Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, March 26
Stillwater, OK
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
at
Oklahoma State
K-State Opens Big 12 Play at No. 13 Oklahoma State
Mar 25, 2021 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State begins the Big 12 portion of its schedule on Friday, kicking off a three-game series against 13th-ranked Oklahoma State at O'Brate Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The league opener for the Wildcats (13-7, 0-0 Big 12) is set to begin at 6 p.m., with lefty Jordan Wicks taking the mound. Game two is slated for another 6 p.m. start Saturday and will feature Carson Seymour while Connor McCullough will go for the Cats in the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Cowboys (12-6-1, 1-2 Big 12), ranked as high as No. 13 in the national polls, enter their second conference weekend after dropping two of three to Texas Tech last weekend. OSU has won the last eight games in the series with K-State.
Dylan Phillips carries a career-best 31-game on-base streak into the weekend, and now leads the Wildcats with his .384 average and 25 RBI. Zach Kokoska is tied for the Big 12 lead in home runs with eight and is tied for fourth nationally.
The series opener and finale will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage will be available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) throughout the weekend with free, live audio online at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #21
K-STATE (13-7, 0-0 BIG 12) at #13 OKLAHOMA STATE (12-6-1, 1-2 BIG 12)
Friday, March 26 // 6 p.m. // O'Brate Stadium // Stillwater, Okla.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (4-0, 1.72 ERA) vs. LHP Parker Scott (4-1, 1.29 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // ESPN app
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
GAME #22
K-STATE (13-7, 0-0 BIG 12) at #13 OKLAHOMA STATE (12-6-1, 1-2 BIG 12)
Saturday, March 27 // 6 p.m. // O'Brate Stadium // Stillwater, Okla.
Projected Starters: RHP Carson Seymour (1-2, 4.88 ERA) vs. LHP Justin Wrobleski (1-2, 2.86 ERA)
Watch: N/A
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
GAME #23
K-STATE (13-7, 0-0 BIG 12) at #13 OKLAHOMA STATE (12-6-1, 1-2 BIG 12)
Sunday, March 28 // 1 p.m. // O'Brate Stadium // Stillwater, Okla.
Projected Starters: RHP Connor McCullough (1-0, 2.63 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Campbell (2-0, 0.47 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // ESPN app
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
After a weekend series victory over New Mexico and a midweek defeat at Wichita State, K-State opens Big 12 play at No. 13 Oklahoma State Friday ... Tuesday night against the Shockers, K-State got two hits from both Nick Goodwin and Zach Kokoska, but stranded 10 runners and allowed three unearned runs in a 5-1 loss ... The Wildcats went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-4 with the bases loaded, including going 0-for-3 after loading the bases with nobody out in the eighth inning down two runs ... Over the weekend against the Lobos, the Cats used five home runs to pound out season highs in runs (17) and hits (18) in a 17-8 win in Sunday's rubber game with the Lobos ... The victory not only sealed the series, but handed head coach Pete Hughes his 700th career win in his 24th season as a head coach ... Cameron Thompson had four hits Sunday, including two homers for his first career multi-home run game, while Kokoska, Caleb Littlejim and Dylan Phillips also homered ... Kokoska hit his team-leading eighth long ball with his first career grand slam ... Phillips recorded a career-high five RBI and connected on the 20th home run of his career ... Over the three-game series, K-State tallied seven home runs and 13 extra-base hits ... The Cats' 30 home runs have all come in the last 16 games ... Jordan Wicks set the tone Friday, striking out 10 to equal his career high ... It was his third double-digit strikeout outing of the year, while he has four quality starts in five starts ... The K-State bullpen boasted a 0.69 earned run average while striking out 12 against three walks ... Tyler Eckberg appeared twice, retiring all 14 hitters (4 2/3 innings) he saw with three strikeouts.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State (12-6-1, 1-2 Big 12), who is ranked as high as No. 13 in the national polls, enters its second weekend of conference play after dropping two of three games to Texas Tech last week ... OSU started the season 10-0-1 and have gone 2-6 since and are currently on a three-game skid ... Cowboys starters Justin Campbell and Parker Scott rank in the Big 12's top five in ERA, with Campbell has a league-low 0.47 ERA and Scott is fifth at 1.29 ... Scott is tied for the conference lead in wins and Campbell is sixth with 33 strikeouts ... Oklahoma State has thrown five shutouts this season ... As an offense, OSU ranks last in the conference with a .237 team average ... Jake Thompson leads the Cowboys with a .328 average and Christian Encarnacion-Strand has a a team-best six homers.
