Cats Face Bluejays Wednesday Night

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State hits the road for one final tune-up before Big 12 play on Wednesday when the Wildcats (11-5) face the Creighton Bluejays (6-5) in Omaha, Neb., at Charles Schwab Field.

The single-game matchup is scheduled for 6 p.m. while the two programs will meet later in the season for round two on Monday, April 10 at Tointon Family Stadium.

Wildcats' freshman right-hander Mason Buss (1-0) will get his first collegiate start against the Bluejays, facing junior left-hander Cade Lommel (0-2).

Wednesday's nightcap marks the 99^th meeting between K-State and Creighton with the Cats leading the all-time series 53-44-1, while the Bluejays lead 23-14 in Omaha.

Tickets are available for the midweek matchup and can be purchased HERE.

The game will be carried on FloBaseball with radio coverage available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is available for all four games at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

GAME #17
K-STATE (11-5, 0-0 Big 12) at CREIGHTON (6-5, 0-0 Big East)
Wednesday, March 15 | 6 p.m. | Charles Schwab Field Omaha (24,000)
Projected Starters: RHP Mason Buss (1-0) vs. LHP Cade Lommel (0-2)
Watch: FloBaseball
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats| Tickets

A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State heads back on the road on Wednesday night for the 99^th meeting between the Wildcats and the Creighton Bluejays … K-State enters the midweek nightcap 11-5 with a seven game win streak after sweeping Youngstown State in a three-game series … The Cats is coming off a 16-2 run-rule victory against the Penguins highlighted by their third 10+ run inning of the season … As a team, K-State has a slash line of .280/.423/.497, averaging 9.9 runs per contest on 9.3 hits … The Cats have recorded 59 extra-base hits this season including 29 doubles, four triples and 26 home runs which ranks second in the Big 12… Junior shortstop Nick Goodwin leads the offense with a .333 batting average with a team-high 19 hits and .474 on-base percentage … Eight players have recorded double figure RBI this season led by Goodwin and Cole Johnson each with 20 … The Wildcats have a 4.60 team ERA allowing 5.3 runs on 9.9 hits per game with opponents hitting .283 … Two players from the Cats bullpen have a 0.00 ERA with newcomers Corey Cater and Jared Henry … Freshman right-hander will make his first collegiate start on Wednesday … Buss collected his first victory on the mound in the run-rule against Youngstown State (March 12) tossing two complete innings with one unearned run on one hit and matching a season-high three strikeouts …

SCOUTING CREIGHTON
The Bluejays enter the week with a two-game win streak after defeating BYU to move to 6-5 on the season … Creighton battled its way to a 15-5 seven-inning run rule over Cougars despite playing in light rain … Ed Servais is in his 20^th season at the helm of the Bluejay baseball program … Servais has compiled a 624-368-1 record during his time at Creighton and is 806-450-2 overall … As a team, Creighton has a team slash line of .273/.397/.459 with 41 extra-base hits in 11 games … Three players are batting over .300 … Junior shortstop Nolan Clifford leads the offense with a .400 batting average, two doubles and two home runs and a team-high .479 on-base percentage … Four players have recorded double figure RBI while Jack Grace, a 6-foot-3 senior from Illinois, has gone yard five times this season … The Bluejays have a team 6.26 ERA allowing opponents to hit .287 while scoring 6.6 runs per contest on 9.4 hits … Senior right-hander Ryan Windham has a team-low 2.45 ERA with four starts and one loss … Junior Cade Lommel will get the start on Wednesday … The left-hander has made three appearances this season with one start and is 0-2 through 2 1/3 innings …

INSIDE THE SERIES
Wednesday's game marks the 99^th meeting between the two programs since its series start in 1903 … K-State leads the all-time series 53-44-1 and moved back into the win column after defeating the Bluejays 7-5 last season at home … K-State is 5-5 in the last 10 meetings and 2-3 in the last five… The Wildcats blasted four home runs while the pitching staff struck out 18 batters in the last meeting …
L, 3-8 – April 4, 2018 (Omaha)
L, 0-4 – April 5, 2019 (Omaha)
W, 9-2 – April 6, 2019 (Omaha)
L, 1-11 – April 7, 2019 (Omaha)
W, 7-5 – April 5, 2022 (Manhattan)

LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats extended their win streak out to seven after sweeping past Youngstown State last weekend … K-State outscored YSU 45-12 with 30 hits including four home runs and 39 RBI … Cash Rugely led the Cats offense going 5-for-9 (.556) at the plate with a 1.111 slug percentage, one triple, one homer, five walks and five stolen bases … Brendan Jones sent two out in back-to-back games for his first collegiate homers … Owen Boerema, Shay Hartis and Mason Buss each were rewarded victories on the mound with Boerema striking out a season-high eight … Tyson Neighbors earned the Saturday night save moving the teams' season total to four …

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Oklahoma State and Texas Tech lead the league each with a 14-3 overall record while the Cowboys hold a league-high 11 game win streak … West Virginia sits in third at 10-4 followed by Kansas State and Oklahoma each at 11-5 to round out the top five … TCU (9-6) ranks sixth followed by Texas (9-7), Kansas (7-6) and Baylor (5-11) …

WHERE WE'VE BEEN
The Wildcats have lowered their walks issued by 27% while doubling their walks taken in the first 15 games of the 2023 season compared to this time last year … In 2022, K-State had averaged 5.6 runs per game with 15 home runs, .373 on-base percentage and .828 OPS … Just one year later, the Wildcats stepped in the right direction with 9.5 runs per game, 25 homers, 414 OBP, and .908 OPS in 15 games …

THE LONG BALL
K-State has produced 26 home runs this season which ranks second in the Big 12 and 28^th among Division I … Roberto Pena, Nick Goodwin and Cash Rugely lead the pack with four home runs each … The Cats have produced 80+ home runs the past two seasons … Three Wildcats have hit grand slams this season with the last coming against Stonehill (March 4) by Cash Rugely … 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 … Eight players are posting a multi-home run season … Twenty-three homers were against right-handed pitchers, 11 were solo shots while 12 came with one-out … The Wildcats were the only team to produce double digit bombs in the opening weekend (10) … 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 …

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
K-State is 4-5 when playing on the road and 0-3 when playing at a neutral location ... On the road, the Wildcat offense hits .255 while slugging .446 with 14 home runs ... K-State has averaged 7.2 runs a game on 8.4 hits on the road ... The Wildcat bullpen has boasted a 5.31 ERA on the road, striking out 79 compared to 29 walks ...

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
After seeing action in just 34 games last season with 12 starts, Raphael Pelletier has well earned respect behind the plate … The redshirt-sophomore catcher from Mascouche, Quebec, Canada has thrown out a league-high seven runners this season followed by five Big 12 catchers who have just four … Pelletier is one short of matching his career-high set 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 761-589-3 (.564) 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 109-97 (.529) 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 +75 run differential through 16 games averaging 9.9 runs on 9.3 hits ... The Wildcats outscored opponents 28-6 in the fourth inning alone and 56-23 from the seventh and on … Cats are 8-1 when leading after the seventh and 1-1 when tied after seven ... K-State is 3-2 when committing no errors in a game … Conversely, K-State has won eight games when one or more errors are committed, 8-3 overall ... The Wildcats are 8-2 when scoring first and 5-2 when scoring in the first inning … K-State has outhit opponents on seven occasions this season and is 4-5 when being outhit … The Cats are 5-1 when limiting opponents to just 3-5 runs and is 2-3 in one-run games…

FROM THE 'PEN
The Cats pitching staff has produced a 4.60 ERA with outings from 15 different players this season … Three players have earned two victories on the mound while Owen Boerema tossed a team-high 19 1/3 innings this season … Right-hander German Fajardo has made five starts on the mound this season … Owen Boerema has struck out a team leading 26 batters followed by Tyson Neighbors with 20 … Four different players have earned a save this year …

UP NEXT
K-State will kick off Big 12 action this weekend on March 17-19 in Waco, Texas when the Wildcats go head-to-head with Baylor. Friday's series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. inside Baylor Ballpark. The series will be streamed on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app while radio coverage available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is available for all four games at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

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).

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Players Mentioned

Owen Boerema

Mason Buss

Corey Cater

German Fajardo

Nick Goodwin

Shay Hartis

Jared Henry

Cole Johnson

Brendan Jones

Tyson Neighbors

Raphael Pelletier

Roberto Pena

Cash Rugely

Kansas State University Athletics