K-State Baseball Holds Media Day
Feb 03, 2020 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State head baseball coach Pete Hughes along with senior Chris Ceballos, senior Kasey Ford, redshirt sophomore Carson Seymour and sophomore Jordan Wicks met with members of the media Monday at Tointon Family Stadium as part of the Wildcats' media day prior to the upcoming 2020 baseball season.
K-State officially begins its 2020 season on Friday, February 14 with a four-game series at UTRGV. Hughes enters his second season at the helm of the Wildcats, leading K-State to a 25-33 record (8-16 Big 12) and a berth in the Big 12 Championship in 2019.
Select comments from the press conference are posted below and archived here.
PETE HUGHES, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Opening statement…
"Exciting time of year. Right around the corner, got here before we knew it. There's so much excitement surrounding around the new facilities and the opening of our facilities. We didn't lose track but there's a lot of talk about our program right now and we need the talk to start getting geared toward the start of our season and our team. But exciting time, exciting year in Kansas State baseball. We kick off year two here of our coaching staff and this program. Got a great group of guys, practices have been very good. The weather's cooperated with us, that's a plus and we've taken advantage of that. Look forward to getting out on the road here and consistent weather and getting a few games in and seeing what consistent lineups we can put together."
On impact of new facilities…
"It shows everybody, at a national level, that Kansas State is serious about baseball. That's why I came here. I am at the last leg of my coaching career and my goal, to this day, is to go to Omaha. I was not going to take a job or get involved with another job that was not going to give me the opportunity to go to Omaha. And these facilities do. It gets us in the hunt with every prospect, at every level, we can get involved with anybody right now."
On recruiting out of a trailer before the facilities were constructed…
"We had the most beautiful artist renditions of these facilities and that's all we talked about. We did recruit out of a trailer for the last nine months. But at the end of the day, it's about people and relationships. There's nothing that speaks towards the concrete ideas than bulldozers and cranes and construction works all over the place. We have a great construction team that got into the recruiting process, too, that were part of the tour."
On where the team is most improved from last year…
"Our pitching depth, that's where it begins and ends. That's where our season ended last year because we didn't have enough depth. You can't have enough arms in college baseball, with injury, with the Draft. Sometimes recruiting is a hit or amiss, as well. We didn't have any depth on the mound to get through a 56-game schedule. We wore some guys out. We got tired in the end. When you have pitching depth, you're fresher at the end of May and June. You can manage those midweek games, without using your weekend guys and save them for the weekend."
Takeaways from last year…
"I had a blast last year. Now, I want to win a lot more games than we did. But the culture changed, as far as wanting to win as bad as those guys wanted to win. When I started to see the losses hurt those guys – they loved it when they won and they hated it when they lost – and that's when your program has changed. Emotionally invested in our program, that's what our kids did. They came to work every single day, they learned how to compete and learned how to be great teammates and care about each other. The foundation, to me, was set last year. Now you need talent and depth."
CHRIS CEBALLOS, SENIOR, CATCHER
On what stands out about the new facilities…
"The new locker room and weight room are unbelievable. We moved from a smaller weight room out to our indoor facility, and I think that's helped us a lot throughout the fall and spring. It allows us to do more team things together where we weren't able to before. That's one of the biggest things helping us now, to help us get bigger and stronger."
On how much nicer this facility is than a year ago…
"It's probably double or triple in size. We have new lockers and showers. We have a whole new training facility. We were basically in a 6x6 room for our training stuff in the past, so this is helping us a lot."
On the confidence of the team heading into the season…
"We talk about it (hosting a regional) all the time. We know what we have. We believe in ourselves. From what I've seen, I think we can go a long way."
On if his role has changed in his senior season…
"I don't think so. This year is going to be awesome. I'm going to soak it in and take it one day at a time. This may be my last year. Maybe I'll get to play in the minors. We'll see what happens, but I'm focused on one day at a time and living it up."
On leading the younger guys into this new era of K-State baseball…
"I've been around the game. This is my fifth year. Just being a leader on the team is cool. Being able to provide some answers and help to teach the game of baseball is something I really enjoy."
On any individual goals for the season…
"I want to do better than last year. I had a really good year last year, so I'll be very happy if I can just build on that."
CARSON SEYMOUR, R-SOPHOMORE, RHP
On what he could take away from last season not pitching…
"Connor [McCullough] and I both had to sit out [due to NCAA transfer rules]. It's tough. You're on the team but you don't always feel like you're on the team. We basically made a pact that we are going to do the most we can this season."
On his expectations for himself this season…
"I just want to help my team out ... Just trying to get the team to Omaha, that's the goal."
On the biggest difference between being at K-State and Dartmouth…
"I would say it's more of a baseball culture, more focused on the sport, really. Coach (Buck) Taylor is from my hometown in California and I saw that he got hired and my travel ball coach helped put us together. I knew Buck was a good coach and Kansas State was always on my radar, so I just said go for it."
