Kansas State University Athletics
Tuesday, March 12
Manhattan, Kan.
3 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
Northern Illinois
K-State Welcomes NIU for Midweek Set
Mar 11, 2019 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. –K-State continues its 10-game homestand as the Northern Illinois Huskies travel to Tointon Family Stadium for a two-game series beginning Tuesday at 3 p.m.
The Wildcats (6-8), who just completed a three-game, home-opening series with Old Dominion over the weekend, will send junior Kasey Ford to the mound for the series opener. The game will mark the first-ever meeting between K-State and NIU.
Tuesday's game is the season's first Two-for-One Tuesday, featuring buy-one, get-one free tickets.
Game 2 of the series is set for Wednesday with a 3 p.m. first pitch, as both games will stream live on ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Coverage is also available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #15
K-STATE (6-8) vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS (3-11)
Tuesday, March 12 // 3 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Kasey Ford (0-0, 9.82 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Bonk (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Brian Smoller and Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters and John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Promotion: Two-for-One Tuesday | Buy Tickets
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #16
K-STATE (6-8) vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS (3-11)
Wednesday, March 13 // 3 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: TBA vs. TBA
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Brian Smoller and Craig Wilson
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters and Mitch Fortner
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats | Buy Tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (6-8) continues a 10-game homestand with a two-game midweek series against Northern Illinois (3-11) ... The Wildcats opened their home schedule last Friday with a three-game series with Old Dominion ... ODU took two of three games, claiming the series with an 8-2 win in the rubber match on Sunday ... K-State evened the series with a 6-2 Saturday victory, led by freshman Jordan Wicks who went seven innings and allowed just two hits in keeping the Monarchs scoreless ... Chris Ceballos hit a three-run home run and Terrence Spurlin added a solo homer in the initial home win in the tenure of first-year head coach Pete Hughes ... ODU began the series with a 5-0 shutout of the Cats on Friday ... Monarch starting pitcher Nick Pantos limited the K-State offense to three hits over 8 1/3 innings, striking out two and walking three ... In the series, Jordan Maxson and Spurlin each had a team-high three hits while Ceballos paced the Cats with four RBI.
A LOOK AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois comes to Manhattan with a 3-11 record to start the season ... NIU has dropped seven of its last eight games, including being swept in a three-game neutral site series against KU ... Southern Illinois took two of three games against the Huskies over the weekend ... Offensively, NIU is led by Kam Smith who has a team-high 17 hits and .298 average, with a double and four RBI ... As a team, the Huskies are hitting .240 with six home runs ... Freshman Nick Bonk will get the start in the series opener ... In two relief outings, Bonk has yet to allow an earned run over two innings, giving up two hits with a walk ... NIU finished ninth in the MAC standings in 2018 and was picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches' poll (out of 10 teams).
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Tuesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between K-State and Northern Illinois ... K-State is 18-2 all-time against current members of the Mid-American Conference, including a 13-0 record at home ... The Wildcats last faced a team from the MAC in 2010, defeating Kent State and Western Michigan that season.
FINDING A RHYTHM
Over the last six games, the K-State pitching staff has turned in a 2.83 earned run average (17 ER, 54.0 IP) ... In that span, Wildcat pitchers have struck out 48 hitters against 16 walks allowed ... Opponents are hitting .210 against the Cats pitching staff to go with a combined shutout against Old Dominion on Saturday ... Over the last six games, seven different Wildcat pitchers appeared and failed to yield an earned run.
FROM THE PEN
Against Old Dominion, the Wildcat bullpen surrendered just four base hits over 6 2/3 innings ... The Monarchs hit .174 against the K-State pen ... In the Wildcats' first series victory of the season over San Francisco, the K-State bullpen was nearly flawless ... In the three-game set, the Wildcat pen turned in a 1.80 ERA (2 ER, 10.0 IP) with a .216 batting average against ... Entering the series with the Dons, the K-State pen owned a 6.67 ERA (22 ER, 29.2 IP) and opponents hit .276 against them ... Over the last six games, Wildcat relievers have a 3.24 ERA while opponents have a .200 average.
IMPACT LEFTY
Freshman left-handed pitcher Jordan Wicks has made four straight Saturday starts to open the season, going 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA (3 ER, 23.0 IP) while picking up 25 strikeouts to pace the Wildcats ... In his last start against ODU, Wicks matched his season-long outing of seven innings pitched, he did not allow a run on two hits in the win ... Against San Francisco, Wicks struck out a career-high eight batters over four innings while holding the Dons scoreless ... Wicks has turned in two quality outings in his four starts while K-State is 4-0 in games he has started ... His 25 strikeouts are tied for fifth-most in the Big 12 and Wicks has issued only six walks over his 23 innings pitched.
