Kansas State University Athletics
Wednesday, April 10
Manhattan, Kan.
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
Omaha
Cats Return Home, Host Mavs Wednesday
Apr 09, 2019 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following a four-game roadtrip, K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium to take on the Omaha Mavericks on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
K-State (13-20), who is in a stretch of eight of nine games played away from home, wrapped up a three-game set at Creighton over the weekend. The Bluejays took the series rubber match on Sunday after the teams split the first two in the series.
Omaha (20-6-1) has won its last six games while winning 16 of the last 17 overall. The Mavs are 12-0 to begin league play in The Summit League. The Wildcats own a 12-2 record all-time vs. UNO.
Wednesday night's game will be broadcast on FOX College Sports Central and will be streamed free at K-StateHD.TV. Coverage is also available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #34
K-STATE (13-20, 1-5 BIG 12) vs. OMAHA (20-6-1, 12-0 SUMMIT LEAGUE)
Wednesday, April 10 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Caleb Littlejim (1-1, 7.30 ERA) vs. RHP Jackson Gordon (0-0, 3.31 ERA)
Watch: K-StateHd.TV // FCS Central // Brian Smoller (pxp), Mike Clark (analyst), Bridget Howard (sideline)
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats | Buy Tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (13-20) enters a mid-week matchup with the Omaha Mavericks after a three-game series at Creighton over the weekend ... After splitting the first two games of the series, the Bluejays won the series' rubber match on Sunday 11-1 ... The Wildcats put together a complete performance Saturday in a 9-2 victory, in which Terrence Spurlin produced the first four-hit game of his career while Jordan Wicks matched his careers highs with seven innings pitched and nine strikeouts ... Spurlin led the Cats in hitting in the series, going 6-for-12 with a double and run batted in ... Zach Kokoska hit the team's only home run as he moved into a tie for the team lead with four on the season ... Friday in the series opener, Creighton took a 4-0 decision as it handed the Wildcats their second shutout defeat over the last three games ... K-State pitchers combined for just six walks in the three-game set while striking out 26 ... K-State has lost 10 of its last 12 games overall and have not won consecutive games since March 15-16 against UT Rio Grande Valley.
A LOOK AT OMAHA
Omaha travels to Manhattan with a 20-6-1 overall record with a perfect 12-0 mark in The Summit League ... The Mavericks have won their last six straight contests while winning 16 of the last 17 overall ... UNO possesses a .296 average as a team, led by Parker Smejkal hitting at a .397 clips to go with an on-base percentage of .551 and slugging .655 ... Smejkal has six doubles, three homers and 17 driven in ... On the mound, Payton Kinney is 6-0 with a 1.21 ERA with a team-best 54 strikeouts ... The Mavs have 256 strikeouts as a team against 129 walks with opponents hitting .233 against them.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State leads the all-time series 12-2, going back to 1976 ... The Wildcats have won the last three in the series and own a 10-1 mark at home in the series ... Last season, K-State swept a home-and-home midweek series, taking a 3-0 decision at home before a 6-5 win in 11 innings at Werner Park in the final meeting ... The Cats have won five of the last six meetings ... Wednesday's matchup will mark the eighth straight season in which the teams have met ... K-State travels to Omaha to complete the two-game season series on April 23 ... The Wildcats own a 62-41 record all-time against teams from The Summit League.
WINNING TIME
In K-State's 13 wins this season, the Wildcats are hitting .362 (47-for-130) with runners in scoring position and .347 (52-for-150) with two outs ... Conversely, the Cats have a .192 average (34-for-177) with runners in scoring position while hitting .164 (34-for-207) with two outs over 20 losses ... K-State has produced 31 two-out RBI in victories with just 16 in 20 losses ... Overall, K-State hits .316 in victories against just .224 in defeats ... In 20 defeats, K-State pitchers have combined for 101 walks (5.1 per game) while in victories the staff averages 3.5 walks per game (46 walks in 13 wins) ... K-State posts a 2.59 strikeout-to-walk ratio in wins while owning a 1.70 K/BB mark in losses.
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 .327 average, .403 on-base percentage and a .510 slugging percentage ... Kokoska hit his fourth home run of the season Saturday at Creighton, tying him for the team lead, to go with three RBI ... The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, product is second on the squad with 20 runs batted in and third with nine multi-hit games ... Kokoska boasts a team-best .364 average in Big 12 games ... Kokoska, in his first season at K-State after transferring from Virginia Tech, has hit safely in 14 of his last 20 games, raising his average from .262 to .327.
