K-State Wraps Up West Coast Swing at Tony Gwynn Legacy

Friday, February 22

San Diego, Calif.

3 p.m.

Kansas State University

Fresno State

K-State Wraps Up West Coast Swing at Tony Gwynn Legacy

Feb 21, 2019 | Baseball

Listen Live Stats Game Notes (.pdf)

SAN DIEGO – K-State concludes its eight-game roadtrip to begin the 2019 season at the Tony Gwynn Legacy in San Diego, where it will meet Fresno State on Friday, before it meets Utah and host San Diego State over the three-day event.

K-State (2-3) will square off with Fresno State (2-1) at 3 p.m. CT on Friday prior to facing Utah (1-2) Saturday at 3 p.m. at Fowler Park The Wildcats will wrap up the weekend against the Aztecs (3-1) at Tony Gwynn Stadium on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Junior righty Tyler Eckberg will again get the nod on Friday after he struck out a career-high nine at CSUN to open the season.

Freshman lefty Jordan Wicks, who fanned seven without issuing a walk in his collegiate debut, will start Saturday against the Utes while junior left-hander Will Brennan will start the finale at SDSU. Brennan turned in a quality start at CSUN (6.0 IP, 3 ER) and retired the last 10 Matador hitters he faced.

The entire series can be heard on New Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and streaming free online at K-StateSports.com/watch.

GAME #6
K-STATE (2-3) vs. FRESNO STATE (2-1)
Friday, February 22 // 3 p.m. CT // Fowler Park (3,000) // San Diego, Calif.
Projected Starters: RHP Tyler Eckberg (0-0, 7.20 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Jensen (1-0, 3.60 ERA)
Watch: N/A
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz and Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #7
K-STATE (2-3) vs. UTAH (1-2)
Saturday, February 23 // 3 p.m. CT // Fowler Park (3,000) // San Diego, Calif.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (0-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. LHP Riley Pierce (0-1, 5.40 ERA)
Watch: N/A
Radio: N/A
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // John Kurtz and Christopher Brown
Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #8
K-STATE (2-3) at SAN DIEGO STATE (3-1)
Sunday, February 24 // 4 p.m. CT // Tony Gwynn Stadium (3,000) // San Diego, Calif.
Projected Starters: LHP Will Brennan (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Brad Wegmen (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
Watch: N/A
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz and Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Listen Online | Live Stats

A LOOK AT K-STATE
Through five games, K-State (2-3) has alternated wins and losses after a four-game split at CSUN and a one-run loss at California Baptist on Wednesday ... The Wildcats have held a lead in all five games this season, with three losses coming by a combined five runs ... Wednesday, K-State used a three-run eighth to take a one-run lead over the Lancers only to see CBU retake the lead with a pair of runs in the next half inning ... The Cats got a two-run double from Terrence Spurlin before a go-ahead single by Zach Kokoska ... Junior Will Brennan had two hits for his fourth multi-hit game of the season ... Brennan is the K-State leader in nearly every offensive category, including hits (11), average (.550), on-base (.625) and slugging percentage (.800) ... Brennan leads the Big 12 in average, hits and total bases.

A LOOK AT FRESNO STATE
After a weather-altered opening weekend, Fresno State took two of three games at home against Utah Valley ... The Bulldogs took the finale of a Monday doubleheader, 8-3, against the Wolverines ... Head coach Mike Batesole collected his 800th career win with a 6-3 win over UVU Saturday ... FSU was picked to finish third in the Mountain West Conference's preseason coaches poll and senior outfielder Zach Ashford and junior catcher Carter Bins were both named to the preseason all-conference team ...Ashford hit .352 last season while Bins hit .301 ... K-State is 0-2 all-time against the Bulldogs, dropping both games in 1993.

A LOOK AT UTAH
Utah opened its season in San Marcos, Texas, where the Utes went 1-2 with a 6-3 victory over Nevada ... Utah dropped games to No. 24 Missouri State (6-2) and Texas State (8-3) ... The Utes are paced by Erick Migueles who went 5-for-12 (.417) with a double and three RBI over the weekend ... Utah was voted 11th (last) in the Pac-12's preseason poll and returns seven starters ... K-State is 4-0 all-time vs. the Utes, last winning 20-4 in 2016 in Surprise, Ariz.

A LOOK AT SAN DIEGO STATE
San Diego State will be K-State's first opponent that appeared in the 2018 NCAA postseason, as the Aztecs earned a berth in the Corvallis Regional following a 39-21 record (18-12 MWC) and second place finish in the Mountain West ... SDSU was selected as the preseason favorite in the MWC and return 17 letterwinners and five starters ... The Aztecs begin the season 3-1, taking two of three games from San Francisco to go with a 9-3 win over No. 25 UC Irvine ... Four Aztec starters are hitting better than .350 to start the season, paced by Brian Leonhardt's .500 average (7-for-14) with four doubles ... K-State has won the last three meetings to take a 3-1 edge in the all-time series with SDSU, last winning 15-1 in 2012.

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).

REMEMBER THE 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 .364 - which currently ranks sixth 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 and ranks in the top four in OBP and slugging ... He entered 2019 in seventh in the program charts with a career on-base percentage of .454 and has upped that to .464 (5th).

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 at CSUN and ranks in the league's top 10 with a .438 average ... His .625 slugging percentage is ninth-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 114 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 has four starts at second base and one in center field 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 .469 slugging percentage and three Wildcats rank in the league's top 10 in the category (Brennan, Ceballos, Littlejim).

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.