INSIDE THE SERIES
In a series that dates all the way back to 1911, Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 171-58 (47-18 Big 12) ... The Cowboys have swept the Wildcats in the last two weekend series and have won the last eight matchups overall ... K-State is 17-98 on the road in the series and 3-11 in Stillwater since 2011 ... The Cats have lost 17 of the last 19 meetings since 2014 and are 1-14 in the last 15 in the series ... K-State last won a road series against OSU in 2009 and last won any series in 2010 ... In the Big 12 era (since 1997), K-State has claimed four series against Oklahoma State, with the 2009 series being the only road series (2-0).
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 30 home runs over the last 16 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with eight homers while sophomore Dylan Phillips and senior Cameron Thompson each have five ... Thompson homered twice Sunday to become the fourth different Wildcat to record a multi-homer game this season ... As a team, K-State has launched multiple home runs in eight of 20 games this season, including a season-high six against South Dakota State on March 9 ... The six homers were one shy of tying the program's single-game record and are the most in a game since the 2006 season ... 11 different Cats have homered this season, with five going deep more than once ... K-State's 30 home runs currently rank fourth in the country and lead the Big 12.
WHAMMER HAMMER
Going back to last season, Dylan Phillips has reached base safely in 31 consecutive games - a career-best streak ... Phillips has recorded a base hit in 28 of his last 31 games, including 12 multi-hit efforts ... With 25 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 37 runs over his last 28 games while recording an RBI in 20 of his last 28 contests ... The two-way star saw a streak of 10 consecutive games with an RBI snapped March 14 at Rice ... Phillips saw his 10-game hitting streak end Tuesday, as he was 18-for-37 (.486) with five homers and 16 RBI in that stretch ... His season average of .384 is good for third in the Big 12 while his RBI total is second highest ... He ranks in the league's top seven 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 third in the Big 12 with his 42 strikeouts and has reached double-digit strikeouts in three of five starts ... Four of his five starts this season have been quality efforts ... Dating back to last season, Wicks has allowed seven earned runs over 57 1/3 innings (1.09 ERA) with 68 strikeouts.
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 in the top three on the team in hits (24), doubles (5), home runs (4), extra-base hits (9) and RBI (14) and leads the team with seven stolen bases ... 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 18 of 20 games this season and has a hit in 16 contests.
IT'S NOT HOW YOU START
Wildcat starting pitchers this season have posted a 2.56 earned run average, allowing 30 earned runs over 105 1/3 innings with 110 strikeouts against 38 walks ... The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 3.82 (31 ER, 73 IP) with 78 strikeouts against 36 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 10 games, Wildcat relievers have registered a 0.92 ERA (4 ER, 39.1 IP) with 57 strikeouts and 16 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 5-3 with a 2.58 earned run average (19 ER, 66.1 IP) ... The pen has a March ERA of 1.99 (11 ER, 49.2 IP), with Jaxson Passino leading the way with 13 strikeouts in eight innings ... Eckberg and Kasey Ford have each allowed one earned run in eight innings in relief.
BOSS HOGS
The Cats' three pitchers from the state of Arkansas - Kasey Ford, Connor McCullough and Jordan Wicks - have allowed 17 earned runs over 80 2/3 innings (1.90 ERA) while going 6-0 with 87 strikeouts ... Ford's .195 batting average against him is fifth-best in the Big 12 while Wicks ranks ninth at .207 ... Five of McCullough's first nine starts have produced quality efforts while Wicks has allowed seven earned runs in his last 57 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.
BY TH3 NUM8ERS
K-State has a run differential of +35 and is 9-4 when scoring the game's first run ... On the season, the Wildcats are 3-for-20 with the bases loaded (.150) and have held opponents to .451 (4-for-26) ... K-State is 3-for-13 (.231) with the bases full in games won and 0-for-7 in losses with the bags loaded ... The Cats are hitting .243 with runners in scoring position and .237 with two outs ... In victories, the Wildcats are hitting .280 with runners in scoring position and .288 with two gone ... In losses, K-State hits .164 with runners in scoring position and .132 with two outs ... K-State has tallied 30 two-out RBI in 13 wins and just five RBI with two outs in seven losses ... With two outs, opponents are hitting just .171 against Wicks ... Phillips leads the team with a .429 average with two outs, going 9-for-21.
