Hughes Meets with Media to Preview 2022 Season
Feb 09, 2022 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State head baseball coach Pete Hughes met with members of the local media to preview the upcoming 2022 baseball season, which begins Friday, February 18 at the 2022 State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas.
At the season's opening tournament, which will be played at the Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field, the Wildcats will take on Arizona on Friday before facing Michigan (Saturday) and Auburn (Sunday). All three games will be streamed live on FloSports with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM)
PETE HUGHES, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"We're getting close to that time of year of college baseball. Spring Training hasn't even begun really and we're going fast and furious towards our opening day and we have been for the last month but a great opportunity for us to get better in a couple of areas right out of the gate. To address a couple of our goals from last year where we need to play better on the road. We need to become a national presence and a team that needs to play consistently well at a national level and be considered a national team in the college baseball ranks, so what a great opportunity right out of the gates to go down to Arlington and be a part of a national tournament. Get away from the friendly confines at Tointon and learn how to play good on the road. In saying that, I thought we did play really well at the Big 12 Tournament last year, but nonetheless we need to play better on the road as a program right out of the gates. We'll figure that out. I'm looking forward to it. A lot of new faces, a lot of new parts to the puzzle, talented group coming from a lot of different places. We've added nine kids from the transfer portal and if you kind of look at the formula of our roster and year four is a pretty good indication on how a program recruits or what is appealing as far as the recruiting market, what is appealing towards the recruiting market to become a K-State baseball player and what areas have worked for us and it's definitely been the transfer market, the junior college ranks, and then you add some depth and some variety with quality high school kids and that's pretty much the makeup of our recruiting classes, and I think our roster and our lineup will speak to that this year. Love the group of guys I have and I look forward to seeing how they play under the lights when things really get started. I say under the lights, I think we have a 10 am and 10:30 am game scheduled the first weekend, so we are still not ready for primetime players, so you gotta earn that right to play in that six o'clock game and that's something that we need to get better at and be considered and looked at differently. We're very fortunate and happy to be part of this tournament. I think we'll bring a good product down there in Arlington to start the college baseball season. A lot of different new parts boys, so a lot of kids that haven't proven to be really good at this level, but I think are really good players. And the only way to figure it out is to get that 55-game schedule going and see how these kids play in the heat of the battle away from Tointon."
On the additions to the weekend rotation…
"Blake Adams will be a weekend guy for us out of the gates and he's a transfer from Arkansas. Christian Ruebeck, a transfer from Oklahoma, he'll factor in that first weekend. German Fajardo, a transfer from Arizona, will pitch significant innings. Connor McCullough will be a weekend guy for us. I don't know the exact order that rotation is going to go but Jackson Wentworth, a freshman that we're super high on from Des Moines, Iowa. He had a little setback in his build up as a starting pitcher, so probably will not be available that first weekend for us, but will be available for the rest of the year which bodes well because he's a very talented arm. Those are pretty much the five or six names that can be thrown in for starting roles right out of the gate."
On Dylan Phillips and Terrence Spurlin returning…
"Well, Dylan Phillips had an opportunity to play professional baseball and chose to come back to Kansas State for another year of his development which always sheds a good light on your program that kids want to come back and they feel like their development is crucial and coming back to Kansas State and our culture. Good for him for having enough confidence to put a value on himself and come back and put himself back into the draft year because he believes in his abilities to get the value that he believes he deserves. But great to have him back obviously, one of the better hitters in the league. Terry Spurlin, I think is one of the most underrated guys in our program. The amount of errors he saves at first base on errant throws that he makes look routine saves us. Every time he picks a throw from one of our infielders, it's seven to 10 pitches he saves on our pitch counts during the game. Every base hit he steals defensively, seven to 10 pitches that he saves. Over the course of the year, it's huge. It's huge over the course of a weekend for bullpens. He's just been the steady leadership voice in our program the last four years from the defensive standpoint, from his ability to get clutch hits, toughness, playing hurt all the time, is super smart. Very rarely do you have your first baseman run your whole infield defensively in all your communications with cuts and relays and Terry's that guy for us, so those two guys are just cornerstones of our program and the culture that we've built here. We did it with those two pieces and to have those guys back this year with a lot of new moving parts is invaluable."
On the importance of the start of the season…
"It's huge. It's great opportunity for us. If we want to go to Omaha, we gotta play good in tournaments. It's a great way to start the season and it's going to be an indication of the growth of our program and how far we've come in the three years that we've been here, two and a half seasons. But yeah, I love it. What a great opportunity for our program. Couldn't happen at a better time to right out of the gates play the caliber of opponents we're playing. Arizona played for the national championship last year and they're in the mix. Michigan was in the national championship game three years ago. We want to play against those people and we need to play at that level. That's how we go about our business, but it'll be a really good opportunity. Playing at a great venue. Just a marquee selling point to college baseball this tournament is, and to be a part of it is a big step for our program. All for not if you don't play well."
