Cats Open Homestand Against Shockers Tuesday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State begins a four-game homestand Tuesday night against Wichita State, as the in-state rivals complete a home-and-home midweek series at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium.

The Wildcats (23-17) look to snap a five-game losing streak, their longest of the season, with a season series sweep of the Shockers (12-27) after taking game one, 13-10, on April 2. Tuesday's tilt will mark the 106^th meeting between the sides, with the Cats winning the last three contests.

Tanner Duke (1-2) will take the hill for K-State on Tuesday. Duke logged four innings of one-run ball in the season's first matchup against the Shockers, allowing two hits with four strikeouts.

The Cats have won 13 of their 14 games at home this season, marking the second-best home start in school history. In 2006, K-State started off its home slate with a program record 16-game winning streak.

Tuesday's contest will broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, while radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). 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 #41
K-STATE (23-17) vs. WICHITA STATE (12-27)
Tuesday, April 22 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: RHP Tanner Duke (1-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. LHP Tyler Dobbs (1-2, 5.59 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // ESPN app // Brian Smoller, Trevor Hurley, Sophie Smith
Radio: KMAN // Matt Walters, Mike Clark
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

THE MATCHUP
K-State begins a four-game homestand Tuesday night against Wichita State, as the in-state rivals complete a home-and-home midweek series at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium.

A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (23-17) dropped a three-game set to in-state rival Kansas in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown after dropping a doubleheader on Saturday, falling in the first game 6-3 before a 6-5 victory in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown finale … K-State's series winning streak came to an end at three, as the KU picked up its first series win against K-State since 2021, and first series sweep since 2019 … K-State won five of the last 10 meetings … Maximus Martin, who was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Player of the Year Watch, led the way for the Wildcat offense going 6-for-8 on the day with three runs batted in in Game 2 … Sam Flores recorded his second homer of the season in the doubleheaders first game, launching the Wildcats 64^th blast of the season … The 2025 squad's 63 homers rank sixth all-time in program history … Flores is the 11^th different player to register two or more home runs on the year … Dardar stretched his hitting streak to six with a double in Game 2 … Martin recorded his team-leading 14^th multi-RBI game and 14^th game with two or more hits … Tanner Duke will take the hill for K-State on Tuesday … Duke logged four innings of one-run ball against in the season's first matchup against the Shockers, allowing two hits with four strikeouts.

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE
Wichita State makes the trip to Manhattan with a 12-27 overall record, that includes a 4-18 record on games played on the road... As a team, WSU has produced a slash line of .266/.376/.394 with 74 doubles, 12 triples and 23 home runs, while four starters have driven in 20+ RBI … Camden Johnson leads the Shocker offense with his .354 average (57-for-161) with 23 RBI, while Josh Livingston has belted a team-high 10 homers on the year with 30 RBI ... The WSU pitching staff boasts a 6.78 ERA with opponents hitting at a .282 clip ... Wichita State hurlers have struck out 305 batters over 330.2 innings ... Left-hander Tyler Dobbs will make his second start of the season … Dobbs is 1-2 with a 5.59 ERA ... WSU has lost eight of its last 10 contests, with a current seven-game losing streak.

INSIDE THE SERIES
The Shockers lead the all-time series 58-47 since the first game in 1906 … The midweek matchup marks the 106^th meeting between the Wildcats and Shockers … The Wildcats have taken six of the last 10 meetings with Wichita State after grabbing a 13-10 victory at Eck Stadium earlier this month … The Wildcats are 27-19 all-time at home vs. the Shockers … Under Hughes, K-State is 6-5 against Wichita State.

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
L, 4-10 – April 18 (Manhattan)
L, 0-1 – May 2, 2023 (Wichita)
W, 8-6 – March 19, 2024 (Wichita)
W, 6-3 – April 10, 2024 (Manhattan)
W, 13-10 – April 2, 2025 (Wichita)

BIG BAT CATS
K-State ranks second in the Big 12 and 25^th nationally with 64 home runs this season, with 15 coming in the month of April ... The Cats' 64 home runs rank sixth all-time in program history … Twenty times the Cats have hit multiple home runs ... In total, 13 different players have hit at least one home run this season with 11 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 five of the top six 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.

WELCOME TO TOINTON
K-State is 13-1 at home this season, its second-best home start in program history … K-State baseball is 421-218 when playing at Tointon Family Stadium (since 2002) … The Wildcats are 115-43 at home under Hughes … The Cats 16-0 start at home in 2006 set a program record.

HOME COOKIN'
K-State has won 13 of its 14 home tilts in 2025 ... At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .333 and slugging .650 with 35 home runs ... K-State averages 9.6 runs a game on 10.9 hits at Tointon Family Stadium ... Conversely, the Cats are hitting .244 and slugging .494 in games away from home, averaging 5.8 runs per game and 8.2 hits a game ... The Wildcat bullpen boasts a 4.81 ERA at home, striking out 122 compared to 38 walks (3.21 strikeout-to-walk ratio) ... In road and neutral contests, K-State starters and relievers have a combined ERA of 5.88 with 244 strikeouts and 125 walks ... K-State has homered in 13 of its 14 home games this season, with 35 of its 64 home runs coming at Tointon Family Stadium ... Seven starters are hitting north of .300 at home led by Martin hitting at a .392 clip at home, followed by Madliak (.383) and O'Connor (.370) … Martin has recorded eight of his 12 home runs in Manhattan.

NUMBERS NUGGETS
K-State has a +45-run differential through 40 games this season ... The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 40-29 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 20-9 when hitting a home run and 18-2 when hitting multiple homers ... K-State has won eight of 12 games in which it has not committed an error while going 6-9 when committing multiple errors ... When holding opponents to five or fewer runs, the Wildcats are 15-4 ... Conversely, K-State has a record of 5-15 when scoring five or fewer runs in a game and is 18-2 when scoring at least six runs ... K-State is 7-6 in games decided by two runs or fewer ... Home runs account for 113 of the 286 runs batted in on the season (39.5 percent) … K-State is hitting .311 on the season with runners in scoring position and .266 with two outs, driving in 91 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
West Virginia (34-4, 13-3 Big 12) sits atop the Big 12 standings, with a 14-game winning streak and the nation's leading winning percentage (.895) … KU, Arizona and TCU round out the top four with all three program's boasting a 12-6 record in league play … The Cats rank sixth in the conference standings … Arizona's Mason White (co-player), BYU's Ryder Robinson (co-player), UCF's Matt Sauser (co-pitcher) and TCU's Tommy Lapour (co-pitcher) all shared weekly Big 12 baseball honors, and Kansas outfielder Jackson Hauge was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Tanner Duke

Sam Flores

Maximus Martin

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