Kansas State University Athletics
Wednesday, February 20
Riverside, Calif.
4 p.m
Kansas State University
at
California Baptist
K-State Makes Mid-Week Stop at CBU
Feb 19, 2019 | Baseball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – K-State continues an eight-game road swing through Southern California with a Wednesday night matchup at California Baptist at James W. Totman Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 8 p.m. CT.
K-State (2-2) completed its season-opening weekend with a four-game split at CSUN over the weekend. Through four games, the Wildcats lead the Big 12 in slugging percentage (.500) behind 15 extra-base hits, including five home runs.
Junior Will Brennan is currently the conference's leader with a .600 average while junior-college transfer Chris Ceballos is second with a .583 average. Brennan hit his first career home run Saturday while Ceballos went 4-for-5 with a double, triple and three RBI in Monday's 11-5 win over the Matadors.
Freshman lefty Joey Martin will get the start for Pete Hughes' squad, going opposite CBU redshirt sophomore left-hander Chris Burica.
This will be the first meeting between the Wildcats and Lancers, as CBU is in its first year as a Division I program. CBU completed a four-game home sweep of Northern Illinois over the weekend.
Wednesday's game will stream live on CBULancers.com along with coverage on New Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live audio will also stream online at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #5
K-STATE (2-2) at CBU (4-0)
Wednesday, February 20 // 8 p.m. CT // James W. Totman Stadium (1,000) // Riverside, Calif.
Projected Starters: LHP Joey Martin (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. LHP Chris Burica (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: CBULancers.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
In the season's opening weekend, K-State split a four-game series at CSUN ... Fueled by a six-run ninth inning, the Wildcats claimed an 11-5 win in the series finale to earn the split ... Following a suspended Opening Day, K-State dropped the opener 10-8 after holding an 8-4 lead only to respond with a 6-5 win in Game 2 behind three home runs ... Sunday saw the Matadors take a 2-1 series lead with a 4-2 win ... K-State held a lead in all four games in the series ... As a team, five different Cats hit their first career home runs over the four games ... Brennan led the K-State offense, going 9-for-15 with a home run, two doubles and three runs batted in ... Newcomer Chris Ceballos collected seven hits, including a double and a triple with four RBI.
A LOOK AT CBU
California Baptist, entering its first season as a Division I program, completed a four-game home sweep of Northern Illinois ... CBU swept a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday at James W. Totman Stadium, including an 8-0 shutout to complete the series sweep ... The Lancers pitching staff surrendered just nine earned runs over 34 innings pitched (2.38 ERA), picking up 38 strikeouts against only nine walks ... Left-handed pitcher Chris Burica, who is slated to start Wednesday night, tossed 2 2/3 hitless innings in a victory over the weekend ... The Lancers were voted in a fifth-place tie in the WAC's preseason coaches' poll.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State and CBU will be meeting for the first time in the Lancers' first season as a Division I program ... The Wildcats own a 42-8 (.840) record against teams from the Western Athletic Conference.
THROW UP THE Z
Senior Mitch Zubradt has thrown the final out in both of K-State's wins this season ... Saturday, Zubradt entered the game with runners on base and struck out the only batter he faced to collect his first career save and preserve a 6-5 win ... Monday, Zubradt tossed three innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one hit while picking up five strikeouts in earning the win ... Of his 44 pitches Monday, 32 of them went for strikes ... Zubradt is one of two four-year seniors on the roster (Brogan Heinen).
DOING IT ALL
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 left-handed hitter has move to the three hole in the lineup and has continued his success, leading the league in hitting, OBP and second in slugging ... He entered 2019 in seventh in the program charts with a career on-base percentage of .454 ... Brennan turned in a quality start on the mound Sunday, going six innings with three earned runs allowed ... Brennan retired the last 10 batters he faced and 16 of 18 overall after a three-run first inning.
BURST ON THE SCENE
In his first games in a K-State uniform, junior-college transfer Chris Ceballos broke out with a four-hit game Monday that included a double, triple and three RBI ... Ceballos hit safely in all three games he caught and is currently second in the Big 12 to teammate Will Brennan with a .583 average ... His .833 slugging percentage is fifth-highest in the league.
IRONMAN
Junior Cameron Thompson is the only current Wildcat to have started every game of his K-State career, starting all 113 games now in his third season ... 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.
POWER SURGE
With a roster that retained just six home runs, K-State saw five different players belt home runs in its first four games vs. CSUN ... All five home runs marked the first of their respective careers: Caleb Littlejim, Will Brennan, Dylan Phillips, Thomas Hughes and Terrence Spurlin ... Littlejim, a junior who is making his first starts in the field and at the plate, hit a game-tying two-run home run in the season opener .. Brennan and Hughes each hit go-ahead home runs, as Brennan's came in the top of the ninth on Saturday at CSUN that broke a 3-3 tie ... As a team, K-State leads the Big 12 with a .500 slugging percentage.
