K-State Opens 2023 Season at Stephen F. Austin on Friday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State baseball leads off the 2023 season with a 10-day road trip in the Lone Star State starting with a four-game series at Stephen F. Austin. Game one against the Jacks is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT in Nacogdoches, Texas at Jaycees Field.

The 2023 roster features 19 newcomers, including 10 transfers and nine freshmen. Returning starters include shortstop Nick Goodwin, third baseman Kaelen Culpepper and outfielder Cole Johnson.

Newcomer Owen Boerema will get the start in the season opener while German Fajardo will start on the mound on Saturday followed by Jackson Wentworth on Sunday. Monday's start will be determined at a later date.

Tickets for the series at SFA are now available and can be purchased at sfajacks.evenue.net.

GAME #1
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 BIG 12) AT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Friday, Feb. 17 // 6:30 p.m. CT // Jaycees Field (1,000) // Nacogdoches, Texas
Starting Pitcher: Owen Boerema (0-0. 0.00 ERA) vs. TBD
Watch: ESPN+
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch // Mitch Fortner
Live Stats | Tickets

GAME #2
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 BIG 12) AT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Saturday, Feb. 18 // 2 p.m. CT // Jaycees Field (1,000) // Nacogdoches, Texas
Starting Pitcher: German Fajardo (0-0. 0.00 ERA) vs. TBD
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch // Mitch Fortner
Live Stats | Tickets

GAME #3
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 BIG 12) AT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Sunday, Feb. 19 // 1 p.m. CT // Jaycees Field (1,000) // Nacogdoches, Texas
Starting Pitcher: Jackson Wentworth (0-0. 0.00 ERA) vs. TBD
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Mitch Fortner
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats | Tickets

GAME #4
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 BIG 12) AT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Monday, Feb. 20 // 3 p.m. CT // Jaycees Field (1,000) // Nacogdoches, Texas
Starting Pitcher: TBD
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Mitch Fortner
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats | Tickets

A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State begins its 123rd season of baseball and fifth under head coach Pete Hughes when the Wildcats lead off the 2023 season with a four-game series against Stephen F. Austin … The Wildcats return 19 letterwinners from last year's roster that reached the semifinal round of the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship while welcoming 19 newcomers … Returning starters include Nick Goodwin, Cole Johnson, Orlando Salinas, Jr., and Kaelen Culpepper … Six arms return to the bullpen for K-State including Blake Corsentino, German Fajardo, and Ty Ruhl who combined for 59 appearances, 145.2 innings and 13 wins last season … Goodwin was a unanimous selection to the Preseason Big 12 team … Goodwin, Blake Corsentino, and senior transfer Roberto Pena were voted team captains for the 2023 season … Goodwin led K-State in RBI and walks while leading the league in sac flies … Fajardo punched out 64 batters which ranked third on the team … Senior left-handed pitcher Owen Boerema will make his K-State debut on the mound on Friday while Fajardo will get the start on Saturday and Jackson Wentworth on Sunday.

SCOUTING SFA
The Jacks capped off the 2022 season 15-36 (.294) including an 8-12 record at home … SFA went 0-5 against Big 12 opponents last season with a -55 run differential … SFA was selected 13th in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Preseason Poll with 24 points while Grand Canyon was heavily favored with 10 first-place votes for 141 total points … Head coach Johnny Cardenas enters his 14th season at the helm of the program, compiling an overall 232-411 record … The TCU alum stands as the program's all-time winningest coach and has prepped 13 of SFA's 21 MLB Draft picks including Kansas City Royals' Hunter Dozier… Peyton Parker returns to the lineup for the Jacks after hitting .379 through 44 games … Parker produced a slash line of .379/.474/.434 with eight doubles, one home run and 15 RBI … The Jacks return two starting pitchers from the 2022 bullpen with Benny Emmons III and Joe Richter … The duo combined for 18 starts in the circle and 29 appearances for 110.2 innings … Richter threw a team-low 5.20 ERA while Emmons III was rewarded a team-high four victories on the mound including the Jacks only shutout of the season … Juniors Alex Rodgers and Dylan Savino were ranked in the D1Baseball's WAC Top Prospects list.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Friday marks the first meeting between K-State and SFA since 2016 and first under Pete Hughes with the Wildcats lead the all-time series 2-1 … K-State is 1-0 in Nacogdoches and has outscored in the Jacks 19-13 … The two schools last met on March 16, 2016, in Manhattan where the Wildcats produced 15 hits to win 11-5 led by four RBI from Tyler Wolfe while Logan Wiley was credited the victory on the mound. K-State is 35-12 when facing opponents in the Western Athletic Conference …

W, 3-2 – March 17, 2015 (Nacogdoches)
L, 5-6 – March 15, 2016 (Manhattan)
W, 11-5 – March 16, 2016 (Manhattan)

OPENING DAY
In four seasons under head coach Pete Hughes, K-State is 1-3 in season openers with a 3-2 victory over Oregon State in 2021 ... The Wildcats dropped the 2022 opener against No. 10 Arizona, 8-6, in Arlington at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown … Kaelen Culpepper went 2-for-3 at the plate in his collegiate debut against UA … The Cats are 4-6 over their last 10 season openers and 14-9 going back to the year 2000.

NEW FACES
The 2023 roster is comprised of 19 new faces with 10 transfers and nine freshmen... Four of the Wildcats' 10 transfers come from four-year universities, including three from Power 5 programs with Shay Hartis (Texas Tech), Trae Robertson (Missouri) and Jared Henry (UMass) ... Combined with a nine freshman and three redshirts, 22 players on K-State's 38-man roster have never played a game in a Wildcat uniform ... Additionally, just seven have more than one year of experience.

