Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, February 15
Northridge, Calif.
4 p.m.
Kansas State University
at
CSUN
Wildcats Open 2019 Season Friday at CSUN
Feb 13, 2019 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Under first-year head coach Pete Hughes, the K-State baseball team opens its 2019 season Friday at 4 p.m. CT against CSUN at Matador Field in Northridge, California, kicking off a four-game series.
Game 2 is set for Saturday with Game 3 on Sunday, both scheduled for 3 p.m. CT starts. K-State will send freshman lefty Jordan Wicks to the hill Saturday in his Wildcat debut.
Preseason all-Big 12 honoree Will Brennan will get the nod Sunday. Brennan, who went 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA, posted a team-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.3) as well as a staff-low 2.3 walks per nine innings.
Junior right-hander Kasey Ford will take the mound in the series finale at 4 p.m. CT. Ford led the Wildcats with five wins, 45 strikeouts and 61 2/3 innings pitched last season.
The Wildcats and Matadors split a four-game series in 1998 in the teams' only previous meeting.
Friday's and Monday's games can be seen free online on BigWest.TV as part of the CSUN Sports Network on GoMatadors.com. The entire series can be heard on New Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) or streaming free online at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #1
K-STATE (0-0) at CSUN (0-0)
Friday, February 15 // 4 p.m. CT // Matador Field (1,000) // Northridge, Calif.
Projected Starters: RHP Tyler Eckberg (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Walker Armstrong (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: CSUN Sports Network // GoMatadors.com
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Mitch Fortner and Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #2
K-STATE (0-0) at CSUN (0-0)
Saturday, February 16 // 3 p.m. CT // Matador Field (1,000) // Northridge, Calif.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Wesley Moore (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: N/A
Radio: N/A
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // Mitch Fortner and Christopher Brown
Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #3
K-STATE (0-0) at CSUN (0-0)
Sunday, February 17 // 3 p.m. CT // Matador Field (1,000) // Northridge, Calif.
Projected Starters: LHP Will Brennan (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Isaiah Nunez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: N/A
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Mitch Fortner and Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #4
K-STATE (0-0) at CSUN (0-0)
Monday, February 18 // 4 p.m. CT // Matador Field (1,000) // Northridge, Calif.
Projected Starters: RHP Kasey Ford (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Blake Sodersten (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: CSUN Sports Network // GoMatadors.com
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Mitch Fortner and Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
Kansas State enters its 119th season of baseball on Friday, beginning with a four-game series at CSUN in Northridge, Calif. ... K-State enters 2019 with a new head coach in Pete Hughes, who was named the 21st head baseball coach in program history on June 8, 2018 ... Last year, K-State finished 23-31 (5-19 Big 12) to finish ninth place in the conference and miss the Big 12 Tournament for the second straight season in Brad Hill's final year ... The Wildcats last missed out on the postseason in consecutive seasons was during a three-year stretch from 2004-06 ... The Cats return 15 letterwinners and welcome in 20 newcomers, including 12 freshmen, for the 2019 season ... Among the 20 newcomers include four junior-college transfers and five from four-year schools.
A LOOK AT CSUN
CSUN finished third in the Big West a season ago after a 13-11 record in conference play while going 28-30 overall ... The Matadors welcome back 12 letterwinners, including a pair of senior weekend starters in Walker Armstrong and Isaiah Nunez ... Armstrong was CSUN's Friday night starter and led the team in strikeouts (62) and innings pitched (93.0) and boasted an ERA of 3.39 ... Nunez appeared in 23 game last year and posted a 3.65 ERA over 66.2 innings ... Sophomore infielder Brandon Bohning hit .260 as a freshman with 40 runs, 26 RBI and four home runs ... The Matadors were projected to finish seventh in the Big West in the preseason coaches' poll.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State is 2-2 all-time against CSUN, as the Wildcats and Matadors split a four-game series in Manhattan in the team's only meeting back in 1998 ... The Wildcats took the series opener, 14-13, in 14 innings as part of a doubleheader before salvaging a split in the finale on April 19, 1998, 15-14 ... K-State scored 41 runs in the four-game set (10.3 per game).
