Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, March 18
Manhattan, Kan.
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
vs
Morehead State
K-State Looks to Stay Hot Against Morehead State
Mar 17, 2022 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-States puts its five-game winning streak to the test, as the Wildcats welcome Morehead State for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium.
Friday's game kick starts a five-game homestand, with the three-game set continuing Saturday at 4 p.m. before finishing at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Wildcats will again send right-hander Blake Adams, who is tied for second in the Big 12 in strikeouts, to the mound Friday in the opener. Redshirt sophomore Connor McCullough gets the call Saturday and seeks his second straight victory.
The Cats and Eagles meet for the first time since 2004, with K-State taking two of the previous three matchups.
With construction ongoing on the new Morgan Family Arena, parking for baseball games at Tointon Family Stadium will be impacted during the 2022 season.
Fans are advised to park in the west parking lot of Bill Snyder Stadium and do so by entering through Gate 3 via College Avenue across from Ascension Via Christi Hospital. Gate 1 and Gate 2 will be closed for the duration of the 2022 baseball season.
When proceeding to the stadium on foot, fans are advised to exit the west parking lot along the pedestrian path between Gate 1 and Gate 2 and then proceed to the stadium via the sidewalk along College Avenue.
Tickets are now on sale for the entire 2022 season and start at just $5 when purchased in advance at K-StateSports.com/Tickets, by calling 800-221-CATS or visiting the K-State Athletics Ticket Office.
The entire series will be carried on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with radio coverage available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.
GAME #16
K-STATE (8-7) vs. MOREHEAD STATE (7-9)
Friday, March 18 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Blake Adams (1-1, 2.81 EA) vs. RHP Luke Helton (1-1, 5.59 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // James Westling, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, Justin Tadtman
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/Watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats | Tickets
GAME #17
K-STATE (8-7) vs. MOREHEAD STATE (7-9)
Saturday, March 19 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Connor McCullough (2-1, 3.18 ERA) vs. RHP Alex Kafka (1-1, 5.30 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // James Westling, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, Justin Tadtman
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/Watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats | Tickets
GAME #18
K-STATE (8-7) vs. MOREHEAD STATE (7-9)
Sunday, March 20 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: TBA vs. TBA
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // James Westling, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, Justin Tadtman
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/Watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats | Tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State kick starts a five-game homestand Friday, welcoming Morehead State to Tointon Family Stadium for a three-game series. ... The Wildcats have won five straight games following an 8-4 road win at Omaha on Tuesday ... The win came on the heels of a 4-0 week at home that included a three-game sweep of Central Connecticut State last week ... Winning seven of their last eight games, the Cats are over .500 for the first time this season after starting the year 0-5 ... Tuesday night against the Mavericks, Josh Nicoloff went 3-for-5 with a double, home run and season-high four RBI ... Cole Johnson also homered in the game, as K-State has now hit a home run in eight straight contests ... Griffin Hassall earned his second win in his last two starts, striking out six over 5 2/3 innings ... In the series with the Blue Devils, K-State won the opener on Saturday 6-3 before sweeping a Sunday doubleheader with scores of 5-3 an 5-2, respectively ... Cole Johnson and Dominic Johnson each hit .500 (6-for-12) to pace the K-State offense ... Dominic Johnson homered twice in the series while Cole Johnson hit his first home run of the year Sunday as part of a career-high four-hit day ... In total, the Wildcats launched six home runs over the three games ... Jeff Heinrich, Justin Mitchell and Nicoloff also homered over the weekend ... On the mound, Blake Adams turned in his third straight quality start Saturday after six innings and two earned runs allowed ... Adams struck out seven and has reached at least seven strikeouts in all four outings this year ... Connor McCullough picked up his second win of the year after his six inning of work Sunday, scattering six hits with three runs against him ... In three games, the K-State bullpen went 2-0 and 2-for-2 in save opportunities while posting a 1.64 ERA (2 ER, 11 IP) ... Blake Corsentino and German Fajardo each picked up the first saves of their respective careers while Landry Jurecka and Ty Ruhl picked up their first victories.
SCOUTING MOREHEAD STATE
Morehead State is coming off a Wednesday night loss at Saint Louis (4-1) but has won four of its last six games overall ... Away from home, the Eagles are 1-6 while winning six of nine home games ... MSU has launched 20 home runs already this season, with a team-leading five from Ryley Preece ... Jackson Feltner leads the team in hitting at .393 and in runs batted in with 16 ... Feltner ranks second with five doubles and four homers ... Morehead State will send right-handers Luke Helton (Friday) and Alex Kafka (Saturday) to the mound ... Helton is 1-1 with a 5.59 ERA (12ER, 19.1 IP) with 10 strikeouts and eight walks ... Kafka has an ERA of 5.30 (11 ER, 18.2 IP) with 14 punchouts and eight walks ... Teams are hitting .284 against the Eagles as a staff.
