Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, April 30
Manhattan, KS
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
Texas Southern
K-State Wraps Up Homestand Against Texas Southern
Apr 29, 2021 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State's season-long 12-game homestand comes to an end this weekend, as the Wildcats host Texas Southern in a three-game series that begins Friday at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium.
The second game of the series is slated for a 4 p.m. start Saturday with the series wrapping up Sunday at 1 p.m.
K-State (24-16) has won seven of nine games during the home stretch, including a pair of Big 12 series victories. Following a 13-8 victory over Missouri Tuesday night, the Cats have won three consecutive games.
Texas Southern (10-28) head into the weekend on a six-game skid and dropping eight of its last nine overall. The Cats have claimed the only previous meeting in the series, an 11-5 decision in 2019.
All three games will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
Single-game tickets are now on sale 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 #41
K-STATE (24-16, 6-9 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN (10-28, 9-12 SWAC)
Friday, April 30 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
RHP Connor McCullough (3-2, 4.14 ERA) vs. TBA
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #42
K-STATE (24-16, 6-9 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN (10-28, 9-12 SWAC)
Saturday, May 1 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
LHP Jordan Wicks (4-2, 3.48 ERA) vs. TBA
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #43
K-STATE (24-16, 6-9 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN (10-28, 9-12 SWAC)
Sunday, May 2 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
RHP Kasey Ford (3-0, 1.56 ERA) vs. TBA
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State finishes its season-long 12-game homestand with a three-game midweek series with Texas Southern starting Friday at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Wildcats have won three straight games after defeating Missouri Tuesday night, 13-8, and taking the final two games of their series with West Virginia last weekend ... K-State tallied eight extra-base hits against the Tigers, including home runs from Chris Ceballos and Terrence Spurlin ... Ceballos ended the night with a career-high five RBI, going 3-for-4 with two doubles ... Spurlin drove in three while Zach Kokoska also had a three-hit day, ending 3-for-5 with a double ... After dropping the series opener in 11 innings to WVU, the Cats responded with back-to-back wins to claim their third home Big 12 series victory ... Jordan Wicks struck out a career-high 11 hitters Friday, and K-State forced extra innings with a run in the bottom of the ninth ... Saturday, Connor McCullough allowed just one hit over seven innings - taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning - in helping the Wildcats even the series ... Spurlin lifted a three-run homer in the 5-2 win ... The K-State offense launched four homers in the rubber game Sunday while Kasey Ford logged 6 1/3 innings of relief without allowing an earned run ... Ford earned the win and scattered just three hits ... Dylan Caplinger and Kamron Willman each homered and drove in three runs in the series finale ... Willman drove in four over the weekend, all coming with two outs ... The K-State bullpen produced an ERA of 0.71 (12.2 IP, ER) while striking out nine against the Mountaineers.
SCOUTING TEXAS SOUTHERN
Texas Southern (10-28, 9-11 SWAC) travels to Manhattan on a six-game losing skid and having dropped eight of its last nine games overall ... The Tigers began the 2021 campaign with nine consecutive losses before sweeping Prairie View A&M to start their SWAC schedule ... TSU is led by Oscar Ponce and his .344 average ... Ponce also leads his team in doubles (13), homers (6), RBI (27) and slugging (.550) ... Kam Fields paces the TSU pitching staff with a 3.30 ERA in nine starts ... Fields has a team-best 57 1/3 innings and 67 strikeouts.
INSIDE THE SERIES
K-State and Texas Southern have met just once, with the Wildcats taking an 11-5 decision on May 7, 2019 at Tointon Family Stadium ... In the game, Chris Ceballos went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI ... Dylan Phillips homered twice and drove in four ... Cameron Thompson and Zach Kokoska each recorded a pair of hits in the contest.
NON-CON NUMBERS
K-State boasts an 18-7 record against non-conference opponents this season, including a 13-3 record at home ... The Wildcat offense has a team average of .289 in non-con games, hitting 38 home runs in 25 outings ... Dylan Phillips has a team-high .394 average and 33 runs batted in while Zach Kokoska leads the way with eight home runs ... Phillips and Cameron Thompson each have seven homers ... The Cats average 7.2 runs a game on 9.8 hits per contest ... Jordan Wicks is 4-0 with a 1.72 earned average in starts against non-Big 12 teams, striking out 42 and walking just eight ... Kasey Ford's ERA sits at 1.04 with a 2-0 record ... The Wildcat bullpen owns a 3.56 ERA, striking out 124 against 47 walks ... Tyler Eckberg has appeared 12 times in such games, with a 1.20 ERA while totaling 15 strikeouts and only two walks.