On Nick Goodwin…
"Like all freshmen, they're not used to playing that volume of games during the season, so I saw that take its toll on him near the end and thought he managed it pretty well. I look for him to be accustomed to that this year so there's no lulls later on in the season. He went and played in the Cape League this summer, which is great for players' development, highest level of amateur baseball so he's been around it for quite some time now over the last calendar year. He has improved defensively, made tremendous strides, pretty reliable guy over there and for me to ask him to play short for us last year as a freshman, that's a pretty big ask and he did a great job but he really improved defensively over the summertime and over the fall. He's matured as a hitter, and a lot of that maturity is through Coach Wates and our offensive philosophy. That's going to happen every year. The growth of our players and the development culture that we have. The physical jump these kids make goes a long way in their productivity offensively, as well. Nick's a completely different body type. His physicality is completely different than when he walked on campus. The ball comes off the bat a little louder. His miss hits are a little more productive. So I've seen that as well. So looking forward to have him playing in the middle of our infield, hitting in the middle of our lineup like he did since day one, and I think a better version this year.
On Connor McCullough…
"Connor, since day one of the fall, has taken over that leadership role on the pitching staff and our whole program. The kid has been around the block. He's seen a couple of different programs. He's made the adjustments. He's had adversities, dealt with success. So he knows how our program works. He's on the front line in that clubhouse as far as holding kids to the Kansas State baseball standard. He's vocal about it, which is a great leadership quality, and he's just a steady Eddy on the field. Sometimes that steady roll gets a bad rap. It's almost like it's doesn't always indicate that he has really good stuff and he does have really good stuff. He's gotten better. His velocity has made a jump. He's over 200 pounds for the first time in his career, which will bring velocity if it's done the right way. And it's also going to bring him some strength to be consistent late in the game and some strength to be consistent late in the season. I'm excited about Connor and what he's going to do for us this year. He usually doesn't go out there and beat himself. He's gonna give us a chance to win a game and to have that coming back in that rotation when you lost some experience on the mound. But to have Connor come back and be that leader and to be a really productive guy in a rotation on the field is something that we're grateful for and will lean heavy on."
On the transfers adjusting to K-State…
"We don't bring in players that we're not excited about ability wise, so we're excited about their ability and a lot of them we have back. We've already had a background with evaluating these guys and know what kind of players they are. Biggest question mark for me in the fall, we spent two and a half years around here changing culture and developing according to who we are as a coaching staff and how I want things as a head coach. And it's really good, so when you bring in that many new people from many backgrounds, you don't know if the culture is gonna hit a couple speed bumps or they just kind of fall in line and the culture is going to be strong enough to handle the variety coming in. And that certainly has been the case. These are outstanding players who are outstanding kids that have the same values as our program. It was a seamless transition, which I was worried about. I didn't have to worry too long because these kids that come from different backgrounds, but they're really consumed with being great and being great at Kansas State. A lot of them got a second lease on life, so they're taking advantage of that second lease in their baseball life. And they certainly take advantage of that. They fit right into our culture and our values and our goals and our work ethic and the pace at which we do things. They jumped right in and they've all been a great additions."
On the challenging non-conference schedule…
"Yeah, it's time. We all sat around here last June and complained about not getting in the national tournament. The bottom line is we gave people enough reason to keep us out, so let's go ahead and play a real formidable schedule here and let's go on the road and then let's not leave it in question. We want to play with the best at the end of the year. You gotta do it throughout your season. And that California trip, we have to be a better road team. We did not play well on the road and from a head coaching standpoint that's so disappointing because if you look at it from afar, generally the teams that aren't very tough don't play well on the road. That's just not what Kansas State baseball is, so I can't stand the way that looks because that's not who we are. So I want to change that and I want to get better. I want to get out of our comfort zone and I want to play the same way as we do here that we do on the West Coast or in Morgantown or Fort Worth. I want to play the same way and it shouldn't factor in. That was the thought process behind that California trip is to go out there and play seven games on the road and play in different environments and play the same way every time. So yeah, it's a challenge, but it's a challenge to go to Omaha. It's a challenge if you have a program that's never been to Omaha, everything's a challenge. So we gotta just raise the standard a little bit and the scheduling, the thought process behind that schedule is I'm trying to raise the standard."