A NEW ERA OF K-STATE BASEBALL
In June, K-State announced the hiring of Pete Hughes as the 21st head coach in program history ... Hughes has 21 years of experience as a head coach, including 19 years at the Division I level, with a career record of 652-492-3 (.570) ... Prior to coming to K-State, Hughes was the head coach at Big 12-rival Oklahoma from 2014-17, earning a berth in an NCAA Regional his final season ... The Brockton, Mass., native also led Virginia Tech to a pair of regional appearances (2010, 2013) in seven years with the Hokies (2007-13) ... Hughes also coaches Boston College from 1999-2006 after two seasons at Trinity (Texas) in the Division III ranks ... He becomes the first person to lead two different Big 12 programs.
RETURN AISLE
K-State retains 15 letterwinners from its 2018 roster, including five starting position players and 11 pitchers ... Junior Will Brennan headlines the returners as the two-way player led the Wildcats in batting average (.359), hits (70), doubles (13), runs (49) and on-base percentage (.454) a year ago ... On the mound, right-hander Kasey Ford returns for his junior season after pacing the Cats' pitching staff in innings pitched (61.2), strikeouts (45) and wins (5) ... After hitting 27 home runs in 2018, three Wildcat returners combine to for just six homers - led by senior Rainer Ausmus' three (Jordan Maxson, 2; Cameron Thompson 1).
NON-CON SUCCESS
Last year, K-State had a 18-12 record in non-conference action, including an 8-4 mark away from Tointon Family Stadium ... The Cats had a +20 run differential against non-conference opponents while they posted a -105 run differential over the entire season ... Will Brennan hit a team-best .408 in non-conference games while Dylan Watts and Hanz Harker each hit over .300 ... Seven of Drew Mount's team-leading nine homers came against non-Big 12 opponents as he slugged .565 in those games to go with 35 runs driven in.
MAKING A NAME
Junior Will Brennan has already put his name in the K-State record books after just two seasons as a Wildcat ... Brennan broke the program's freshman hitting record in 2017 (.350), which had stood since 1977 ... Brennan's .359 average in his sophomore campaign led the team and upped his career average to .355 - which currently ranks 10th in K-State history ... The 6-foot leadoff hitter enters 2019 in seventh in the program charts with a career on-base percentage of .454 ... For the second straight season, Brennan was the toughest player in the Big 12 to strike out, going 20.0 at-bats per strikeout (220 AB, 11 K) last year - the eighth-best rate in the country ... For his career, Brennan has struck out only 23 times in 403 at-bats ... A two-way player, Brennan was voted First Team All-Big 12 in 2018 and was K-State's lone representative on the 2019 Preseason All-Big 12 team.
IRONMAN
Junior Cameron Thompson is the only current Wildcat to have started every game of his K-State career, starting all 109 games in two seasons ... Thompson, who was tabbed a Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball in 2017, started all 54 games at shortstop last year after starting all 55 games at center and second base his freshman season ... Thompson is expected to start at second base in 2019.
OPENING DAY
K-State is 7-3 in its last 10 games on Opening Day, but have dropped the last two, including a 12-5 loss to 17th-ranked South Alabama last season ... The Cats began 2018 0-3 before defeating Virginia Tech in the final game of the 19th Annual Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
MLB DRAFT
Junior Drew Mount was selected in MLB's 2018 First-Year Player Draft in the 16th round by the Cincinnati Reds ... Mount led K-State in home runs (9), triples (7), RBI (47) and steals (21) ... He marked the 15th consecutive season under head coach Brad Hill that K-State has had a player taken in the MLB Draft, as Hill oversaw 47 MLB Draft selections in his 15 seasons in Manhattan.
