Wildcats Set for Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championships

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State heads into the 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship as the No. 5 seed, where the Wildcats will go head-to-head with fourth-seeded TCU in the opening round Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

A three-way share of the Big 12 regular-season title went to Texas, Oklahoma State and West Virginia who earned the top three seeds of the tournament. No. 1 Texas and No. 8 Kansas are also in the Cats' half of the double-elimination bracket.

Earlier Tuesday, the Wildcats had seven players earn All-Big 12 recognition. Sophomore Tyson Neighbors was voted First Team All-Big 12 while senior Owen Boerema earned Second Team honors. Additionally, Nick Goodwin, Brady Day, Raphael Pelletier, Kaelen Culpepper, and Brendan Jones received honorable mention accolades.

Wednesday's contest will feature a matchup between Cats' left-hander Owen Boerema, who is 7-1 on the hill, versus the Frogs' right-handed Cam Brown.

Wednesday's contest can be seen on ESPNU and the ESPN app. Radio coverage is available on the K-State Sports Radio Network and streaming live at K-StateSports.com/Watch. All-session tickets are now on sale at TexasRangers.com/Big12.

GAME #56
K-STATE (32-22, 13-11 Big 12) vs. TCU (32-22, 13-11 Big 12)
Wednesday, May 24 | 9 a.m. | Globe Life Field
Projected Starters: LHP Owen Boerema vs. RHP Cam Brown
Watch: ESPNU
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats  | Tickets

A LOOK AT K-STATE
The Wildcats enters the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship as the No. 4 seed after finishing the regular season 32-22 and 13-11 in Big 12 action … K-State is slashing .269/.390/.453 as a team which includes 88 doubles, 10 triples and 75 home runs … K-State ranks 13^th in the nation in walks with 320 which ties fourth in the school history … Brady Day leads the offense hitting .354 followed by Cash Rugely at .301 … Roberto Pena has launched 15 homers this season followed by Nick Goodwin with 12 while Pena ties sixth in the Big 12 with 56 RBI … Goodwin and Brendan Jones have started in all 55 games for K-State at shortstop and center field… Jones ranks second in the league with 26 stolen bases … The Wildcats have struck out 477 batters against 200 walks which is the fewest allowed in the Big 12 … K-State ranks second In the league with a 2.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio while leading in walks per nine innings at 3.79 … Sixteen pitchers have made appearances on the mound with German Fajardo making a team-high 15 starts … Left-hander Owen Boerema ranks third in the league with 90 total strikeouts while the Minnesota product is just one-of-six pitchers to strikeout 12+ in a single game … Pete Hughes is in his fifth season at the helm and has compiled an 131-114 (.535) record during his time with Wildcats … Hughes is 732-606-3 (.564) in his 26 years as a head coach …

SCOUTING THE FIELD
K-State will meet No. 4 seed TCU (33-22, 13-11 Big 12) in the opening round of the 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship ... First-seeded Texas (38-18, 15-9 Big 12) and eighth-seeded Kanas (24-30, 8-16 Big 12) are also in the Wildcats' half of the double-elimination bracket ... K-State and TCU tied in the regular season standings with TCU winning the tie breaker after taking the series finale ... TCU's offense is led by Anthony Silva and his .351 average to go with seven home runs ... Brayden Taylor leads the Horned Frogs with 48 RBI ... In total, TCU has six players with at least 40 runs batted in ... Kole Klecker is 9-4 with a 3.84 ERA, striking out 53 over 72.2 innings ... Cam Cam Brown went 3-2 in nine starts during the regular season, compiling 51 strikeouts against 27 walks ... Texas was paced by Peyton Powell's .369 average while Garret Guillemette drove in a team-high 58 RBI ... In 14 starts Lucas Gordon, the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, went 6-1 and posted a 2.48 earned run average, striking out 85 with 28 walks ... The Jayhawks are led by Kodey Shojinaga who averaged .380 on the year while three sent out 10-plus homers led by Cole Elvis with 14 … Collin Baumgarten compiled a team-best 3.79 ERA over 14 starts with 69 strikeouts.

