Cats Eye Season Sweep of Mavericks Wednesday

Wednesday, April 25

Omaha, Neb.

6:30 p.m.

Kansas State University

Omaha

Apr 24, 2018 | Baseball

Listen Live Stats Game Notes (.pdf)

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State and Omaha complete a home-and-home series at Werner Park Wednesday night, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.

K-State (15-21, 2-10 Big 12) seeks a season series sweep of Omaha (13-22, 8-7 Summit League) after the Wildcats shut out the Mavericks, 3-0, on March 27, at Tointon Family Stadium.

Wednesday night's game, which is played at the home of the Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals Triple-A affiliate), can be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio available at k-statesports.com.

GAME #41
K-STATE (17-23, 3-12 BIG 12) at OMAHA (13-22, 8-7 SUMMIT LEAGUE)
Wednesday, April 25, 2018 // 6:30 p.m. CT // Werner Park (9,023) // Omaha, Neb.
Projected Starters: TBA vs. RHP Grant Suponchick (1-1, 8.32 ERA)
Radio: KMAN (1350 AM, 93.3 FM) // Mitch Fortner and Christopher Brown
Listen Online | Live Stats

A LOOK AT K-STATE
Kansas State (17-23, 3-12 Big 12) and Omaha will complete a home-and-home series Wednesday at Werner Park in Omaha, home of the Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals Triple-A affiliate ... K-State defeated Omaha, 3-0, on March 27 at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Wildcats lost two of three games at West Virginia over the weekend, claiming the series finale Sunday, 7-4 ... The Mountaineers took Game 1, 8-5, after the Cats held a 4-0 lead after the top of the third and a 5-3 lead going to the bottom of the seventh ... WVU scored five unanswered runs in its final two at-bats off reliever Alex Belch ... Three West Virginia pitchers combined for a four-hit shutout Saturday, 6-0, to earn the series victory ... Sophomore two-way player Will Brennan got his first Big 12 start on the mound Sunday, going a career-long five innings and allowing just one earned run for his second straight win on the hill ... Sunday's win snapped the Cats' nine-game skid in Big 12 play and was their first road conference win of the season (1-8) ... Freshman Jordan Maxson had his first four-game Sunday ... Brennan also led the team at the plate in the series, going 4-for-10 with a double, RBI and three runs scored.

A LOOK AT OMAHA
Omaha (13-22, 8-7 Summit League) enters Wednesday's matchup having lost its last three games overall after being swept on the road by league foe Fort Wayne ... The Mavericks were shut out in their last two games against the Mastodons and have been kept off the scoreboard five times this season, including the first matchup in Manhattan this season (3-0) ... The Mavs are 2-8 in their last 10 games overall, picking up wins at Nebraska and Western Illinois in that span ... Offensively, UNO is led by Braden Rogers and his .289 average while Keil Krumwiede has a team-best 21 runs driven in ... Junior Grant Suponchick will get his fifth start of the year Wednesday, as he has a 1-1 record with a 8.62 ERA ... Suponchick has 10 walks and five strikeouts over 15 2/3 innings pitched.

A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State leads the all-time series with Omaha, 11-2, dating back to 1976 ... K-State has won the last two in the series overall after a 3-0 win on March 27 at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Wildcats make their first trip to face Omaha since 2015, and are 1-1 all-time on the road in the series' history ... Head coach Brad Hill is 9-2 in his career vs. the Mavericks ... The Cats and Mavs have faced each other in each of the past seven seasons.

LAST TIME OUT
On March 27, K-State defeated Omaha, 3-0, at Tointon Family Stadium ... The game between the Wildcats and Mavericks was scoreless headed to the bottom of the eighth inning, when K-State plated three runs which was highlighted by a two-run single by Dylan Watts ... Drew Mount also had an RBI in the three-run eighth ... The Cats used five pitchers to combine on the shutout ... Caleb Littlejim started the ballgame and went two innings and allowed two hits ... Littlejim was one of four pitchers to throw two innings and freshman Jaxon Passino tossed a perfect ninth inning to record the save ... The time of game was just 2:06.

THE NEXT OHTANI
K-State sophomore Will Brennan is already known as one of the nation's best hitters, but last week he earned his first two victories on the mound ... In his first career start at Nebraska on April 17, Brennan retired all six batters he faced over two innings on just 21 pitches ... The Stilwell, Kansas, product earned his first Big 12 start in Sunday's series finale at West Virginia, as he went a career-long five innings while giving up just one earned run and scattering six base hits ... He owns a team-best 1.69 ERA in Big 12 play and in the month of April, his ERA is 2.08 (8.2 IP, 2 ER) ... Brennan's season WHIP is just 1.24 and has a 5.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio to go with a 9.3 K/9 rate ... He continues to be among the Big 12 leaders in hits and average, leading the Wildcats with a .369 average and 59 base hits ... His average and hit total are both fourth-highest in the conference while he is third with a .474 on-base percentage ... Batting leadoff, Brennan is the second-toughest player in the Big 12 to strikeout, going 17.8 at-bats per strikeout (160 AB, 9 K).

SEEING 20/10
K-State's Drew Mount is one home run away from becoming just the second Wildcat to have 20 stolen bases and 10 home runs in a season, joining Todd Fereday who stole 21 bases and hit 11 home runs in 1997 ... With his next homer, Mount will be just the sixth player in NCAA Division I to have 10 or more home runs and 10 or more steals this season: Bren Spillane, Illinois (14 HR, 12 SB), Seth Lancaster, Coastal Carolina (11 HR, 12 SB), Tanner Murphy, North Florida (10 HR, 12 SB), Jacob Rhinesmith, Western Kentucky (10 HR, 10 SB) and Trey Truitt, Mercer (10 HR, 10 SB).

CALL THE COPS
K-State's 70 stolen bases lead the Big 12 and rank 17h in the country, four more than West Virginia's 66 swiped bags who ranks second in the league ... Three of the top six base stealers in the conference are Wildcats, led by Drew Mount and his 20 steals (2nd) ... Will Brennan is fourth with 17 and Cameron Thompson ranks sixth with 15 ... Mount's 20 rank 22nd in the nation.

FROM THE PEN
In fewer innings pitched, K-State's bullpen has 19 more strikeouts than its starting rotation (135-116), for a 7.1 K/9 rate ... Conversely, the pen also has a higher walk rate, averaging 5.7 walks per nine innings while starters have a rate of 3.9 ... Both the starting rotation and bullpen have an earned run average above eight in the month of April.

APRIL SHOWERS
K-State won its first game in the month of April with a 4-3 victory at Nebraska, snapping a season-long nine-game skid ... The nine-game losing streak equaled the longest such streak under 15th-year head coach Brad Hill and was the longest since 2012 ... K-State is 2-10 in the month of April, hitting .246 while opponents own a .328 average ... The Cats have been outscored 121-56 in the last dozen games ... K-State is averaging 4.7 runs per game on 8.1 hits ... Brennan leads the Cats with a .357 average in April while Jordan Maxson is hitting .333 and Kyle Barfield .320 ... Mount has four extra-base hits, including a double, two triples and a home run for a .432 slugging percentage.