Kansas State University Athletics
Wednesday, May 22
Oklahoma City, Okla.
12:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
Texas Tech
K-State Sets Sights on Big 12 Championship
May 21, 2019 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State heads to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, as the eight-seeded Wildcats take on top-seeded Texas Tech at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
K-State (25-31, 8-16 Big 12) is making its first postseason appearance since 2016. Texas Tech (36-15, 16-8 Big 12) claimed the regular-season conference crown for the third time in the last four seasons. TTU took two of three games in Manhattan earlier this season, with the Cats taking the series finale 5-4.
Freshman lefty Jordan Wicks will get the start on the mound for K-State. Tuesday, Wicks was named 2019 Big 12 Freshman of the Year after posting a 6-2 record and a 3.20 ERA – tops among league freshmen. Wicks broke the single-season records in innings pitched and strikeouts by a Wildcat freshman, set in 1973.
The Wildcats are 14-18 all-time at the Big 12 Championship and are 2-2 against the Red Raiders in the postseason. K-State is 28-43-1 against Texas Tech all-time.
Wednesday's game will air on FOX College Sports and stream live on the FOX Sports app. Radio coverage is available on the K-State Sports Radio Network with streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #57
(8) K-STATE (25-31, 8-16 BIG 12) vs. (1) TEXAS TECH (36-15, 16-8 BIG 12)
Wednesday, May 22 // 12:30 p.m. // Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (9,000) // Oklahoma City, Okla.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (6-2, 3.20 EA) vs. RHP Micah Dallas (4-0, 3.60 ERA)
Watch: FOX College Sports // FOX Sports app
Radio: K-State Sports Radio Network // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (25-31, 8-16 Big 12) qualified for its first Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship since 2016, entering the postseason as the No. 8 seed ... In the final weekend of the regular season, K-State dropped three games to Kansas in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown in Lawrence ... The series marked the first time K-State was swept by the Jayhawks since 2004 and the first three-game sweep in Lawrence since 1994 ... In Sunday's doubleheader, freshman Dylan Phillips hit three home runs - two coming in the day's first game ... Phillips pushed his season home run total to nine, setting a single-season record for a Wildcat freshman ... The Cats hit four home runs in a 9-6 loss Sunday, with three coming as part of a four-run seventh inning ... Phillips and Mason Crews went back-to-back in the innings, becoming the second Wildcat teammates to do so this season ... Chris Ceballos hit his team-leading 10th home run while Jordan Maxson homered in the regular-season finale ... K-State has dropped its last four games, its second-longest streak of the season.
A LOOK AT THE FIELD
K-State will face Big 12 regular-season champion Texas Tech in the opening round of the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship ... The top-seeded Red Raiders took two of three games against the Wildcats in Manhattan earlier this season ... Also in the Cats' half of the bracket is No. 4 West Virginia and fifth-seeded Kansas ... The Wildcats lost two of three games to the Mountaineers at Tointon Family Stadium and were swept by the Jayhawks this past weekend ... K-State had a combined record of 2-7 against the three teams in its half of the bracket.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State is 28-43-1 all-time against Texas Tech after the Red Raiders took two of three games at Tointon Family Stadium earlier this season ... The Wildcats and TTU have split four meetings in the postseason, last meeting in 2016 when the Red Raiders defeated K-State, 8-5 ... K-State won the last meeting against TTU, 5-4, on March 31 ... The Cats last defeated Tech in the Big 12 Championship in 2013, winning 4-3 ... Texas Tech has won eight of the last 10 meetings overall and are 4-3 vs. K-State at neutral sites.
