Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, April 26
Manhattan, Kan.
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
Oklahoma
K-State, Oklahoma Prepped for Big 12 Battle
Apr 25, 2019 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State seeks its third consecutive conference series victory as it takes on Oklahoma in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium.
K-State (20-22, 5-7 Big 12), winners of seven of its last nine games, took two of three games from then-No. 19 TCU last weekend before a 9-2 win at Omaha on Tuesday. Oklahoma (28-14, 6-6 Big 12) has won three straight contests and sits one game ahead of K-State in the Big 12 standings.
K-State will send Griffin Hassall to the hill for the series opener, marking his seventh straight series-opening start. Hassall was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after allowing three hits over a career-long 7 2/3 innings in a win over the Horned Frogs.
Junior Caleb Littlejim will take the hill on Saturday, with first pitch set for 4 p.m. Littlejim has won each of his last three midweek starts and will make his first weekend start of the season.
Freshman lefty Jordan Wicks, who ranks in the Big 12's top five in both ERA and strikeouts, is slated to work in the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. Wicks has also earned conference Newcomer of the Week honors after tossing a five-hit shutout of Texas on April 14.
Tickets remain for Sunday's series finale, as the first two games of the series have sold out.
Friday's game will be broadcast on FOX College Sports Central and K-StateHD.TV. Games 2 and 3 of the series are set to 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 #43
K-STATE (20-22, 5-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (28-14, 6-6 BIG 12)
Friday, April 26 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Griffin Hassall (2-1, 2.33 ERA) vs. RHP Nathan Wiles (6-2, 3.71 ERA)
Watch: FCS Central // K-StateHD.TV // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Anna Christianson
Radio: K-State Sports Radio Network // Matt Walters, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Promotion: Pack the Park | (SOLD OUT)
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #44
K-STATE (20-22, 5-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (28-14, 6-6 BIG 12)
Saturday, April 27 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Caleb Littlejim (4-1, 3.76 ERA) vs. LHP Levi Prater (6-3, 2.20 ERA)
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Anna Christianson
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz, Mason Voth
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Promotion: Postgame Autographs // Bat Hat Giveaway (SOLD OUT)
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #45
K-STATE (20-22, 5-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (28-14, 6-6 BIG 12)
Sunday, April 28 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (5-1, 2.52 ERA) vs. RHP Ben Abram (6-1, 3.10 ERA)
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Anna Christianson
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Promotion: Willie's Fun Zone // Family 4-Pack | Buy Tickets
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (20-22, 5-7 Big 12) returns to Tointon Family Stadium for a three-game conference series against Oklahoma starting Friday ... The Wildcats made a Tuesday night trip to Omaha, completing a home-and-home series sweep of the Mavericks with a 9-2 win ... Will Brennan and Zach Kokoska each homered against the Mavs, as the Cats scored eight of their nine runs in the first two innings ... Dylan Phillips, an Omaha native, matched his career high with three hits Tuesday ... K-State is coming off its second consecutive Big 12 series win over a ranked team after taking two of three games against No. 19 TCU over the weekend ... Behind Griffin Hassall's career-high 7 2/3 innings, the Cats claimed the series opener 7-4 ... Hassall scattered three hits and allowed one earned run with five strikeouts, earning him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week ... In the series' rubber match, K-State erased a five-run deficit as it scored nine unanswered runs over the seventh and eighth frames ... After TCU used a four-run ninth to tie the game at 10, Rainer Ausmus dropped a squeeze bunt to complete the walk-off victory for the Cats ... K-State homered in all three games over the weekend, extending its home run streak to eight games ... In the series, Will Brennan, Zach Kokoska and Cameron Thompson each had four hits while Thompson homered for the third time in his last five games ... Chris Ceballos and Terrence Spurlin also homered in the series, as Spurlin drove in a career-high four runs in the series opener ... K-State has now won five of its last six games and seven of its last nine following a 1-9 stretch.
A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma (28-14, 6-6 Big 12) visits Manhattan in a fifth-place tie in the Big 12 standings and one game ahead of K-State ... Last weekend, Oklahoma took two of three games at Minnesota in a non-conference series ... Following a 9-4 win at Wichita State Tuesday night, the Sooners have won three straight games following a season-long four-game losing skid ... OU has dropped three consecutive conference series after a three-game sweep of Kansas to open its conference slate ... As a pitching staff, the Sooners are second in the conference with a 3.26 team ERA ... Levi Prater has the second-lowest earned run average in the conference at 2.20 while Cade Cavalli and Ben Abram are tied for seventh at 3.10 ... Closer Jason Ruffcorn is the league leader with 10 saves in 24 appearances ... Tyler Hardman leads the Sooners with his .320 average, five homers and 33 runs batted in.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Oklahoma leads the all-time series 199-79-1 (47-19 Big 12), dating back to 1913 ... K-State is 49-85 at home all-time vs. Oklahoma ... OU has taken the last four matchups between the teams and nine of the last 10 overall ... The Wildcats last won a series against the Sooners in 2013, taking two of three games at Tointon Family Stadium ... Last season, OU swept the three-game series in Norman ... The Cats last swept a home series with Oklahoma in 1995 (two-game series) and were last swept at home in 1986 (four games) ... Going back to 2015, the Wildcats are 3-11 against OU.
