Kansas State University Athletics
Thursday, March 29
Manhattan, Kan.
6:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
Texas
K-State Hosts Texas in First Home Big 12 Series
Mar 28, 2018 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State baseball team will host Texas in its first home conference series of the season beginning Thursday, March 29, at 6:30 p.m., at Tointon Family Stadium.
K-State (13-12, 0-3 Big 12) shut out Omaha Tuesday, 3-0, to snap a four-game losing skid. Texas (16-10, 5-1 Big 12) has won seven of its last eight games overall and has won both of its first two Big 12 series.
Thursday's game will be televised on Cox Channel Kansas and will stream free on K-StateHD.TV and the K-State Sports Roku app. Games 2 and 3 of the series will both stream live on ESPN 3 and the ESPN app.
The entire three-game series can be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with Friday's game available on the K-State Sports Radio Network. Free, live audio is available at kstatesports.com/watch.
GAME #26
K-STATE (13-12, 0-3 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS (16-10, 5-1 BIG 12)
Thursday, March 29, 2018 // 6:30 p.m. CT // Tointon Family Stadium (2,331) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Kasey Ford (3-1, 4.81 ERA) vs. RHP Blair Henley (3-2, 2.75 ERA)
Watch: Cox Channel Kansas // K-StateHD.TV // Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Mike Clark (analyst)
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller and John Kurtz
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets
GAME #27
K-STATE (13-12, 0-3 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS (16-10, 5-1 BIG 12)
Friday, March 30, 2018 // 6:30 p.m. CT // Tointon Family Stadium (2,331) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: TBA vs. RHP Nolan Kingham (4-2, 3.67 ERA)
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Mike Clark (analyst)
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com
Radio: K-State Sports Radio Network // Brian Smoller and John Kurtz
Promotion: Dollar Dog Friday // $10 T-Shirt Package | Tickets
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #28
K-STATE (13-12, 0-3 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS (16-10, 5-1 BIG 12)
Saturday, March 31, 2018 // 1 p.m. CT // Tointon Family Stadium (2,331) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Justin Heskett (2-2, 4.22 ERA) vs. TBA
TV: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Craig Wilson (analyst)
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller and John Kurtz
Promotion: Junior Wildcat Day // Postgame Egg Hunt | Tickets
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
Kansas State (13-12, 0-3 Big 12) snapped its season-long four-game losing skid with a 3-0 victory over Omaha Tuesday night at Tointon Family Stadium ... Five Wildcat pitchers combined to throw K-State's first shutout of the season and first since March 17 of last year vs. Iowa (3-0) ... Jared Marolf tossed two perfect innings with two strikeouts and Tyler Eckberg was credited with the win, his second of the season ... Jaxon Passino tossed a perfect ninth inning to pick up his second save of the year ... Dylan Watts delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded to break a scoreless tie ... K-State had three hits in the eighth inning after having one through the game's first seven frames ... Texas visits Manhattan for the Cats' first home conference series ... The Wildcats dropped all three games of their Big 12-opening series at No. 15 TCU last weekend.
A LOOK AT TEXAS
Texas (16-10, 5-1 Big 12), winners of seven of its last eight overall, enters its third Big 12 series and initial road league set ... The Longhorns swept a weekend series with Kansas before taking two of three games from Oklahoma State at home ... UT's five league wins are best in the conference through two weeks of play ... Texas is led by Kody Clemens leads the Big 12 with a .681 slugging percentage and ranks 10th with a .352 average and sixth with a .469 on-base percentage ... Masen Hibbeler's 33 base hits ranks eighth in the conference ... On the mound, Nolan Kingham has a league-high 41 2/3 inning pitched and is tied for the conference lead with four wins along with teammate Bryce Elder.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Texas leads the all-time series, 55-16-1, dating back to 1985 ... The Longhorns swept the three-game series in Austin in 2017, including back-to-back shutouts to open the series ... K-State last won a home series against Texas in 1998 and has not won a series overall against the Longhorns since 2009 ... Over the last 10 games in the series, Texas owns a 9-1 edge ... The Wildcats last won on April 10, 2016 in the series finale (3-2) in Manhattan ... K-State is 7-22 at home all-time vs. Texas ... Head coach Brad Hill is 11-33-1 in his career against Texas ... K-State is 3-7 in its last 10 games at home in the series and has never swept a home series with the Longhorns.