On the importance of being in the Cape Cod League over the summer…
"It helps a lot. It helps building confidence, for sure, facing all-stars from college. It really comes back here. If you can do it there, you can do it anywhere."
JORDAN WICKS, SOPHOMORE, LHP
On the offseason…
"It's been really good. One of the biggest things I wanted to do this offseason was get in the weight room, get stronger. Obviously coming off my freshman season where, fortunately, got a lot of experience, learned a lot, and really feel like I accomplished what I wanted to in the weight room. Just really got after it this offseason.
On if he expected to make such a big impact his freshman season…
"Honestly, I was hoping to have an impact, but I hadn't thought it would be that much of an impact. I didn't know because coming in as a freshman you have no idea what to expect coming into this kind of college baseball at this level. I had no idea what the opponents were going to be like. People my freshman year asked me all the time 'How are you guys going to be?', I have no clue. But yeah, I was fortunate, just thankful for the opportunities Coach gave me and just tried to do the best with it."
On tweaking his arsenal during the offseason…
"Yeah we made a few adjustments. Talked to Coach Taylor and Coach Hughes at the end of last year. We were working on maybe becoming a little bit more multi-dimensional to hitters. Working on a little bit more of a developing breaking ball this fall, and I think we really accomplished that. So, we're really happy with that. Still fastball, change up, that's always going to be the thing but really happy to add that extra element, that extra weapon to the arsenal."
On how much deeper the pitching staff is…
"It's night and day difference from last year, honestly, and we had a lot of good guys last year that really did a good job for us. But when you come in this year and the options that we have, and the rotation, and coming out of the bullpen. I think our bullpen is really going to be one of our strengths this year. I think we've got some really good options there as well as our rotation. So, I'm really excited about this season and about where the pitching staff is at."
On his competitive fire…
"I can tell you where it comes from. It comes from having a brother who's eight years older than you, beating up on you in your front yard for years. You get that combination and that's honestly where it comes from. I credit a lot of it to him. Growing up playing sports in the backyard, everything with the ball and you know he's bigger, faster, stronger but you try to be him every way. So, it's helped a lot."
On finding confidence from his freshman season…
"Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean going into this year you've basically got to clean the slate from last year. Last year doesn't matter right now. Going into the year the main thing I'm taking from last year is the experience, and the knowledge of knowing what to expect in certain scenarios, slowing down the game this year. The day you get content in this game is the day that tons of people pass you by. So that will never happen with me. I'm always looking, even if I have a good start, I'm always looking at the three batters that were bad as opposed to the ones that were really good. Always something to fix, always something to work on and it's always how it's been."
K-State officially begins its 2020 season on Friday, February 14 with a four-game series at UTRGV. Hughes enters his second season at the helm of the Wildcats, leading K-State to a 25-33 record (8-16 Big 12) and a berth in the Big 12 Championship in 2019.
Select comments from the press conference are posted below and archived here.
PETE HUGHES, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Opening statement…
"Exciting time of year. Right around the corner, got here before we knew it. There's so much excitement surrounding around the new facilities and the opening of our facilities. We didn't lose track but there's a lot of talk about our program right now and we need the talk to start getting geared toward the start of our season and our team. But exciting time, exciting year in Kansas State baseball. We kick off year two here of our coaching staff and this program. Got a great group of guys, practices have been very good. The weather's cooperated with us, that's a plus and we've taken advantage of that. Look forward to getting out on the road here and consistent weather and getting a few games in and seeing what consistent lineups we can put together."
On impact of new facilities…
"It shows everybody, at a national level, that Kansas State is serious about baseball. That's why I came here. I am at the last leg of my coaching career and my goal, to this day, is to go to Omaha. I was not going to take a job or get involved with another job that was not going to give me the opportunity to go to Omaha. And these facilities do. It gets us in the hunt with every prospect, at every level, we can get involved with anybody right now."
On recruiting out of a trailer before the facilities were constructed…
"We had the most beautiful artist renditions of these facilities and that's all we talked about. We did recruit out of a trailer for the last nine months. But at the end of the day, it's about people and relationships. There's nothing that speaks towards the concrete ideas than bulldozers and cranes and construction works all over the place. We have a great construction team that got into the recruiting process, too, that were part of the tour."
On where the team is most improved from last year…
"Our pitching depth, that's where it begins and ends. That's where our season ended last year because we didn't have enough depth. You can't have enough arms in college baseball, with injury, with the Draft. Sometimes recruiting is a hit or amiss, as well. We didn't have any depth on the mound to get through a 56-game schedule. We wore some guys out. We got tired in the end. When you have pitching depth, you're fresher at the end of May and June. You can manage those midweek games, without using your weekend guys and save them for the weekend."
Takeaways from last year…
"I had a blast last year. Now, I want to win a lot more games than we did. But the culture changed, as far as wanting to win as bad as those guys wanted to win. When I started to see the losses hurt those guys – they loved it when they won and they hated it when they lost – and that's when your program has changed. Emotionally invested in our program, that's what our kids did. They came to work every single day, they learned how to compete and learned how to be great teammates and care about each other. The foundation, to me, was set last year. Now you need talent and depth."