INSIDE THE SERIES
K-State and Morehead State have met just three times previously, with the Wildcats going 2-1 against the Eagles ... K-State swept a two-game series at Tointon Family Stadium back in 2004, winning the opener 15-4 before a 12-2 victory in the finale ... MSU claimed the first-ever matchup in 1990 by the score of 5-4 in Haines City, Florida ... The Cats are 13-9 against teams currently in the Ohio Valley Conference.
WE GO WAY BACK
K-State head coach Pete Hughes and Morehead State head coach Mik Aoki were teammates at Davidson and graduated together in 1990 ... Aoki served as pitching coach on Hughes' staff at Boston College from 2004-06 and took over as the head man in Chestnut Hill in 2007 after Hughes left to be the head coach at Virginia Tech ... K-State volunteer assistant coach Thomas Hughes, Hughes' oldest son, served as the volunteer assistant on Aoki's staff at Morehead State during the 2020 season ... Additionally, former K-State great Shane Conlon, and former volunteer assistant under Hughes, was an assistant coach the last two seasons at MSU under Aoki before departing to take the assistant role at Austin Peay.
THE IDES OF MARCH
After a 1-5 February, K-State has won seven of nine games in the month of March and is on a season-long five-game winning streak after an 8-4 victory Tuesday at Omaha ... The Wildcat offense is hitting at a .338 clip in the month and averaging 7.0 runs a game with 11.9 hits a game ... In February, the Cats hit just .223 as a team with 3.5 runs per game on 7.5 hits a contest ... Additionally, K-State is hitting .313 with two outs in March after just .233 in February ... Six Cats are hitting north of .350 in the month of March, with four over the .420 mark ... Dominic Johnson has a team-leading .475 batting average while Cole Johnson is hitting .432 ... Brady Day sits at a .429 average while Kaelen Culpepper is hitting .421 ... Josh Nicoloff has homered three times this month, as K-State has 12 homers in that stretch compared to three last month.
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
K-State's dynamic outfield duo of Dominic Johnson and Cole Johnson have helped spearhead the Wildcat offense during its five-game winning streak ... Each player hit a team-high .500, going 6-for-12 last weekend against Central Connecticut State ... Cole Johnson turned in K-State's first four-hit effort of the season in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, including a go-ahead solo homer, and finished the weekend with three extra-base hits ... Dominic Johnson homered twice in the series with the Blue Devils, swiped two bases and scored four times ... Both are riding career-long hitting streaks, as Dominic Johnson has hit safely in 10 straight games - eight of which are multi-hit efforts ... Cole Johnson has recorded a hit in his last eight outings, with two three-hit games in addition to his four-hit day Sunday ... Over the last five games, Dominic Johnson has a slash line of .550/.625/.900 and Cole Johnson is slashing .450/.476/.850, while each has two homers and three RBI in that span.
THE DOMINATOR
Dominic Johnson, who has hit leadoff and started in left field every game this season for the Wildcats, leads the team in average, on-base percentage, doubles, extra-base hits, stolen bases and runs batted in ... The Oklahoma State transfer has registered multiple hits in each of his last six games and is the team leader with 10 multi-hit games and four multi-RBI efforts ... Over his 10-game hitting streak, the sophomore is hitting .467 (21-45) with five doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and nine runs scored ... He has been held hitless in just one game this season (0-for-4 at CSU Bakersfield on February 26) ... Johnson also leads the team in hitting with runners in scoring position at .615 (8-for-13) and is tied for the team lead with six two-out RBI.
STREAKS FOR WEEKS
Four Wildcats are currently riding hitting streaks of at least six games, including Dominic Johnson (10), Josh Nicoloff (9), Cole Johnson (8) and Justin Mitchell (6) ... Dominic Johnson and Nicoloff are also on 10-game on-base streaks ... As a team, K-State has homered in eight straight games and in 10 of its last 12 overall after not hitting a home run in the season's first three games at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas ... K-State five-game winning streak is the fourth winning streak under Hughes of at least five games - all coming since 2021 ... Hughes' longest winning streak at K-State is six games from April 24-May 2 of last year.
NICOL-OFF AND RUNNING
Senior infielder Josh Nicoloff, a graduate transfer from Columbia, is hitting .353 over his last nine games, including four doubles, three home runs and 10 runs batted in ... Nicoloff did not play in 2021 and appeared in just eight games after the Ivy League cancelled the last two seasons due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic ... The Ladera Ranch, California, native began the season going 1-for-21 over the season's first six games, but has hit safely in each of his last nine contests, including a season-high three hits and four RBI at Omaha last Tuesday ... Nicoloff has three home runs over his last six games and is tied for the team lead in the category.