BOMBS AWAY
K-State hit two home runs in its 6-2 win over Old Dominion Saturday, upping its season home run total to 11 ... With a roster that retained just six home runs from 2018, K-State has had eight different players hit a home run - each the first of their respective careers ... Caleb Littlejim, Dylan Phillips and Terrence Spurlin are all tied for the team lead with a pair of homers each ... Eight of K-State's 11 home runs have been hit by the Nos. 6-9 hitters in the lineup and five have come in the eighth and ninth innings.
WHATS THE SITCH?
In the series against Old Dominion, K-State had just three hits in 28 at-bats (.107) with two outs, and had just one two-out RBI ... In the previous two games against San Francisco, K-State combined to go 15-for-27 (.556) with two outs ... The Cats hit .188 (3-for-16) with runners in scoring position against the Monarchs ... Additionally, the Cats hit .579 (11-for-19) with runners in scoring position in the last two games vs. USF ... For the season, K-State is hitting .295 with runners in scoring position and .247 with two outs.
CLOZER
Senior Mitch Zubradt has thrown the final out in each of K-State's first four wins - and five of six victories - this season ... In seven total innings thrown, Zubradt has given up just one hit without a run allowed ... He 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 over CSUN on Feb. 16 ... In the finale at CSUN, Zubradt tossed three innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one hit while picking up five strikeouts in earning the win ... Of his 44 pitches in the victory, 32 of them went for strikes ... Zubradt recorded a five-out save, without yielding a hit, in a 6-4 win over Utah in San Diego.
WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY
K-State's two-way player Will Brennan has already put his name in the K-State record books ... Brennan broke the program's freshman hitting record in 2017 (.350), which had stood since 1977 ... Brennan has upped his career average to .360 - which currently ranks sixth in K-State history - with his team-leading .396 average through 14 games ... The 6-foot left-handed hitter has hit in the three hole and cleanup spot in the lineup as well as starting on the mound the last four series finales for the Cats ... Brennan leads the team in a number of offensive categories, including hitting, on-base percentage, slugging, extra-base hits, RBI and steals ... His career OBP of .457 is fifth all-time at K-State.
The Wildcats (6-8), who just completed a three-game, home-opening series with Old Dominion over the weekend, will send junior Kasey Ford to the mound for the series opener. The game will mark the first-ever meeting between K-State and NIU.
Tuesday's game is the season's first Two-for-One Tuesday, featuring buy-one, get-one free tickets.
Game 2 of the series is set for Wednesday with a 3 p.m. first pitch, as both games will stream live on ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Coverage is also available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #15
K-STATE (6-8) vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS (3-11)
Tuesday, March 12 // 3 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Kasey Ford (0-0, 9.82 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Bonk (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Brian Smoller and Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters and John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Promotion: Two-for-One Tuesday | Buy Tickets
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #16
K-STATE (6-8) vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS (3-11)
Wednesday, March 13 // 3 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: TBA vs. TBA
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Brian Smoller and Craig Wilson
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters and Mitch Fortner
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats | Buy Tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (6-8) continues a 10-game homestand with a two-game midweek series against Northern Illinois (3-11) ... The Wildcats opened their home schedule last Friday with a three-game series with Old Dominion ... ODU took two of three games, claiming the series with an 8-2 win in the rubber match on Sunday ... K-State evened the series with a 6-2 Saturday victory, led by freshman Jordan Wicks who went seven innings and allowed just two hits in keeping the Monarchs scoreless ... Chris Ceballos hit a three-run home run and Terrence Spurlin added a solo homer in the initial home win in the tenure of first-year head coach Pete Hughes ... ODU began the series with a 5-0 shutout of the Cats on Friday ... Monarch starting pitcher Nick Pantos limited the K-State offense to three hits over 8 1/3 innings, striking out two and walking three ... In the series, Jordan Maxson and Spurlin each had a team-high three hits while Ceballos paced the Cats with four RBI.