Hughes, who has 21 years of experience as a collegiate head coach, leads a Wildcat squad that returns 15 letterwinners and welcomes 19 newcomers. With coaching stints that include Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and Boston College, Hughes has collected over 650 career victories as a head coach to go with three NCAA Regional berths and five different coach-of-the-year honors.
Junior righty Tyler Eckberg will be making his first career start for the Wildcats on Opening Day, going opposite CSUN right-hander Walker Armstrong. A year ago, the Edina, Minnesota, native made 18 relief appearances with two saves. The season opener will stream live on GoMatadors.com as part of the CSUN Sports Network.Game 2 is set for Saturday with Game 3 on Sunday, both scheduled for 3 p.m. CT starts. K-State will send freshman lefty Jordan Wicks to the hill Saturday in his Wildcat debut.
Preseason all-Big 12 honoree Will Brennan will get the nod Sunday. Brennan, who went 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA, posted a team-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.3) as well as a staff-low 2.3 walks per nine innings.
Junior right-hander Kasey Ford will take the mound in the series finale at 4 p.m. CT. Ford led the Wildcats with five wins, 45 strikeouts and 61 2/3 innings pitched last season.
The Wildcats and Matadors split a four-game series in 1998 in the teams' only previous meeting.
Friday's and Monday's games can be seen free online on BigWest.TV as part of the CSUN Sports Network on GoMatadors.com. The entire series can be heard on New Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) or streaming free online at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #1
K-STATE (0-0) at CSUN (0-0)
Friday, February 15 // 4 p.m. CT // Matador Field (1,000) // Northridge, Calif.
Projected Starters: RHP Tyler Eckberg (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Walker Armstrong (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: CSUN Sports Network // GoMatadors.com
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Mitch Fortner and Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #2
K-STATE (0-0) at CSUN (0-0)
Saturday, February 16 // 3 p.m. CT // Matador Field (1,000) // Northridge, Calif.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Wesley Moore (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: N/A
Radio: N/A
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // Mitch Fortner and Christopher Brown
Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #3
K-STATE (0-0) at CSUN (0-0)
Sunday, February 17 // 3 p.m. CT // Matador Field (1,000) // Northridge, Calif.
Projected Starters: LHP Will Brennan (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Isaiah Nunez (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: N/A
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Mitch Fortner and Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #4
K-STATE (0-0) at CSUN (0-0)
Monday, February 18 // 4 p.m. CT // Matador Field (1,000) // Northridge, Calif.
Projected Starters: RHP Kasey Ford (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Blake Sodersten (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: CSUN Sports Network // GoMatadors.com
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Mitch Fortner and Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
Kansas State enters its 119th season of baseball on Friday, beginning with a four-game series at CSUN in Northridge, Calif. ... K-State enters 2019 with a new head coach in Pete Hughes, who was named the 21st head baseball coach in program history on June 8, 2018 ... Last year, K-State finished 23-31 (5-19 Big 12) to finish ninth place in the conference and miss the Big 12 Tournament for the second straight season in Brad Hill's final year ... The Wildcats last missed out on the postseason in consecutive seasons was during a three-year stretch from 2004-06 ... The Cats return 15 letterwinners and welcome in 20 newcomers, including 12 freshmen, for the 2019 season ... Among the 20 newcomers include four junior-college transfers and five from four-year schools.
A LOOK AT CSUN
CSUN finished third in the Big West a season ago after a 13-11 record in conference play while going 28-30 overall ... The Matadors welcome back 12 letterwinners, including a pair of senior weekend starters in Walker Armstrong and Isaiah Nunez ... Armstrong was CSUN's Friday night starter and led the team in strikeouts (62) and innings pitched (93.0) and boasted an ERA of 3.39 ... Nunez appeared in 23 game last year and posted a 3.65 ERA over 66.2 innings ... Sophomore infielder Brandon Bohning hit .260 as a freshman with 40 runs, 26 RBI and four home runs ... The Matadors were projected to finish seventh in the Big West in the preseason coaches' poll.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State is 2-2 all-time against CSUN, as the Wildcats and Matadors split a four-game series in Manhattan in the team's only meeting back in 1998 ... The Wildcats took the series opener, 14-13, in 14 innings as part of a doubleheader before salvaging a split in the finale on April 19, 1998, 15-14 ... K-State scored 41 runs in the four-game set (10.3 per game).
