K-State, KU Collide in Sunflower Showdown

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State is set to begin the second half of its Big 12 schedule this weekend, as the Wildcats take on in-state rival Kansas in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown, beginning Friday at 6 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence.

Left-hander Jacob Frost will get the nod in Friday's series opener and go head-to-head with KU's Dominic Voegele, the 2025 Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Game two is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday with lefty Michael Quevedo starting on the mound, while left-hander Lincoln Sheffield will get Sunday's start at 2 p.m.

K-State (23-14, 10-5 Big 12) sits one game ahead of KU (28-10, 9-6 Big 12) in the Big 12 standings. The Wildcats have won four of their first five conference series, that includes the program's third road series win at Baylor.

The Cats lead the all-time series 193-190-1, with a 57-37 advantage in Big 12 play. K-State has won eight of the last 10 meetings with three straight series victories.

The entire three-game conference series will broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, while radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with Brian Smoller and Matt Walters calling all the action. Live streaming audio is available at kstatesports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

Single-game tickets are now available for all K-State baseball games at Tointon Family Stadium and can be purchased online at KStateSports.com, or by calling 1-800-221-CATS (2287), or stopping by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Baseball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

GAME #38
K-STATE (23-14, 10-5 BIG 12) at KANSAS (28-10, 9-6 BIG 12)
Friday, April 18 // 6 p.m. // Hoglund Ballpark (2,500)
Projected Starters: LHP Jacob Frost (0-2, 5.30 ERA) vs. RHP Dominic Voegele (5-3, 6.19 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // ESPN app
Radio: KMAN // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #39
K-STATE (23-14, 10-5 BIG 12) at KANSAS (28-10, 9-6 BIG 12)
Saturday, April 19 // 2 p.m. // Hoglund Ballpark (2,500)
Projected Starters: LHP Michael Quevedo (4-1, 5.05 ERA) vs. RHP Cooper Moore (3-1, 3.40 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // ESPN app
Radio: KMAN // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #40
K-STATE (23-14, 10-5 BIG 12) at KANSAS (28-10, 9-6 BIG 12)
Sunday, April 20 // 2 p.m. // Hoglund Ballpark (2,500)
Projected Starters: LHP Lincoln Sheffield (5-3, 4.66 ERA) vs. RHP Kannon Carr (4-1, 3.79 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // ESPN app
Radio: KMAN // Brian Smoller, Matt Walters
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State enters the second half of its Big 12 schedule with a 23-14 overall record and 10-5 mark in conference play … The Wildcats have won four of their first five conference series, that includes the program's third-ever series win at Baylor … With home runs by Keegan O'Connor and Seth Dardar on Tuesday, the 2025 squad ties sixth all-time with 63 total homers … A solo-home run in the bottom of the third broke a 3-3 tie to lift Northeastern to a 5-3 victory over K-State Wednesday, handing the Cats their second consecutive loss …Five different Cats recorded a hit in the loss, led by catcher Bear Madliak going 2-for-3, while AJ Evasco, O'Connor, and David Bishop each drove in a run … Right-hander Tazwell Butler (0-1) was credited with the loss, surrendering four runs (three earned) across his three innings … JJ Slack took over for Butler in the fourth and fired four scoreless innings and matched a career-high five strikeouts, while he retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced before allowing a two-out single in the seventh … Both squads hit .111 (1-for-9) with two outs … The Cats outhit the Huskies .417-.222 with runners on base and .286-.200 with men in scoring position.

SCOUTING KANSAS
Kansas (28-10, 9-6 Big 12) ties fifth in the Big 12 standings after dropping three games on the road to TCU last weekend ... The Jayhawks bounced back into the win column with a 18-12 win against Wichita State to snap a four-game losing streak … KU's offense is led by Brady Ballinger, who is hitting .387 on the season with 11 doubles, one triple and 12 home runs ... Dariel Osoria is second on the team with his .347 average, while Jackson Hauge leads the league with 16 home runs and ranks third overall in the nation ... As a team, the Jayhawks own a .299 average with a record-breaking 78 home runs ... On the mound, Dominic Voegele, the Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year, has made a team-high nine starts ... Voegele is 5-3 with a 6.19 ERA ... Alex Breckheimer has a team-leading 18 relief outings and Eric Lin has a team-high three saves in 16 outings ... KU's team ERA of 4.89 is eighth in the league.

