Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, April 17
Manhattan, KS
2 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
Oklahoma
Wildcats Continue Big 12 Slate Against Oklahoma
Apr 15, 2021 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State continues its season-long homestand with a three-game Big 12 series against the Oklahoma Sooner, starting Friday at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium.
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 (19-14, 2-7 Big 12) enters the weekend after a two-game midweek sweep of Northern Colorado.
Oklahoma (18-15, 3-6 Big 12) sits one game ahead of the Wildcats in the conference standings after the Sooners claimed two of three games against Kansas last weekend.
All three games will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Friday's and Saturday's games will be carried on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with the contest on Sunday broadcast on the K-State Sports Radio Network. 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. Capacity at Tointon Family Stadium has been increased to 50 percent, with all tickets being sold as general admission and no longer in reserved pods. The first 175 students will also be admitted for free with their K-State student ID with designated seating in the right field bleachers.
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 #34
K-STATE (19-14, 2-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (18-15, 3-6 BIG 12)
Friday, April 16 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // John Kurtz, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #35
K-STATE (19-14, 2-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (18-15, 3-6 BIG 12)
Saturday, April 17 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // John Kurtz, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #36
K-STATE (19-14, 2-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (18-15, 3-6 BIG 12)
Sunday, April 18 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // John Kurtz, Mike Clark
Radio: K-State Sports Radio Network // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State continues its season-long 12-game homestand with a three-game series against Oklahoma at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Wildcats are coming off a two-game midweek sweep over Northern Colorado in which they outscored the Bears 20-5 ... The Cats registered nine two-out RBI over the two games, including a three-RBI triple from Cameron Thompson on Wednesday ... The K-State bullpen did not allow an earned run over 10 innings, striking out 20 with just three walks allowed ... At the plate, K-State drew 17 walks in two games, with a season-high 10 coming in the finale ... The two-game winning streak comes after the Cats dropped all three games at No. 3 Texas last weekend in which they were outscored 37-9 ... The K-State pitching staff posted a 13.50 ERA in the series, walking 20 while striking out 22 in three games ... Zach Kokoska belted two homers against the Longhorns, his 11th and 12th home runs of the season, and is currently on a 29-game on-base streak and an 11-game hitting streak.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma (18-15, 3-6 Big 12) swept its own two-game midweek set against Texas Southern, taking a Wednesday doubleheader against the Tigers ... Overall, OU has won three straight games after claiming the weekend rubber match against Kansas Sunday ... The Sooners have won five of their last six games following a four-game losing skid that included being swept by TCU ... Tyler Hardman is the league's leading hitter, and second in the country, at .465 and 60 base hits to go with the league's highest on-base percentage of .557 ... OU's team average of .302 is best in the conference and it ranks third in both on-base percentage and slugging ... Conversely, the Oklahoma pitching staff's 5.84 ERA is last in the league.
INSIDE THE SERIES
K-State trails the all-time series with Oklahoma, 80-201-1 (20-49 Big 12) ... At home, the Wildcats are 50-87 against the Sooners and are 3-7 in the last 10 games in the series in Manhattan ... K-State last won a weekend series against OU in 2013, taking two of three games at home ... The Cats last swept a home series vs. Oklahoma in 1995 (two games) ... Overall, OU has won 10 of the last 12 meetings.
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 49 home runs over the last 29 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with 12 homers, including two over the weekend at Texas, while sophomore Dylan Phillips has nine and senior Cameron Thompson has eight ... The trio all ranks in the Big 12's top 10 in homers, as no other club has more than two ... Kokoska ranks second in the league with his 12 homers, which is tied for seventh-most in a single season in K-State history ... As a team, K-State has homered in 11 straight contests and has launched multiple home runs in 11 of 33 games this season ... 13 different Cats have homered this season, with five players turning in a multi-homer game ... The 13 different players with a homer are the team's most since the 1998 season and are tied for the most in the country this season ... K-State's 49 home runs are seventh-most in the country and two shy of breaking in to the top 10 for a Wildcat team.