A LOOK AT THE BRACKET
Texas earned the No. 1 seed after sweeping past West Virginia to grab a share of the Big 12 regular-season title alognisde No. 2 seed Oklahoma State and No. 3 West Virginia … TCU earned the No. 4 seed after topping K-State in the regular season series finale for the Cats to take the No. 5 seed … Texas Tech heads into the week as the No. 6 seed followed by No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 8 Kansas …

2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Schedule
Wednesday, May 24
Game 1 – No. 4 TCU vs. No. 5 Kansas State – 9 a.m. – ESPNU
Game 2 – No. 1 Texas vs. No. 8 Kansas – 12:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 3 – No. 2 Oklahoma State vs. No. 7 Oklahoma – 4 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 4 – No. 3 West Virginia vs. No. 6 Texas Tech – 7:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+

Thursday, May 25
Game 5 – Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 9 a.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 6 – Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser – 12:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 7 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 4 p.m. – ESPNU
Game 8 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner – 7:30 p.m. – ESPNU

Friday, May 26
Game 9 – Game 7 Loser vs. Game 5 Winner – 3 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 10 – Game 8 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner – 6:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+

Saturday, May 27
Game 11 – Game 9 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner – 9 a.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 12 – Game 8 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner – 12:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 13 – Game 11 Loser vs. Game 11 Winner (if necessary) – 4 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Game 14 – Game 12 Loser vs. Game 12 Winner (if necessary) – 4 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. – Big 12 Now on ESPN+

Sunday, May 28
Game 15 – Championship Game – 5 p.m. – ESPNU

THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
The 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship is held at the home of the Texas Rangers, Globe Life Field, for the second straight season in Arlington, Texas, May 24 through May 28 … The top-eight teams from the conference advanced to the tournament … All-tournament tickets for the 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas are on sale at GlobeLifeField.com/Big12 … The 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament begins June 2.

A SEASON OF FIRSTS
The 2023 roster became the first team in program-history to record 14 road victories after defeating Oklahoma State, 10-9 … Wildcats reached 30-wins for the first time since 2021; 17^th time in program history … This season marks the Cats first appearance in a national poll since 2014 … Roberto Pena became just the third player since 1997 to have a 15-plus home run season … The Wildcats' Dillons Sunflower Showdown series sweep was the first road sweep over KU since 2013 … The 2023 team was the fastest team to nine conference wins in program history … Fastest team to 24 overall wins since 2013 … K-State completed its first sweep over Oklahoma at home since 1990 … The sweep over the Sooners marked the first Big 12 series sweep since 2013 … K-State was the first member of the Big 12 to reach nine conference victories this season … First time in 123-years of K-State baseball history the Wildcats led off the season with a four-game road series sweep …

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
K-State's Tyson Neighbors, the top ranked reliever by D1Baseball.com, became the second Wildcat in school history to be selected to attend the 2023 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Training Camp … The closer has totaled a league-high 10 saves and a 5-1 record … The sophomore ranks ninth all-time in K-State history with 10 career saves and leads the Big 12 in the category … In the series opener against Texas Tech, Neighbors broke the school's TrackMan-era pitch velocity record at 99 mph … Neighbors was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List and became the first Wildcat to be named First Team All-Big 12 since Jordan Wicks in 2021 …

KEEP AN EYE ON 25
K-State shortstop Nick Goodwin was named a 2023 Brooks Wallace Award Semifinalist … The award recognizes the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year … Goodwin, who is one of three players from the Big 12 to make list, is the third Wildcat to be named a semifinalist joining Drew Biery in 2009 and Austin Fisher in 2013 …

GOT HEEEEM
Raphael Pelletier was just one of three catchers from the Big 12 to be tabbed to the Buster Posey Catcher of the Year Watch List … The sophomore continues to be a threat behind the plate as right-handed catcher from Mascouche, Quebec, Canada has gunned down a league-high 16 runners this season for an impressive .590 SBA percentage … As a team, K-State is third in the league in caught stealing with 24 runners thrown out while having the lowest SBA percentage at .480 …

