Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, May 7
Waco, TX
6:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
at
Baylor
K-State Embarks on Six-Game Road Swing Friday at Baylor
May 06, 2021 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State takes its six-game winning streak down to Waco, Texas, as the Wildcats take on the Baylor Bears in a three-game Big 12 series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Baylor Ballpark.
The second game of the series is slated for a 3 p.m. start Saturday with the series finishing Sunday at 12 p.m.
K-State (27-16, 6-9 Big 12), who finished its season-long homestand with a 10-2 mark, completed a three-game sweep of Texas Southern over the weekend. In the series, the Wildcat offense launched 10 home runs on their way to 47 runs.
Chris Ceballos has homered in each of the last four games, totaling 15 RBI in that stretch on his way to being named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
Baylor (27-13, 7-8 Big 12) sits one game ahead of the Cats in the conference standings and has won its last three Big 12 series. The Bears have won six of the last eight games overall and last played on April 27.
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.
GAME #44
K-STATE (27-16, 6-9 BIG 12) at BAYLOR (27-13, 7-8 BIG 12)
Friday, May 7 // 6:30 p.m. // Baylor Ballpark // Waco, Texas
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
GAME #45
K-STATE (27-16, 6-9 BIG 12) at BAYLOR (27-13, 7-8 BIG 12)
Saturday, May 8 // 3 p.m. // Baylor Ballpark // Waco, Texas
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
GAME #46
K-STATE (27-16, 6-9 BIG 12) at BAYLOR (27-13, 7-8 BIG 12)
Sunday, May 9 // 12 p.m. // Baylor Ballpark // Waco, Texas
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
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
K-State kicks off a six-game roadtrip with a Big 12 series at Baylor ... The Wildcats wrapped up a season-long 12-game homestand, going 10-2 and winning their last six games following a weekend series sweep of Texas Southern .. In the three-game sweep of the Tigers, K-State scored 47 runs while launching 10 homers ... Chris Ceballos homered in four straight games last week, picking up 15 RBI in being named Big 12 Player of the Week ... Including a 13-8 win over Missouri last Tuesday, the Cats have scored double-digit runs in each of their last four games, totaling 60 runs with two run-rule shortened games against TSU ... Zach Kokoska went 7-for-10 over the weekend in extending his career-long on-base streak to 39 games ... Kokoska homered, his team-leading 13th of the year, and doubled twice ... Cameron Thompson homered twice Saturday for his second multi-homer game this season ... Kasey Ford and Jordan Wicks had nearly identical pitching lines in their respective starts, as they logged five innings with one run allowed on three hits .. Wicks struck out eight Saturday while Ford punched out five as they both picked up victories.
SCOUTING BAYLOR
Baylor (27-13, 7-8 Big 12) sits one game in front of K-State in the Big 12 standings after the Bears took two of three games from No. 5 Texas Tech two weeks ago ... BU, who last played April 27, has won its last three conference series (TTU, KU, WVU) and six of its last eight games overall ... The Bears currently lead the Big 12 in hitting with a .303 team average ... Jared McKenzie leads Baylor and is fourth in the league with his .377 average ... McKenzie is second in the conference with 63 hits while Andy Thomas is sixth in runs batted in with 44 ... McKenzie and Thomas are tied for the team lead with seven homers ... On the mound, Tyler Thomas' 2.05 ERA is tied for second-lowest in the Big 12 while Jimmy Winston ranks seventh at 2.81 ... Luke Boyd is tied for the league led with eight saves.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Baylor leads the all-time series 50-28 (46-23 Big 12), dating back to 1966 ... K-State is 9-29 in Waco all-time after dropping two of three games in 2019 ... Overall, Baylor has won five of the last six meetings with the Wildcats winning the last matchup (10-3 on May 5, 2019 in Waco) ... The Cats last won a series on the road in 2017, taking two of three games ... K-State has never swept a road series while last being swept on the road in 2007 ... The Wildcats are 4-6 in the last 10 meetings.