On opening the home schedule with Nebraska…
"There's so much going back and forth with scheduling and you're limited a little bit in region with home and homes with Nebraska and Wichita State. Creighton, Omaha, so you get the same guys and we're all trying to get variety in our schedule. So there was no intent behind that but you do want to play Wichita State and Nebraska with good weather so you can get good crowds and really promote the sport in region and that's a good home opener for us. You know that. Will Bolt's done a really good job with his program since he's been there and that's certainly someone that we want to play really good against and hopefully we'll get a good crowd and play good at home against Nebraska."
On the left handed pitching depth…
"You can never have enough left handed pitching, that's for sure, as far as giving people different looks, matching up late in the game. You also have some right handed pitchers that are very good versus left handed hitters, which that's kind of the way we're gonna go this year with it. Dylan Phillips' role will probably be expanded because of lack of left handed pitching that you referred to that we have. We're fine with that. Wes Moore is a key component to answering that question of lack of left handed pitching and we didn't have Wes all of last year. He's made a strong recovery from Tommy John surgery and has looked really good here in the preseason. So still gonna take our time and be super cautious with building him back up but that will certainly help. Grant Nicholson's a kid we're bringing along, making strides and getting better to be a serviceable guy out of that bullpen for us, to be a matchup. To answer your question, it's a concern. Eric Torres was invaluable for us last year. We weren't counting on Eric to sign. He got a very good opportunity and pitched well enough to do that. I do like a couple of our options out of the bullpen from the right hand side that match up very good versus left hand hitters late in games. But to get Wes Moore back would be great in a starting role so you can have flexibility of throwing a left hander against lineups that don't bode well versus left handed pitching in our league and just keep a little variety with the rotations on the weekend."
On Dominic Johnson…
"Right now he's earned that. He was outstanding for us in the fall, had a very good summer in the Cape Cod League. But that transferred into a very productive fall for us and he's been nothing but a really good player since he stepped on this campus, learning every day. His potential still has a huge upside to it. He'll be in there. He'll be right in the mix day one, hopefully being as productive as he's been since he stepped foot on campus. Looking forward to watching him grow as a player and I don't see much of a learning curve there. He's been around the block a little bit, and he knows the league and that summer down in the cape was huge in his growth."
At the season's opening tournament, which will be played at the Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field, the Wildcats will take on Arizona on Friday before facing Michigan (Saturday) and Auburn (Sunday). All three games will be streamed live on FloSports with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM)
PETE HUGHES, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
"We're getting close to that time of year of college baseball. Spring Training hasn't even begun really and we're going fast and furious towards our opening day and we have been for the last month but a great opportunity for us to get better in a couple of areas right out of the gate. To address a couple of our goals from last year where we need to play better on the road. We need to become a national presence and a team that needs to play consistently well at a national level and be considered a national team in the college baseball ranks, so what a great opportunity right out of the gates to go down to Arlington and be a part of a national tournament. Get away from the friendly confines at Tointon and learn how to play good on the road. In saying that, I thought we did play really well at the Big 12 Tournament last year, but nonetheless we need to play better on the road as a program right out of the gates. We'll figure that out. I'm looking forward to it. A lot of new faces, a lot of new parts to the puzzle, talented group coming from a lot of different places. We've added nine kids from the transfer portal and if you kind of look at the formula of our roster and year four is a pretty good indication on how a program recruits or what is appealing as far as the recruiting market, what is appealing towards the recruiting market to become a K-State baseball player and what areas have worked for us and it's definitely been the transfer market, the junior college ranks, and then you add some depth and some variety with quality high school kids and that's pretty much the makeup of our recruiting classes, and I think our roster and our lineup will speak to that this year. Love the group of guys I have and I look forward to seeing how they play under the lights when things really get started. I say under the lights, I think we have a 10 am and 10:30 am game scheduled the first weekend, so we are still not ready for primetime players, so you gotta earn that right to play in that six o'clock game and that's something that we need to get better at and be considered and looked at differently. We're very fortunate and happy to be part of this tournament. I think we'll bring a good product down there in Arlington to start the college baseball season. A lot of different new parts boys, so a lot of kids that haven't proven to be really good at this level, but I think are really good players. And the only way to figure it out is to get that 55-game schedule going and see how these kids play in the heat of the battle away from Tointon."