Friday's game kick starts a five-game homestand, with the three-game set continuing Saturday at 4 p.m. before finishing at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Wildcats will again send right-hander Blake Adams, who is tied for second in the Big 12 in strikeouts, to the mound Friday in the opener. Redshirt sophomore Connor McCullough gets the call Saturday and seeks his second straight victory.
The Cats and Eagles meet for the first time since 2004, with K-State taking two of the previous three matchups.
With construction ongoing on the new Morgan Family Arena, parking for baseball games at Tointon Family Stadium will be impacted during the 2022 season.
Fans are advised to park in the west parking lot of Bill Snyder Stadium and do so by entering through Gate 3 via College Avenue across from Ascension Via Christi Hospital. Gate 1 and Gate 2 will be closed for the duration of the 2022 baseball season.
When proceeding to the stadium on foot, fans are advised to exit the west parking lot along the pedestrian path between Gate 1 and Gate 2 and then proceed to the stadium via the sidewalk along College Avenue.
Tickets are now on sale for the entire 2022 season and start at just $5 when purchased in advance at K-StateSports.com/Tickets, by calling 800-221-CATS or visiting the K-State Athletics Ticket Office.
The entire series will be carried on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with radio coverage available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.
GAME #16
K-STATE (8-7) vs. MOREHEAD STATE (7-9)
Friday, March 18 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Blake Adams (1-1, 2.81 EA) vs. RHP Luke Helton (1-1, 5.59 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // James Westling, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, Justin Tadtman
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/Watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats | Tickets
GAME #17
K-STATE (8-7) vs. MOREHEAD STATE (7-9)
Saturday, March 19 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: RHP Connor McCullough (2-1, 3.18 ERA) vs. RHP Alex Kafka (1-1, 5.30 ERA)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // James Westling, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, Justin Tadtman
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/Watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats | Tickets
GAME #18
K-STATE (8-7) vs. MOREHEAD STATE (7-9)
Sunday, March 20 // 1 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,334) // Manhattan, Kan.
Projected Starters: TBA vs. TBA
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // James Westling, Mike Clark
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Matt Walters, Justin Tadtman
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/Watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats | Tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State kick starts a five-game homestand Friday, welcoming Morehead State to Tointon Family Stadium for a three-game series. ... The Wildcats have won five straight games following an 8-4 road win at Omaha on Tuesday ... The win came on the heels of a 4-0 week at home that included a three-game sweep of Central Connecticut State last week ... Winning seven of their last eight games, the Cats are over .500 for the first time this season after starting the year 0-5 ... Tuesday night against the Mavericks, Josh Nicoloff went 3-for-5 with a double, home run and season-high four RBI ... Cole Johnson also homered in the game, as K-State has now hit a home run in eight straight contests ... Griffin Hassall earned his second win in his last two starts, striking out six over 5 2/3 innings ... In the series with the Blue Devils, K-State won the opener on Saturday 6-3 before sweeping a Sunday doubleheader with scores of 5-3 an 5-2, respectively ... Cole Johnson and Dominic Johnson each hit .500 (6-for-12) to pace the K-State offense ... Dominic Johnson homered twice in the series while Cole Johnson hit his first home run of the year Sunday as part of a career-high four-hit day ... In total, the Wildcats launched six home runs over the three games ... Jeff Heinrich, Justin Mitchell and Nicoloff also homered over the weekend ... On the mound, Blake Adams turned in his third straight quality start Saturday after six innings and two earned runs allowed ... Adams struck out seven and has reached at least seven strikeouts in all four outings this year ... Connor McCullough picked up his second win of the year after his six inning of work Sunday, scattering six hits with three runs against him ... In three games, the K-State bullpen went 2-0 and 2-for-2 in save opportunities while posting a 1.64 ERA (2 ER, 11 IP) ... Blake Corsentino and German Fajardo each picked up the first saves of their respective careers while Landry Jurecka and Ty Ruhl picked up their first victories.
SCOUTING MOREHEAD STATE
Morehead State is coming off a Wednesday night loss at Saint Louis (4-1) but has won four of its last six games overall ... Away from home, the Eagles are 1-6 while winning six of nine home games ... MSU has launched 20 home runs already this season, with a team-leading five from Ryley Preece ... Jackson Feltner leads the team in hitting at .393 and in runs batted in with 16 ... Feltner ranks second with five doubles and four homers ... Morehead State will send right-handers Luke Helton (Friday) and Alex Kafka (Saturday) to the mound ... Helton is 1-1 with a 5.59 ERA (12ER, 19.1 IP) with 10 strikeouts and eight walks ... Kafka has an ERA of 5.30 (11 ER, 18.2 IP) with 14 punchouts and eight walks ... Teams are hitting .284 against the Eagles as a staff.
