Off to a Great Start
Mar 26, 2025 | Baseball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
AJ Evasco was looking forward to this one.
Near the top of every offensive statistical category during a fast-emerging freshman season at Kansas State, and rewarded for his labor with one Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honor in March, the venerable Evasco had plenty of fuel in a showdown against Nebraska on Tuesday at Tointon Family Stadium.
Evasco, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, scored two runs as the Big 12 Conference-leading Wildcats beat the Huskers, 12-8, giving the Wildcats 15 victories in their last 19 games, and furthering the resume of the 18-year-old Evasco, who was aptly motivated to face his hometown team in Manhattan.
"They never offered me," Evasco said. "I was a Husker fan growing up when I was really little. I liked the football team, but the baseball team was… it's whatever."
The mid-week win by K-State, 16-7 overall and 5-1 in the Big 12, over Nebraska, 10-13 overall and 2-6 in the Big Ten, expounded upon the Wildcats' 9-6 win over the Huskers on March 2 in the Frisco Classic.
It was during the first contest against Nebraska that Evasco blasted his first collegiate home run in the fourth inning.
That's when things got rolling.
"That home run gave me a lot of confidence just because it was my hometown team and I've been wanting to do that for a while," Evasco said. "That really gave me a lot of confidence going into the next couple weeks. That home run really set the tone."
Entering this week, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Evasco ranked 12th in the Big 12 in batting average (.400), fourth in slugging percentage (.738), sixth in OPS (1.184), tied for ninth in doubles (eight), and 11th in RBI (25). He also owned a 14-game hitting streak.
Additionally, he ranked second at K-State in batting average (.400), second in slugging percentage (.738), fourth in on-base percentage (.446), tied for second in runs (19), third in hits (26), second in RBI (25), and first in least strikeouts (nine).
After not making the lineup the first two games of the season, Evasco debuted as designated hitter against St. Joseph's on February 16. He took over right field against William & Mary on March 7 and he has played right field in the last six games and in 10 of the last 13.
"First couple games I didn't start, so I knew all I had to do was get a couple hits and I'd be put into the lineup and go from there," Evasco said. "I didn't know it'd happen this early in the season, me having this big of an impact. It's been really great."
He hit his first collegiate grand slam at Creighton on March 11.
"To be honest, I don't know if I ever hit a grand slam in high school," he said. "That was crazy. I didn't think the ball was gone when I hit it. I thought I'd be a sacrifice fly. Then it kept going and it went over the wall. It was definitely one of the best feelings."
Evasco's emergence was underscored when he was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on March 17. During the week, he had a team-high 12 RBI and raised his batting average to .429, the third-best in the Big 12 and highest among all freshmen. His slugging percentage climbed to .796, ranking fourth in the conference.
Evasco drove in a team-leading eight RBI against Utah, helping K-State open Big 12 play with its first series sweep since 2010. He ended the weekend hitting .583 (7-for-12) while compiling a 1.488 OPS with a double and home run.
In the series finale against Utah, Evasco went 3-for-4 and hit his fourth home run of the year — a walk-off three-run shot that sealed a run-rule victory and extended the Wildcats' home winning streak to six.
"He was a lefty, and I was looking for something off-speed because they kept giving me fastballs," he said. "I had a couple hits on fastballs, so I was sitting for something off-speed, maybe a slider or curveball. First pitch he gave me was a slider a little bit up in the zone, and I drove it right up the middle.
"I didn't really think that one was going over the wall, either."
But it did.
And, in a way, the Evasco story is just getting started.
"This is just building the confidence I have right now, and I want to keep building on it today, this week, and the rest of the season," he said. "I just have to keep doing it. When I got here in the fall, I didn't have a whole lot of confidence in my at-bats when we were scrimmaging. Once we came back from winter break and I did a lot of at-bats, and then when we got to the season, I gained a lot of confidence.
"I just realized, 'This is just baseball. I've played this game my whole life. It's just the same game.'"
And Evasco isn't doing too shabby playing the game his first season with the Wildcats, who aspire for great things again after appearing in the program's second Super Regional in history last year.
"We're really good," Evasco said. "Coach (Pete) Hughes said it himself that he thinks this team is better than last year. I think we're really good. I definitely think we can go to Omaha this year. Maximus (Martin) is going crazy right now. This team is really special. Our rotation is really deep, and our lineup is deep, and I just hope we can keep it going."