GIMME A BREAK, SCHEDULEMAKERS
K-State began its Big 12 schedule with three straight top-13 opponents - marking the toughest three-week stretch to start the league schedule in Big 12 history for any team (past or present Big 12 members) ... It has happened only three times in which a team has faced three straight top-13 teams to begin league play - and neither faced two top-five teams as the Wildcats did against No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 3 Texas in consecutive weekends ... Additionally, two of the Cats' first three conference series were on the road ... Baylor marks K-State's third straight league opponent to not be ranked in at least one poll, as the Wildcats claimed series victories over Oklahoma and West Virginia.
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 69 home runs over the last 39 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with 13 homers while sophomore Dylan Phillips has 11 ... Senior Cameron Thompson has 10 and freshman Nick Goodwin has nine ... All four rank in the Big 12's top 10, as no other club has more than two ... Kokoska ranks third in the league with his 13 homers, which is tied for fourth-most in a single season in K-State history ... As a team, K-State has homered in 20 of the last 21 contests and has launched multiple home runs 15 times ... 15 different Cats have homered this season, with six players turning in a multi-homer game ... The 15 different players with a homer is a program single-season high and is the most of any team in the country this season ... K-State's 69 home runs are its second-highest total ever in a season, trailing only the 1997 team with 75.
WE'RE GOIN' STREAKING
Over the weekend, Zach Kokoska extended his career-long on-base streak to 39 games ... With multiple hits in each of his last five games, he has hit safely in 27 of his last 29 games, including a career-best stretch of 14 straight games (March 28-April 18) ... 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) ... Chris Ceballos has homered in four straight games while the Cats have scored double-digit runs in four straight (longest since five straight in 2017).
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
K-State, who just finished a season-long 12-game homestand, is 22-6 this year at Tointon Family Stadium ... The 22 wins are the most since 27 in 2013 ... The Cats have won 14 of their last 16 home games and 20 of 24 overall ... At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .321 while launching 60 home runs ... K-State has homered in 26 of its last 28 games at home ... K-State averages 8.8 runs per game and 11.0 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 3.30 at home while the bullpen is even lower at 2.62.
KOKO BE LOCO
Junior outfielder Zach Kokoska is riding a career-long 39-game on-base streak ... Over the last 21 contests, Kokoska has a team-best .438 average to go with 10 doubles, five homers and 16 RBI ... His on-base percentage of .494 and .750 slugging percentage are both team highs in that span ... The Latrobe, Pa, product has 15 multi-hit games over his last 26 outings, including five straight ... In the last five games he is 12-for-19 (.632) ... His 13 homers rank third in the conference and are tied for fourth-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 on April 25 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 45 of his last 54 games, including 21 multi-hit efforts ... With 45 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 56 runs over his last 50 games while recording an RBI in 31 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 92 strikeouts and has reached double-digit strikeouts four times after a career-best 11 vs. WVU ... He is just eight strikeouts away from tying K-State's single-season record and 20 away from becoming the program's all-time strikeout king ... In the last two seasons, Wicks is 8-2 with a 2.52 ERA (26 ER, 93 IP) with 118 strikeouts.
FROM THE PEN
The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 4.38 while starters have a 3.92 earned run average ... Over the last 12 games, the pen has an ERA of 2.58 (15 ER, 52.1 IP) with 63 strikeouts and 19 walks ... The 12-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 two earned runs over 13 2/3 innings (seven appearances) with 12 strikeouts and one walk in that stretch ... At home, the K-State bullpen has a 2.62 ERA (34 ER, 116.2 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 +72 after outscoring opponents 60-19 in a 4-0 week last week ... K-State is 19-5 when scoring the game's first run and has outscored opponents by 49 runs in the game's first two innings (81-32) ... K-State is 14-1 when hitting multiple home runs but 13-15 when hitting one or no homers ... When scoring at least six runs, K-State is 21-2 and 24-5 when limiting their opponent to five runs or fewer.