On the additions to the weekend rotation…
"Blake Adams will be a weekend guy for us out of the gates and he's a transfer from Arkansas. Christian Ruebeck, a transfer from Oklahoma, he'll factor in that first weekend. German Fajardo, a transfer from Arizona, will pitch significant innings. Connor McCullough will be a weekend guy for us. I don't know the exact order that rotation is going to go but Jackson Wentworth, a freshman that we're super high on from Des Moines, Iowa. He had a little setback in his build up as a starting pitcher, so probably will not be available that first weekend for us, but will be available for the rest of the year which bodes well because he's a very talented arm. Those are pretty much the five or six names that can be thrown in for starting roles right out of the gate."
On Dylan Phillips and Terrence Spurlin returning…
"Well, Dylan Phillips had an opportunity to play professional baseball and chose to come back to Kansas State for another year of his development which always sheds a good light on your program that kids want to come back and they feel like their development is crucial and coming back to Kansas State and our culture. Good for him for having enough confidence to put a value on himself and come back and put himself back into the draft year because he believes in his abilities to get the value that he believes he deserves. But great to have him back obviously, one of the better hitters in the league. Terry Spurlin, I think is one of the most underrated guys in our program. The amount of errors he saves at first base on errant throws that he makes look routine saves us. Every time he picks a throw from one of our infielders, it's seven to 10 pitches he saves on our pitch counts during the game. Every base hit he steals defensively, seven to 10 pitches that he saves. Over the course of the year, it's huge. It's huge over the course of a weekend for bullpens. He's just been the steady leadership voice in our program the last four years from the defensive standpoint, from his ability to get clutch hits, toughness, playing hurt all the time, is super smart. Very rarely do you have your first baseman run your whole infield defensively in all your communications with cuts and relays and Terry's that guy for us, so those two guys are just cornerstones of our program and the culture that we've built here. We did it with those two pieces and to have those guys back this year with a lot of new moving parts is invaluable."
On the importance of the start of the season…
"It's huge. It's great opportunity for us. If we want to go to Omaha, we gotta play good in tournaments. It's a great way to start the season and it's going to be an indication of the growth of our program and how far we've come in the three years that we've been here, two and a half seasons. But yeah, I love it. What a great opportunity for our program. Couldn't happen at a better time to right out of the gates play the caliber of opponents we're playing. Arizona played for the national championship last year and they're in the mix. Michigan was in the national championship game three years ago. We want to play against those people and we need to play at that level. That's how we go about our business, but it'll be a really good opportunity. Playing at a great venue. Just a marquee selling point to college baseball this tournament is, and to be a part of it is a big step for our program. All for not if you don't play well."
On Nick Goodwin…
"Like all freshmen, they're not used to playing that volume of games during the season, so I saw that take its toll on him near the end and thought he managed it pretty well. I look for him to be accustomed to that this year so there's no lulls later on in the season. He went and played in the Cape League this summer, which is great for players' development, highest level of amateur baseball so he's been around it for quite some time now over the last calendar year. He has improved defensively, made tremendous strides, pretty reliable guy over there and for me to ask him to play short for us last year as a freshman, that's a pretty big ask and he did a great job but he really improved defensively over the summertime and over the fall. He's matured as a hitter, and a lot of that maturity is through Coach Wates and our offensive philosophy. That's going to happen every year. The growth of our players and the development culture that we have. The physical jump these kids make goes a long way in their productivity offensively, as well. Nick's a completely different body type. His physicality is completely different than when he walked on campus. The ball comes off the bat a little louder. His miss hits are a little more productive. So I've seen that as well. So looking forward to have him playing in the middle of our infield, hitting in the middle of our lineup like he did since day one, and I think a better version this year.
On Connor McCullough…
"Connor, since day one of the fall, has taken over that leadership role on the pitching staff and our whole program. The kid has been around the block. He's seen a couple of different programs. He's made the adjustments. He's had adversities, dealt with success. So he knows how our program works. He's on the front line in that clubhouse as far as holding kids to the Kansas State baseball standard. He's vocal about it, which is a great leadership quality, and he's just a steady Eddy on the field. Sometimes that steady roll gets a bad rap. It's almost like it's doesn't always indicate that he has really good stuff and he does have really good stuff. He's gotten better. His velocity has made a jump. He's over 200 pounds for the first time in his career, which will bring velocity if it's done the right way. And it's also going to bring him some strength to be consistent late in the game and some strength to be consistent late in the season. I'm excited about Connor and what he's going to do for us this year. He usually doesn't go out there and beat himself. He's gonna give us a chance to win a game and to have that coming back in that rotation when you lost some experience on the mound. But to have Connor come back and be that leader and to be a really productive guy in a rotation on the field is something that we're grateful for and will lean heavy on."