AJ Evasco was looking forward to this one.
Near the top of every offensive statistical category during a fast-emerging freshman season at Kansas State, and rewarded for his labor with one Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honor in March, the venerable Evasco had plenty of fuel in a showdown against Nebraska on Tuesday at Tointon Family Stadium.
Evasco, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, scored two runs as the Big 12 Conference-leading Wildcats beat the Huskers, 12-8, giving the Wildcats 15 victories in their last 19 games, and furthering the resume of the 18-year-old Evasco, who was aptly motivated to face his hometown team in Manhattan.
"They never offered me," Evasco said. "I was a Husker fan growing up when I was really little. I liked the football team, but the baseball team was… it's whatever."
The mid-week win by K-State, 16-7 overall and 5-1 in the Big 12, over Nebraska, 10-13 overall and 2-6 in the Big Ten, expounded upon the Wildcats' 9-6 win over the Huskers on March 2 in the Frisco Classic.
It was during the first contest against Nebraska that Evasco blasted his first collegiate home run in the fourth inning.
That's when things got rolling.
"That home run gave me a lot of confidence just because it was my hometown team and I've been wanting to do that for a while," Evasco said. "That really gave me a lot of confidence going into the next couple weeks. That home run really set the tone."
Entering this week, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Evasco ranked 12th in the Big 12 in batting average (.400), fourth in slugging percentage (.738), sixth in OPS (1.184), tied for ninth in doubles (eight), and 11th in RBI (25). He also owned a 14-game hitting streak.
Additionally, he ranked second at K-State in batting average (.400), second in slugging percentage (.738), fourth in on-base percentage (.446), tied for second in runs (19), third in hits (26), second in RBI (25), and first in least strikeouts (nine).
After not making the lineup the first two games of the season, Evasco debuted as designated hitter against St. Joseph's on February 16. He took over right field against William & Mary on March 7 and he has played right field in the last six games and in 10 of the last 13.
"First couple games I didn't start, so I knew all I had to do was get a couple hits and I'd be put into the lineup and go from there," Evasco said. "I didn't know it'd happen this early in the season, me having this big of an impact. It's been really great."
He hit his first collegiate grand slam at Creighton on March 11.
"To be honest, I don't know if I ever hit a grand slam in high school," he said. "That was crazy. I didn't think the ball was gone when I hit it. I thought I'd be a sacrifice fly. Then it kept going and it went over the wall. It was definitely one of the best feelings."
Evasco's emergence was underscored when he was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on March 17. During the week, he had a team-high 12 RBI and raised his batting average to .429, the third-best in the Big 12 and highest among all freshmen. His slugging percentage climbed to .796, ranking fourth in the conference.
Evasco drove in a team-leading eight RBI against Utah, helping K-State open Big 12 play with its first series sweep since 2010. He ended the weekend hitting .583 (7-for-12) while compiling a 1.488 OPS with a double and home run.
In the series finale against Utah, Evasco went 3-for-4 and hit his fourth home run of the year — a walk-off three-run shot that sealed a run-rule victory and extended the Wildcats' home winning streak to six.
"He was a lefty, and I was looking for something off-speed because they kept giving me fastballs," he said. "I had a couple hits on fastballs, so I was sitting for something off-speed, maybe a slider or curveball. First pitch he gave me was a slider a little bit up in the zone, and I drove it right up the middle.
"I didn't really think that one was going over the wall, either."
But it did.
And, in a way, the Evasco story is just getting started.
"This is just building the confidence I have right now, and I want to keep building on it today, this week, and the rest of the season," he said. "I just have to keep doing it. When I got here in the fall, I didn't have a whole lot of confidence in my at-bats when we were scrimmaging. Once we came back from winter break and I did a lot of at-bats, and then when we got to the season, I gained a lot of confidence.
"I just realized, 'This is just baseball. I've played this game my whole life. It's just the same game.'"
And Evasco isn't doing too shabby playing the game his first season with the Wildcats, who aspire for great things again after appearing in the program's second Super Regional in history last year.
"We're really good," Evasco said. "Coach (Pete) Hughes said it himself that he thinks this team is better than last year. I think we're really good. I definitely think we can go to Omaha this year. Maximus (Martin) is going crazy right now. This team is really special. Our rotation is really deep, and our lineup is deep, and I just hope we can keep it going."
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