The league opener for the Wildcats (13-7, 0-0 Big 12) is set to begin at 6 p.m., with lefty Jordan Wicks taking the mound. Game two is slated for another 6 p.m. start Saturday and will feature Carson Seymour while Connor McCullough will go for the Cats in the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Cowboys (12-6-1, 1-2 Big 12), ranked as high as No. 13 in the national polls, enter their second conference weekend after dropping two of three to Texas Tech last weekend. OSU has won the last eight games in the series with K-State.
Dylan Phillips carries a career-best 31-game on-base streak into the weekend, and now leads the Wildcats with his .384 average and 25 RBI. Zach Kokoska is tied for the Big 12 lead in home runs with eight and is tied for fourth nationally.
The series opener and finale will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage will be available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) throughout the weekend with free, live audio online at K-StateSports.com/watch.
GAME #21
K-STATE (13-7, 0-0 BIG 12) at #13 OKLAHOMA STATE (12-6-1, 1-2 BIG 12)
Friday, March 26 // 6 p.m. // O'Brate Stadium // Stillwater, Okla.
Projected Starters: LHP Jordan Wicks (4-0, 1.72 ERA) vs. LHP Parker Scott (4-1, 1.29 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // ESPN app
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
GAME #22
K-STATE (13-7, 0-0 BIG 12) at #13 OKLAHOMA STATE (12-6-1, 1-2 BIG 12)
Saturday, March 27 // 6 p.m. // O'Brate Stadium // Stillwater, Okla.
Projected Starters: RHP Carson Seymour (1-2, 4.88 ERA) vs. LHP Justin Wrobleski (1-2, 2.86 ERA)
Watch: N/A
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
GAME #23
K-STATE (13-7, 0-0 BIG 12) at #13 OKLAHOMA STATE (12-6-1, 1-2 BIG 12)
Sunday, March 28 // 1 p.m. // O'Brate Stadium // Stillwater, Okla.
Projected Starters: RHP Connor McCullough (1-0, 2.63 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Campbell (2-0, 0.47 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // ESPN app
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
After a weekend series victory over New Mexico and a midweek defeat at Wichita State, K-State opens Big 12 play at No. 13 Oklahoma State Friday ... Tuesday night against the Shockers, K-State got two hits from both Nick Goodwin and Zach Kokoska, but stranded 10 runners and allowed three unearned runs in a 5-1 loss ... The Wildcats went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-4 with the bases loaded, including going 0-for-3 after loading the bases with nobody out in the eighth inning down two runs ... Over the weekend against the Lobos, the Cats used five home runs to pound out season highs in runs (17) and hits (18) in a 17-8 win in Sunday's rubber game with the Lobos ... The victory not only sealed the series, but handed head coach Pete Hughes his 700th career win in his 24th season as a head coach ... Cameron Thompson had four hits Sunday, including two homers for his first career multi-home run game, while Kokoska, Caleb Littlejim and Dylan Phillips also homered ... Kokoska hit his team-leading eighth long ball with his first career grand slam ... Phillips recorded a career-high five RBI and connected on the 20th home run of his career ... Over the three-game series, K-State tallied seven home runs and 13 extra-base hits ... The Cats' 30 home runs have all come in the last 16 games ... Jordan Wicks set the tone Friday, striking out 10 to equal his career high ... It was his third double-digit strikeout outing of the year, while he has four quality starts in five starts ... The K-State bullpen boasted a 0.69 earned run average while striking out 12 against three walks ... Tyler Eckberg appeared twice, retiring all 14 hitters (4 2/3 innings) he saw with three strikeouts.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
Oklahoma State (12-6-1, 1-2 Big 12), who is ranked as high as No. 13 in the national polls, enters its second weekend of conference play after dropping two of three games to Texas Tech last week ... OSU started the season 10-0-1 and have gone 2-6 since and are currently on a three-game skid ... Cowboys starters Justin Campbell and Parker Scott rank in the Big 12's top five in ERA, with Campbell has a league-low 0.47 ERA and Scott is fifth at 1.29 ... Scott is tied for the conference lead in wins and Campbell is sixth with 33 strikeouts ... Oklahoma State has thrown five shutouts this season ... As an offense, OSU ranks last in the conference with a .237 team average ... Jake Thompson leads the Cowboys with a .328 average and Christian Encarnacion-Strand has a a team-best six homers.
