Cats Welcome Oklahoma in Big 12 Weekend Action

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State returns to Big 12 play this weekend when the Wildcats host Oklahoma on March 24-26 at Tointon Family Stadium.

The three-game series opens on Friday night with first pitch slated at 6 p.m. followed by game two at 4 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

The Wildcats (14-8) will send senior left-hander Owen Boerema to the mound on Friday while German Fajardo will get the start on Saturday. Sunday's start will be announced at a later date. OU's weekend rotation has not been confirmed at this time.

The weekend series will be streamed on the 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 available for the three-game series at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

With construction ongoing on the new Morgan Family Arena, parking for baseball games at Tointon Family Stadium will be impacted during the 2023 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 2023 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.

BSB Excuse Our Mess

Tickets are on sale for the entire 2023 season, starting 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.

GAME #23
K-STATE (14-8, 1-2 Big 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (13-8, 2-1 Big 12)
Friday, March 24 | 6 p.m. | Tointon Family Stadium (2,331)
Projected Starters: LHP Owen Boerema vs. TBD
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats| Tickets

GAME #24
K-STATE (14-8, 1-2 Big 12) at OKLAHOMA (13-8, 2-1 Big 12)
Saturday, March 25 | 4 p.m. | Tointon Family Stadium (2,331)
Projected Starters: RHP German Fajardo vs. TBD
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats| Tickets

GAME #25
K-STATE (14-8, 1-2 Big 12) at OKLAHOMA (13-8, 2-1 Big 12)
Sunday, March 26 | 1 p.m. | Tointon Family Stadium (2,331)
Projected Starters: TBD vs. TBD
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats| Tickets

A LOOK AT K-STATE
The Wildcats return to Tointon Family Stadium on Friday night to start of a three-game conference series with Oklahoma … Cats enter the week 14-8 with an 8-1 record at Tointon Family Stadium… The Cats are coming off a two-game series split with St. Thomas where they won 11-3 before falling in game two, 2-1 … K-State is slashing .269/.413/.453 as a team including 36 doubles, five triples and 29 home runs with two starters batting over .300 … Nick Goodwin is hitting .320 to lead the Cats with 24 hits – nine extra-base hits – including five home runs … Senior Cash Rugely is hitting .317 and matches Goodwin with a team-leading five homers … Goodwin and Brendan Jones have started in 22 games for K-State at shortstop and center field… Jones ranks second in the league with 19 stolen bases which ranks fourth in the nation … Goodwin ranks third in the Big 12 with 28 RBI … As a team, the Wildcats are dangerous on the base path with 68 total stolen bases which is the sixth highest among Division I programs and leads the Big 12 … K-State has rolled 17 double plays this season which ranks second in the Big 12 … The Wildcats have a 4.05 team ERA with 206 strikeouts compared to 73 … K-State leads the league and ranks 30^th in DI with a 2.82 strikeout-to-walk ratio … Fifteen pitchers have made appearances on the mound with four making nine outings this year while German Fajardo has a team-high six starts… Owen Boerema is one of eight pitchers from the Big 12 this season to record three victories and is one of five with 30+ strike outs … The Litchfield, Minn., product has a 2.88 ERA and has allowed just 10 runs (eight earned) through 25.0 innings … Fajardo has a 5.96 ERA through 22.2 innings with 20 strikeouts …