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 59 home runs over the last 36 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with 12 homers while sophomore Dylan Phillips has 11 ... Senior Cameron Thompson and freshman Nick Goodwin each have eight ... All four rank in the Big 12's top 10, 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 17 of the last 18 contests, including a stretch of 11 straight games, and has launched multiple home runs 13 times ... 14 different Cats have homered this season, with five players turning in a multi-homer game ... The 14 different players with a homer equal the team's most ever in a season (1997) season and are tied for the most in the country this season ... K-State's 59 home runs are tied for fifth-most in the country and third in a single season in program history (most since 2009).
WE'RE GOIN' STREAKING
With three hits against Mizzou, Zach Kokoska extended his career-long on-base streak to 36 games against the Mountaineers ... With hits in two of three games last weekend, he has hit safely in 24 of his last 26 games, including a stretch of 14 straight games that ended Friday ... 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's stretch of 11 straight games with a home run came to an end in the second game of a doubleheader vs. OU on April 17... It was tied for the longest streak in the country (Arkansas).
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
K-State, in the midst of a season-long 12-game homestand, is 19-6 this year at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Cats have won 11 of their last 13 home games and 17 of 21 overall ... At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .307 while launching 50 home runs ... K-State has homered in 23 of its last 25 games at home ... K-State averages 7.9 runs per game and 10.6 hit a game at Tointon Family Stadium as opposed to 3.4 runs a game (6.7 hits/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 3.24 at home while the bullpen is even lower at 2.34.
KOKO BE LOCO
Junior outfielder Zach Kokoska is riding a career-long 36-game ... Over the last 18 contests, Kokoska has a team-best .400 average to go with eight doubles, four homers and 12 RBI ... His on-base percentage of .455 and .686 slugging percentage are both team highs in that span ... The Latrobe, Pa, product has 12 multi-hit games over his last 23 outings ... His 12 homers rank third in the conference and are tied for seventh-most in a single season in K-State history (record 16 set in 1997) ... Kokoska currently leads the Cats in all three slash categories.
WHAMMER HAMMER
Dylan Phillips' two-run homer against West Virginia Saturday was his 11th of the season, setting a new single-season high, and the 26th of his career .. His 26 homers rank eighth in program history ... Phillips has two multi-homer games this season and four in his career ... Phillips has recorded a base hit in 43 of his last 51 games, including 19 multi-hit efforts ... With 43 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 54 runs over his last 47 games while recording an RBI in 29 of those games ... The two-way star saw a streak of 10 consecutive games with an RBI snapped March 14 at Rice.
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 84 strikeouts and has reached double-digit strikeouts four times after a career-best 11 in his last start vs WVU ... Six of his 10 starts this season have been quality efforts after Friday... Dating back to last season, Wicks has a 2.56 ERA (25 ER, 88 IP) with 110 strikeouts.
FROM THE PEN
The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 4.29 while starters have a 4.26 earned run average ... Over the last nine games, the pen has an ERA of 1.87 (9 ER, 43.1 IP) with 50 strikeouts and 16 walks ... The nine-game stretch followed a weekend in which relievers combined for a 17.10 ERA in three games at Texas (April 9-11) ... Tyler Eckberg has allowed one earned run over 11 1/3 innings (six appearances) with 10 strikeouts and one walk in that stretch ... At home, the K-State bullpen has a 2.34 ERA (28 ER, 107.2 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.
BY TH3 NUM8ER5
K-State has a run differential of +36 ... K-State is 17-5 when scoring the game's first run and has outscored opponents by 25 runs in the game's first two innings (56-31) ... K-State is 12-1 when hitting multiple home runs but 12-15 when hitting one or no homers ... The Cats are 5-4 in one-run contests this season, including 2-1 in extra-inning games ... When scoring at least six runs, K-State is 18-2 ... The Wildcats are 21-5 when limiting their opponent to five runs or fewer.