A LOOK AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois comes to Manhattan with a 3-11 record to start the season ... NIU has dropped seven of its last eight games, including being swept in a three-game neutral site series against KU ... Southern Illinois took two of three games against the Huskies over the weekend ... Offensively, NIU is led by Kam Smith who has a team-high 17 hits and .298 average, with a double and four RBI ... As a team, the Huskies are hitting .240 with six home runs ... Freshman Nick Bonk will get the start in the series opener ... In two relief outings, Bonk has yet to allow an earned run over two innings, giving up two hits with a walk ... NIU finished ninth in the MAC standings in 2018 and was picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches' poll (out of 10 teams).
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Tuesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between K-State and Northern Illinois ... K-State is 18-2 all-time against current members of the Mid-American Conference, including a 13-0 record at home ... The Wildcats last faced a team from the MAC in 2010, defeating Kent State and Western Michigan that season.
FINDING A RHYTHM
Over the last six games, the K-State pitching staff has turned in a 2.83 earned run average (17 ER, 54.0 IP) ... In that span, Wildcat pitchers have struck out 48 hitters against 16 walks allowed ... Opponents are hitting .210 against the Cats pitching staff to go with a combined shutout against Old Dominion on Saturday ... Over the last six games, seven different Wildcat pitchers appeared and failed to yield an earned run.
FROM THE PEN
Against Old Dominion, the Wildcat bullpen surrendered just four base hits over 6 2/3 innings ... The Monarchs hit .174 against the K-State pen ... In the Wildcats' first series victory of the season over San Francisco, the K-State bullpen was nearly flawless ... In the three-game set, the Wildcat pen turned in a 1.80 ERA (2 ER, 10.0 IP) with a .216 batting average against ... Entering the series with the Dons, the K-State pen owned a 6.67 ERA (22 ER, 29.2 IP) and opponents hit .276 against them ... Over the last six games, Wildcat relievers have a 3.24 ERA while opponents have a .200 average.
IMPACT LEFTY
Freshman left-handed pitcher Jordan Wicks has made four straight Saturday starts to open the season, going 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA (3 ER, 23.0 IP) while picking up 25 strikeouts to pace the Wildcats ... In his last start against ODU, Wicks matched his season-long outing of seven innings pitched, he did not allow a run on two hits in the win ... Against San Francisco, Wicks struck out a career-high eight batters over four innings while holding the Dons scoreless ... Wicks has turned in two quality outings in his four starts while K-State is 4-0 in games he has started ... His 25 strikeouts are tied for fifth-most in the Big 12 and Wicks has issued only six walks over his 23 innings pitched.
BOMBS AWAY
K-State hit two home runs in its 6-2 win over Old Dominion Saturday, upping its season home run total to 11 ... With a roster that retained just six home runs from 2018, K-State has had eight different players hit a home run - each the first of their respective careers ... Caleb Littlejim, Dylan Phillips and Terrence Spurlin are all tied for the team lead with a pair of homers each ... Eight of K-State's 11 home runs have been hit by the Nos. 6-9 hitters in the lineup and five have come in the eighth and ninth innings.
WHATS THE SITCH?
In the series against Old Dominion, K-State had just three hits in 28 at-bats (.107) with two outs, and had just one two-out RBI ... In the previous two games against San Francisco, K-State combined to go 15-for-27 (.556) with two outs ... The Cats hit .188 (3-for-16) with runners in scoring position against the Monarchs ... Additionally, the Cats hit .579 (11-for-19) with runners in scoring position in the last two games vs. USF ... For the season, K-State is hitting .295 with runners in scoring position and .247 with two outs.
CLOZER
Senior Mitch Zubradt has thrown the final out in each of K-State's first four wins - and five of six victories - this season ... In seven total innings thrown, Zubradt has given up just one hit without a run allowed ... He 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 over CSUN on Feb. 16 ... In the finale at CSUN, Zubradt tossed three innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one hit while picking up five strikeouts in earning the win ... Of his 44 pitches in the victory, 32 of them went for strikes ... Zubradt recorded a five-out save, without yielding a hit, in a 6-4 win over Utah in San Diego.
WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY
K-State's two-way player Will Brennan has already put his name in the K-State record books ... Brennan broke the program's freshman hitting record in 2017 (.350), which had stood since 1977 ... Brennan has upped his career average to .360 - which currently ranks sixth in K-State history - with his team-leading .396 average through 14 games ... The 6-foot left-handed hitter has hit in the three hole and cleanup spot in the lineup as well as starting on the mound the last four series finales for the Cats ... Brennan leads the team in a number of offensive categories, including hitting, on-base percentage, slugging, extra-base hits, RBI and steals ... His career OBP of .457 is fifth all-time at K-State.
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