NO K FOR YOU
Junior Will Brennan owns the title of toughest to strike out in the Big 12, going 20.8 at-bats per strikeout this season (125 AB, 6 K) ... Brennan's rate is currently the second-best in the nation and has not struck out in his last 37 at-bats ... The Stilwell native has finished each of the last two seasons as the toughest hitter in the conference to punch out ... In 2017, Brennan had 12 strikeouts in 183 at-bats and only went down on strikes 11 times in 220 at-bats last season ... Brennan owns a career at-bat-to-strikeout ratio of 18.2.
CLOZER
Senior Mitch Zubradt has thrown the final out in seven of K-State's 13 wins, including the Wildcats' first four wins of the year ... In 16 2/3 total innings thrown, Zubradt has given up just two hits without a run allowed while picking up 22 strikeouts ... He is 4-for-4 in save opportunities - the first saves of his career - with a victory ... Opponents are hitting .039 against him in 2019 ... Zubradt has not surrendered a base hit over his last 8 2/3 innings (seven appearances) and has not issued a walk in his last 10 innings pitched (eight outings).
FUN WITH NUMBERS
K-State has held a lead in 23 of 33 games this season, including all three games against No. 10 Texas Tech last weekend, and are 11-2 when leading after six innings ... When leading after eight innings, K-State is a perfect 11-0 ... The Cats have a record of 12-6 when limiting their opponent to five or fewer runs ... K-State is 0-13 when its opponent plates seven or more runs (1-14 when scoring six or more) ... Opponents have outscored the Wildcats 32-11 in the first inning of games while K-State has outscored its opponents 13-6 in the ninth inning ... In one-run games, K-State is 3-4 with a 5-7 record in games decided by two runs or less.
APRIL SHOWERS
The Cats are 1-4 in five games into April, with the lone win coming Saturday at Creighton, 9-2 ... The Wildcat offense has scored two or fewer runs in four of five games in April, including two shutout losses ... K-State's nine runs on Saturday marked its highest output over the previous 17 games going back to a 9-6 victory over Northern Illinois on March 12 ... K-State last reached double-digit runs in an 11-5 victory over San Francisco on March 2 ... In April, the Cats are averaging 2.4 runs per game on 6.2 hits ... In that span, K-State has six extra-base hits, including one home run (Zach Kokoska) with a team average of .197 ... The pitching staff has an ERA of 8.36 in April.
K-State (13-20), who is in a stretch of eight of nine games played away from home, wrapped up a three-game set at Creighton over the weekend. The Bluejays took the series rubber match on Sunday after the teams split the first two in the series.
Omaha (20-6-1) has won its last six games while winning 16 of the last 17 overall. The Mavs are 12-0 to begin league play in The Summit League. The Wildcats own a 12-2 record all-time vs. UNO.
Wednesday night's game will be broadcast on FOX College Sports Central and will be streamed free at K-StateHD.TV. Coverage is also available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #34
K-STATE (13-20, 1-5 BIG 12) vs. OMAHA (20-6-1, 12-0 SUMMIT LEAGUE)
Wednesday, April 10 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Caleb Littlejim (1-1, 7.30 ERA) vs. RHP Jackson Gordon (0-0, 3.31 ERA)
Watch: K-StateHd.TV // FCS Central // Brian Smoller (pxp), Mike Clark (analyst), Bridget Howard (sideline)
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats | Buy Tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (13-20) enters a mid-week matchup with the Omaha Mavericks after a three-game series at Creighton over the weekend ... After splitting the first two games of the series, the Bluejays won the series' rubber match on Sunday 11-1 ... The Wildcats put together a complete performance Saturday in a 9-2 victory, in which Terrence Spurlin produced the first four-hit game of his career while Jordan Wicks matched his careers highs with seven innings pitched and nine strikeouts ... Spurlin led the Cats in hitting in the series, going 6-for-12 with a double and run batted in ... Zach Kokoska hit the team's only home run as he moved into a tie for the team lead with four on the season ... Friday in the series opener, Creighton took a 4-0 decision as it handed the Wildcats their second shutout defeat over the last three games ... K-State pitchers combined for just six walks in the three-game set while striking out 26 ... K-State has lost 10 of its last 12 games overall and have not won consecutive games since March 15-16 against UT Rio Grande Valley.