HONOR ROLL
On Tuesday, the Big 12 Conference tabbed Jordan Wicks as its Freshman of the Year ... Wicks became the second Wildcat to earn the honor after setting program records in innings pitched and strikeouts by a freshman, which had stood since 1973 ... Wicks was also named to the second team and the all-freshman team and was joined on the all-freshman team by Griffin Hassall ... Zach Kokoska, Caleb Littlejim, Terrence Spurlin and Cameron Thompson were all named to honorable mention ... Seven Wildcats were honored by the league office by being named Academic All-Big 12 ... Will Brennan, Littlejim and Mitch Zubradt were each selected to the first team while Brogan Heinen, Jordan Maxson, Spurlin and Thompson all earned second-team accolades ... Brennan, Heinen and Zubradt are all multiple honorees while Littlejim, Maxson, Spurlin and Thompson earned their first career honors.
HUGHES AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
First-year head coach Pete Hughes is the first man to lead two Big 12 programs after spending four seasons as the head coach at Oklahoma (2014-17) ... In four seasons as the Sooners head coach, Hughes made four appearances in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, posting a career record of 5-8 (.385) ... Hughes went 2-1 against K-State while at OU in the postseason conference tournament … K-State's last win in the Big 12 Championship was against Hughes' Sooners in 2015 (7-3).
RECORD BREAKERS
With seven innings and seven strikeouts Sunday against West Virginia, K-State freshman Jordan Wicks set the program's all-time single-season record for innings pitched and strikeouts by a freshman ... Both records had stood since 1973 and were both set by Andy Replogle (78.2 IP, 78 K) ... Wicks is now at 81 2/3 innings and 82 strikeouts, 18 strikeouts away from matching the program record of 100 strikeouts in a season (A.J. Morris, 2009) ... With nine home runs, freshman Dylan Phillips broke K-State's single-season freshman home run record, set by Brian Culp (1990) and Todd Fereday (1994) with seven homers.
POWER SURGE
With six home runs hit in a Sunday doubleheader at KU, K-State increased its season total to 52 - its second 50-homer season since 2009 (2017) ... From April 10-May 4, the Wildcats had a stretch of 14 consecutive games with a home run, marking the Cats' longest in the Big 12 era ... K-State hit a season-high four home runs in a 9-6 loss at Kansas Sunday, with two coming from freshman Dylan Phillips ... K-State has hit 30 homers in the last 23 games, led by Chris Ceballos with six over the stretch ... Prior to its three-homer game against Omaha on April 10, the K-State offense had just two home runs over its previous 11 games - including a stretch of five consecutive outings without a bomb ... 44 of K-State's 52 home runs this season have been hit by newcomers or by someone without a home run last season ... The Wildcats are 22-12 when hitting a home run and 8-3 when hitting multiple home runs with two losses coming Sunday against KU ... The Cats ranked third in homers as a team in both overall games and conference games.
YOUNG GUNS
K-State freshmen Griffin Hassall and Jordan Wicks claimed back-to-back Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors, April 15 and 22, respectively ... 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 ... K-State is 9-5 in games Wicks starts, who has a team-best eight quality outings in 14 starts … Both were named to the 2019 Big 12 All-Freshman Team on Tuesday.
LITTLEJIM, BIG BAT
In his first season playing the field and hitting, two-way player Caleb Littlejim leads K-State with a .450 average (18-for-40) with runners in scoring position and a .314 average (16-for-51) with two outs ... Littlejim, who was exclusively a pitcher the last two seasons, has a team-high 21 two-out RBI - seven more the next highest total ... Nine of his two-out RBI have come in Big 12 play (team high) ... He leads K-State with 12 multi-RBI games, with a team-best four coming in conference play.
WINNING TIME
In K-State's 25 wins this season, the Wildcats are hitting .375 with runners in scoring position and .323 with two outs ... Conversely, the Cats have a .197 average with runners in scoring position while hitting .172 with two outs over 31 losses ... K-State has produced 74 two-out RBI in victories with just 26 in 31 losses ... Overall, K-State hits .306 in victories against just .219 in defeats ... In 31 losses, K-State pitchers have combined for 149 walks (5.1 per game) while in victories the staff averages 3.8 walks per game (95 walks in 25 wins) ... In three games at Kansas, the Cats went 3-for-17 (.176) with runners in scoring position and 4-for-30 (.133) with two outs ... K-State did not record a two-out RBI in the three-game series.