The second game of the series is slated for a 4 p.m. start Saturday with the series wrapping up Sunday at 1 p.m.
K-State (24-16) has won seven of nine games during the home stretch, including a pair of Big 12 series victories. Following a 13-8 victory over Missouri Tuesday night, the Cats have won three consecutive games.
Texas Southern (10-28) head into the weekend on a six-game skid and dropping eight of its last nine overall. The Cats have claimed the only previous meeting in the series, an 11-5 decision in 2019.
All three games will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
Single-game tickets are now on sale 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 #41
K-STATE (24-16, 6-9 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN (10-28, 9-12 SWAC)
Friday, April 30 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
RHP Connor McCullough (3-2, 4.14 ERA) vs. TBA
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #42
K-STATE (24-16, 6-9 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN (10-28, 9-12 SWAC)
Saturday, May 1 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
LHP Jordan Wicks (4-2, 3.48 ERA) vs. TBA
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
GAME #43
K-STATE (24-16, 6-9 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS SOUTHERN (10-28, 9-12 SWAC)
Sunday, May 2 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344) // Manhattan, Kan.
RHP Kasey Ford (3-0, 1.56 ERA) vs. TBA
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // John Kurtz, Matt Walters
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Buy Tickets | Live Stats
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State finishes its season-long 12-game homestand with a three-game midweek series with Texas Southern starting Friday at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Wildcats have won three straight games after defeating Missouri Tuesday night, 13-8, and taking the final two games of their series with West Virginia last weekend ... K-State tallied eight extra-base hits against the Tigers, including home runs from Chris Ceballos and Terrence Spurlin ... Ceballos ended the night with a career-high five RBI, going 3-for-4 with two doubles ... Spurlin drove in three while Zach Kokoska also had a three-hit day, ending 3-for-5 with a double ... After dropping the series opener in 11 innings to WVU, the Cats responded with back-to-back wins to claim their third home Big 12 series victory ... Jordan Wicks struck out a career-high 11 hitters Friday, and K-State forced extra innings with a run in the bottom of the ninth ... Saturday, Connor McCullough allowed just one hit over seven innings - taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning - in helping the Wildcats even the series ... Spurlin lifted a three-run homer in the 5-2 win ... The K-State offense launched four homers in the rubber game Sunday while Kasey Ford logged 6 1/3 innings of relief without allowing an earned run ... Ford earned the win and scattered just three hits ... Dylan Caplinger and Kamron Willman each homered and drove in three runs in the series finale ... Willman drove in four over the weekend, all coming with two outs ... The K-State bullpen produced an ERA of 0.71 (12.2 IP, ER) while striking out nine against the Mountaineers.
SCOUTING TEXAS SOUTHERN
Texas Southern (10-28, 9-11 SWAC) travels to Manhattan on a six-game losing skid and having dropped eight of its last nine games overall ... The Tigers began the 2021 campaign with nine consecutive losses before sweeping Prairie View A&M to start their SWAC schedule ... TSU is led by Oscar Ponce and his .344 average ... Ponce also leads his team in doubles (13), homers (6), RBI (27) and slugging (.550) ... Kam Fields paces the TSU pitching staff with a 3.30 ERA in nine starts ... Fields has a team-best 57 1/3 innings and 67 strikeouts.
INSIDE THE SERIES
K-State and Texas Southern have met just once, with the Wildcats taking an 11-5 decision on May 7, 2019 at Tointon Family Stadium ... In the game, Chris Ceballos went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI ... Dylan Phillips homered twice and drove in four ... Cameron Thompson and Zach Kokoska each recorded a pair of hits in the contest.
NON-CON NUMBERS
K-State boasts an 18-7 record against non-conference opponents this season, including a 13-3 record at home ... The Wildcat offense has a team average of .289 in non-con games, hitting 38 home runs in 25 outings ... Dylan Phillips has a team-high .394 average and 33 runs batted in while Zach Kokoska leads the way with eight home runs ... Phillips and Cameron Thompson each have seven homers ... The Cats average 7.2 runs a game on 9.8 hits per contest ... Jordan Wicks is 4-0 with a 1.72 earned average in starts against non-Big 12 teams, striking out 42 and walking just eight ... Kasey Ford's ERA sits at 1.04 with a 2-0 record ... The Wildcat bullpen owns a 3.56 ERA, striking out 124 against 47 walks ... Tyler Eckberg has appeared 12 times in such games, with a 1.20 ERA while totaling 15 strikeouts and only two walks.