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.
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.
K-State (2-2) completed its season-opening weekend with a four-game split at CSUN over the weekend. Through four games, the Wildcats lead the Big 12 in slugging percentage (.500) behind 15 extra-base hits, including five home runs.
Junior Will Brennan is currently the conference's leader with a .600 average while junior-college transfer Chris Ceballos is second with a .583 average. Brennan hit his first career home run Saturday while Ceballos went 4-for-5 with a double, triple and three RBI in Monday's 11-5 win over the Matadors.
Freshman lefty Joey Martin will get the start for Pete Hughes' squad, going opposite CBU redshirt sophomore left-hander Chris Burica.
This will be the first meeting between the Wildcats and Lancers, as CBU is in its first year as a Division I program. CBU completed a four-game home sweep of Northern Illinois over the weekend.
Wednesday's game will stream live on CBULancers.com along with coverage on New Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live audio will also stream online at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #5
K-STATE (2-2) at CBU (4-0)
Wednesday, February 20 // 8 p.m. CT // James W. Totman Stadium (1,000) // Riverside, Calif.
Projected Starters: LHP Joey Martin (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. LHP Chris Burica (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: CBULancers.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
In the season's opening weekend, K-State split a four-game series at CSUN ... Fueled by a six-run ninth inning, the Wildcats claimed an 11-5 win in the series finale to earn the split ... Following a suspended Opening Day, K-State dropped the opener 10-8 after holding an 8-4 lead only to respond with a 6-5 win in Game 2 behind three home runs ... Sunday saw the Matadors take a 2-1 series lead with a 4-2 win ... K-State held a lead in all four games in the series ... As a team, five different Cats hit their first career home runs over the four games ... Brennan led the K-State offense, going 9-for-15 with a home run, two doubles and three runs batted in ... Newcomer Chris Ceballos collected seven hits, including a double and a triple with four RBI.
A LOOK AT CBU
California Baptist, entering its first season as a Division I program, completed a four-game home sweep of Northern Illinois ... CBU swept a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday at James W. Totman Stadium, including an 8-0 shutout to complete the series sweep ... The Lancers pitching staff surrendered just nine earned runs over 34 innings pitched (2.38 ERA), picking up 38 strikeouts against only nine walks ... Left-handed pitcher Chris Burica, who is slated to start Wednesday night, tossed 2 2/3 hitless innings in a victory over the weekend ... The Lancers were voted in a fifth-place tie in the WAC's preseason coaches' poll.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State and CBU will be meeting for the first time in the Lancers' first season as a Division I program ... The Wildcats own a 42-8 (.840) record against teams from the Western Athletic Conference.
THROW UP THE Z
Senior Mitch Zubradt has thrown the final out in both of K-State's wins this season ... Saturday, Zubradt entered the game with runners on base and struck out the only batter he faced to collect his first career save and preserve a 6-5 win ... Monday, Zubradt tossed three innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one hit while picking up five strikeouts in earning the win ... Of his 44 pitches Monday, 32 of them went for strikes ... Zubradt is one of two four-year seniors on the roster (Brogan Heinen).
DOING IT ALL
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 left-handed hitter has move to the three hole in the lineup and has continued his success, leading the league in hitting, OBP and second in slugging ... He entered 2019 in seventh in the program charts with a career on-base percentage of .454 ... Brennan turned in a quality start on the mound Sunday, going six innings with three earned runs allowed ... Brennan retired the last 10 batters he faced and 16 of 18 overall after a three-run first inning.
BURST ON THE SCENE
In his first games in a K-State uniform, junior-college transfer Chris Ceballos broke out with a four-hit game Monday that included a double, triple and three RBI ... Ceballos hit safely in all three games he caught and is currently second in the Big 12 to teammate Will Brennan with a .583 average ... His .833 slugging percentage is fifth-highest in the league.
IRONMAN
Junior Cameron Thompson is the only current Wildcat to have started every game of his K-State career, starting all 113 games now in his third season ... 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.
POWER SURGE
With a roster that retained just six home runs, K-State saw five different players belt home runs in its first four games vs. CSUN ... All five home runs marked the first of their respective careers: Caleb Littlejim, Will Brennan, Dylan Phillips, Thomas Hughes and Terrence Spurlin ... Littlejim, a junior who is making his first starts in the field and at the plate, hit a game-tying two-run home run in the season opener .. Brennan and Hughes each hit go-ahead home runs, as Brennan's came in the top of the ninth on Saturday at CSUN that broke a 3-3 tie ... As a team, K-State leads the Big 12 with a .500 slugging percentage.
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.
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.
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