Wildcats Take on UConn, Northeastern in Midweek Action

MANHATTAN, Kan. – After suffering a tough loss in Big 12 action, K-State looks to bounce back with a midweek matchup against UConn on Tuesday before making a quick turnaround and take on Northeastern Wednesday afternoon.

Tuesday's game is slated for 5 p.m. CT at Elliot Ballpark in Storrs, Conn., and will be televised on CBS Sports Network while Wednesday's contest, scheduled for 1 p.m. CT in Brookline, Mass., at Freidman Diamond, can be seen on FloBaseball.

K-State (21-13) and UConn (16-17) meet for the first time on the diamond in school history, while the Wildcats lead 1-0 in the all-time series against Northeastern (27-8).

The Cats will send right-hander Ty Ruhl (1-0) to the mound Tuesday. Tuesday marks Ruhl's first appearance since February 23 against Holy Cross. Righty Josh Wintroub (2-2) will start Wednesday against Northeastern.

Fans can also tune in on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) 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 for any home game at Tointon Family Stadium, 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 #35
K-State (21-13) at UConn (16-17)
Tuesday, April 16 | 5 p.m. CT | Elliot Park
Projected Starters: RHP Ty Ruhl v.
Watch: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch

GAME #36
K-State (21-13) at Northeastern (27-8)
Wednesday, April 17 | 1 p.m. CT | Friedman Diamond
Projected Starters: RHP Josh Wintroub v.
Watch: FloBaseball
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch

A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (21-13) is coming off a tough loss at Oklahoma where the Sooners used a walk-off single to complete the series sweep … The Wildcats make another quick turnaround week, as they set out east to face UConn and Northeastern … Four players are hitting over .300 led by Brady Day … The Cats' starting second baseman is slashing .394/.506/.636 with a team-high 52 hits, six home runs and team-leading 86 RBI while is average is second-best in the Big 12 … True freshman Nick English is second in the league and 14th nationally with 15 doubles and is the only freshman sitting in the top 15 in the category … K-State's .301 average ranks fourth in the league … Chuck Ingram has belted a team-best eight home runs this season, with his game-tying shot against Oklahoma… Brendan Jones has stolen a league-high 20 bases with a 95% success rate on the bases … The Cats will send right-hander Ty Ruhl (1-0) to the mound Tuesday. Tuesday marks Ruhl's first appearance since February 23 against Holy Cross. Righty Josh Wintroub (2-2) will start Wednesday against Northeastern.

SCOUTING UCONN
UConn, who competed in the Gainesville Regional last season, enters the midweek 16-17 with a 4-2 league record in the Big East … The Huskies are coming off an 11-8 walk-off victory over St. John's led by a career-high nine runs driven in by Paul Tammaro, including his three-run homer in the ninth … UConn was favored as the No. 1 pick in the Big East Preseason Poll while outfielder Jake Studley was named the Big East Preseason Player of the Year and Stephen Quigley was voted the Preseason Pitcher of the Year … The Huskies are slashing .259/.364/.441 as a team with 108 extra-base hits, including 48 home runs … Tammaro leads the offense, hitting .322 with a team-leading seven doubles and four home runs … The pitching staff has a 5.05 ERA, with opponents hitting .254 … Lefty senior Garrett Coe will get the start in the midweek … Coe boasts a 5.62 ERA (31 ER, 49.2 IP) with team-best 42 strikeouts … Tuesday's contest marks the first meeting between the two schools.

SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN
Northeastern is 27-8 overall (9-3 CAA), and is 7-3 in its last 10 games … The Huskies competed in the Winston-Salem Regional last year, facing #19 Maryland and George Mason … First baseman Tyler MacGregor received CAA Player of the Week accolades last week, going 10-for-16 in the Huskies 3-1 week with eight RBI … MacGregor and Alex Lane pace the CAA with a .416 average and combine for 18 home runs … Offensively, Northeastern has produced a slash line of .307/.430/.521 with 49 home runs… The Huskies are fourth in the nation in total steals (99) and third in doubles (95) … As a staff, Northeastern has produced a 5.00 ERA led by 12 appearances from Charlie Walker (4-0, 3.68 ERA) … Northeastern will send right-hander Michael Gemma (3-0, 3.43 ERA) to the mound against the Wildcats … Wednesday marks the second meeting between the Cats and Huskies, with K-State leading the series 1-0 with a 6-1 victory on February 28, 2010.