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 59 home runs over the last 36 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with 12 homers while sophomore Dylan Phillips has 11 ... Senior Cameron Thompson and freshman Nick Goodwin each have eight ... All four rank in the Big 12's top 10, 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 17 of the last 18 contests, including a stretch of 11 straight games, and has launched multiple home runs 13 times ... 14 different Cats have homered this season, with five players turning in a multi-homer game ... The 14 different players with a homer equal the team's most ever in a season (1997) season and are tied for the most in the country this season ... K-State's 59 home runs are tied for fifth-most in the country and third in a single season in program history (most since 2009).
WE'RE GOIN' STREAKING
With three hits against Mizzou, Zach Kokoska extended his career-long on-base streak to 36 games against the Mountaineers ... With hits in two of three games last weekend, he has hit safely in 24 of his last 26 games, including a stretch of 14 straight games that ended Friday ... 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's stretch of 11 straight games with a home run came to an end in the second game of a doubleheader vs. OU on April 17... It was tied for the longest streak in the country (Arkansas).
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
K-State, in the midst of a season-long 12-game homestand, is 19-6 this year at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Cats have won 11 of their last 13 home games and 17 of 21 overall ... At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .307 while launching 50 home runs ... K-State has homered in 23 of its last 25 games at home ... K-State averages 7.9 runs per game and 10.6 hit a game at Tointon Family Stadium as opposed to 3.4 runs a game (6.7 hits/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 3.24 at home while the bullpen is even lower at 2.34.
KOKO BE LOCO
Junior outfielder Zach Kokoska is riding a career-long 36-game ... Over the last 18 contests, Kokoska has a team-best .400 average to go with eight doubles, four homers and 12 RBI ... His on-base percentage of .455 and .686 slugging percentage are both team highs in that span ... The Latrobe, Pa, product has 12 multi-hit games over his last 23 outings ... His 12 homers rank third in the conference and are tied for seventh-most in a single season in K-State history (record 16 set in 1997) ... Kokoska currently leads the Cats in all three slash categories.
WHAMMER HAMMER
Dylan Phillips' two-run homer against West Virginia Saturday was his 11th of the season, setting a new single-season high, and the 26th of his career .. His 26 homers rank eighth in program history ... Phillips has two multi-homer games this season and four in his career ... Phillips has recorded a base hit in 43 of his last 51 games, including 19 multi-hit efforts ... With 43 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 54 runs over his last 47 games while recording an RBI in 29 of those games ... The two-way star saw a streak of 10 consecutive games with an RBI snapped March 14 at Rice.
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 84 strikeouts and has reached double-digit strikeouts four times after a career-best 11 in his last start vs WVU ... Six of his 10 starts this season have been quality efforts after Friday... Dating back to last season, Wicks has a 2.56 ERA (25 ER, 88 IP) with 110 strikeouts.
FROM THE PEN
The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 4.29 while starters have a 4.26 earned run average ... Over the last nine games, the pen has an ERA of 1.87 (9 ER, 43.1 IP) with 50 strikeouts and 16 walks ... The nine-game stretch followed a weekend in which relievers combined for a 17.10 ERA in three games at Texas (April 9-11) ... Tyler Eckberg has allowed one earned run over 11 1/3 innings (six appearances) with 10 strikeouts and one walk in that stretch ... At home, the K-State bullpen has a 2.34 ERA (28 ER, 107.2 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.
BY TH3 NUM8ER5
K-State has a run differential of +36 ... K-State is 17-5 when scoring the game's first run and has outscored opponents by 25 runs in the game's first two innings (56-31) ... K-State is 12-1 when hitting multiple home runs but 12-15 when hitting one or no homers ... The Cats are 5-4 in one-run contests this season, including 2-1 in extra-inning games ... When scoring at least six runs, K-State is 18-2 ... The Wildcats are 21-5 when limiting their opponent to five runs or fewer.
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