K-State (25-31, 8-16 Big 12) is making its first postseason appearance since 2016. Texas Tech (36-15, 16-8 Big 12) claimed the regular-season conference crown for the third time in the last four seasons. TTU took two of three games in Manhattan earlier this season, with the Cats taking the series finale 5-4.
Freshman lefty Jordan Wicks will get the start on the mound for K-State. Tuesday, Wicks was named 2019 Big 12 Freshman of the Year after posting a 6-2 record and a 3.20 ERA – tops among league freshmen. Wicks broke the single-season records in innings pitched and strikeouts by a Wildcat freshman, set in 1973.
The Wildcats are 14-18 all-time at the Big 12 Championship and are 2-2 against the Red Raiders in the postseason. K-State is 28-43-1 against Texas Tech all-time.
Wednesday's game will air on FOX College Sports and stream live on the FOX Sports app. Radio coverage is available on the K-State Sports Radio Network with streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #57
(8) K-STATE (25-31, 8-16 BIG 12) vs. (1) TEXAS TECH (36-15, 16-8 BIG 12)
Wednesday, May 22 // 12:30 p.m. // Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (9,000) // Oklahoma City, Okla.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (6-2, 3.20 EA) vs. RHP Micah Dallas (4-0, 3.60 ERA)
Watch: FOX College Sports // FOX Sports app
Radio: K-State Sports Radio Network // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats | Tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (25-31, 8-16 Big 12) qualified for its first Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship since 2016, entering the postseason as the No. 8 seed ... In the final weekend of the regular season, K-State dropped three games to Kansas in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown in Lawrence ... The series marked the first time K-State was swept by the Jayhawks since 2004 and the first three-game sweep in Lawrence since 1994 ... In Sunday's doubleheader, freshman Dylan Phillips hit three home runs - two coming in the day's first game ... Phillips pushed his season home run total to nine, setting a single-season record for a Wildcat freshman ... The Cats hit four home runs in a 9-6 loss Sunday, with three coming as part of a four-run seventh inning ... Phillips and Mason Crews went back-to-back in the innings, becoming the second Wildcat teammates to do so this season ... Chris Ceballos hit his team-leading 10th home run while Jordan Maxson homered in the regular-season finale ... K-State has dropped its last four games, its second-longest streak of the season.
A LOOK AT THE FIELD
K-State will face Big 12 regular-season champion Texas Tech in the opening round of the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship ... The top-seeded Red Raiders took two of three games against the Wildcats in Manhattan earlier this season ... Also in the Cats' half of the bracket is No. 4 West Virginia and fifth-seeded Kansas ... The Wildcats lost two of three games to the Mountaineers at Tointon Family Stadium and were swept by the Jayhawks this past weekend ... K-State had a combined record of 2-7 against the three teams in its half of the bracket.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
K-State is 28-43-1 all-time against Texas Tech after the Red Raiders took two of three games at Tointon Family Stadium earlier this season ... The Wildcats and TTU have split four meetings in the postseason, last meeting in 2016 when the Red Raiders defeated K-State, 8-5 ... K-State won the last meeting against TTU, 5-4, on March 31 ... The Cats last defeated Tech in the Big 12 Championship in 2013, winning 4-3 ... Texas Tech has won eight of the last 10 meetings overall and are 4-3 vs. K-State at neutral sites.
HONOR ROLL
On Tuesday, the Big 12 Conference tabbed Jordan Wicks as its Freshman of the Year ... Wicks became the second Wildcat to earn the honor after setting program records in innings pitched and strikeouts by a freshman, which had stood since 1973 ... Wicks was also named to the second team and the all-freshman team and was joined on the all-freshman team by Griffin Hassall ... Zach Kokoska, Caleb Littlejim, Terrence Spurlin and Cameron Thompson were all named to honorable mention ... Seven Wildcats were honored by the league office by being named Academic All-Big 12 ... Will Brennan, Littlejim and Mitch Zubradt were each selected to the first team while Brogan Heinen, Jordan Maxson, Spurlin and Thompson all earned second-team accolades ... Brennan, Heinen and Zubradt are all multiple honorees while Littlejim, Maxson, Spurlin and Thompson earned their first career honors.