The second game of the series is slated for a 3 p.m. start Saturday with the series finishing Sunday at 12 p.m.
K-State (27-16, 6-9 Big 12), who finished its season-long homestand with a 10-2 mark, completed a three-game sweep of Texas Southern over the weekend. In the series, the Wildcat offense launched 10 home runs on their way to 47 runs.
Chris Ceballos has homered in each of the last four games, totaling 15 RBI in that stretch on his way to being named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
Baylor (27-13, 7-8 Big 12) sits one game ahead of the Cats in the conference standings and has won its last three Big 12 series. The Bears have won six of the last eight games overall and last played on April 27.
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.
GAME #44
K-STATE (27-16, 6-9 BIG 12) at BAYLOR (27-13, 7-8 BIG 12)
Friday, May 7 // 6:30 p.m. // Baylor Ballpark // Waco, Texas
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
GAME #45
K-STATE (27-16, 6-9 BIG 12) at BAYLOR (27-13, 7-8 BIG 12)
Saturday, May 8 // 3 p.m. // Baylor Ballpark // Waco, Texas
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Brian Smoller, Christopher Brown
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats
GAME #46
K-STATE (27-16, 6-9 BIG 12) at BAYLOR (27-13, 7-8 BIG 12)
Sunday, May 9 // 12 p.m. // Baylor Ballpark // Waco, Texas
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
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
K-State kicks off a six-game roadtrip with a Big 12 series at Baylor ... The Wildcats wrapped up a season-long 12-game homestand, going 10-2 and winning their last six games following a weekend series sweep of Texas Southern .. In the three-game sweep of the Tigers, K-State scored 47 runs while launching 10 homers ... Chris Ceballos homered in four straight games last week, picking up 15 RBI in being named Big 12 Player of the Week ... Including a 13-8 win over Missouri last Tuesday, the Cats have scored double-digit runs in each of their last four games, totaling 60 runs with two run-rule shortened games against TSU ... Zach Kokoska went 7-for-10 over the weekend in extending his career-long on-base streak to 39 games ... Kokoska homered, his team-leading 13th of the year, and doubled twice ... Cameron Thompson homered twice Saturday for his second multi-homer game this season ... Kasey Ford and Jordan Wicks had nearly identical pitching lines in their respective starts, as they logged five innings with one run allowed on three hits .. Wicks struck out eight Saturday while Ford punched out five as they both picked up victories.
SCOUTING BAYLOR
Baylor (27-13, 7-8 Big 12) sits one game in front of K-State in the Big 12 standings after the Bears took two of three games from No. 5 Texas Tech two weeks ago ... BU, who last played April 27, has won its last three conference series (TTU, KU, WVU) and six of its last eight games overall ... The Bears currently lead the Big 12 in hitting with a .303 team average ... Jared McKenzie leads Baylor and is fourth in the league with his .377 average ... McKenzie is second in the conference with 63 hits while Andy Thomas is sixth in runs batted in with 44 ... McKenzie and Thomas are tied for the team lead with seven homers ... On the mound, Tyler Thomas' 2.05 ERA is tied for second-lowest in the Big 12 while Jimmy Winston ranks seventh at 2.81 ... Luke Boyd is tied for the league led with eight saves.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Baylor leads the all-time series 50-28 (46-23 Big 12), dating back to 1966 ... K-State is 9-29 in Waco all-time after dropping two of three games in 2019 ... Overall, Baylor has won five of the last six meetings with the Wildcats winning the last matchup (10-3 on May 5, 2019 in Waco) ... The Cats last won a series on the road in 2017, taking two of three games ... K-State has never swept a road series while last being swept on the road in 2007 ... The Wildcats are 4-6 in the last 10 meetings.