A LOOK AT OMAHA
Omaha travels to Manhattan with a 20-6-1 overall record with a perfect 12-0 mark in The Summit League ... The Mavericks have won their last six straight contests while winning 16 of the last 17 overall ... UNO possesses a .296 average as a team, led by Parker Smejkal hitting at a .397 clips to go with an on-base percentage of .551 and slugging .655 ... Smejkal has six doubles, three homers and 17 driven in ... On the mound, Payton Kinney is 6-0 with a 1.21 ERA with a team-best 54 strikeouts ... The Mavs have 256 strikeouts as a team against 129 walks with opponents hitting .233 against them.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State leads the all-time series 12-2, going back to 1976 ... The Wildcats have won the last three in the series and own a 10-1 mark at home in the series ... Last season, K-State swept a home-and-home midweek series, taking a 3-0 decision at home before a 6-5 win in 11 innings at Werner Park in the final meeting ... The Cats have won five of the last six meetings ... Wednesday's matchup will mark the eighth straight season in which the teams have met ... K-State travels to Omaha to complete the two-game season series on April 23 ... The Wildcats own a 62-41 record all-time against teams from The Summit League.
WINNING TIME
In K-State's 13 wins this season, the Wildcats are hitting .362 (47-for-130) with runners in scoring position and .347 (52-for-150) with two outs ... Conversely, the Cats have a .192 average (34-for-177) with runners in scoring position while hitting .164 (34-for-207) with two outs over 20 losses ... K-State has produced 31 two-out RBI in victories with just 16 in 20 losses ... Overall, K-State hits .316 in victories against just .224 in defeats ... In 20 defeats, K-State pitchers have combined for 101 walks (5.1 per game) while in victories the staff averages 3.5 walks per game (46 walks in 13 wins) ... K-State posts a 2.59 strikeout-to-walk ratio in wins while owning a 1.70 K/BB mark in losses.
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 .327 average, .403 on-base percentage and a .510 slugging percentage ... Kokoska hit his fourth home run of the season Saturday at Creighton, tying him for the team lead, to go with three RBI ... The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, product is second on the squad with 20 runs batted in and third with nine multi-hit games ... Kokoska boasts a team-best .364 average in Big 12 games ... Kokoska, in his first season at K-State after transferring from Virginia Tech, has hit safely in 14 of his last 20 games, raising his average from .262 to .327.
NO K FOR YOU
Junior Will Brennan owns the title of toughest to strike out in the Big 12, going 20.8 at-bats per strikeout this season (125 AB, 6 K) ... Brennan's rate is currently the second-best in the nation and has not struck out in his last 37 at-bats ... The Stilwell native has finished each of the last two seasons as the toughest hitter in the conference to punch out ... In 2017, Brennan had 12 strikeouts in 183 at-bats and only went down on strikes 11 times in 220 at-bats last season ... Brennan owns a career at-bat-to-strikeout ratio of 18.2.
CLOZER
Senior Mitch Zubradt has thrown the final out in seven of K-State's 13 wins, including the Wildcats' first four wins of the year ... In 16 2/3 total innings thrown, Zubradt has given up just two hits without a run allowed while picking up 22 strikeouts ... He is 4-for-4 in save opportunities - the first saves of his career - with a victory ... Opponents are hitting .039 against him in 2019 ... Zubradt has not surrendered a base hit over his last 8 2/3 innings (seven appearances) and has not issued a walk in his last 10 innings pitched (eight outings).
FUN WITH NUMBERS
K-State has held a lead in 23 of 33 games this season, including all three games against No. 10 Texas Tech last weekend, and are 11-2 when leading after six innings ... When leading after eight innings, K-State is a perfect 11-0 ... The Cats have a record of 12-6 when limiting their opponent to five or fewer runs ... K-State is 0-13 when its opponent plates seven or more runs (1-14 when scoring six or more) ... Opponents have outscored the Wildcats 32-11 in the first inning of games while K-State has outscored its opponents 13-6 in the ninth inning ... In one-run games, K-State is 3-4 with a 5-7 record in games decided by two runs or less.
APRIL SHOWERS
The Cats are 1-4 in five games into April, with the lone win coming Saturday at Creighton, 9-2 ... The Wildcat offense has scored two or fewer runs in four of five games in April, including two shutout losses ... K-State's nine runs on Saturday marked its highest output over the previous 17 games going back to a 9-6 victory over Northern Illinois on March 12 ... K-State last reached double-digit runs in an 11-5 victory over San Francisco on March 2 ... In April, the Cats are averaging 2.4 runs per game on 6.2 hits ... In that span, K-State has six extra-base hits, including one home run (Zach Kokoska) with a team average of .197 ... The pitching staff has an ERA of 8.36 in April.
Players Mentioned
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