WE'RE GOIN' STREAKING
Zach Kokoska extended his career-long on-base streak to 29 games Wednesday vs. UNC ... Additionally, his hitting streak now sits at 11 games - one away from matching his career long ... The last time a Wildcat had a hitting streak of 15 games or longer was Tanner DeVinny in 2014 (15 games) ... Dylan Phillips put together a 32-game on base streak that went back to last season and ended on March 27 at Oklahoma State ... K-State has homered in 11 straight games - the longest active streak in the country and tied for the longest such streak this year by any team (Arkansas) ... In 2019, the Cats homered in 14 consecutive contests for their longest home run stretch in the Big 12 era.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
K-State, in the midst of a season-long 12-game homestand, is 14-4 this year at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Cats have won their last six home games and 12 of their last 14 overall ... At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .319 while launching 40 home runs ... K-State has homered in 15 straight home games and have recorded at least one home run in 17 of 18 games at home ... K-State averages 8.5 runs per game at Tointon Family Stadium as opposed to 3.4 runs a game in road and neutral contests ... In true road games, the Cats average three runs a game with an average of .203 ... The K-State pitching staff boasts an ERA of 3.11 at home while the bullpen is even lower at 2.30.
KOKO BE LOCO
Junior outfielder Zach Kokoska is riding a career-long 29-game on base streak to go with an 11-game hitting streak - one shy of equaling his career-best stretch ... Over the last 11 contests, Kokoska has a team-best .419 average to go with six doubles, four homers and 10 RBI ... His slugging percentage of .837 and on-base percentage of .457 are also team highs ... The Latrobe, Pa, product has six multi-hit games during his hitting streak with a run batted in nine outings ... His 12 homers rank second in the conference and are tied for seventh-most in a single season in K-State history (record 16 set in 1997).
WHAMMER HAMMER
Dylan Phillips homered twice on April 6 against UAPB, his second multi-homer game of the season and fourth of his career ... He upped his career home run total to 24, which is tied for eighth in program history ... Phillips has recorded a base hit in 38 of his last 44 games, including 16 multi-hit efforts ... With 36 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 47 runs over his last 40 games while recording an RBI in 25 of those games ... The two-way star saw a streak of 10 consecutive games with an RBI snapped March 14 at Rice ... Phillips is currently on a nine-game hitting streak and had a 10-game hitting streak end March 23, as he was 18-for-37 (.486) with five homers and 16 RBI in that stretch ... His season average of .363 is good for seventh in the Big 12 while his RBI total is fourth ... 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 on Opening Day, Wicks was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and National Pitcher of the Week by the NCBWA ... Wicks leads the Big 12 with his 66 strikeouts and has reached double-digit strikeouts three times ... Four of his eight starts this season have been quality efforts ... Dating back to last season, Wicks has allowed 21 earned runs over 74 1/3 innings (2.54 ERA) with 92 strikeouts.
FROM THE PEN
The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 4.80 (65 ER, 122.0 IP) with 144 strikeouts against 68 walks after throwing 10 innings without an earned run allowed over two games against Northern Colorado (20 K, 3 BB) ... Wildcat starting pitchers this season have posted a 3.89 earned run average, allowing 71 earned runs over 164 1/3 innings with 175 strikeouts against 68 walks ... At home, the K-State bullpen has a 2.30 ERA (19 ER, 74.1 IP) while posting an earned run average of 8.69 (46 ER, 47.2 IP) in road and neutral contests ... 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 ... In the month of March, K-State starters went 5-5 with a 3.20 earned run average (29 ER, 81.2 IP) ... The pen owned a March ERA of 2.93 (19 ER, 58.1 IP), with Jaxson Passino leading the way with 13 strikeouts in eight innings ... In last weekend's series at Texas, the pen had a 17.10 ERA, allowing 19 earned runs in 10 innings with 11 walks and nine strikeouts.
BY TH3 NUM8ER5
K-State has a run differential of +20 after outscoring UNC 20-5 in two midweek games ... K-State is 15-5 when scoring the game's first run and has outscored opponents by 22 runs in the game's first two innings (48-26) ... On the season, the Wildcats are 4-for-31 with the bases loaded (.129) while opponents are hitting .229 (11-for-48) with the bases loaded ... K-State is 4-for-20 (.200) with the bases full in games won and 0-for-11 in losses with the bags loaded ... Overall, the Cats are hitting .230 with runners in scoring position and .239 with two outs ... In victories, the Wildcats are hitting .273 with runners in scoring position and .282 with two gone ... In losses, K-State hits .145 with runners in scoring position and .180 with two outs ... K-State has tallied 44 two-out RBI in 19 wins and just 10 RBI with two outs in 14 losses.