GIMME A BREAK, SCHEDULEMAKERS
K-State began its Big 12 schedule with three straight top-13 opponents - marking the toughest three-week stretch to start the league schedule in Big 12 history for any team (past or present Big 12 members) ... It has happened only three times in which a team has faced three straight top-13 teams to begin league play - and neither faced two top-five teams as the Wildcats did against No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 3 Texas in consecutive weekends ... Additionally, two of the Cats' first three conference series were on the road ... Baylor marks K-State's third straight league opponent to not be ranked in at least one poll, as the Wildcats claimed series victories over Oklahoma and West Virginia.
BIG BAT CATS
After going without a home run in the season's opening weekend (four games), the Wildcats have erupted for 69 home runs over the last 39 games ... Junior Zach Kokoska leads the way with 13 homers while sophomore Dylan Phillips has 11 ... Senior Cameron Thompson has 10 and freshman Nick Goodwin has nine ... All four rank in the Big 12's top 10, as no other club has more than two ... Kokoska ranks third in the league with his 13 homers, which is tied for fourth-most in a single season in K-State history ... As a team, K-State has homered in 20 of the last 21 contests and has launched multiple home runs 15 times ... 15 different Cats have homered this season, with six players turning in a multi-homer game ... The 15 different players with a homer is a program single-season high and is the most of any team in the country this season ... K-State's 69 home runs are its second-highest total ever in a season, trailing only the 1997 team with 75.
WE'RE GOIN' STREAKING
Over the weekend, Zach Kokoska extended his career-long on-base streak to 39 games ... With multiple hits in each of his last five games, he has hit safely in 27 of his last 29 games, including a career-best stretch of 14 straight games (March 28-April 18) ... 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) ... Chris Ceballos has homered in four straight games while the Cats have scored double-digit runs in four straight (longest since five straight in 2017).
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
K-State, who just finished a season-long 12-game homestand, is 22-6 this year at Tointon Family Stadium ... The 22 wins are the most since 27 in 2013 ... The Cats have won 14 of their last 16 home games and 20 of 24 overall ... At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .321 while launching 60 home runs ... K-State has homered in 26 of its last 28 games at home ... K-State averages 8.8 runs per game and 11.0 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 3.30 at home while the bullpen is even lower at 2.62.
KOKO BE LOCO
Junior outfielder Zach Kokoska is riding a career-long 39-game on-base streak ... Over the last 21 contests, Kokoska has a team-best .438 average to go with 10 doubles, five homers and 16 RBI ... His on-base percentage of .494 and .750 slugging percentage are both team highs in that span ... The Latrobe, Pa, product has 15 multi-hit games over his last 26 outings, including five straight ... In the last five games he is 12-for-19 (.632) ... His 13 homers rank third in the conference and are tied for fourth-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 on April 25 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 45 of his last 54 games, including 21 multi-hit efforts ... With 45 runs batted in this season, Phillips has driven in 56 runs over his last 50 games while recording an RBI in 31 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 92 strikeouts and has reached double-digit strikeouts four times after a career-best 11 vs. WVU ... He is just eight strikeouts away from tying K-State's single-season record and 20 away from becoming the program's all-time strikeout king ... In the last two seasons, Wicks is 8-2 with a 2.52 ERA (26 ER, 93 IP) with 118 strikeouts.
FROM THE PEN
The K-State bullpen owns an ERA of 4.38 while starters have a 3.92 earned run average ... Over the last 12 games, the pen has an ERA of 2.58 (15 ER, 52.1 IP) with 63 strikeouts and 19 walks ... The 12-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 two earned runs over 13 2/3 innings (seven appearances) with 12 strikeouts and one walk in that stretch ... At home, the K-State bullpen has a 2.62 ERA (34 ER, 116.2 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 +72 after outscoring opponents 60-19 in a 4-0 week last week ... K-State is 19-5 when scoring the game's first run and has outscored opponents by 49 runs in the game's first two innings (81-32) ... K-State is 14-1 when hitting multiple home runs but 13-15 when hitting one or no homers ... When scoring at least six runs, K-State is 21-2 and 24-5 when limiting their opponent to five runs or fewer.
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
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