K-State Faces Wichita State Wednesday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State welcomes Wichita State to Tointon Family Stadium for the second and final game of the home-and-home series between the in-state foes Wednesday, with first pitch slated for 6 p.m.

K-State (20-10, 7-5 Big 12) will send right-handed sophomore Mason Buss to the mound Wednesday. The Pewaukee, Wis., native will make his first start of the season – seventh career start – with a record of 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA (3 ER, 14 IP).

The Wildcats have taken five of the last 10 meetings with Wichita State (19-13), with K-State taking a 8-6 victory in game one of the home-and-home series on March 19.

The midweek matchup will broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. 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 #31
K-State (20-10, 7-5 Big 12) vs. Wichita State (19-13, 5-4 American)
Wednesday, April 10 | 6 p.m. CT | Manhattan, Kan. (2,344)
Projected Starters: RHP Mason Buss (2-0) v. TBD
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch

A LOOK AT K-STATE
After a four-game road swing, K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium Wednesday night to complete the home-and-home series with in-state rival Wichita State … K-State defeated the Shockers, 8-6, in Wichita in game one of the season series … The Wildcats are coming off a tough Big 12 road series at UCF over the weekend, where the Knights collected a 2-1 series win … The Cats bring a 20-10 overall record into the midweek matchup … Four players are hitting over .300 led by Brady Day, who was named to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List last week … The Cats' starting second baseman is slashing .387/.503/.630 with a team-high with six home runs and a team-best 36 RBI … Kaelen Culpepper and Chuck Ingram have each belted seven home runs this season, with Ingram producing a team-leading 47 hits … Brendan Jones has stolen a league-high 18 bases with a 94.7% success rate on the bases … K-State will send right-handed sophomore Mason Buss to the mound Wednesday … The Pewaukee, Wis., native will make his first start of the season – seventh career start – with a record of 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA (3 ER, 14 IP).

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE
Wichita State (19-13, 5-4 AAC) travels north to Manhattan having split its last 10 games overall after dropping three at South Florida over the weekend ... The Shockers are 1-4 against Big 12 teams after they walked-off KU on April 3, 7-6, in Wichita... The Shocker offense that is hitting .293 is paced by Camden Johnson's .346 average and Derek Williams' .615 slugging percentage ... Johnson leads the team in hits (45) while Williams leads in home runs (8) … Dayvin Johnson is second, hitting .336 and slugging .525 with 41 hits and 16 walks ... WSU owns a team ERA of 4.19 and a team batting average of .235, with an ERA that ranks third in the American Athletic Conference.

INSIDE THE SERIES
The Shockers lead the all-time series 58-45 since the first game in 1906 … The midweek matchup marks the 104^th meeting between the Wildcats and Shockers … The Wildcats have taken five of the last 10 meetings with Wichita State with K-State taking an 8-6 victory in game one of the home-and-home series on March 19.
The Wildcats are 26-19 at home vs. the Shockers … Under Hughes, K-State is 4-5 against Wichita State.

W, 12-1 – April 18, 2022 (Wichita)
W, 3-1 – May 3, 2022 (Manhattan)
L, 4-10 – April 18 (Manhattan)
L, 0-1 – May 2, 2023 (Wichita)
W, 8-6 – March 19, 2024 (Wichita)

NON-CON SUCCESS
K-State has a 13-5 record in nonconference action, including a 9-1 mark at Tointon Family Stadium ... The Cats have a +53-run differential and out-hit opponents .312-.250 ... Day has a team-best .382 batting average in nonconference games followed by five other Wildcats over the .300 mark ... The Hampstead, N.H., native is slugging a team-leading .691 against non-con opponents and with a team-best 26 RBI … Five of Kaelen Culpepper's team-best seven homers have come against non-Big 12 opponents as he is slugging .680 in those games to go with 19 runs driven in ... Redshirt-sophomore Jackson Wentworth has an ERA of 0.82 with four saves while Owen Boerema, Mason Buss, and Andrew Evans have each recorded a pair of victories on the mound.

WALKING ON SUNSHINE
The Cats' 191 walks rank second in the Big 12 and 18^th in the nation led by Jones … The Greenbrier, Tenn., product has drawn a league-high 30 walks this season, ranking 30^th overall in Division I … The Cats drew a season-high 13 walks in two contests this season, while averaging 6.4 per game … The Wildcats all-time single-season walks record was set in 1995 with 382.

CALL THE COPS
K-State leads the league with 77 stolen bases, ranking eighth overall in Division I … The Cats 2.57 stolen bases per game is first in the Big 12 and ninth in the nation … Jones has stolen a league-high 18 bases this season, ranking 16^th in Division I … The junior's 48 career stolen bases ranks 10^th all-time in K-State 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 …

HOME. SWEET. HOME.
K-State is 12-4 when playing at home this season … At home, the Wildcat offense is slashing .346/.458/.598 with 33 home runs and 152 RBI ... K-State averages 10.5 runs a game on 12.8 hits while drawing 111 walks with 50 stolen bases... The Wildcat bullpen boasts a 5.72 ERA at home with opponents hitting .255 … The Cats have struck out 168 compared to 52 walks for a 3.23 strikeout-to-walk ratio ... Day's .415 average at Tointon leads the Cats, as the redshirt-junior has generated 27 hits with a team-leading 26 RBI … K-State baseball is 404-216 when playing at home since 2002 … The Wildcats are 93-39 (.70.5) at home under Hughes and 79-27 (.760) since 2021.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State has a season +51 run differential, averaging 8.1 runs on 10.8 hits ... The Wildcats outscore opponents 81-56 (+25) from the seventh inning and on … Cats are undefeated when leading after the sixth with a perfect 15-0 record and 2-1 when tied after six ... K-State is 18-5 when committing less than one error in a game ... The Wildcats are 8-5 when scoring first and 8-3 when scoring in the first inning … K-State has outhit opponents in 19 contests (16-3) … The Cats are 14-0 when limiting opponents to five or less runs … The Cats have suffered just one loss against left-handed starters (7-1).

UP NEXT
The Wildcats hit the road for another important Big 12 Conference series with Oklahoma (17-14, 8-4 Big 12), starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park in Norman, Okla.

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).

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Players Mentioned

Owen Boerema

Mason Buss

Kaelen Culpepper

Brady Day

Andrew Evans

Chuck Ingram

Brendan Jones

Jackson Wentworth

Kansas State University Athletics