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
The Sooners enter week two of conference play 13-8 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 after taking the series against TCU, 2-1 … OU is coming off a 8-6 deficit to Dallas Baptist on Tuesday night where the Sooners outhit the Patriots 11-5 while leaving 12 on base … OU was selected to finish fifth in the preseason poll after making their way to the program's 11^th College World Series appearance and first since 2010 … The Sooners fell 4-2 in the championship game as Ole Miss claimed the final season series 2-0 … Skip Johnson leads the Sooners' baseball program compiling a 170-112 (.603) overall record during his six seasons … The 2022 ABCA Central Region Coach of the Year led the Sooners to the Big 12 Championship title while going 3-0 to reach the CWS finals … The Sooners have a slash line of .291/.418/.436 with 58 extra-base hits over 21 games … OU averages 6.9 runs on 9.6 hits with a +31 run differential … Five players are batting over .300 across 17 or more games … East Carmichael leads OU and ranks sixth in the Big 12 with a .388 batting average … The freshman catcher has drove in a team-high 26 RBI and score 17 runs and ranks fifth in DI with four triples … OU's pitching staff has a 4.78 ERA allowing just 5.4 runs per game on 8.3 hits with opponents hitting .244 … Junior left-hander Carter Campbell has made 12 appearances on the season with a 4.95 ERA thru 20 complete innings … The Sooners have started eight different pitchers this season led by Braxton Douthit and Kale Davis with five each … Douthit is 3-0 on the season with a 2.39 ERA allowing just 10 runs (seven earned) with 18 strikeouts and 14 walks through 26.1 innings … A starting rotation has not been confirmed at this time …

INSIDE THE SERIES
Friday's game marks the 290^th meeting between the two schools and 76^th in Big 12 play. Oklahoma leads the all-time series 205-83-1 while also leading 88-52 in Manhattan. The Cats last home series win came in 2021 where they claimed the series opener in a 3-2 10-inning thriller before clinching the series in the series finale, 8-3. K-State is 4-6 in the last 10 games against the Sooners and 4-6 under Pete Hughes.

W, 8-3 – April 18, 2021 (Manhattan)
L, 2-14 – April 29, 2022 (Norman)
L, 10-22 – April 30 (Norman)
W, 8-7 – May 1, 2022 (Norman)
L 3-4 – May 28 (Arlington)

AROUND THE LEAGUE
Six programs opened Big 12 play overall the weekend with three teams lead off conference play 2-1 with Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Baylor … TTU leads the league with an overall 18-4 record after winning the Top 25 series against Oklahoma State … Oklahoma follows in second at 13-8 with Baylor in third at 9-12 … Oklahoma State sits in fourth at 17-5 (1-2 Big 12) followed by Kansas State (14-8, 1-2 Big 12) rounding out the top five … TCU dropped the Big 12 opening weekend, 1-2, against Oklahoma …

THE VIEWS FROM UP TOP
Plate discipline has been one of the top priorities of the K-State offense with the Cats walking 163 times to lead the nation … K-State has two players ranked in the Top 20 in season walks … Brendan Jones leads the offense with 25 season walks which stands seventh in DI followed by Nick Goodwin with 22 in 17^th … The Cats had 16 walks against Youngstown State (March 10) which was nine short of matching the Division I all-time record … K-State is on pace to break the single-season Top 10 leaderboard with just 113 left to match the 10^th top performance of 276 set in 1982 … The Wildcats all-time single-season walks record was set in 1995 with 382 …

GOTTA BE QUICKER THAN THAT
K-State has caused troubles on the base path for opponents, stealing a league-high 68 bases which ranks sixth in all Division I while sitting seventh with 3.09 per game … The Cats nearly matched the program record with 11 stolen bases against Youngstown State (March 10) and were just one base shy of matching the record … Brendan Jones has been the speedster for the Cats lineup with 19 stolen bases which is second in the Big 12 and fourth among all Division I players … The Cats 68 stolen bases surpasses the 2022 season total by 26 … The K-State single-season record is 149 set in 2009 thru 62 games …

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Raphael Pelletier continues to be a threat behind the plate as the redshirt-sophomore catcher from Mascouche, Quebec, Canada has thrown out a league-high eight runners this season alongside KU's Cole Elvis … Pelletier matched his career-high in the series opener against Baylor (March 17) …

THE LONG BALL
K-State has produced 29 home runs this season which ranks third in the Big 12 and 38^th among Division I … Senior Cash Rugely and junior Nick Goodwin lead the pack with five home runs each while Goodwin leads the current career leaderboard with 26 … The Cats have produced 80+ home runs the past two seasons … Three Wildcats have hit three 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 …

LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats are coming off a series split with St. Thomas where K-State outscored the Tommies 12-5 … K-State hit .277 in the midweek series with three doubles and one homer from Nick Goodwin … The Cats walked 16 times against UST and went 11-for-11 on the base path … The Wildcats pitching staff tossed season series-low 1.50 ERA with freshman Cole Wisenbaker earning Tuesday's victory … K-State struck out 15 batters compared to just three walks while limiting the Tommies to three earned runs … The Cats had a true all freshman pitching staff take the field in the series opener that recorded seven strikeouts with just a lone walk in the ninth …

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State has a season +84 run differential through 22 games averaging 8.6 runs on 8.9 hits ... The Wildcats outscored opponents 30-7 in the fourth inning alone and 66-27 from the seventh and on … Cats are 11-2 when leading after the sixth and 2-0 when tied after six ... K-State is 5-4 when committing no errors in a game … Conversely, K-State has won nine games when one or more errors are committed, 9-4 overall ... The Wildcats are 10-4 when scoring first and 7-3 when scoring in the first inning … K-State has outhit opponents on 10 occasions this season and is 4-8 when being outhit … The Cats are 10-2 when limiting opponents to five or less runs and are 2-4 in one-run games… K-State is only 3-3 when playing in night games … The Cats have won 11 games against right-handed starters while going 3-3 against lefties …

FROM THE 'PEN
Under the guidance pitching coach Rudy Darrow, the Cats pitching staff has produced a 4.05 ERA which ranks fourth in the Big 12 with outings from 15 different players this season … K-States 4.05 ERA is a vast improvement from last season where the Wildcats had a 5.28 ERA through 22 games … Four players have earned two victories on the mound lead by newcomer Owen Boerema with three … The D3 left-handed transfer earned his third straight victory in the Big 12 opener against Baylor … Right-hander German Fajardo has made a team-high six starts on the mound this season … Boerema is just one of five pitchers from the Big 12 to record 30+ strike outs this season and ranks third overall with 32 … Four different players have earned a save this year led by sophomore Tyson Neighbors with two … The Wildcats have struck out 206 batters this season compared to 73 walks, averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings which ranks sixth in the Big 12 … K-States pitching staff leads the league with a 2.82 strikeout-to-walk ratio which is 30^th in Division I … The Cats have decreased their walks allowed percentage by 27.7% from last season through 22 games …

TOINTON FAMILY STADIUM
The home of K-State baseball was rededicated in 2001 before its renovation and expansion debut in 2020 … The stadium is named in honor of Bob and Betty Tointon … K-State baseball is 381-205 (.651) when playing at home … The Wildcats are 71-28 (.721) at home under Hughes and 53-15 (.788) since 2021 … The Cats had 5,355 fans in attendance during opening weekend with a season-high 2,247 against Army (March 5) … Tointon's largest crowd was on March 30, 2010 against Wichita State with 4,745 in attendance …

HOME. SWEET. HOME.
K-State is 8-1 when playing at Tointon this season ... Over the last three seasons, K-State has compiled an overall home record of 53-15 (.788) ... At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .304 while slugging .520 with 13 home runs ... K-State averages 11.8 runs a game on 10.0 hits when playing at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Wildcat bullpen boasted a 3.19 ERA at home, dropping 0.50 from the St. Thomas series … The Cats have struck out 87 compared to 27 walks ... K-State has homered in seven of the nine games at home with 13 of the 29 total home runs coming at Tointon …

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 764-592-3 (.563) 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 112-100 (.528) 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.

UP NEXT
The Cats will hit the road on March 28-29 and head to Colorado Springs, Colo., to go head-to-head with Air Force at Falcon Field. A live stream will be provided on the Mountain West Broadcast. Live streaming audio is available for all 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.

-- 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).

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Players Mentioned

Owen Boerema

German Fajardo

Nick Goodwin

Cole Johnson

Brendan Jones

Tyson Neighbors

Raphael Pelletier

Roberto Pena

Cash Rugely

Cole Wisenbaker

Kansas State University Athletics