INSIDE THE SERIES
K-State leads the all-time series 193-190-1, dating back to 1897 ... In Big 12 play, K-State is 57-37 against the Jayhawks ... The Wildcats' 193 wins are the most against any single opponent ... The Cats have a 75-94 record all-time in Lawrence, last sweeping the Jayhawks on the road in 2023 ... K-State took the first and final games of a three-game series in 2024 at Tointon Family Stadium, scoring four unanswered runs in the rubber game led by a two-run single from Nick English ... K-State was last swept in Lawrence back in 2019 (three-game series) ... K-State has won eight of the last 10 meetings overall and is 9-9 under Hughes ... K-State is 5-5 over the last 10 played at Hoglund Ballpark.

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
W, 7-1 – May 26, 2023 (Arlington)
W, 3-2 – May 3, 2024 (Manhattan)
L, 0-4 – May 4, 2024 (Manhattan)
W, 4-2 – May 5, 2024 (Manhattan)
L, 1-2 – May 21, 2024 (Arlington)

CATS VS. THE BIG 12
The Cats tie third in the Big 12 standings alongside Arizona … K-State is hitting .275 in Conference play, averaging 6.7 runs on 8.9 hits … O'Connor paves the way for the offense, slashing .370/417/.74 with eight doubles and four home runs in Big 12 games … The pitching staff posts a 5.60 ERA, with opponents hitting .282 … K-State's Big 12 slate features 30 games … K-State finished its 2024 Big 12 schedule tied sixth in the league at 15-15.

IMPACT LEFTIES
For the ninth consecutive week, K-State will go with the lefty trio of Frost, Quevedo and Sheffield … In eight weeks, the trio has combined for a record of 8-5 with a 5.11 ERA, while picking up 123 strikeouts against 40 walks (3.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio) … Quevedo and Sheffield have started in each of their nine outings this season, while Frost earned his first start against Arkansas (Feb. 21) … Four of Sheffield's nine starts have been quality outings, while Quevedo has one (vs. Utah, March 15) … K-State is 19-7 in games the three have started … Quevedo struck out a season-best 10 against Sam Houston (March 1) … Sheffield garnered Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week honors on February 24 for holding TCU to one run over his seven innings of work … He has issued just 10 walks in nine starts for a 5.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio, ranking second overall in the conference.

BOMBS AWAY
K-State ranks second in the Big 12 and 14^th nationally with 63 home runs this season, with 14 coming in the month of April ... K-State has homered in five of the last eight games with multiple homers in three of those outings, including five in a run-rule victory over Missouri State ... The Wildcat offense managed to turn in six over their first eight games ... Twenty times the Cats have hit multiple home runs, including 12 of their last 20 contests ... In total, 13 different players have hit at least one home run this season with ten recording multiple home runs led by 12 from Martin and 10 by O'Connor … Martin, O'Connor, Kennedy and Madliak have each turned in multi-home run performances … K-State recorded a season-high six homers against William & Mary (March 9) … The Cats have generated seven back-to-back performances this season (Latest: Madliak and Flores, vs. Missouri State, April 8) … Martin and Evasco have each launched a grand slam this season … Since 2019, K-State's offense has turned in four of the top five seasons in terms of total home runs in program history, including a single-season record 89 in 2021 … The 89 bombs ranked 11th in the nation and shattered the previous record of 75 set in 1997.

NUMBERS NUGGETS
K-State has a +51-run differential through 37 games this season ... The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 40-25 in the seventh inning alone ... K-State scored nine runs in the fifth inning against William & Mary - its largest run total in a single inning this season ... The Cats are 20-8 when hitting a home run and 18-2 when hitting multiple homers ... K-State has won eight of 11 games in which it has not committed an error while going 6-8 when committing multiple errors ... When holding opponents to five or fewer runs, the Wildcats are 15-3 ... Conversely, K-State has a record of 5-12 when scoring five or fewer runs in a game and is 18-2 when scoring at least six runs ... K-State is 7-4 in games decided by two runs or fewer ... Home runs account for 122 of the 245 runs batted in on the season (49.8 percent) … K-State is hitting .323 on the season with runners in scoring position and .271 with two outs, driving in 86 with two away ... Last season, the Cats managed a .274 average with runners in scoring position while hitting .267 with two outs.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
With a sweep of Houston, West Virginia (31-4) moved atop the league standings with a 10-3 mark in conference play … TCU stands alone in second after a clean sweep of KU … K-State and Arizona tie third followed by a two-way tie between KU and Arizona State to round out the top five … West Virginia's Logan Sauve (player) and Oklahoma State's Harrison Bodendorf (pitcher and newcomer) earned Big 12 baseball weekly honors for games ending Sunday, April 13.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David Bishop

Tazwell Butler

Seth Dardar

Nick English

AJ Evasco

Jacob Frost

Bear Madliak

Keegan O'Connor

Michael Quevedo

Lincoln Sheffield

JJ Slack

Kansas State University Athletics