WALK THE WALK
The Cats rank 13^th in the nation in walks with 320 … Brady Day ranks 39^th in the nation in walks and fourth in the Big 12 with a team-high 46 … K-State has registered double figure walks in eight games this season … The Cats had 16 walks against Youngstown State (March 10) which was nine short of matching the Division I all-time record … K-States' 320 walks ties fourth in the all-time program single-season records … The Wildcats all-time single-season walks record was set in 1995 with 382 …

CAN'T CATCH THIS
K-State has caused trouble on the base path for opponents, stealing a 109 bases which ranks 21^st in all Division I and third in the Big 12 while sitting 26^th with 1.98 stolen bases per game … Brendan Jones has been the speedster for the Cats lineup with 26 stolen bases which is second in the Big 12 and ties seventh in the single-season records … The Cats stole a season-high 11 bases against Youngstown State … The K-State single-season record is 149 set in 2009 thru 62 games …

THE LONG BALL
K-State has launched 75 balls out of the park this season which ranks ties third in school history … K-State recorded back-to-back-to-back home runs against Oklahoma State (May 13) for the first time in history with Kaelen Culpepper, Brady day and Nick Goodwin … Eleven players have recorded multiple homers this season led by Roberto Pena with 15 … Goodwin leads the current career leaderboard with 33 which ties fourth on the all-time leaderboard … Four players have hit multiple homers in a single game with Culpepper, Cole Johnson, Orlando Salinas, Jr., and Pena who has two … Brendan Jones hit the Cats only game leadoff home run in the series opener against the West Virginia … K-State hit back-to-back home runs for the third time this season against Wichita State by Culpepper and Pena … Five Wildcats have hit grand slams this season with the last coming from Brendan Jones against SEMO (May 6) … Johnson and 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 … The Wildcats sent five deep and out in the series finale against No. 24 West Virginia marking the fourth time in the Hughes era, and second this season … The five home runs were just short two of matching a program record seven …

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State has a season +75 run differential through 55 games averaging 7.1 runs on 8.8 hits ... The Wildcats have outscored opponents 132-71 (+61) from the seventh and on … Cats are 23-3 when leading after the sixth and 5-0 when tied after six ... K-State is 18-12 when committing no errors in a game ... The Wildcats are 25-7 when scoring first and 10-8 when scoring in the first inning … K-State has outhit opponents in 27 contests this season … The Cats are 22-5 when limiting opponents to five or less runs and are 10-7 in one-run games… The Cats have won 25 games against right-handed starters while going 8-6 against lefties …

FROM THE 'PEN
Under the guidance of first-year pitching coach Rudy Darrow, the Cats pitching staff has produced a 5.29 ERA with outings from 16 different players this season … The Wildcats have struck out 477 batters this season compared to 200 walks, averaging 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings which ranks fourth in the Big 12 … K-State's pitching staff ranks second in the league with a 2.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio … The Cats lead the league in fewest walks allowed per nine innings at 3.79 and fewest allowed overall … Six players have earned at least three victories on the mound led by newcomer Owen Boerema with seven … The Litchfield, Minn., product is one of six players to strikeout 12+ batters in a single-game after fanning 12 against No. 21 Texas (April 7), ranks third in the league with 90 total strikeouts… Right-hander German Fajardo has made a team-high 15 starts on the mound this season, ranking seventh in DI … Four different players have earned a save this year led by sophomore Tyson Neighbors with a league-high 10 which is the 15^th-best in D1…

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).

Wildcats Set for Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championships

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Players Mentioned

Owen Boerema

Kaelen Culpepper

Brady Day

German Fajardo

Nick Goodwin

Cole Johnson

Brendan Jones

Tyson Neighbors

Raphael Pelletier

Roberto Pena

Cash Rugely

Orlando Salinas, Jr.

Kansas State University Athletics