Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, March 19
Manhattan, KS
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
New Mexico
K-State Returns Home to Host Lobos
Mar 18, 2021 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Winners of five of its last six games, K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium to host New Mexico in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
The second game of the series is set for Saturday at 4 p.m., with the finale slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch Sunday. K-State (11-5) won three of four games at Reckling Park in Houston, Texas, last weekend, winning two games against Northern Illinois before splitting two games with host Rice.
Dylan Phillips carries a career-best 27-game on-base streak into the weekend, and now leads the Wildcats in all three slash categories with a line of .407/.479/.678 to go with four home runs and 20 RBI. Phillips went 8-for-17 in four games last weekend, including a go-ahead two-run home run in the 10th inning against NIU on Saturday.
The Cats will send ace left-hander Jordan Wicks, who ranks second in the Big 12 with 32 strikeouts, to the mound Friday night. Carson Seymour takes the hill on Saturday while Connor McCullough will get the call Sunday. McCullough owns the third-best ERA in the conference at 0.74.
Single-game tickets for the series are now available through the K-State Ticket Office at K-StateSports.com/tickets or by calling (800) 221-CATS.
All fans in attendance will be required to wear a face covering and maintain social distance from other pods of fans. Due to health and safety guidelines, players will not be available for autographs before or after each game.
GAME #17
K-STATE (11-5) vs. NEW MEXICO (5-8, 4-5 MWC)
Friday, March 19 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (3-0, 1.78 ERA) vs. RHP Nathaniel Garley (0-0, 4.35 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Matt Walters, Craig Wilson
Radio: K-State Radio Network // Brian Smoller, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #18
K-STATE (11-5) vs. NEW MEXICO (5-8, 4-5 MWC)
Saturday, March 20 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Carson Seymour (1-1, 3.79 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Armbruester (2-1, 3.24 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Matt Walters, Craig Wilson
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #19
K-STATE (11-5) vs. NEW MEXICO (5-8, 4-5 MWC)
Sunday, March 21 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Connor McCullough (1-0, 0.74 ERA) vs. RHP Tristin Lively (1-1, 1.73 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Matt Walters, Craig Wilson
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium following a 3-1 weekend in Houston against Northern Illinois and host Rice ... The Wildcats edged out the Huskies in the first two games of the series, winning in walk-off fashion Friday, 4-3, before winning in 10 innings Saturday, 3-1 ... K-State won the nightcap of a Saturday doubleheader, defeating the Owls, 8-3, before Rice took the finale, 1-0, on Sunday ... Dylan Phillips paced the Cats' offense, going 8-for-17 (.471) with two doubles, a home run and five RBI ... Phillips hit a game-tying two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday against NIU ... He then stole two bases and scored the walk-off run on a fielder's choice off the bat of Dylan Caplinger ... Saturday, Phillips launched a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 10th that proved to be the game winner against the Huskies ... K-State totaled four homers over the four games, as Kaden Fowler, Zach Kokoska and Cameron Thompson each homered ... All four starting pitchers turned in a quality start over the weekend while the entire staff allowed just four earned runs over 36 innings (1.00 ERA).
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO
New Mexico (5-8, 4-5 MWC) comes to Manhattan having dropped five of its last six contests following a three-game home sweep of Air Force ... The Lobo offense has scored just eight runs over their last four games, including being shut out in 11 innings against UNLV on March 7 ... Jack Silverman leads New Mexico with a .379 average while Jared Martin is the team leader in homers (4) and RBI (14) ... Justin Armbruester has a team-best 34 strikeouts over 25 innings while Tristin Lively has tallied 30 strikeouts in 26 innings ... Lively faced K-State in the season's opening weekend in Surprise, Arizona, going six innings with one earned run allowed on three hits while striking out seven.