HOME. SWEET. HOME.
K-State finished its home schedule with a record of 21-7, marking the second straight season in which the Cats have reached the 20-win plateau at home ... It was the first time K-State has put together consecutive 20-win home seasons since three straight from 2009-11 ... Over the last two seasons, K-State is 45-14 (.763) - good for the third-best win total and home winning percentage in the Big 12 ... At home, the Wildcat offense hit .303 while slugging .566 with 60 home runs ... K-State averaged 6.9 runs a game on 10.2 hits at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Wildcat bullpen boasted a 3.83 ERA at home, striking out 128 compared to 60 walks ... K-State homered in 24 of 28 home games while 60 of its 82 home runs have come at Tointon Family Stadium.

COACH HUGHES FILE
Pete Hughes enters his 26th season and fifth at the helm of K-State baseball … Hughes has compiled a career record of 750-584-3 (.562) as a head coach … His 750 career victories ranks first among active Big 12 head coaches … In four seasons as the head coach of the Wildcats, Hughes has put together a 98-92 (.516) record … He's led the Cats to two straight runs in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship semifinals ... In 2021, K-State turned in a 34-23 mark, its highest win total since posting 45 in 2013 … Three players were selected in the 2022 MLB First-Year Player Draft increasing Hughes' career draft total to 82, including eight while at K-State.

MLB DRAFT
K-State saw three players taken in the 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, with Dylan Phillips (8th round, Los Angeles Angels), Blake Adams (13th round, Colorado Rockies), and Dominic Johnson (13th round, Detroit Tigers) ... Phillips was the Wildcats fourth Top 10 round draft pick over the last four years ... Dylan Phillips finished his time in Manhattan as the program's all-time career home run leader with 44 – breaking the previous record of 37 by Scott Poepard that had stood since 1997.

PROMISING PROSPECTS
K-State's Nick Goodwin cracked D1Baseball's top 100 collegiate prospects list ahead of the 2023 MLB Draft ... Goodwin came in at No. 77 overall and ranked No. 12 among top 50 shortstops … Cole Johnson came in at No. 109 in the top 150 outfielders' standings … Just 10 student-athletes from the Big 12 were selected in the Top 100 with Brayden Taylor of TCU leading the pack at No. 8 … Redshirt-freshman Jackson Wentworth was selected into D1Baseball's Top 200 starting pitchers list with the righty sitting 185th …

2023 SCHEDULE REVIEW
The Wildcats schedule 56 regular-season games, highlighted by 27 games played inside Tointon Family Stadium … K-State will play in 23 games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago … The 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship will again be held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, May 24 through May 28 …The 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament begins June 2.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State had a season -26 run differential through 58 games in 2022 ... The Wildcats outscored opponents 49-36 in the eighth inning alone and 127-91 from the seventh inning on ... The Cats was 25-15 when hitting a home run and 17-8 when hitting multiple homers ... K-State won 13 of 17 games when an error was not committed while going 6-16 when committing multiple errors ... When holding opponents to five or fewer runs, the Wildcats were 24-7 and was 24-8 when scoring at least six runs ... K-State was 10-14 in games decided by two runs or less … K-State hit .291 on the season with runners in scoring position and .262 with two outs and 111 two-out RBI.

FROM THE 'PEN
The K-State bullpen finished the 2022 season with a 5.84 ERA ... The Cats rebounded from an 11.29 ERA over the season's first five games, including an ERA of 14.85 in the season's opening weekend at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown ... In winning their last five games, Wildcats recorded 48 strikeouts against 17 walks over 44 innings ... Dylan Phillips led the team with eight saves while ending the season with a team-best 2.66 ERA while Blake Adams was rewarded a team-high six victories on the mound.

UP NEXT
K-State will continue preseason action in Texas, facing Lamar (0-0, 0-0 Southland) on Wednesday, Feb. 22 in Beaumont at Vincent-Beck Stadium with game time set for 6 p.m. … The Wildcats will take part in the Karbach Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamon in Round Rock, Texas on Feb. 24-26 … K-State will face nationally ranked No. 1 LSU, Sam Houston, and Iowa.

 
How to follow the 'Cats: Stay up to date on K-State baseball online at www.kstatesports.com and on the team's social media channels on Twitter and Instagram.

 
-- www.k-statesports.com --
 
Kansas State University, the nation's first operational land-grant institution and a Carnegie Foundation Tier One university, is recognized as one of the nation's best colleges with world-class research and academic excellence located in America's No. 1 College Town (Manhattan, KS).

K-State Opens 2023 Season at Stephen F. Austin on Friday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Blake Adams

Owen Boerema

Blake Corsentino

Kaelen Culpepper

German Fajardo

Nick Goodwin

Shay Hartis

Jared Henry

Cole Johnson

Dominic Johnson

Roberto Pena

Dylan Phillips

Trae Robertson

Ty Ruhl

Orlando Salinas, Jr.

Jackson Wentworth

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Opens 2023 Season at Stephen F. Austin on Friday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Blake Adams

Owen Boerema

Blake Corsentino

Kaelen Culpepper

German Fajardo

Nick Goodwin

Shay Hartis

Jared Henry

Cole Johnson

Dominic Johnson

Roberto Pena

Dylan Phillips

Trae Robertson

Ty Ruhl

Orlando Salinas, Jr.

Jackson Wentworth

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