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 (19-14, 2-7 Big 12) enters the weekend after a two-game midweek sweep of Northern Colorado.
Oklahoma (18-15, 3-6 Big 12) sits one game ahead of the Wildcats in the conference standings after the Sooners claimed two of three games against Kansas last weekend.
All three games will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Friday's and Saturday's games will be carried on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with the contest on Sunday broadcast on the K-State Sports Radio Network. 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. Capacity at Tointon Family Stadium has been increased to 50 percent, with all tickets being sold as general admission and no longer in reserved pods. The first 175 students will also be admitted for free with their K-State student ID with designated seating in the right field bleachers.
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 #34
K-STATE (19-14, 2-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (18-15, 3-6 BIG 12)
Friday, April 16 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // John Kurtz, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #35
K-STATE (19-14, 2-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (18-15, 3-6 BIG 12)
Saturday, April 17 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // John Kurtz, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #36
K-STATE (19-14, 2-7 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (18-15, 3-6 BIG 12)
Sunday, April 18 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // John Kurtz, Mike Clark
Radio: K-State Sports Radio Network // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State continues its season-long 12-game homestand with a three-game series against Oklahoma at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Wildcats are coming off a two-game midweek sweep over Northern Colorado in which they outscored the Bears 20-5 ... The Cats registered nine two-out RBI over the two games, including a three-RBI triple from Cameron Thompson on Wednesday ... The K-State bullpen did not allow an earned run over 10 innings, striking out 20 with just three walks allowed ... At the plate, K-State drew 17 walks in two games, with a season-high 10 coming in the finale ... The two-game winning streak comes after the Cats dropped all three games at No. 3 Texas last weekend in which they were outscored 37-9 ... The K-State pitching staff posted a 13.50 ERA in the series, walking 20 while striking out 22 in three games ... Zach Kokoska belted two homers against the Longhorns, his 11th and 12th home runs of the season, and is currently on a 29-game on-base streak and an 11-game hitting streak.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma (18-15, 3-6 Big 12) swept its own two-game midweek set against Texas Southern, taking a Wednesday doubleheader against the Tigers ... Overall, OU has won three straight games after claiming the weekend rubber match against Kansas Sunday ... The Sooners have won five of their last six games following a four-game losing skid that included being swept by TCU ... Tyler Hardman is the league's leading hitter, and second in the country, at .465 and 60 base hits to go with the league's highest on-base percentage of .557 ... OU's team average of .302 is best in the conference and it ranks third in both on-base percentage and slugging ... Conversely, the Oklahoma pitching staff's 5.84 ERA is last in the league.
INSIDE THE SERIES
K-State trails the all-time series with Oklahoma, 80-201-1 (20-49 Big 12) ... At home, the Wildcats are 50-87 against the Sooners and are 3-7 in the last 10 games in the series in Manhattan ... K-State last won a weekend series against OU in 2013, taking two of three games at home ... The Cats last swept a home series vs. Oklahoma in 1995 (two games) ... Overall, OU has won 10 of the last 12 meetings.
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 49 home runs over the last 29 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with 12 homers, including two over the weekend at Texas, while sophomore Dylan Phillips has nine and senior Cameron Thompson has eight ... The trio all ranks in the Big 12's top 10 in homers, as no other club has more than two ... Kokoska ranks second in the league with his 12 homers, which is tied for seventh-most in a single season in K-State history ... As a team, K-State has homered in 11 straight contests and has launched multiple home runs in 11 of 33 games this season ... 13 different Cats have homered this season, with five players turning in a multi-homer game ... The 13 different players with a homer are the team's most since the 1998 season and are tied for the most in the country this season ... K-State's 49 home runs are seventh-most in the country and two shy of breaking in to the top 10 for a Wildcat team.
WE'RE GOIN' STREAKING
Zach Kokoska extended his career-long on-base streak to 29 games Wednesday vs. UNC ... Additionally, his hitting streak now sits at 11 games - one away from matching his career long ... The last time a Wildcat had a hitting streak of 15 games or longer was Tanner DeVinny in 2014 (15 games) ... Dylan Phillips put together a 32-game on base streak that went back to last season and ended on March 27 at Oklahoma State ... K-State has homered in 11 straight games - the longest active streak in the country and tied for the longest such streak this year by any team (Arkansas) ... In 2019, the Cats homered in 14 consecutive contests for their longest home run stretch in the Big 12 era.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
K-State, in the midst of a season-long 12-game homestand, is 14-4 this year at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Cats have won their last six home games and 12 of their last 14 overall ... At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .319 while launching 40 home runs ... K-State has homered in 15 straight home games and have recorded at least one home run in 17 of 18 games at home ... K-State averages 8.5 runs per game at Tointon Family Stadium as opposed to 3.4 runs a game in road and neutral contests ... In true road games, the Cats average three runs a game with an average of .203 ... The K-State pitching staff boasts an ERA of 3.11 at home while the bullpen is even lower at 2.30.