NON-CON SUCCESS
K-State has a 14-5 record in nonconference action, including a current seven-game winning streak against non-con foes ... The Cats have a +56-run differential and out-hit opponents .315-.251 ... Day has a team-best .403 batting average in nonconference games followed by five other Wildcats over the .300 mark ... The Hampstead, N.H., native is slugging a team-leading .694 against non-con opponents and with a team-best 25 RBI … Five of Kaelen Culpepper's seven homers have come against non-Big 12 opponents as he is slugging .671 in those games to go with 120 runs driven in ... Redshirt-sophomore Jackson Wentworth has an ERA of 0.78 with five saves while Owen Boerema, Mason Buss, and Andrew Evans have each recorded a pair of victories on the mound.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
K-State is 8-9 on the road this season, including a 6-8 record in true road games … On the road, K-State is hitting .251 with two players hitting above .300 with Day (.349) and Lobliner (.316) … Culpepper and Jones have each belted three home runs on the road this season, combining four six of the Cats' 12 road homers, while Culpepper has driven in a team-best 14 RBI … Jones has scored 18 runs on the road followed by Ingram (16), who is hitting .297 with 22 hits … The pitching staff boasts a 6.41 ERA, issuing 67 walks against 159 strikeouts for a 2.37 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State has a season +88 run differential through 34 games averaging 7.8 runs on 10.6 hits ... The Wildcats have outscored opponents 48-20 in the sixth inning alone and 92-63 (+29) from the seventh and on … Catts are perfect when leading after six at 15-0 and are 2-1 when tied after six ... K-State is 11-2 when committing no errors in a game … Conversely, K-State has won 10 games when one or more errors are committed, 10-11 overall ... The Wildcats are 8-5 when scoring first and 8-3 when scoring in the first inning … K-State has outhit opponents in 21 contests this season and is 2-9 when being outhit … The Cats are 15-0 when limiting opponents to five or less runs and are 5-1 in one-run games… K-State is 13-5 when playing afternoon games and 8-8 when playing under the lights … The Cats have won 14 games against right-handed starters while going 7-3 against lefties …

AROUND THE BIG 12
With OU's sweep of K-State, the Sooners (22-13, 11-4 Big 12) held their place atop the Big 12 standings alongside West Virginia … Oklahoma State stands alone in third with a 10-5 league record, followed by Texas and Baylor rounding out the top five … Baylor's Enzo Apodaca (player), Oklahoma State's Robert Cranz (pitcher) and Kansas' John Nett (newcomer) were voted for Big 12 baseball weekly awards for games ending April 14. It is the first career weekly honor for all three players.

CALL THE COPS
K-State has stolen a league-high 82 bases this season, ranking ninth overall in Division I … The Cats 2.41 stolen bases per game is first in the Big 12 and 10^th in the nation … Jones has stolen a league-high 20 bases this season, ranking 20^th in Division I … Now with 50 career stolen bases, Jones ties eighth all-time in K-State baseball history …
Last season, the Wildcats finished third in the league with 114 stolen bases through 59 games … The K-State single-season record is 149 set in 2009 thru 62 games.

LAST TIME OUT
K-State erased a six-run deficit and evened the score seven, but Scott Mudler's go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the ninth gave Oklahoma an 8-7 walk-off victory over the Wildcats Sunday afternoon to complete the series sweep at L. Dale Mitchell Park … The Cats crawled out of an early 6-0 hole and battled to tie the game at six until OU took back the lead in the eighth … Ingram launched a game-tying home run to keep the Cats in the game until a double to right and Mudler's single scored the game-deciding run … The Cats out-hit OU by a 12-9 count and stranded five baserunners in the game compared to the Sooners' seven left on base. … With the sweep, OU leads the all-time series 208-86-1, including 55-26 in Big 12 contests … The Cats and Sooners are evenly split in the last eight meetings … K-State is 27-105-1 in games played in Norman … Day has successfully reached base in 33 consecutive games … With his three hits on the Day, Ingram matches Day with a team-leading 15 multi-hit efforts … While at K-State, Hughes moves to 7-9 against the Sooners.

COACH HUGHES FILE
Hughes, who is in 27th season as a head coach and sixth at the helm of K-State baseball, has compiled a career record of 806-621-3 (.565) as a head coach … His 805 career victories are the most by any active Big 12 head coaches … In six seasons as the head coach of the Wildcats, Hughes has put together a 154-129 (.544) record … In 26 seasons as a head coach, Hughes' teams have finished .500 or better 23 times while he has overseen 84 former student-athletes selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including 21 taken in the first 10 rounds after Nick Goodwin was taken in the seventh round by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2023 MLB Draft. In total, Hughes has recruited 138 players who were drafted and/or played professionally, including 22 major leaguers and seven first-round draft picks.

UP NEXT
Following the midweek matchups at UConn and Northeastern, K-State will return home for a three-game set against Big 12 foe No. 15 Oklahoma State (25-11, 10-5 Big 12). The Cowboys sit third in the Big 12 rankings and are ranked in all four major national polls.

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).

Wildcats Take on UConn, Northeastern in Midweek Action

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Players Mentioned

Owen Boerema

Mason Buss

Kaelen Culpepper

Brady Day

Nick English

Andrew Evans

Nick Goodwin

Chuck Ingram

Brendan Jones

Ty Ruhl

Jackson Wentworth

Josh Wintroub

Kansas State University Athletics