K-State Opens Big 12 Play Against Cincinnati Friday

Friday, March 8

Manhattan, Kan.

6 p.m.

Kansas State University

Cincinnati

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Mar 07, 2024 | Baseball

Game Notes

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State opens its 30-game Big 12 schedule this weekend with a three-game set against a new member of the conference, Cincinnati, Friday at Tointon Family Stadium.

The Wildcats (7-5) and Bearcats (8-5) will meet for the first time in series history Friday beginning at 6 p.m., while Saturday's contest is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday's series finale is slated for 1 p.m.

Left-hander Jacob Frost (1-0) with get Friday's start against righty Seth Logue. Saturday features a righty matchup between Josh Wintroub (1-1) and Nathan Taylor (3-0). K-State will send veteran Owen Boerema to the mound Sunday.

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

Season and single-game tickets for the Cats 2024 home schedule are now available. To purchase season 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 #13
K-STATE (7-5, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Cincinnati (9-4, 0-0 Big 12)
Friday, March 8 | 6 p.m. | Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Jacob Frost (1-0) v. RHP Seth Logue (0-0
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch

GAME #14
K-STATE (7-5, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Cincinnati (9-4, 0-0 Big 12)
Saturday, March 9 | 5 p.m. | Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: RHP Josh Wintroub (1-1) v. RHP Nathan Taylor (3-0)
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch

GAME #15
K-STATE (7-5, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Cincinnati (9-4, 0-0 Big 12)
Sunday, March 10 | 1 p.m. | Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Owen Boerema (1-1) v. TBD
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch

A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State enters Big 12 action a 7-5 overall record as it prepares to face conference newcomer Cincinnati this weekend … Brady Day was named the Big 12 Player of the Week, the first of his career and first Wildcat to earn the honor this season … K-State's offense is hitting .299 entering conference action with five starters hitting above .300 … Nine players have produced home runs this season, including seven with multiple led by Kaelen Culpepper (4) … Day's .362 average leads the Wildcats, including a team-leading .660 slugging percentage and 18 RBI … Four Wildcats have extended their on-base streaks to 10-plus, including two dating back to 2023 (Jones – 16), (Pelletier – 15) … K-State will send right-hander Jacob Frost (1-0) to the mound in Friday's Big 12 opener while Josh Wintroub will start Saturday … Lefty Owen Boerema (1-1), who leads the league with 32 total strikeouts, will get the start in the series finale …

SCOUTING CINCINNATI
Cincinnati makes its first trip to Manhattan in program history with an overall 8-5 record and a current two-game win streak … Cincinnati is coming off a 19-8 victory against Akron at home on Wednesday … The 19 runs were a season-high and UC's 15 hits tied for its most in a game this season, as the Bearcats used an eight-run second inning take an early lead … Josh Kross was named the Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week with three home runs, that included 11 RBI and nine runs for Cincinnati's 4-2 week three action … Over the last seven games, Kross is hitting .464 (13-for-28) with four home runs, 16 RBI, and a .929 slugging percentage … Cincinnati is hitting .296 as a team with two players hitting over .400 led by Josh Hegemann (.520) … Right-hander Seth Logue (0-0) will get his third start of the season in the series opener … The senior from Mason, Ohio, has an 8.68 ERA (9 ER, 9.1 IP) with six strikeouts on the year … Nathan Taylor will start Saturday, as the freshman righty leads the team in wins (3).

LAST TIME OUT
K-State dropped a pair of road games to No. 8 Tennessee and No. 10 Clemson … In the last outing, the Wildcats fell 8-3 to the Tigers after Clemson capitalized on a three-run homer in the second … K-State scored three runs on 10 hits with one error committed and 12 left on base … Clemson scored eight runs on eight hits, committed one error, and stranded seven on base … Seven Wildcats produced a hit, with three hitting multiple (Day, Lobliner, Bishop) … Andrew Evans allowed five runs, all earned, on four hits over three innings in the start … Preston Martinez and Jackson Wentworth combined for seven strikeouts … Two Tigers produced multi-hit games … Blake Dean surrendered the final three runs, all unearned … Culpepper, Day, and Pelletier each had an RBI … K-State hit .257 (4-for-20) with runners on base and .091 (1-for-11) with runners in scoring position … Clemson was 3-for-12 (.250) with men on base and 2-for-9 (.222) with runners in scoring position … Wednesday marked the first meeting between the Tigers and Wildcats since 1999 … Clemson leads the all-time series 4-1, dating back to 1992 … The Wildcats are now 2-4 in all games away from home, 0-2 in true road games … K-State turned in double digit hits for the fifth time this season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Day led the Wildcats offense that extended their win streak out to four with a home sweep over UMass Lowell … The Hampstead, N.H., product generated a team-high eight hits that included four extra-base hits with two doubles and a pair of homers for an incredible 1.333 slugging percentage ... The redshirt junior went 4-for-4 in the series opener, launching a go-ahead two-run homer in the third to lead to the Cats 10-1 win ... He went on to send out his third homer of the season later in the game to post his first multi-homer game of his career.

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 397-213 when playing at home since 2002 … The Wildcats are 87-36 at home under Hughes and 72-24 since 2021 … Tointon's largest crowd was on March 30, 2010, against Wichita State with 4,745 in attendance.

HOME. SWEET. HOME.
K-State is 5-1 when playing at home this season … At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .333 while slugging .606 with 14 home runs ... K-State averages 11.5 runs a game on 11.8 hits when playing at Tointon Family Stadium while drawing 47 walks with 28 stolen bases... The Wildcat bullpen boasts a 4.58 ERA at home with opponents hitting .248 … The Cats have struck out 68 compared to 21 walks for a 3.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio ... Three Cats are hitting .400 led by Brendan Jones (.409), followed by Brady Day (.400) and Nick English (.400) … Day leads the team at home with a .840 slug percentage and 12 RBI … Over the last four seasons, K-State has compiled an overall home record of 69-21 (.767) ...

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State has a season +18 run differential through 12 games averaging 8.3 runs on 10.3 hits ... The Wildcats outscored opponents 35-24 (+11) from the seventh and on … Cats were 6-0 when leading after the sixth and 1-0 when tied after six ... K-State is 7-4 when committing less than one error in a game ... The Wildcats are 3-2 when scoring first and 2-2 when scoring in the first inning … K-State has outhit opponents in seven contests (6-1) … The Cats are 5-0 when limiting opponents to five or less runs … Four of the Cats seven wins have come against right-handed starters.

POWER CATS
K-State produced 21 home runs this season, which ranks just second to Texas (22) in the Big 12 standings and 33^rd nationally… The Wildcats have homered 20 times in the last 10 games, averaging 1.75 a game overall … Nineplayers have recorded a home run this season, with seven generating multiple … Culpepper leads the squad with four, and has 19 total in his career … Day earned the first multi-home run game in the series opener against UMass Lowell (March 1) … True freshman Nick English sent out his first collegiate homer against UMass Lowell for the first grand slam of the season.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
West Virginia and BYU opened conference play Thursday, with WVU taking the Big 12 opener 10-4 in Morgantown … TCU remains the last undefeated team in the Big 12 with a perfect 13-0 overall record … Kansas State's Brady Day (player), TCU's Braeden Sloan (pitcher), Cincinnati's Josh Kross (co-newcomer) and Kansas' Lenny Ashby (co-newcomer) were chosen as Big 12 baseball weekly award winners for the third week of the season… It is the first weekly award for all four players.

UP NEXT
K-State continues its seven-game home stand with a midweek matchup with South Dakota State Wednesday, March 13, in game one of the two-game season series with the Jack Rabbits (6-6).

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.

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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).