INSIDE THE SERIES
The all-time series between K-State and New Mexico is tied 8-8-1, following a 4-3 walk-off victory by the Lobos on February 21 in Surprise, Arizona, in the 2021 season-opening weekend ... In the game, the Wildcats owned a 3-1 lead going to the bottom of the eighth inning before the Lobos rallied for two in the eighth to tie the game and later walk off in the bottom of the ninth ... Tyler Eckberg took the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) over 1 1/3 innings ... Starter Connor McCullough logged seven innings, giving up just one run on four hits with nine strikeouts ... The Cats are 5-4-1 against New Mexico at home, last hosting the Lobos in a two-game midweek series in 2017 (won both).
COMPASS TOUR COMPLETE
From February 26-March 13, K-State played 10 consecutive games against teams with a direction in its name: Western Michigan, Eastern Illinois, South Dakota State, Northern Illinois ... During the tour, the Wildcats went 8-2 with three wins over WMU, one over EIU and two over both SDSU and NIU ... Over the 10-game stretch, the Cats offense was led by Phillips who hit .486 (17-for-35) with three doubles, four homers and 14 RBI ... Kokoska launched a team-best six bombs with six doubles for a 1.1063 slugging percentage ... The offense carded 21 homers over the 10 games with 18 doubles and two triples ... The pitching staff boasted an ERA of 2.27 with 101 strikeouts over 91 innings.
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 23 home runs over the last 12 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with six homers while freshman Nick Goodwin and sophomore Dylan Phillips each have four ... Kokoska and Carinci each lifted two home runs in a 15-4 win over SDSU last Tuesday, as the Wildcats hit six long balls in the win ... The six homers was one shy of tying the program's single-game record and are the most hit in a game since the 2006 season ... Phillips produced his third career multi-homer game with two home runs against the Jackrabbits in the second game of the series, to give K-State three multi-home run efforts over two games ... Kokoska and Thompson went back to back in the third inning in the finale vs. Eastern Illinois, marking the first time the Cats have gone back to back since April 19, 2019 ... K-State's 23 home runs currently rank second in the Big 12.
WHAMMER HAMMER
Going back to last season, Dylan Phillips has reached base safely in 27 consecutive games - a career-best streak ... Phillips has recorded a base hit in 25 of his last 27 games, including 11 multi-hit efforts ... With 20 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 32 runs over his last 24 games while recording an RBI in 19 of his last 24 contests ... The two-way star saw a streak of 10 consecutive games with an RBI snapped Sunday at Rice ... Phillips is currently on a seven-game hitting streak, going 14-for-26 (.538) with four homers and 11 RBI in that span ... His season average of .407 is good for third in the Big 12, while he ranks in the league's top 10 in all three slash categories.
WICKY WICKY YEAH
K-State lefty Jordan Wicks racked up the preseason honors, including being named the 2021 Big 12 Co-Preseason Pitcher of the Year ... Wicks was tabbed a preseason all-American by D1Baseball, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA ... The Conway, Ark., product is K-State's first preseason all-America nod since 2014 and the first Big 12 preseason of-the-year award winner ... Wicks was also one of 55 named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Watch List, which recognizes the nation's premier amateur player ... Following his 10-strikeout, seven scoreless innings against Oregon State, Wicks was named Big 12 Pitcher of the week and National Pitcher of the Week by the NCBWA ... Wicks struck out 10 more hitters against WMU and eight against EIU ... Wicks ranks second in the Big 12 with his 32 strikeouts ... Dating back to last season, Wicks has allowed six earned runs over 51 1/3 innings (1.05 ERA) with 58 strikeouts ... Three of Wicks' four starts this season have been quality starts.
GOODWIN? MORE LIKE REALLY GOODWIN
K-State true freshman Nick Goodwin has done it all for the Wildcats through the season's first four weeks, ranking second on the team in hits (19), doubles (4), home runs (4), extra-base hits (8) and RBI (15) ... The Overland Park product strung together three straight multi-hit games against Western Michigan and put together an eight-game hitting streak from March 5-13... Goodwin has reached base in 14 of 16 games this season and has a hit in 13 contests ... He currently ranks in the Big 12's top 10 in home runs, steals and total bases.