SAME FACE, NEW PLACE
K-State's first-year head coach Pete Hughes spent four seasons (2014-17) as the head coach at Oklahoma, going 128-107-1 with an NCAA Regional appearance in his final season in Norman .. Hughes became the first man to lead two Big 12 programs when he was named K-State's 21st head baseball coach on June 8, 2018 ... In four seasons with OU, Hughes went 10-5 against K-State.
HALFWAY HOME
Twelve games into K-State's 24-game conference schedule has the Wildcats sitting with a 5-7 record, matching their win total in all of 2018 (5-19) ... K-State has not qualified for the Big 12 Championship since the 2016 season ... K-State seeks its third straight conference series victory, a feat the Cats have not accomplished since the 2013 season ... In conference games, Zach Kokoska ranks in the league's top 10 with his .348 average while Griffin Hassall is fourth with a 2.05 ERA.
PAIR OF ACES
K-State freshmen Griffin Hassall and Jordan Wicks have claimed back-to-back Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors ... Thursday against No. 19 TCU, Hassall went a career-long 7 2/3 innings pitched as he allowed one run on three hits to pick up his second straight win over a top-25 team ... Hassall struck out five with one walk issued ... In the series rubber match at No. 14 Texas, Wicks tossed a five-hit shutout of the Longhorns to clinch K-State's second-ever road series victory over a ranked team ... Wicks retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced, including a stretch of 11 straight at one point ... K-State is 8-2 in games Wicks starts.
POWER SURGE
K-State hit at least one home run in nine straight games, including one in all three games vs. TCU over the weekend ... K-State has hit 12 homers in the last nine games, led by Cameron Thompson who has three over the last five games ... Prior to its three-homer game against Omaha on April 10, the K-State offense had just two home runs over its last 11 games - including a stretch of five consecutive outings without a bomb ... Zach Kokoska hit his sixth home run Tuesday night at Omaha, tying him for the team lead with Chris Ceballos and Caleb Littlejim ... Littlejim did not have an at-bat his previous two seasons ... Twenty-nine of K-State's 34 home runs this season have been hit by newcomers or by someone without a home run last season ... The Wildcats are 17-7 when hitting a home run and 6-1 when hitting multiple home runs.
KOKO GOIN' LOCO
K-State sophomore Zach Kokoska has catapulted himself to the top of K-State's leaderboard in all three slash categories with a .329 average, .402 on-base percentage and a .529 slugging percentage ... Kokoska is currently riding a season-long 11-game hitting streak, the longest streak by any Wildcat this season ... Over the last 11 games, Kokoska is hitting .341 with three homers, nine RBI and three doubles ... The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, product hit in the cleanup spot for the first time in the Texas series ... He is second on the team with 26 runs batted in and third with 12 multi-hit games ... Kokoska boasts a team-best .348 average in Big 12 games ... Kokoska, in his first season at K-State after transferring from Virginia Tech, has hit safely in 23 of his last 29 games, raising his average from .262 to .329.
WINNING TIME
In K-State's 20 wins this season, the Wildcats are hitting .370 with runners in scoring position and .322 with two outs ... Conversely, the Cats have a .188 average with runners in scoring position while hitting .175 with two outs over 22 losses ... K-State has produced 51 two-out RBI in victories with just 18 in 22 losses ... Overall, K-State hits .301 in victories against just .222 in defeats ... In 22 losses, K-State pitchers have combined for 111 walks (5.1 per game) while in victories the staff averages 3.4 walks per game (64 walks in 19 wins) ... K-State hit .542 (13-for-24) with runners in scoring position in its three-game series vs. TCU with six two-out RBI.
NO K FOR YOU
Junior Will Brennan owns the title of toughest player to strike out in the nation, going 22.9 at-bats per strikeout this season (160 AB, 7 K) ... Brennan's struck out Friday vs. TCU, snapping a streak of 57 consecutive at-bats without a strikeout ... His 22.9 rate is nearly five at-bats better than second place in the nation (18.0) ... Brennan has had just four multi-strikeouts games in his career and has never struck out more than twice in a game ... The Stilwell native has finished each of the last two seasons as the toughest hitter in the conference to punch out ... Brennan owns a career at-bat-to-strikeout ratio of 18.8, with just 30 strikeouts in 563 at-bats.
