Wildcats Set for Tuesday Matchup in Omaha

Tuesday, February 28

Omaha, NE

5 p.m.

Kansas State University

Omaha

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Feb 27, 2023 | Baseball

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State baseball will have one final tune-up before the home opener when the Wildcats face the Omaha Mavericks on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at Tal Anderson Field in Omaha, Neb.

The Wildcats (4-4) are coming off a 0-3 weekend at the Karbach Round Rock Classic in Texas where they lost tough matchups against LSU, Sam Houston and Iowa. Omaha heads into the midweek action 1-6 overall after grabbing its first win of the season on Sunday with a 1-0 road victory against Fresno State in California.

Junior right-hander Shay Hartis (0-0) will earn his first K-State start on Tuesday going against the Mavericks' Jackson Gordon (0-0). Hartis has seen action in four games this season for a 5.06 ERA while Omaha's right-handed veteran will make his ninth career start with a 10.38 season ERA.

A live stream will be provided by the Omaha Athletic Communications department at omavs.com/watch while fans can tune-in to a free live audio at kstatesports.com/watch. kstatesports.com/watch.

Tickets for the Tuesday's game in Omaha can be purchased HERE.

GAME #9
K-STATE (4-4, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. OMAHA (1-6, 0-0 SUMMIT)
Tuesday, Feb. 28 | 5 p.m. CT | Tal Anderson Field (1,500)
Projected Starters: Shay Hartis (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) v. Jackson Gordon (0-0, 0-0 Summit)
Watch: omavs.com/watch
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch // Mitch Fortner and Mike Clark
Live Stats | Tickets

A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State looks to bounce back after a tough 0-3 weekend at the Round Rock Classic in Texas … The Cats fell to Iowa, 6-5, in the final game of the preseason to extend their losing streak out to four … K-state heads into Tuesday's contest 4-4 overall with a four-game sweep over Stephen F. Austin … As a team, K-State has a slash line of .253/.362/.446 with 59 runs on 98 hits including 11 doubles and 13 home runs which ranks first in the Big 12 … Sophomore Brendan Jones has leadoff in all eight games for the Cats producing a team-high .419 batting average with 13 hits … Two players have reached double figure RBI with Cole Johnson (11) and Kaelen Culpepper (11) … Shay Hartis will make his first start in a K-State uniform on Tuesday after transferring from Big 12 foe Texas Tech … The right-hander has made four appearances this season allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings …

SCOUTING OMAHA
Omaha heads into the week 1-6 overall after collecting its first victory in the series finale against Fresno State … The Mavericks were swept in a three-game series against nationally-ranked UCLA before Fresno State took the series 3-1 … Evan Porter is in his seventh season at the helm of the baseball program posting an overall 117-161-1 (.415) record … Porter led his alma mater to 31 wins in 2018 which led the program to its first regional berth … Mike Boeve leads the offense registering a slash line of .407/.429/.556 with a team-high 11 hits including four doubles starting all seven games … The Mavs have a -55 run differential this season after being outscored 47-2 against UCLA … Omaha is hitting .212 as a team to go along with a .260 on-base percentage and .294 slugging-percentage … Zach Lechnir is just the second player on the roster to hit above .300 … UNO's pitching staff has a 9.32 ERA allowing 8.4 earned runs a game … Left-hander Luke Gainer is throwing a team-low 3.12 ERA through 8 2/3 innings in three appearances … Gainer was credited the 3-2 loss against Fresno State (Feb. 23) … Senior Jackson Gordon will receive the start on Tuesday … The right-hander has thrown 4 1/3 innings this season allowing five runs (five earned) on seven hits for a 10.38 ERA …

INSIDE THE SERIES
Tuesday's game marks the 19^th meeting between the two programs and only second in Omaha … K-State leads the all-time series 16-2 with a current seven game winning streak since the series start in 1976 … K-State is 9-1 in the last 10 meetings … The Wildcats defeated the Mavs, 11-3, in the last matchup on April 19, 2022 … K-state scored 10 runs over the final two innings led by a go-ahead grand slam from former Wildcat Jeff Heinrich …

W, 6-5 (11) – April 25, 2018 (Papillion)
W, 7-2 – April 10, 2019 (Manhattan)
W, 9-2 – April 23, 2019 (Papillion)
W, 8-4 – March 15, 2022 (Omaha)
W, 11-3 – April 19, 2022 (Manhattan)

AROUND THE LEAGUE
No. 24 Texas Tech remains undefeated at 8-0 to lead the Big 12 standings followed by Kansas (5-1), Oklahoma State (4-3), TCU (4-3) and West Virginia (4-3) rounding out the top five … The Wildcats lead the league in home runs (13) while ranking second in RBI (55) and runs (59) … Seniors Cole Johnson and Roberto Pena tie first in the league with three total home runs on the year while Brendan Jones ranks third in stolen bases … Jones is eighth in the league in batting average at .419 and fifth with 13 hits …

BOMBS AWAY
K-State leads the Big 12 with 13 team home runs and was the only team to produce double digit bombs in the opening weekend … The Wildcats sent five deep and out in the series finale against Stephen F. Austin marking the third time in the Hughes era … The five home runs were just short two of matching a program record seven … The Cats have produced 80+ home runs the past two seasons … Cole Johnson and Roberto Pena each launched a grand slam against SFA (Feb. 20) to mark the first time since 2010 where two Wildcats posted grand slams in the same game … Six players are posting a multi-home run season …

DIGGIN' THE LONG BALL
Cole Johnson became the first player in the Big 12 to record a multi-home run game this season … The senior launched a pair of bombs in back-to-back at-bats in the series finale against Stephen F. Austin … He sent out his first collegiate grand slam to bring his career total to 11 … Johnson is just four home runs away from matching his season-high seven from last season …

COACH HUGHES FILE
Pete Hughes grabbed his 100^th victory with K-State on Feb. 18 against in game two against Stephen F. Austin … Hughes is in 26th season and fifth at the helm of K-State baseball … Hughes has compiled a career record of 754-588-3 (.562) as a head coach … His 750 career victories ranks first among active Big 12 head coaches … In five seasons as the head coach of the Wildcats, Hughes has put together a 102-96 (.515) 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.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State has a season +11 run differential through eight games averaging 7.4 runs on 8.5 hits ... The Wildcats outscored opponents 10-1 in the fourth inning alone and 19-12 from the seventh inning on ... K-State is 0-2 when committing no errors in a game … Conversely, K-State has won four games when one or more errors were committed ... The Wildcats are 4-1 when scoring first and 3-1 when scoring in the first inning … K-State has outhit opponents twice this season and is 2-4 when being outhit …

FROM THE 'PEN
The Cats pitching staff has produced a 5.27 ERA while 14 players have made their season debuts on the mound this season … Four different pitchers earned victories on the mound during the opening weekend at Stephen F. Austin … Five players have made more than three appearances on the mound while German Fajardo (0-1) leads with three starts … Ty Ruhl (1-1) has pitched in a team-high 10 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts … Senior left-hander Owen Boerema has struck out a team leading 11 batters … Blake Corsentino and Shay Hartis have earned the Cats two saves …

UP NEXT
K-State will return to Manhattan for the home opener at Tointon Family Stadium against Army on Friday, March 3. The Cats will go another round against the Black Knights on Sunday while facing Stonehill on Saturday and Monday. First pitch for Friday's home opener is set for 4:02 p.m.

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.

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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).