IT'S NOT HOW YOU START
Wildcat starting pitchers this season have posted a 1.73 earned run average, allowing 17 earned runs over 88 1/3 innings with 90 strikeouts against 33 walks ... The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 4.75 (29 ER, 55 IP) with 58 strikeouts against 30 walks ... The K-State pen held South Dakota State scoreless over 10 innings over the two games, and posted a scoreless streak of 12 innings ... Over the last six game, Wildcat relievers have registered a 0.84 ERA (2 ER, 21.1 IP) with 37 strikeouts and 10 walks ... In the season's first 10 games, the bullpen yielded a 7.22 ERA (27 ER, 33.2 IP) with 21 strikeouts and 20 walks ... The Cats totaled 31 strikeouts over two games vs. SDSU, punching out 15 in the opener before a season-high 16 in the second game ... In the month of March, K-State starters are 4-1 with a 1.09 earned run average 6 ER, 49.1 IP) ... All four starts in Houston were quality outings, as K-State has seven quality starts in 16 games.
BOSS HOGS
The Cats' three pitchers from the state of Arkansas - Kasey Ford, Connor McCullough and Jordan Wicks - have allowed nine earned runs over 67 2/3 innings (1.19 ERA) while going 5-0 with 69 strikeouts ... Ford's .167 batting average against him is fourth-best in the Big 12 while McCullough ranks sixth at .186 ... Five of McCullough's first eight starts have produced quality efforts while Wicks has allowed six earned runs in his last 51 1/3 innings ... Ford's six scoreless innings vs. NIU marked his longest start since the 2018 season ... The trio combined to pitch six quality outings in 11 starts in 2020 ... They were 6-2 with a 1.57 ERA (11 ER, 63.2 IP) with 69 strikeouts.
The second game of the series is set for Saturday at 4 p.m., with the finale slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch Sunday. K-State (11-5) won three of four games at Reckling Park in Houston, Texas, last weekend, winning two games against Northern Illinois before splitting two games with host Rice.
Dylan Phillips carries a career-best 27-game on-base streak into the weekend, and now leads the Wildcats in all three slash categories with a line of .407/.479/.678 to go with four home runs and 20 RBI. Phillips went 8-for-17 in four games last weekend, including a go-ahead two-run home run in the 10th inning against NIU on Saturday.
The Cats will send ace left-hander Jordan Wicks, who ranks second in the Big 12 with 32 strikeouts, to the mound Friday night. Carson Seymour takes the hill on Saturday while Connor McCullough will get the call Sunday. McCullough owns the third-best ERA in the conference at 0.74.
Third-year head coach Pete Hughes seeks his 700th career victory, as he sits at 698 career wins over his 24-year head coaching career.
All three games will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage will be available Friday on the K-State Sports Network with the final two games carried on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free, streaming audio is available at K-StateSports.com/watch.Single-game tickets for the series are now available through the K-State Ticket Office at K-StateSports.com/tickets or by calling (800) 221-CATS.
All fans in attendance will be required to wear a face covering and maintain social distance from other pods of fans. Due to health and safety guidelines, players will not be available for autographs before or after each game.