K-State (20-22, 5-7 Big 12), winners of seven of its last nine games, took two of three games from then-No. 19 TCU last weekend before a 9-2 win at Omaha on Tuesday. Oklahoma (28-14, 6-6 Big 12) has won three straight contests and sits one game ahead of K-State in the Big 12 standings.
K-State will send Griffin Hassall to the hill for the series opener, marking his seventh straight series-opening start. Hassall was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after allowing three hits over a career-long 7 2/3 innings in a win over the Horned Frogs.
Junior Caleb Littlejim will take the hill on Saturday, with first pitch set for 4 p.m. Littlejim has won each of his last three midweek starts and will make his first weekend start of the season.
Freshman lefty Jordan Wicks, who ranks in the Big 12's top five in both ERA and strikeouts, is slated to work in the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m. Wicks has also earned conference Newcomer of the Week honors after tossing a five-hit shutout of Texas on April 14.
Tickets remain for Sunday's series finale, as the first two games of the series have sold out.
Friday's game will be broadcast on FOX College Sports Central and K-StateHD.TV. Games 2 and 3 of the series are set to 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 #43
K-STATE (20-22, 5-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (28-14, 6-6 BIG 12)
Friday, April 26 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Griffin Hassall (2-1, 2.33 ERA) vs. RHP Nathan Wiles (6-2, 3.71 ERA)
Watch: FCS Central // K-StateHD.TV // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Anna Christianson
Radio: K-State Sports Radio Network // Matt Walters, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Promotion: Pack the Park | (SOLD OUT)
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #44
K-STATE (20-22, 5-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (28-14, 6-6 BIG 12)
Saturday, April 27 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Caleb Littlejim (4-1, 3.76 ERA) vs. LHP Levi Prater (6-3, 2.20 ERA)
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Anna Christianson
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz, Mason Voth
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Promotion: Postgame Autographs // Bat Hat Giveaway (SOLD OUT)
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
GAME #45
K-STATE (20-22, 5-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (28-14, 6-6 BIG 12)
Sunday, April 28 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (5-1, 2.52 ERA) vs. RHP Ben Abram (6-1, 3.10 ERA)
Watch: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Anna Christianson
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Promotion: Willie's Fun Zone // Family 4-Pack | Buy Tickets
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (20-22, 5-7 Big 12) returns to Tointon Family Stadium for a three-game conference series against Oklahoma starting Friday ... The Wildcats made a Tuesday night trip to Omaha, completing a home-and-home series sweep of the Mavericks with a 9-2 win ... Will Brennan and Zach Kokoska each homered against the Mavs, as the Cats scored eight of their nine runs in the first two innings ... Dylan Phillips, an Omaha native, matched his career high with three hits Tuesday ... K-State is coming off its second consecutive Big 12 series win over a ranked team after taking two of three games against No. 19 TCU over the weekend ... Behind Griffin Hassall's career-high 7 2/3 innings, the Cats claimed the series opener 7-4 ... Hassall scattered three hits and allowed one earned run with five strikeouts, earning him Big 12 Newcomer of the Week ... In the series' rubber match, K-State erased a five-run deficit as it scored nine unanswered runs over the seventh and eighth frames ... After TCU used a four-run ninth to tie the game at 10, Rainer Ausmus dropped a squeeze bunt to complete the walk-off victory for the Cats ... K-State homered in all three games over the weekend, extending its home run streak to eight games ... In the series, Will Brennan, Zach Kokoska and Cameron Thompson each had four hits while Thompson homered for the third time in his last five games ... Chris Ceballos and Terrence Spurlin also homered in the series, as Spurlin drove in a career-high four runs in the series opener ... K-State has now won five of its last six games and seven of its last nine following a 1-9 stretch.
A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma (28-14, 6-6 Big 12) visits Manhattan in a fifth-place tie in the Big 12 standings and one game ahead of K-State ... Last weekend, Oklahoma took two of three games at Minnesota in a non-conference series ... Following a 9-4 win at Wichita State Tuesday night, the Sooners have won three straight games following a season-long four-game losing skid ... OU has dropped three consecutive conference series after a three-game sweep of Kansas to open its conference slate ... As a pitching staff, the Sooners are second in the conference with a 3.26 team ERA ... Levi Prater has the second-lowest earned run average in the conference at 2.20 while Cade Cavalli and Ben Abram are tied for seventh at 3.10 ... Closer Jason Ruffcorn is the league leader with 10 saves in 24 appearances ... Tyler Hardman leads the Sooners with his .320 average, five homers and 33 runs batted in.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
Oklahoma leads the all-time series 199-79-1 (47-19 Big 12), dating back to 1913 ... K-State is 49-85 at home all-time vs. Oklahoma ... OU has taken the last four matchups between the teams and nine of the last 10 overall ... The Wildcats last won a series against the Sooners in 2013, taking two of three games at Tointon Family Stadium ... Last season, OU swept the three-game series in Norman ... The Cats last swept a home series with Oklahoma in 1995 (two-game series) and were last swept at home in 1986 (four games) ... Going back to 2015, the Wildcats are 3-11 against OU.