BETTER RECOGNIZE
K-State's Will Brennan and Drew Mount each took home weekly honors from the Big 12 on Monday, March 12, as Brennan was named the conference's Player of the Week while Mount was recognized as Newcomer of the Week ... Mount's became the first player in Big 12 history to be named Newcomer of the Week in three consecutive weeks since the award was introduced in 2011 ... The junior-college transfer matched the most weekly honors in a single season with three through the season's first four weeks ... Mount was also recognized by Collegiate Baseball by being named one of 10 National Players of the Week by the publication ... Brennan earns his first Player of the Week award from the league after earning Newcomer of the Week twice last season as part of his freshman all-America campaign.
MOUNT CRUSHMORE
K-State junior-transfer Drew Mount was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for three straight weeks from February 26-March 12 ... He is the first player in Big 12 history to earn the distinction in three consecutive weeks since the award's inception in 2011 ... March 9 against Mercer, Mount became the first Wildcat to hit two grand slams in one game since 1994 and he is just the third player in Big 12 history to accomplish the feat - and the first since 1998 ... He is tied for the Big 12 lead in home runs (7) and second in RBI (31) ... He also leads the Big 12 in stolen bases (17) and is fifth in slugging (.625). ... Mount ranks second in the nation with his 17 stolen bases, just one behind the leader.
YOUNG GUNS
Three of the top four K-State relievers in terms of ERA are freshman: Alex Belch (0.00), Jaxon Passino (0.93) and Andrew Stratman (2.77) ... The trio have a combined ERA of 1.63 (5 ER, 27.2 IP) and are limiting opposing hitters to a .243 average ... Passino is tied for the team lead in saves after he picked up his second save Tuesday vs. Omaha and has 10 strikeouts against two walks ... The team's top five relievers in earned run average are freshman or sophomore, as Jared Marolf (2.57) and Tyler Eckberg (3.27) join the list ... All four of this season's saves have come from Marolf and Passino while Marolf and Stratman lead the team in relief outings with nine each.
FROM THE PEN
K-State relievers have a combined 6-4 record to go with four saves in five opportunities this season ... The Wildcat bullpen has a combined ERA of 5.18 over 9 1/3 innings ... K-State relievers have a higher strikeout rate than its starters, averaging 7.7 strikeouts per nine to 6.3 K/9, but Wildcat starters own a better walk rate, at 3.0 walks per nine innings compared to 4.2 BB/9 ... in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Omaha, the K-State pen combined to toss seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts with only two walks ... All four K-State relievers retired the first batter they faced, helping the Cats record their first shutout of the season.
FORD TOUGH
K-State starting pitcher Kasey Ford has been a consistent force on the mount in his sophomore season, starting every series opener in 2018 ... In six starts, Ford has produced four quality outings and has eclipsed the 100-pitch plateau four times, including a career-high 115 pitches at TCU Friday ... In his start against the Frogs, he went seven full innings and allowed one earned run ... As a starter in his two seasons, he is 6-2 with a 3.91 ERA along with 49 strikeouts against 16 walks (3.1 K/BB).
STUMBLING START
K-State began Big 12 play with an 0-3 start for the fourth straight season ... The Wildcats have not won a Big 12-opening series since 2013 (West Virginia) and have not won a conference opener since 2012 at Texas A&M ... Last season, K-State was swept by Texas in Austin and began its Big 12 schedule 0-6 ... The Cats offense produced just four runs in a three-game series with TCU for the second straight season and have lost nine games overall to the Frogs ... Catcher TK McWhertor was the only Wildcat hitter to hit safely in all three games in Fort Worth.