KOKO BE LOCO
Junior outfielder Zach Kokoska is riding a career-long 29-game on base streak to go with an 11-game hitting streak - one shy of equaling his career-best stretch ... Over the last 11 contests, Kokoska has a team-best .419 average to go with six doubles, four homers and 10 RBI ... His slugging percentage of .837 and on-base percentage of .457 are also team highs ... The Latrobe, Pa, product has six multi-hit games during his hitting streak with a run batted in nine outings ... His 12 homers rank second in the conference and are tied for seventh-most in a single season in K-State history (record 16 set in 1997).
WHAMMER HAMMER
Dylan Phillips homered twice on April 6 against UAPB, his second multi-homer game of the season and fourth of his career ... He upped his career home run total to 24, which is tied for eighth in program history ... Phillips has recorded a base hit in 38 of his last 44 games, including 16 multi-hit efforts ... With 36 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 47 runs over his last 40 games while recording an RBI in 25 of those games ... The two-way star saw a streak of 10 consecutive games with an RBI snapped March 14 at Rice ... Phillips is currently on a nine-game hitting streak and had a 10-game hitting streak end March 23, as he was 18-for-37 (.486) with five homers and 16 RBI in that stretch ... His season average of .363 is good for seventh in the Big 12 while his RBI total is fourth ... 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 on Opening Day, Wicks was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and National Pitcher of the Week by the NCBWA ... Wicks leads the Big 12 with his 66 strikeouts and has reached double-digit strikeouts three times ... Four of his eight starts this season have been quality efforts ... Dating back to last season, Wicks has allowed 21 earned runs over 74 1/3 innings (2.54 ERA) with 92 strikeouts.
FROM THE PEN
The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 4.80 (65 ER, 122.0 IP) with 144 strikeouts against 68 walks after throwing 10 innings without an earned run allowed over two games against Northern Colorado (20 K, 3 BB) ... Wildcat starting pitchers this season have posted a 3.89 earned run average, allowing 71 earned runs over 164 1/3 innings with 175 strikeouts against 68 walks ... At home, the K-State bullpen has a 2.30 ERA (19 ER, 74.1 IP) while posting an earned run average of 8.69 (46 ER, 47.2 IP) in road and neutral contests ... 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 ... In the month of March, K-State starters went 5-5 with a 3.20 earned run average (29 ER, 81.2 IP) ... The pen owned a March ERA of 2.93 (19 ER, 58.1 IP), with Jaxson Passino leading the way with 13 strikeouts in eight innings ... In last weekend's series at Texas, the pen had a 17.10 ERA, allowing 19 earned runs in 10 innings with 11 walks and nine strikeouts.
BY TH3 NUM8ER5
K-State has a run differential of +20 after outscoring UNC 20-5 in two midweek games ... K-State is 15-5 when scoring the game's first run and has outscored opponents by 22 runs in the game's first two innings (48-26) ... On the season, the Wildcats are 4-for-31 with the bases loaded (.129) while opponents are hitting .229 (11-for-48) with the bases loaded ... K-State is 4-for-20 (.200) with the bases full in games won and 0-for-11 in losses with the bags loaded ... Overall, the Cats are hitting .230 with runners in scoring position and .239 with two outs ... In victories, the Wildcats are hitting .273 with runners in scoring position and .282 with two gone ... In losses, K-State hits .145 with runners in scoring position and .180 with two outs ... K-State has tallied 44 two-out RBI in 19 wins and just 10 RBI with two outs in 14 losses.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballK-State BSB | Postgame Press Conference vs Texas
Sunday, June 01
K-State Baseball | Game Highlights vs Houston Christian (Austin Regional)
Sunday, June 01
K-State BSB | Game Highlights vs Houston Christian (Austin Regional)
Saturday, May 31
K-State BSB | Postgame Press Conference vs Houston Christian
Saturday, May 31