 22 vs. West Virginia (8-4) ... Hill surpassed longtime K-State head coach Mike Clark's program record of 435 wins ... Clark was the program's longest tenured head coach from 1987-2003 (17 seasons) ... Hill completed his 14th season at the helm of the Wildcats and owns a career record of 445-360-3.
CARDIAC CATS
K-State was 15-9 in games decided by two runs or fewer, including going 11-6 in one-run games ... In 2016, the Wildcats were 3-10 in one-run games ... K-State won three games in 2017 when trailing after eight innings and posted two walk-off victories ... At Tointon Family Stadium last season, K-State was 15-0 when leading after six innings and 15-0 when leading through eight frames ... The Cats tallied a dozen come-from-behind wins in the 2017 season after having just four in 2016.
MLB DRAFT
Four Wildcats were selected in MLB's 2017 First-Year Player Draft ... Senior LHP Jordan Floyd was the first K-State player taken off the board in the 10th round (300th overall) by the Kansas City Royals ... Senior 1B Jake Scudder was then taken by the Washington National in the 16th round (493rd overall) and senior LHP Parker Rigler was chosen by the Chicago White Sox in the 31st round (927th overall) ... Finally, sophomore catcher Josh Rolette was picked by the Cleveland Indians in the 39th round (1,182nd overall) ... The quartet marks the 14th consecutive season under head coach Brad Hill that K-State has had multiple selections in the MLB Draft, as Hill has now overseen 46 MLB Draft selections in his 14 seasons in Manhattan.
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