K-State (13-12, 0-3 Big 12) shut out Omaha Tuesday, 3-0, to snap a four-game losing skid. Texas (16-10, 5-1 Big 12) has won seven of its last eight games overall and has won both of its first two Big 12 series.
Thursday's game will be televised on Cox Channel Kansas and will stream free on K-StateHD.TV and the K-State Sports Roku app. Games 2 and 3 of the series will both stream live on ESPN 3 and the ESPN app.
The entire three-game series can be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with Friday's game available on the K-State Sports Radio Network. Free, live audio is available at kstatesports.com/watch.
GAME #26
K-STATE (13-12, 0-3 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS (16-10, 5-1 BIG 12)
Thursday, March 29, 2018 // 6:30 p.m. CT // Tointon Family Stadium (2,331) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Kasey Ford (3-1, 4.81 ERA) vs. RHP Blair Henley (3-2, 2.75 ERA)
Watch: Cox Channel Kansas // K-StateHD.TV // Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Mike Clark (analyst)
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller and John Kurtz
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets
GAME #27
K-STATE (13-12, 0-3 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS (16-10, 5-1 BIG 12)
Friday, March 30, 2018 // 6:30 p.m. CT // Tointon Family Stadium (2,331) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: TBA vs. RHP Nolan Kingham (4-2, 3.67 ERA)
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Mike Clark (analyst)
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com
Radio: K-State Sports Radio Network // Brian Smoller and John Kurtz
Promotion: Dollar Dog Friday // $10 T-Shirt Package | Tickets
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #28
K-STATE (13-12, 0-3 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS (16-10, 5-1 BIG 12)
Saturday, March 31, 2018 // 1 p.m. CT // Tointon Family Stadium (2,331) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Justin Heskett (2-2, 4.22 ERA) vs. TBA
TV: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Craig Wilson (analyst)
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller and John Kurtz
Promotion: Junior Wildcat Day // Postgame Egg Hunt | Tickets
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
Kansas State (13-12, 0-3 Big 12) snapped its season-long four-game losing skid with a 3-0 victory over Omaha Tuesday night at Tointon Family Stadium ... Five Wildcat pitchers combined to throw K-State's first shutout of the season and first since March 17 of last year vs. Iowa (3-0) ... Jared Marolf tossed two perfect innings with two strikeouts and Tyler Eckberg was credited with the win, his second of the season ... Jaxon Passino tossed a perfect ninth inning to pick up his second save of the year ... Dylan Watts delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded to break a scoreless tie ... K-State had three hits in the eighth inning after having one through the game's first seven frames ... Texas visits Manhattan for the Cats' first home conference series ... The Wildcats dropped all three games of their Big 12-opening series at No. 15 TCU last weekend.
A LOOK AT TEXAS
Texas (16-10, 5-1 Big 12), winners of seven of its last eight overall, enters its third Big 12 series and initial road league set ... The Longhorns swept a weekend series with Kansas before taking two of three games from Oklahoma State at home ... UT's five league wins are best in the conference through two weeks of play ... Texas is led by Kody Clemens leads the Big 12 with a .681 slugging percentage and ranks 10th with a .352 average and sixth with a .469 on-base percentage ... Masen Hibbeler's 33 base hits ranks eighth in the conference ... On the mound, Nolan Kingham has a league-high 41 2/3 inning pitched and is tied for the conference lead with four wins along with teammate Bryce Elder.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Texas leads the all-time series, 55-16-1, dating back to 1985 ... The Longhorns swept the three-game series in Austin in 2017, including back-to-back shutouts to open the series ... K-State last won a home series against Texas in 1998 and has not won a series overall against the Longhorns since 2009 ... Over the last 10 games in the series, Texas owns a 9-1 edge ... The Wildcats last won on April 10, 2016 in the series finale (3-2) in Manhattan ... K-State is 7-22 at home all-time vs. Texas ... Head coach Brad Hill is 11-33-1 in his career against Texas ... K-State is 3-7 in its last 10 games at home in the series and has never swept a home series with the Longhorns.