GAME #17
K-STATE (11-5) vs. NEW MEXICO (5-8, 4-5 MWC)
Friday, March 19 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (3-0, 1.78 ERA) vs. RHP Nathaniel Garley (0-0, 4.35 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Matt Walters, Craig Wilson
Radio: K-State Radio Network // Brian Smoller, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #18
K-STATE (11-5) vs. NEW MEXICO (5-8, 4-5 MWC)
Saturday, March 20 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Carson Seymour (1-1, 3.79 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Armbruester (2-1, 3.24 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Matt Walters, Craig Wilson
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #19
K-STATE (11-5) vs. NEW MEXICO (5-8, 4-5 MWC)
Sunday, March 21 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Connor McCullough (1-0, 0.74 ERA) vs. RHP Tristin Lively (1-1, 1.73 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Matt Walters, Craig Wilson
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, John Kurtz
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium following a 3-1 weekend in Houston against Northern Illinois and host Rice ... The Wildcats edged out the Huskies in the first two games of the series, winning in walk-off fashion Friday, 4-3, before winning in 10 innings Saturday, 3-1 ... K-State won the nightcap of a Saturday doubleheader, defeating the Owls, 8-3, before Rice took the finale, 1-0, on Sunday ... Dylan Phillips paced the Cats' offense, going 8-for-17 (.471) with two doubles, a home run and five RBI ... Phillips hit a game-tying two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday against NIU ... He then stole two bases and scored the walk-off run on a fielder's choice off the bat of Dylan Caplinger ... Saturday, Phillips launched a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 10th that proved to be the game winner against the Huskies ... K-State totaled four homers over the four games, as Kaden Fowler, Zach Kokoska and Cameron Thompson each homered ... All four starting pitchers turned in a quality start over the weekend while the entire staff allowed just four earned runs over 36 innings (1.00 ERA).
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO
New Mexico (5-8, 4-5 MWC) comes to Manhattan having dropped five of its last six contests following a three-game home sweep of Air Force ... The Lobo offense has scored just eight runs over their last four games, including being shut out in 11 innings against UNLV on March 7 ... Jack Silverman leads New Mexico with a .379 average while Jared Martin is the team leader in homers (4) and RBI (14) ... Justin Armbruester has a team-best 34 strikeouts over 25 innings while Tristin Lively has tallied 30 strikeouts in 26 innings ... Lively faced K-State in the season's opening weekend in Surprise, Arizona, going six innings with one earned run allowed on three hits while striking out seven.
INSIDE THE SERIES
The all-time series between K-State and New Mexico is tied 8-8-1, following a 4-3 walk-off victory by the Lobos on February 21 in Surprise, Arizona, in the 2021 season-opening weekend ... In the game, the Wildcats owned a 3-1 lead going to the bottom of the eighth inning before the Lobos rallied for two in the eighth to tie the game and later walk off in the bottom of the ninth ... Tyler Eckberg took the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) over 1 1/3 innings ... Starter Connor McCullough logged seven innings, giving up just one run on four hits with nine strikeouts ... The Cats are 5-4-1 against New Mexico at home, last hosting the Lobos in a two-game midweek series in 2017 (won both).
COMPASS TOUR COMPLETE
From February 26-March 13, K-State played 10 consecutive games against teams with a direction in its name: Western Michigan, Eastern Illinois, South Dakota State, Northern Illinois ... During the tour, the Wildcats went 8-2 with three wins over WMU, one over EIU and two over both SDSU and NIU ... Over the 10-game stretch, the Cats offense was led by Phillips who hit .486 (17-for-35) with three doubles, four homers and 14 RBI ... Kokoska launched a team-best six bombs with six doubles for a 1.1063 slugging percentage ... The offense carded 21 homers over the 10 games with 18 doubles and two triples ... The pitching staff boasted an ERA of 2.27 with 101 strikeouts over 91 innings.
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 23 home runs over the last 12 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with six homers while freshman Nick Goodwin and sophomore Dylan Phillips each have four ... Kokoska and Carinci each lifted two home runs in a 15-4 win over SDSU last Tuesday, as the Wildcats hit six long balls in the win ... The six homers was one shy of tying the program's single-game record and are the most hit in a game since the 2006 season ... Phillips produced his third career multi-homer game with two home runs against the Jackrabbits in the second game of the series, to give K-State three multi-home run efforts over two games ... Kokoska and Thompson went back to back in the third inning in the finale vs. Eastern Illinois, marking the first time the Cats have gone back to back since April 19, 2019 ... K-State's 23 home runs currently rank second in the Big 12.