INSIDE THE SERIES
K-State and Morehead State have met just three times previously, with the Wildcats going 2-1 against the Eagles ... K-State swept a two-game series at Tointon Family Stadium back in 2004, winning the opener 15-4 before a 12-2 victory in the finale ... MSU claimed the first-ever matchup in 1990 by the score of 5-4 in Haines City, Florida ... The Cats are 13-9 against teams currently in the Ohio Valley Conference.
WE GO WAY BACK
K-State head coach Pete Hughes and Morehead State head coach Mik Aoki were teammates at Davidson and graduated together in 1990 ... Aoki served as pitching coach on Hughes' staff at Boston College from 2004-06 and took over as the head man in Chestnut Hill in 2007 after Hughes left to be the head coach at Virginia Tech ... K-State volunteer assistant coach Thomas Hughes, Hughes' oldest son, served as the volunteer assistant on Aoki's staff at Morehead State during the 2020 season ... Additionally, former K-State great Shane Conlon, and former volunteer assistant under Hughes, was an assistant coach the last two seasons at MSU under Aoki before departing to take the assistant role at Austin Peay.
THE IDES OF MARCH
After a 1-5 February, K-State has won seven of nine games in the month of March and is on a season-long five-game winning streak after an 8-4 victory Tuesday at Omaha ... The Wildcat offense is hitting at a .338 clip in the month and averaging 7.0 runs a game with 11.9 hits a game ... In February, the Cats hit just .223 as a team with 3.5 runs per game on 7.5 hits a contest ... Additionally, K-State is hitting .313 with two outs in March after just .233 in February ... Six Cats are hitting north of .350 in the month of March, with four over the .420 mark ... Dominic Johnson has a team-leading .475 batting average while Cole Johnson is hitting .432 ... Brady Day sits at a .429 average while Kaelen Culpepper is hitting .421 ... Josh Nicoloff has homered three times this month, as K-State has 12 homers in that stretch compared to three last month.
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
K-State's dynamic outfield duo of Dominic Johnson and Cole Johnson have helped spearhead the Wildcat offense during its five-game winning streak ... Each player hit a team-high .500, going 6-for-12 last weekend against Central Connecticut State ... Cole Johnson turned in K-State's first four-hit effort of the season in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, including a go-ahead solo homer, and finished the weekend with three extra-base hits ... Dominic Johnson homered twice in the series with the Blue Devils, swiped two bases and scored four times ... Both are riding career-long hitting streaks, as Dominic Johnson has hit safely in 10 straight games - eight of which are multi-hit efforts ... Cole Johnson has recorded a hit in his last eight outings, with two three-hit games in addition to his four-hit day Sunday ... Over the last five games, Dominic Johnson has a slash line of .550/.625/.900 and Cole Johnson is slashing .450/.476/.850, while each has two homers and three RBI in that span.
THE DOMINATOR
Dominic Johnson, who has hit leadoff and started in left field every game this season for the Wildcats, leads the team in average, on-base percentage, doubles, extra-base hits, stolen bases and runs batted in ... The Oklahoma State transfer has registered multiple hits in each of his last six games and is the team leader with 10 multi-hit games and four multi-RBI efforts ... Over his 10-game hitting streak, the sophomore is hitting .467 (21-45) with five doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and nine runs scored ... He has been held hitless in just one game this season (0-for-4 at CSU Bakersfield on February 26) ... Johnson also leads the team in hitting with runners in scoring position at .615 (8-for-13) and is tied for the team lead with six two-out RBI.
STREAKS FOR WEEKS
Four Wildcats are currently riding hitting streaks of at least six games, including Dominic Johnson (10), Josh Nicoloff (9), Cole Johnson (8) and Justin Mitchell (6) ... Dominic Johnson and Nicoloff are also on 10-game on-base streaks ... As a team, K-State has homered in eight straight games and in 10 of its last 12 overall after not hitting a home run in the season's first three games at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, Texas ... K-State five-game winning streak is the fourth winning streak under Hughes of at least five games - all coming since 2021 ... Hughes' longest winning streak at K-State is six games from April 24-May 2 of last year.
NICOL-OFF AND RUNNING
Senior infielder Josh Nicoloff, a graduate transfer from Columbia, is hitting .353 over his last nine games, including four doubles, three home runs and 10 runs batted in ... Nicoloff did not play in 2021 and appeared in just eight games after the Ivy League cancelled the last two seasons due to concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic ... The Ladera Ranch, California, native began the season going 1-for-21 over the season's first six games, but has hit safely in each of his last nine contests, including a season-high three hits and four RBI at Omaha last Tuesday ... Nicoloff has three home runs over his last six games and is tied for the team lead in the category.
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