On the transfers adjusting to K-State…
"We don't bring in players that we're not excited about ability wise, so we're excited about their ability and a lot of them we have back. We've already had a background with evaluating these guys and know what kind of players they are. Biggest question mark for me in the fall, we spent two and a half years around here changing culture and developing according to who we are as a coaching staff and how I want things as a head coach. And it's really good, so when you bring in that many new people from many backgrounds, you don't know if the culture is gonna hit a couple speed bumps or they just kind of fall in line and the culture is going to be strong enough to handle the variety coming in. And that certainly has been the case. These are outstanding players who are outstanding kids that have the same values as our program. It was a seamless transition, which I was worried about. I didn't have to worry too long because these kids that come from different backgrounds, but they're really consumed with being great and being great at Kansas State. A lot of them got a second lease on life, so they're taking advantage of that second lease in their baseball life. And they certainly take advantage of that. They fit right into our culture and our values and our goals and our work ethic and the pace at which we do things. They jumped right in and they've all been a great additions."
On the challenging non-conference schedule…
"Yeah, it's time. We all sat around here last June and complained about not getting in the national tournament. The bottom line is we gave people enough reason to keep us out, so let's go ahead and play a real formidable schedule here and let's go on the road and then let's not leave it in question. We want to play with the best at the end of the year. You gotta do it throughout your season. And that California trip, we have to be a better road team. We did not play well on the road and from a head coaching standpoint that's so disappointing because if you look at it from afar, generally the teams that aren't very tough don't play well on the road. That's just not what Kansas State baseball is, so I can't stand the way that looks because that's not who we are. So I want to change that and I want to get better. I want to get out of our comfort zone and I want to play the same way as we do here that we do on the West Coast or in Morgantown or Fort Worth. I want to play the same way and it shouldn't factor in. That was the thought process behind that California trip is to go out there and play seven games on the road and play in different environments and play the same way every time. So yeah, it's a challenge, but it's a challenge to go to Omaha. It's a challenge if you have a program that's never been to Omaha, everything's a challenge. So we gotta just raise the standard a little bit and the scheduling, the thought process behind that schedule is I'm trying to raise the standard."
On opening the home schedule with Nebraska…
"There's so much going back and forth with scheduling and you're limited a little bit in region with home and homes with Nebraska and Wichita State. Creighton, Omaha, so you get the same guys and we're all trying to get variety in our schedule. So there was no intent behind that but you do want to play Wichita State and Nebraska with good weather so you can get good crowds and really promote the sport in region and that's a good home opener for us. You know that. Will Bolt's done a really good job with his program since he's been there and that's certainly someone that we want to play really good against and hopefully we'll get a good crowd and play good at home against Nebraska."
On the left handed pitching depth…
"You can never have enough left handed pitching, that's for sure, as far as giving people different looks, matching up late in the game. You also have some right handed pitchers that are very good versus left handed hitters, which that's kind of the way we're gonna go this year with it. Dylan Phillips' role will probably be expanded because of lack of left handed pitching that you referred to that we have. We're fine with that. Wes Moore is a key component to answering that question of lack of left handed pitching and we didn't have Wes all of last year. He's made a strong recovery from Tommy John surgery and has looked really good here in the preseason. So still gonna take our time and be super cautious with building him back up but that will certainly help. Grant Nicholson's a kid we're bringing along, making strides and getting better to be a serviceable guy out of that bullpen for us, to be a matchup. To answer your question, it's a concern. Eric Torres was invaluable for us last year. We weren't counting on Eric to sign. He got a very good opportunity and pitched well enough to do that. I do like a couple of our options out of the bullpen from the right hand side that match up very good versus left hand hitters late in games. But to get Wes Moore back would be great in a starting role so you can have flexibility of throwing a left hander against lineups that don't bode well versus left handed pitching in our league and just keep a little variety with the rotations on the weekend."
On Dominic Johnson…
"Right now he's earned that. He was outstanding for us in the fall, had a very good summer in the Cape Cod League. But that transferred into a very productive fall for us and he's been nothing but a really good player since he stepped on this campus, learning every day. His potential still has a huge upside to it. He'll be in there. He'll be right in the mix day one, hopefully being as productive as he's been since he stepped foot on campus. Looking forward to watching him grow as a player and I don't see much of a learning curve there. He's been around the block a little bit, and he knows the league and that summer down in the cape was huge in his growth."
Players Mentioned
RHP/DH
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballK-State Baseball | Highlights vs Michigan - Feb. 22, 2026
Monday, February 23
K-State Baseball | Batcat Bash Recap
Tuesday, February 10
K-State Baseball | First Look - New Bats
Thursday, February 05
K-State Baseball | Media Day Press Conference - February 4, 2026
Wednesday, February 04