WHAMMER HAMMER
Going back to last season, Dylan Phillips has reached base safely in 27 consecutive games - a career-best streak ... Phillips has recorded a base hit in 25 of his last 27 games, including 11 multi-hit efforts ... With 20 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 32 runs over his last 24 games while recording an RBI in 19 of his last 24 contests ... The two-way star saw a streak of 10 consecutive games with an RBI snapped Sunday at Rice ... Phillips is currently on a seven-game hitting streak, going 14-for-26 (.538) with four homers and 11 RBI in that span ... His season average of .407 is good for third in the Big 12, while he ranks in the league's top 10 in all three slash categories.
WICKY WICKY YEAH
K-State lefty Jordan Wicks racked up the preseason honors, including being named the 2021 Big 12 Co-Preseason Pitcher of the Year ... Wicks was tabbed a preseason all-American by D1Baseball, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA ... The Conway, Ark., product is K-State's first preseason all-America nod since 2014 and the first Big 12 preseason of-the-year award winner ... Wicks was also one of 55 named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Watch List, which recognizes the nation's premier amateur player ... Following his 10-strikeout, seven scoreless innings against Oregon State, Wicks was named Big 12 Pitcher of the week and National Pitcher of the Week by the NCBWA ... Wicks struck out 10 more hitters against WMU and eight against EIU ... Wicks ranks second in the Big 12 with his 32 strikeouts ... Dating back to last season, Wicks has allowed six earned runs over 51 1/3 innings (1.05 ERA) with 58 strikeouts ... Three of Wicks' four starts this season have been quality starts.
GOODWIN? MORE LIKE REALLY GOODWIN
K-State true freshman Nick Goodwin has done it all for the Wildcats through the season's first four weeks, ranking second on the team in hits (19), doubles (4), home runs (4), extra-base hits (8) and RBI (15) ... The Overland Park product strung together three straight multi-hit games against Western Michigan and put together an eight-game hitting streak from March 5-13... Goodwin has reached base in 14 of 16 games this season and has a hit in 13 contests ... He currently ranks in the Big 12's top 10 in home runs, steals and total bases.
IT'S NOT HOW YOU START
Wildcat starting pitchers this season have posted a 1.73 earned run average, allowing 17 earned runs over 88 1/3 innings with 90 strikeouts against 33 walks ... The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 4.75 (29 ER, 55 IP) with 58 strikeouts against 30 walks ... The K-State pen held South Dakota State scoreless over 10 innings over the two games, and posted a scoreless streak of 12 innings ... Over the last six game, Wildcat relievers have registered a 0.84 ERA (2 ER, 21.1 IP) with 37 strikeouts and 10 walks ... In the season's first 10 games, the bullpen yielded a 7.22 ERA (27 ER, 33.2 IP) with 21 strikeouts and 20 walks ... The Cats totaled 31 strikeouts over two games vs. SDSU, punching out 15 in the opener before a season-high 16 in the second game ... In the month of March, K-State starters are 4-1 with a 1.09 earned run average 6 ER, 49.1 IP) ... All four starts in Houston were quality outings, as K-State has seven quality starts in 16 games.
BOSS HOGS
The Cats' three pitchers from the state of Arkansas - Kasey Ford, Connor McCullough and Jordan Wicks - have allowed nine earned runs over 67 2/3 innings (1.19 ERA) while going 5-0 with 69 strikeouts ... Ford's .167 batting average against him is fourth-best in the Big 12 while McCullough ranks sixth at .186 ... Five of McCullough's first eight starts have produced quality efforts while Wicks has allowed six earned runs in his last 51 1/3 innings ... Ford's six scoreless innings vs. NIU marked his longest start since the 2018 season ... The trio combined to pitch six quality outings in 11 starts in 2020 ... They were 6-2 with a 1.57 ERA (11 ER, 63.2 IP) with 69 strikeouts.
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