A NEW ERA OF K-STATE BASEBALL
In June, K-State announced the hiring of Pete Hughes as the 21st head coach in program history ... Hughes has 21 years of experience as a head coach, including 19 years at the Division I level, with a career record of 652-492-3 (.570) ... Prior to coming to K-State, Hughes was the head coach at Big 12-rival Oklahoma from 2014-17, earning a berth in an NCAA Regional his final season ... The Brockton, Mass., native also led Virginia Tech to a pair of regional appearances (2010, 2013) in seven years with the Hokies (2007-13) ... Hughes also coaches Boston College from 1999-2006 after two seasons at Trinity (Texas) in the Division III ranks ... He becomes the first person to lead two different Big 12 programs.
RETURN AISLE
K-State retains 15 letterwinners from its 2018 roster, including five starting position players and 11 pitchers ... Junior Will Brennan headlines the returners as the two-way player led the Wildcats in batting average (.359), hits (70), doubles (13), runs (49) and on-base percentage (.454) a year ago ... On the mound, right-hander Kasey Ford returns for his junior season after pacing the Cats' pitching staff in innings pitched (61.2), strikeouts (45) and wins (5) ... After hitting 27 home runs in 2018, three Wildcat returners combine to for just six homers - led by senior Rainer Ausmus' three (Jordan Maxson, 2; Cameron Thompson 1).
NON-CON SUCCESS
Last year, K-State had a 18-12 record in non-conference action, including an 8-4 mark away from Tointon Family Stadium ... The Cats had a +20 run differential against non-conference opponents while they posted a -105 run differential over the entire season ... Will Brennan hit a team-best .408 in non-conference games while Dylan Watts and Hanz Harker each hit over .300 ... Seven of Drew Mount's team-leading nine homers came against non-Big 12 opponents as he slugged .565 in those games to go with 35 runs driven in.
MAKING A NAME
Junior Will Brennan has already put his name in the K-State record books after just two seasons as a Wildcat ... Brennan broke the program's freshman hitting record in 2017 (.350), which had stood since 1977 ... Brennan's .359 average in his sophomore campaign led the team and upped his career average to .355 - which currently ranks 10th in K-State history ... The 6-foot leadoff hitter enters 2019 in seventh in the program charts with a career on-base percentage of .454 ... For the second straight season, Brennan was the toughest player in the Big 12 to strike out, going 20.0 at-bats per strikeout (220 AB, 11 K) last year - the eighth-best rate in the country ... For his career, Brennan has struck out only 23 times in 403 at-bats ... A two-way player, Brennan was voted First Team All-Big 12 in 2018 and was K-State's lone representative on the 2019 Preseason All-Big 12 team.
IRONMAN
Junior Cameron Thompson is the only current Wildcat to have started every game of his K-State career, starting all 109 games in two seasons ... Thompson, who was tabbed a Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball in 2017, started all 54 games at shortstop last year after starting all 55 games at center and second base his freshman season ... Thompson is expected to start at second base in 2019.
OPENING DAY
K-State is 7-3 in its last 10 games on Opening Day, but have dropped the last two, including a 12-5 loss to 17th-ranked South Alabama last season ... The Cats began 2018 0-3 before defeating Virginia Tech in the final game of the 19th Annual Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
MLB DRAFT
Junior Drew Mount was selected in MLB's 2018 First-Year Player Draft in the 16th round by the Cincinnati Reds ... Mount led K-State in home runs (9), triples (7), RBI (47) and steals (21) ... He marked the 15th consecutive season under head coach Brad Hill that K-State has had a player taken in the MLB Draft, as Hill oversaw 47 MLB Draft selections in his 15 seasons in Manhattan.
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