CHRIS CEBALLOS, SENIOR, CATCHER
On what stands out about the new facilities…
"The new locker room and weight room are unbelievable. We moved from a smaller weight room out to our indoor facility, and I think that's helped us a lot throughout the fall and spring. It allows us to do more team things together where we weren't able to before. That's one of the biggest things helping us now, to help us get bigger and stronger."
On how much nicer this facility is than a year ago…
"It's probably double or triple in size. We have new lockers and showers. We have a whole new training facility. We were basically in a 6x6 room for our training stuff in the past, so this is helping us a lot."
On the confidence of the team heading into the season…
"We talk about it (hosting a regional) all the time. We know what we have. We believe in ourselves. From what I've seen, I think we can go a long way."
On if his role has changed in his senior season…
"I don't think so. This year is going to be awesome. I'm going to soak it in and take it one day at a time. This may be my last year. Maybe I'll get to play in the minors. We'll see what happens, but I'm focused on one day at a time and living it up."
On leading the younger guys into this new era of K-State baseball…
"I've been around the game. This is my fifth year. Just being a leader on the team is cool. Being able to provide some answers and help to teach the game of baseball is something I really enjoy."
On any individual goals for the season…
"I want to do better than last year. I had a really good year last year, so I'll be very happy if I can just build on that."
CARSON SEYMOUR, R-SOPHOMORE, RHP
On what he could take away from last season not pitching…
"Connor [McCullough] and I both had to sit out [due to NCAA transfer rules]. It's tough. You're on the team but you don't always feel like you're on the team. We basically made a pact that we are going to do the most we can this season."
On his expectations for himself this season…
"I just want to help my team out ... Just trying to get the team to Omaha, that's the goal."
On the biggest difference between being at K-State and Dartmouth…
"I would say it's more of a baseball culture, more focused on the sport, really. Coach (Buck) Taylor is from my hometown in California and I saw that he got hired and my travel ball coach helped put us together. I knew Buck was a good coach and Kansas State was always on my radar, so I just said go for it."
On the importance of being in the Cape Cod League over the summer…
"It helps a lot. It helps building confidence, for sure, facing all-stars from college. It really comes back here. If you can do it there, you can do it anywhere."
JORDAN WICKS, SOPHOMORE, LHP
On the offseason…
"It's been really good. One of the biggest things I wanted to do this offseason was get in the weight room, get stronger. Obviously coming off my freshman season where, fortunately, got a lot of experience, learned a lot, and really feel like I accomplished what I wanted to in the weight room. Just really got after it this offseason.
On if he expected to make such a big impact his freshman season…
"Honestly, I was hoping to have an impact, but I hadn't thought it would be that much of an impact. I didn't know because coming in as a freshman you have no idea what to expect coming into this kind of college baseball at this level. I had no idea what the opponents were going to be like. People my freshman year asked me all the time 'How are you guys going to be?', I have no clue. But yeah, I was fortunate, just thankful for the opportunities Coach gave me and just tried to do the best with it."
On tweaking his arsenal during the offseason…
"Yeah we made a few adjustments. Talked to Coach Taylor and Coach Hughes at the end of last year. We were working on maybe becoming a little bit more multi-dimensional to hitters. Working on a little bit more of a developing breaking ball this fall, and I think we really accomplished that. So, we're really happy with that. Still fastball, change up, that's always going to be the thing but really happy to add that extra element, that extra weapon to the arsenal."
On how much deeper the pitching staff is…
"It's night and day difference from last year, honestly, and we had a lot of good guys last year that really did a good job for us. But when you come in this year and the options that we have, and the rotation, and coming out of the bullpen. I think our bullpen is really going to be one of our strengths this year. I think we've got some really good options there as well as our rotation. So, I'm really excited about this season and about where the pitching staff is at."
On his competitive fire…
"I can tell you where it comes from. It comes from having a brother who's eight years older than you, beating up on you in your front yard for years. You get that combination and that's honestly where it comes from. I credit a lot of it to him. Growing up playing sports in the backyard, everything with the ball and you know he's bigger, faster, stronger but you try to be him every way. So, it's helped a lot."
On finding confidence from his freshman season…
"Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean going into this year you've basically got to clean the slate from last year. Last year doesn't matter right now. Going into the year the main thing I'm taking from last year is the experience, and the knowledge of knowing what to expect in certain scenarios, slowing down the game this year. The day you get content in this game is the day that tons of people pass you by. So that will never happen with me. I'm always looking, even if I have a good start, I'm always looking at the three batters that were bad as opposed to the ones that were really good. Always something to fix, always something to work on and it's always how it's been."
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballK-State Baseball | Batcat Bash Recap
Tuesday, February 10
K-State Baseball | First Look - New Bats
Thursday, February 05
K-State Baseball | Media Day Press Conference - February 4, 2026
Wednesday, February 04
K-State Baseball | Practice Begins 2026
Tuesday, January 13
