K-State Takes on Red Raiders in Big 12 Road Series

Friday, April 13

Lubbock, Texas

6:30 p.m.

Kansas State University

Texas Tech

Apr 12, 2018 | Baseball

Watch Listen Live Stats Games Notes (.pdf)

LUBBOCK, Texas – K-State begins an eight-game road trip with a three-game Big 12 series at No. 4 Texas Tech, with the series opener set for Friday at 6:30 p.m. from Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

K-State (15-18, 2-7 Big 12) seeks to snap its season-long six-game losing skid. Texas Tech (26-8, 5-4 Big 12) enters the weekend as high as the fourth-ranked team in the country, having won its last two conference series.

Friday's game will be broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest+ while the series finale on Sunday will be televised on FOX Sports Southwest. Saturday's Game 2 will stream at TexasTech.TV (paid).

The entire three-game series can be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live audio available at k-statesports.com.

GAME #34
K-STATE (15-18, 2-7 BIG 12) at No. 4 Texas Tech (26-8, 5-4 BIG 12)
Friday, April 13, 2018 // 6:30 p.m. CT // Rip Griffin Park (4,368) // Lubbock, Texas
Projected Starters: RHP Justin Heskett (2-4, 5.23 ERA) vs. RHP Davis Martin (5-2, 2.63 ERA)
Watch: FOX Sports Southwest+ // FOX Sports Go app
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Christopher Brown (analyst)
Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #35
K-STATE (15-18, 2-7 BIG 12) at No. 4 Texas Tech (26-8, 5-4 BIG 12)
Saturday, April 14, 2018 // 2 p.m. CT // Rip Griffin Park (4,368) // Lubbock, Texas
Projected Starters: RHP Caleb Littlejim vs. RHP Caleb Kilian (4-1, 0.89 ERA)
Watch: TexasTech.TV (paid)
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Christopher Brown (analyst)
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #36
K-STATE (15-18, 2-7 BIG 12) at No. 4 Texas Tech (26-8, 5-4 BIG 12)
Sunday, April 15, 2018 // 1 p.m. CT // Rip Griffin Park (4,368) // Lubbock, Texas
Projected Starters: RHP Kasey Ford (4-2, 4.29 ERA) vs. RHP John McMillon (4-1, 2.97 ERA)
TV: FOX Sports Southwest // FOX Sports Go app
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Christopher Brown (analyst)
Listen Online | Live Stats

A LOOK AT K-STATE
Kansas State (15-18, 2-7 Big 12) enters its weekend series vs. No. 4 Texas Tech on a season-long six-game losing skid ... K-State was swept by Oklahoma State in a three-game series at Tointon Family Stadium before falling to Nebraska on Tuesday, 11-9 ... The Cowboys sealed their eighth straight series victory over the Wildcat, including four consecutive sweeps in Manhattan ...The Cats dropped the opener, 6-3, before Carson Teel tossed a complete game and limited K-State to one run in OSU's 6-1 victory Sunday to clinch the series ... Cameron Thompson hit his first home run of the season Monday, giving the Cats a 6-4 lead in the seventh, but Oklahoma State's Trevor Boone hit a grand slam in the eighth to retake the lead ... OSU scored 10 runs over the game's final three innings in completing the sweep ... Thompson drove in a season-high four runs against the Cornhuskers in a game that held three lead changes and two ties.

A LOOK AT TEXAS TECH
Texas Tech (26-8, 5-4 Big Ten) enters the weekend as the No. 4 team in the country ... The Red Raiders have taken two of three games in each of their last two Big 12 series (West Virginia, Kansas) ... TTU has last its last two games overall and is 7-3 in its last 10 games ... The Red Raiders have four players hitting at least .349 this season - Grant Little (.395), Gabe Holt (.366), Josh Jung (.351) and Cameron Warren (.349) - as they lead the Big 12 with a team average of .305 ... Little currently leads the conference in average and on-base percentage (.500) ... Five of the league's top 10 in on-base percentage are Red Raiders ... On the mound, TTU owns the Big 12's third-lowest ERA at 3.55 ... Ryan Shetter is the league leader at 1.82 ... Shetter (177), along with Davis Martin (.182), are second and third in the conference, respectively, in terms of opponent's batting average

A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State trails the all-time series with Texas Tech, 27-39-1, dating back to 1993, including a 25-33-1 mark as Big 12 foes ... The Wildcats are 8-21-1 all-time in Lubbock and have lost their last seven games on the road in the series ... TTU took two of three games last season in Manhattan, as the Cats have not won a series with the Red Raiders since 2013 ... K-State last took a road series in 2012 ... The Cats are 2-8 in the last 10 overall in the series and are 3-7 in their last 10 in Lubbock.

CT3
After a slow start to his sophomore season, freshman all-American Cameron Thompson has been K-State's best hitter in Big 12 play ... Thompson has a team-high 15 hits and eight RBI in conference play, going 15-for-39 with a double, triple and home run ... His first homer of the season, a three-run shot, came in the seventh inning Monday when the Wildcats trailed by two runs ... The shortstop from Pasadena, Texas, also leads the team in average, on-base percentage and slugging with six stolen bases in league games ... Thompson produced a season-high four RBI Tuesday against Nebraska.

CALL THE COPS
K-State's 61 stolen bases lead the Big 12 and rank 11th in the country, 17 more than Texas' 44 swiped bags who ranks second in the league, and are 12th-best in the nation ... Three of the top six base stealers in the conference are Wildcats, led by Drew Mount and his 18 steals (t-1st) ... Will Brennan and Cameron Thompson are tied at fourth with 14 apiece ... Mount's 18 rank 14th in the nation.

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 eight starts, Ford has produced four quality outings and has eclipsed the 100-pitch plateau four times, including a career-high 115 pitches at TCU ... In his start against the Frogs, he went seven full innings and allowed one earned run ... The 6-foot-6 righty has allowed just four earned runs in his last three starts over 18 innings ... As a starter in his two seasons, he is 7-3 with a 3.71 ERA along with 54 strikeouts against 26 walks (2.1 K/BB) ... After last weekend, he leads the Big 12 with 50 1/3 innings pitched and his 41 strikeouts rank in the top 10.

VS RANKED OPPONENTS
So far in 2018, K-State is 0-5 against teams ranked in at least one poll (South Alabama, Indiana, TCU) ... In 2017, K-State was 4-7 against ranked teams, including a win at No. 4 South Carolina ... The Cats last defeated a ranked team on April 23 against No. 21 West Virginia ... K-State went 1-2 against No. 6 Texas Tech last season in Manhattan ... The weekend's series will mark the fifth straight season K-State will face a ranked TTU team (K-State is 2-11 against Texas Tech since 2014).

YOUNG GUNS
Three of the top four K-State relievers in terms of ERA are freshman: Alex Belch (1.69), Andrew Stratman (2.20) and Jaxon Passino (3.38) ... The trio have a combined ERA of 2.39 (10 ER, 37.2 IP) ... Passino is tied for the team lead in saves after he picked up his second save vs. Omaha and has 11 strikeouts against four walks ... The team's top five relievers in earned run average are freshmen or sophomores ... All five of this season's saves have come from Eckberg, Marolf and Passino while Marolf and Stratman lead the team in appearances with 13 and 12, respectively.

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.

MOUNT CRUSHMORE
K-State junior-transfer Drew Mount was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week three straight weeks from February 26-March 12 ... He is the first player in Big 12 history to earn the distinction three times 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 do so.