HUGHES AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
First-year head coach Pete Hughes is the first man to lead two Big 12 programs after spending four seasons as the head coach at Oklahoma (2014-17) ... In four seasons as the Sooners head coach, Hughes made four appearances in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, posting a career record of 5-8 (.385) ... Hughes went 2-1 against K-State while at OU in the postseason conference tournament … K-State's last win in the Big 12 Championship was against Hughes' Sooners in 2015 (7-3).
RECORD BREAKERS
With seven innings and seven strikeouts Sunday against West Virginia, K-State freshman Jordan Wicks set the program's all-time single-season record for innings pitched and strikeouts by a freshman ... Both records had stood since 1973 and were both set by Andy Replogle (78.2 IP, 78 K) ... Wicks is now at 81 2/3 innings and 82 strikeouts, 18 strikeouts away from matching the program record of 100 strikeouts in a season (A.J. Morris, 2009) ... With nine home runs, freshman Dylan Phillips broke K-State's single-season freshman home run record, set by Brian Culp (1990) and Todd Fereday (1994) with seven homers.
POWER SURGE
With six home runs hit in a Sunday doubleheader at KU, K-State increased its season total to 52 - its second 50-homer season since 2009 (2017) ... From April 10-May 4, the Wildcats had a stretch of 14 consecutive games with a home run, marking the Cats' longest in the Big 12 era ... K-State hit a season-high four home runs in a 9-6 loss at Kansas Sunday, with two coming from freshman Dylan Phillips ... K-State has hit 30 homers in the last 23 games, led by Chris Ceballos with six over the stretch ... Prior to its three-homer game against Omaha on April 10, the K-State offense had just two home runs over its previous 11 games - including a stretch of five consecutive outings without a bomb ... 44 of K-State's 52 home runs this season have been hit by newcomers or by someone without a home run last season ... The Wildcats are 22-12 when hitting a home run and 8-3 when hitting multiple home runs with two losses coming Sunday against KU ... The Cats ranked third in homers as a team in both overall games and conference games.
YOUNG GUNS
K-State freshmen Griffin Hassall and Jordan Wicks claimed back-to-back Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors, April 15 and 22, respectively ... 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 ... K-State is 9-5 in games Wicks starts, who has a team-best eight quality outings in 14 starts … Both were named to the 2019 Big 12 All-Freshman Team on Tuesday.
LITTLEJIM, BIG BAT
In his first season playing the field and hitting, two-way player Caleb Littlejim leads K-State with a .450 average (18-for-40) with runners in scoring position and a .314 average (16-for-51) with two outs ... Littlejim, who was exclusively a pitcher the last two seasons, has a team-high 21 two-out RBI - seven more the next highest total ... Nine of his two-out RBI have come in Big 12 play (team high) ... He leads K-State with 12 multi-RBI games, with a team-best four coming in conference play.
WINNING TIME
In K-State's 25 wins this season, the Wildcats are hitting .375 with runners in scoring position and .323 with two outs ... Conversely, the Cats have a .197 average with runners in scoring position while hitting .172 with two outs over 31 losses ... K-State has produced 74 two-out RBI in victories with just 26 in 31 losses ... Overall, K-State hits .306 in victories against just .219 in defeats ... In 31 losses, K-State pitchers have combined for 149 walks (5.1 per game) while in victories the staff averages 3.8 walks per game (95 walks in 25 wins) ... In three games at Kansas, the Cats went 3-for-17 (.176) with runners in scoring position and 4-for-30 (.133) with two outs ... K-State did not record a two-out RBI in the three-game series.
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