No. 23 K-State Battles Texas Starting Thursday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State heads into another challenging weekend, as the Wildcats take on the Texas Longhorns at Tointon Family Stadium in a three-game Big 12 Conference series, starting Thursday at 6 p.m.

The No. 23 Wildcats (17-6, 5-1 Big 12) are bringing a nine-game win streak into the week, after sweeping past Houston to take the lead in the Big 12 standings. Head coach Pete Hughes collected his 800^th career win and 150^th at K-State in the series.

Texas (15-10, 4-2 Big 12) holds a 63-24-1 advantage over K-State in the all-time series and leads 53-23-1 in Big 12 contests.

K-State will send right-hander Josh Wintroub (1-1) to the mound in the series opener against Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year Lebarron Johnson Jr. (1-1). Jacob Frost (2-0) will get the start Friday, while Owen Boerema (2-1) will start in the finale.

The entire Conference series can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Fans can also tune in to on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and K-State Sports Network while a free live stream audio is available at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

To purchase single-game tickets, fans can visit K-StateSports.com/Tickets, call 1-800-221-CATS (2287), or stop by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.

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 Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

GAME #24
K-STATE (17-6, 5-1 Big 12) v. Texas (15-10, 4-2 Big 12)
Thursday, March 28 | 6 p.m. | Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: RHP Josh Wintroub (1-1) v. RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr. (1-1)
Watch: Big 12 Now ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch

GAME #25
K-STATE (17-6, 5-1 Big 12) v. Texas (15-10, 4-2 Big 12)
Friday, March 29 | 6 p.m. | Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Jacob Frost (2-0) v. LHP Ace Whitehead (2-0)
Watch: Big 12 Now ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch

GAME #26
K-STATE (17-6, 5-1 Big 12) v. Texas (15-10, 4-2 Big 12)
Saturday, March 30 | 2 p.m. | Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Owen Boerema (2-1) v. RHP Max Grubbs (3-0)
Watch: Big 12 Now ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch

A LOOK AT #23 K-STATE
K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium, where it holds a 11-2 record, for challenging Big 12 Conference series with Texas ... The Cats are 17-6 overall, marking the best 23-game start since 2010 … K-State is hitting .311 as a team and is the Big 12 fielding percentage leader (.981) … Day leads the offense in eight offensive categories, producing a slash line of .415/.522/.702 with 39 hits and is second in the league with 34 RBI … Brendan Jones has stolen a league-high 14 bases this season, and is first in the league in runs scored (34) … K-State will send right-hander Josh Wintroub to the mound in the series opener … Jacob Frost (2-0) will get the start Friday, while lefty Owen Boerema (2-1) will start in the finale.

SCOUTING TEXAS
Texas is a game behind K-State in the Big 12 standings with a 4-2 league record and is 15-10 overall … Texas is 2-1 in true road games and 2-4 on the road … The Longhorns look to bounce back after suffering a 4-1 midweek loss to Texas A&M Corpus Christi … Texas claimed 2-1 series victories over Texas Tech and Baylor … Offensively, Texas is hitting .299 led by Jared Thomas (.416) … Max Belyeu was named the Big 12 Payer of the Week after tying a program record three home runs in the Longhorns' series finale against Baylor with two solo shots and a grand slam … The pitching staff boasts a 4.06 ERA, including a .254 opponent average … Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year Lebarron Johnson Jr. (1-1) will get the start in Thursday's series opener … The right-hander has an 3.24 ERA (12 ER, 33.1 IP) with a team-high 37 strikeouts … Texas will send lefty Ace Whitehead (2-0, 2.05 ERA) to the mound Friday, while Max Grubbs (3-0, 2.28 ERA) will close out the series Sunday.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Texas holds a 53-24-1 lead In the all-time series, including a 24-11 record in games played in Manhattan … K-State Is 6-7 against the Longhorns under Hughes, after the Wildcats shut out Texas in the elimination game of the 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, 6-0 … K-State won the last series played in Manhattan, 2-1, outscoring the Longhorns 20-8 ... Texas leads 4-6 in the last 10 meetings and 3-2 in the last five.

L, 4-2 – April 16, 2022 (Manhattan)
L, 6-5 – April 7, 2023 (Austin)
W, 6-5 – April 8, 2023 (Austin)
L, 8-2 – April 9, 2023 (Austin)
W, 6-0 – May 25, 2023 (Arlington)

800 WINS FOR 19
K-State head baseball coach Pete Hughes, who wears No. 19 on the field, reached 800 career wins Friday night in the Wildcats 5-3 come-from behind victory over Houston … Hughes is in 27th season as a head coach and sixth at the helm of K-State baseball … Hughes has compiled a career record of 802-614-3 (.566) as a head coach … His 802 career victories are the most by all active Big 12 head coaches … In six seasons as the head coach of the Wildcats, Hughes has put together a 150-122 (.551) record … Hughes became the 25^th active Division I coach to reach 800 career wins, reaching the milestone by registering 52 wins at Trinity, 250 at Boston College, 222 at Virginia Tech, 128 at Oklahoma and 148 at K-State … The series finale against Houston marked the 150^th victory under Hughes for K-State.