SAME FACE, NEW PLACE
K-State's first-year head coach Pete Hughes spent four seasons (2014-17) as the head coach at Oklahoma, going 128-107-1 with an NCAA Regional appearance in his final season in Norman .. Hughes became the first man to lead two Big 12 programs when he was named K-State's 21st head baseball coach on June 8, 2018 ... In four seasons with OU, Hughes went 10-5 against K-State.
HALFWAY HOME
Twelve games into K-State's 24-game conference schedule has the Wildcats sitting with a 5-7 record, matching their win total in all of 2018 (5-19) ... K-State has not qualified for the Big 12 Championship since the 2016 season ... K-State seeks its third straight conference series victory, a feat the Cats have not accomplished since the 2013 season ... In conference games, Zach Kokoska ranks in the league's top 10 with his .348 average while Griffin Hassall is fourth with a 2.05 ERA.
PAIR OF ACES
K-State freshmen Griffin Hassall and Jordan Wicks have claimed back-to-back Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors ... Thursday against No. 19 TCU, Hassall went a career-long 7 2/3 innings pitched as he allowed one run on three hits to pick up his second straight win over a top-25 team ... Hassall struck out five with one walk issued ... In the series rubber match at No. 14 Texas, Wicks tossed a five-hit shutout of the Longhorns to clinch K-State's second-ever road series victory over a ranked team ... Wicks retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced, including a stretch of 11 straight at one point ... K-State is 8-2 in games Wicks starts.
POWER SURGE
K-State hit at least one home run in nine straight games, including one in all three games vs. TCU over the weekend ... K-State has hit 12 homers in the last nine games, led by Cameron Thompson who has three over the last five games ... Prior to its three-homer game against Omaha on April 10, the K-State offense had just two home runs over its last 11 games - including a stretch of five consecutive outings without a bomb ... Zach Kokoska hit his sixth home run Tuesday night at Omaha, tying him for the team lead with Chris Ceballos and Caleb Littlejim ... Littlejim did not have an at-bat his previous two seasons ... Twenty-nine of K-State's 34 home runs this season have been hit by newcomers or by someone without a home run last season ... The Wildcats are 17-7 when hitting a home run and 6-1 when hitting multiple home runs.
KOKO GOIN' LOCO
K-State sophomore Zach Kokoska has catapulted himself to the top of K-State's leaderboard in all three slash categories with a .329 average, .402 on-base percentage and a .529 slugging percentage ... Kokoska is currently riding a season-long 11-game hitting streak, the longest streak by any Wildcat this season ... Over the last 11 games, Kokoska is hitting .341 with three homers, nine RBI and three doubles ... The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, product hit in the cleanup spot for the first time in the Texas series ... He is second on the team with 26 runs batted in and third with 12 multi-hit games ... Kokoska boasts a team-best .348 average in Big 12 games ... Kokoska, in his first season at K-State after transferring from Virginia Tech, has hit safely in 23 of his last 29 games, raising his average from .262 to .329.
WINNING TIME
In K-State's 20 wins this season, the Wildcats are hitting .370 with runners in scoring position and .322 with two outs ... Conversely, the Cats have a .188 average with runners in scoring position while hitting .175 with two outs over 22 losses ... K-State has produced 51 two-out RBI in victories with just 18 in 22 losses ... Overall, K-State hits .301 in victories against just .222 in defeats ... In 22 losses, K-State pitchers have combined for 111 walks (5.1 per game) while in victories the staff averages 3.4 walks per game (64 walks in 19 wins) ... K-State hit .542 (13-for-24) with runners in scoring position in its three-game series vs. TCU with six two-out RBI.
NO K FOR YOU
Junior Will Brennan owns the title of toughest player to strike out in the nation, going 22.9 at-bats per strikeout this season (160 AB, 7 K) ... Brennan's struck out Friday vs. TCU, snapping a streak of 57 consecutive at-bats without a strikeout ... His 22.9 rate is nearly five at-bats better than second place in the nation (18.0) ... Brennan has had just four multi-strikeouts games in his career and has never struck out more than twice in a game ... The Stilwell native has finished each of the last two seasons as the toughest hitter in the conference to punch out ... Brennan owns a career at-bat-to-strikeout ratio of 18.8, with just 30 strikeouts in 563 at-bats.
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