INSIDE THE SERIES
In a series that dates all the way back to 1911, Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 171-58 (47-18 Big 12) ... The Cowboys have swept the Wildcats in the last two weekend series and have won the last eight matchups overall ... K-State is 17-98 on the road in the series and 3-11 in Stillwater since 2011 ... The Cats have lost 17 of the last 19 meetings since 2014 and are 1-14 in the last 15 in the series ... K-State last won a road series against OSU in 2009 and last won any series in 2010 ... In the Big 12 era (since 1997), K-State has claimed four series against Oklahoma State, with the 2009 series being the only road series (2-0).
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 30 home runs over the last 16 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with eight homers while sophomore Dylan Phillips and senior Cameron Thompson each have five ... Thompson homered twice Sunday to become the fourth different Wildcat to record a multi-homer game this season ... As a team, K-State has launched multiple home runs in eight of 20 games this season, including a season-high six against South Dakota State on March 9 ... The six homers were one shy of tying the program's single-game record and are the most in a game since the 2006 season ... 11 different Cats have homered this season, with five going deep more than once ... K-State's 30 home runs currently rank fourth in the country and lead the Big 12.
WHAMMER HAMMER
Going back to last season, Dylan Phillips has reached base safely in 31 consecutive games - a career-best streak ... Phillips has recorded a base hit in 28 of his last 31 games, including 12 multi-hit efforts ... With 25 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 37 runs over his last 28 games while recording an RBI in 20 of his last 28 contests ... The two-way star saw a streak of 10 consecutive games with an RBI snapped March 14 at Rice ... Phillips saw his 10-game hitting streak end Tuesday, as he was 18-for-37 (.486) with five homers and 16 RBI in that stretch ... His season average of .384 is good for third in the Big 12 while his RBI total is second highest ... He ranks in the league's top seven 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 third in the Big 12 with his 42 strikeouts and has reached double-digit strikeouts in three of five starts ... Four of his five starts this season have been quality efforts ... Dating back to last season, Wicks has allowed seven earned runs over 57 1/3 innings (1.09 ERA) with 68 strikeouts.
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 in the top three on the team in hits (24), doubles (5), home runs (4), extra-base hits (9) and RBI (14) and leads the team with seven stolen bases ... 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 18 of 20 games this season and has a hit in 16 contests.
IT'S NOT HOW YOU START
Wildcat starting pitchers this season have posted a 2.56 earned run average, allowing 30 earned runs over 105 1/3 innings with 110 strikeouts against 38 walks ... The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 3.82 (31 ER, 73 IP) with 78 strikeouts against 36 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 10 games, Wildcat relievers have registered a 0.92 ERA (4 ER, 39.1 IP) with 57 strikeouts and 16 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 5-3 with a 2.58 earned run average (19 ER, 66.1 IP) ... The pen has a March ERA of 1.99 (11 ER, 49.2 IP), with Jaxson Passino leading the way with 13 strikeouts in eight innings ... Eckberg and Kasey Ford have each allowed one earned run in eight innings in relief.
BOSS HOGS
The Cats' three pitchers from the state of Arkansas - Kasey Ford, Connor McCullough and Jordan Wicks - have allowed 17 earned runs over 80 2/3 innings (1.90 ERA) while going 6-0 with 87 strikeouts ... Ford's .195 batting average against him is fifth-best in the Big 12 while Wicks ranks ninth at .207 ... Five of McCullough's first nine starts have produced quality efforts while Wicks has allowed seven earned runs in his last 57 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.
BY TH3 NUM8ERS
K-State has a run differential of +35 and is 9-4 when scoring the game's first run ... On the season, the Wildcats are 3-for-20 with the bases loaded (.150) and have held opponents to .451 (4-for-26) ... K-State is 3-for-13 (.231) with the bases full in games won and 0-for-7 in losses with the bags loaded ... The Cats are hitting .243 with runners in scoring position and .237 with two outs ... In victories, the Wildcats are hitting .280 with runners in scoring position and .288 with two gone ... In losses, K-State hits .164 with runners in scoring position and .132 with two outs ... K-State has tallied 30 two-out RBI in 13 wins and just five RBI with two outs in seven losses ... With two outs, opponents are hitting just .171 against Wicks ... Phillips leads the team with a .429 average with two outs, going 9-for-21.
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