WILDCATS VS. THE BIG 12
The Cats lead the Big 12 with a 5-1 league record … K-State is hitting .297 in Conference play, averaging 7.5 runs on 11.3 hits … Day is slashing .500/.576/.714 in Big 12 games with a team-high 14 hits and two home runs … The second baseman's .500 average is second in the Big 12 … The pitching staff posts a 5.21 ERA, holding opponents to a .222 average … K-State's Big 12 slate features 30 games, highlighted by series against all four league newcomers (Cincinnati, Houston, UCF, and BYU) … K-State finished its 2023 Big 12 schedule tied fourth in the league at 13-11.

GOING STREAKIN'
The sweep over Houston extended the Wildcats' win streak to nine which matches the longest of the Hughes era … In the nine games, the Wildcat offense is hitting .332 and scoring 9.8 runs per game, while the pitching staff has compiled a 4.82 ERA and held opponents to a .233 average.

BACK IN THE POLLS
K-State returned to the national polls Monday for the first time since February 19 where they ranked 24^th by D1Baseball … The Cats rank No. 23 by D1Baseball, No. 24 by NCBWA, and No. 25 by Perfect Game … K-State is just one of two members of the Big 12 to rank in two or more of the major national standings.

LEADING THE PACK
Following the series sweep at Houston, K-State jumped atop the Big 12 standings with a 5-1 league record followed by Oklahoma (7-2), Texas (4-2) and West Virginia (4-2) … Alongside the Cats, two other Big 12 members are featured in the national polls with Oklahoma (21 – Baseball America) and TCU (25 – USA Today) … Kansas' Caleb Upshaw (Player; Newcomer), Oklahoma's Jake Bennett (Pitcher) and Oklahoma State's Nolan McLean (Player) earned Big 12 Baseball weekly honors for games ending on May 1, as selected by a five-person media panel.

ANOTHER DAY OF BRADY DAY
The Hampstead, N.H., product continues his standout season after he turned in his first-career five-hit day in Sunday's series finale … Day is the first player since March 30, 2018, to produce a five-hit game (Cameron Thomspon v. Texas), while he pushed his hitting streak to 16 games … … The second baseman leads the Cats in eight offensive categories – average (.415), slugging percentage (.702), on-base percentage (.522), OPS (1.224), hits (39), RBI (34), home runs (6) and total bases (66) … Day was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on March 4 … Day ranks in the Top 5 of the Big 12 leaderboards in each categories and in total bases … Day was selected in the 12^th round (No. 369 overall) in the 2023 MLB Draft and chose to return to K-State for another season with the Wildcats squad.

HOME. SWEET. HOME.
K-State is 11-2 when playing at home this season with a current five-game win streak at Tointon … At home, the Wildcat offense is slashing .340/.463/.588 with 26 home runs and 126 RBI ... K-State averages 10.8 runs a game on 12.3 hits while drawing 97 walks with 44 stolen bases... The Wildcat bullpen boasts a 4.98 ERA at home with opponents hitting .238 … The Cats have struck out 140 compared to 43 walks for a 3.26 strikeout-to-walk ratio ... Day's .442 average at Tointon leads the Cats this season, as the redshirt-junior has generated 23 hits with a team-leading 24 RBI … K-State baseball is 403-214 when playing at home since 2002 … The Wildcats are 92-37 at home under Hughes and 78-25 since 2021.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State has a season +59 run differential through 23 games averaging 8.6 runs on 11.1 hits ... The Wildcats outscore opponents 71-34 (+37) from the seventh inning and on … Cats were 12-0 when leading after the sixth and 2-0 when tied after six ... K-State is 15-5 when committing less than one error in a game ... The Wildcats are 6-3 when scoring first and 7-2 when scoring in the first inning … K-State has outhit opponents in 14 contests (14-2) … The Cats are 12-0 when limiting opponents to five or less runs … the Cats are undefeated against left-handed starters (7-0).

UP NEXT
Following the Big 12 Conference series with Texas, K-State will conclude its seasons series with Missouri State Wednesday in Springfield, Mo., at 6:30 p.m. at Hammons Field.

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 Facebook, X (formally known as 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).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Owen Boerema

Jacob Frost

Brendan Jones

Josh Wintroub

Kansas State University Athletics