BETTER RECOGNIZE
K-State's Will Brennan and Drew Mount each took home weekly honors from the Big 12 on Monday, March 12, as Brennan was named the conference's Player of the Week while Mount was recognized as Newcomer of the Week ... Mount's became the first player in Big 12 history to be named Newcomer of the Week in three consecutive weeks since the award was introduced in 2011 ... The junior-college transfer matched the most weekly honors in a single season with three through the season's first four weeks ... Mount was also recognized by Collegiate Baseball by being named one of 10 National Players of the Week by the publication ... Brennan earns his first Player of the Week award from the league after earning Newcomer of the Week twice last season as part of his freshman all-America campaign.
MOUNT CRUSHMORE
K-State junior-transfer Drew Mount was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for three straight weeks from February 26-March 12 ... He is the first player in Big 12 history to earn the distinction in three consecutive weeks since the award's inception in 2011 ... March 9 against Mercer, Mount became the first Wildcat to hit two grand slams in one game since 1994 and he is just the third player in Big 12 history to accomplish the feat - and the first since 1998 ... He is tied for the Big 12 lead in home runs (7) and second in RBI (31) ... He also leads the Big 12 in stolen bases (17) and is fifth in slugging (.625). ... Mount ranks second in the nation with his 17 stolen bases, just one behind the leader.
YOUNG GUNS
Three of the top four K-State relievers in terms of ERA are freshman: Alex Belch (0.00), Jaxon Passino (0.93) and Andrew Stratman (2.77) ... The trio have a combined ERA of 1.63 (5 ER, 27.2 IP) and are limiting opposing hitters to a .243 average ... Passino is tied for the team lead in saves after he picked up his second save Tuesday vs. Omaha and has 10 strikeouts against two walks ... The team's top five relievers in earned run average are freshman or sophomore, as Jared Marolf (2.57) and Tyler Eckberg (3.27) join the list ... All four of this season's saves have come from Marolf and Passino while Marolf and Stratman lead the team in relief outings with nine each.
FROM THE PEN
K-State relievers have a combined 6-4 record to go with four saves in five opportunities this season ... The Wildcat bullpen has a combined ERA of 5.18 over 9 1/3 innings ... K-State relievers have a higher strikeout rate than its starters, averaging 7.7 strikeouts per nine to 6.3 K/9, but Wildcat starters own a better walk rate, at 3.0 walks per nine innings compared to 4.2 BB/9 ... in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Omaha, the K-State pen combined to toss seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts with only two walks ... All four K-State relievers retired the first batter they faced, helping the Cats record their first shutout of the season.
FORD TOUGH
K-State starting pitcher Kasey Ford has been a consistent force on the mount in his sophomore season, starting every series opener in 2018 ... In six starts, Ford has produced four quality outings and has eclipsed the 100-pitch plateau four times, including a career-high 115 pitches at TCU Friday ... In his start against the Frogs, he went seven full innings and allowed one earned run ... As a starter in his two seasons, he is 6-2 with a 3.91 ERA along with 49 strikeouts against 16 walks (3.1 K/BB).
STUMBLING START
K-State began Big 12 play with an 0-3 start for the fourth straight season ... The Wildcats have not won a Big 12-opening series since 2013 (West Virginia) and have not won a conference opener since 2012 at Texas A&M ... Last season, K-State was swept by Texas in Austin and began its Big 12 schedule 0-6 ... The Cats offense produced just four runs in a three-game series with TCU for the second straight season and have lost nine games overall to the Frogs ... Catcher TK McWhertor was the only Wildcat hitter to hit safely in all three games in Fort Worth.
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