K-State Faces Houston in Big 12 Action Friday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With just seven home games left of the regular-season, K-State baseball returns to Big 12 play with a three-game series against Houston, starting Friday at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium.

Jacob Frost (0-2) will get Friday's start with the left-hander making his 10^th start of the season, while lefty Michael Quevedo (4-1) will get Saturday's nod at 4 p.m. Lincoln Sheffield (5-4) will start in Sunday's series finale at 11 a.m.

K-State (24-17, 10-8 Big 12), which ranks sixth in the league standings, leads the all-time series 5-2 against Houston (22-18, 6-11 Big 12). Friday's game marks the first contest between the two squads in Manhattan.

The entire three-game series can be seen 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 #42
K-STATE (24-17, 10-8 BIG 12) vs. HOUSTON (22-18, 6-11 BIG 12)
Friday, April 25 // 6 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Jacob Frost (0-2, 4.68 ERA) vs. RHP Paul Schmitz (3-3, 4.53 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // ESPN app // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Hannah Whetstone
Radio: KMAN // Matt Walters, Justin Tadtman
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #43
K-STATE (24-17, 10-8 BIG 12) vs. HOUSTON (22-18, 6-11 BIG 12)
Saturday, April 26 // 4 p.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Michael Quevedo (4-1, 5.32 ERA) vs. RHP Alex Solis (1-0, 3.67 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // ESPN app // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Hannah Whetstone
Radio: KMAN // Matt Walters, Justin Tadtman
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #44
K-STATE (24-17, 10-8 BIG 12) vs. HOUSTON (22-18, 6-11 BIG 12)
Sunday, April 27 // 11 a.m. // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Lincoln Sheffield (5-4, 5.16 ERA) vs. TBD
Watch: ESPN+ // ESPN app // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Hannah Whetstone
Radio: KMAN // Matt Walters, Justin Tadtman
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch // 1350kman.com
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (24-17, 10-8 Big 12) is coming off a 14-8 victory on Tuesday vs. Wichita State, snapping their season-long five-game losing streak … The Wildcats are 8-1 in Big 12 contests at home, sweeping Utah and Texas Tech … The K-State offense homered six times in Tuesday's win, including two each from Shintaro Inoue and Dee Kennedy, to complete the season series sweep … Eight Wildcats contributed a hit in the win against the Shockers, as K-State also got homers by David Bishop and AJ Evasco … The Cats tallied three runs in four different innings and turned in their second game with six home runs this season – one shy of matching the program's all-time single-game record … Kennedy became the third Wildcat to register 10 home runs this season, joining Maximus Martin (12) and Keegan O'Connor (10) … In 21 games, K-State has launched two or more home runs that includes 11 contests at home … the Cats have belted 70 homers this season, ranking fifth all-time in school history and 15^th in the nation … Tanner Duke (2-2) was awarded the win after allowing one run (unearned) on five hits with three strikeouts … In five starts, the right-hander has surrendered only five earned runs across 21 innings … Donte Lewis and Adam Arther logged the next three frames, while Ty Ruhl fired a scoreless ninth.

SCOUTING HOUSTON
Houston makes its first trip to the Little Apple, boasting a 22-18 overall record, that includes a 6-11 conference mark … UH has won five road series this season, with Big 12 series wins at UCF and Baylor … Cougars are coming off an 11-6 home victory over Lamar … UH is 1-4 in its last five conference games after splitting a two-game set at Oklahoma State … Game three between the Cowboys and Cougars was canceled due to rain … Houston is slashing .256/.378/.405 with 66 doubles, six triples and 39 home runs … The Cougars were predicted to finish 11^th in the Preseason Big 12 Coaches Poll … Starters Xavier Perez and Tre Broussard lead the offense, each hitting over .300 … Cougars have sent 19 pitchers to the hill this season compiling a team ERA of 5.23 … Right-handers Paul Schmitz (3-3, 4.53 ERA) and Alex Solis (1-0, 3.67 ERA) will start in Friday and Saturday's contests … Solis made two appearances against the Cats in 2024 …

INSIDE THE SERIES
K-State leads the all-time series 5-2 since its start in 2004, with all seven games played at Houston… The 2024 series marked the first meeting between the two teams in Big 12, with the Cats outscoring the Cougars, 20-11 in the series sweep … K-State has won four of the last five meetings, with a current three-game winning streak.

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
W, 9-2 – February 21, 2009 (Houston)
L, 2-3 [10] – February 22, 2009 (Houston)
W, 5-3 – March 22, 2024 (Houston)
W, 6-5 – March 23, 2024 (Houston)
W, 9-3 – March 24, 2024 (Houston)

WELCOME TO TOINTON
K-State is 14-1 at home this season, its second-best home start in program history … K-State baseball is 422-218 when playing at Tointon Family Stadium (since 2002) … The Wildcats are 116-43 at home under Hughes … The Cats 16-0 start at home in 2006 set a program record.

BIG BAT CATS
K-State ranks second in the Big 12 and 15^th nationally with 70 home runs this season, with 21 coming in the month of April ... The Cats' 70 home runs rank fifth all-time in program history, surpassing the 2024 squad's 69 … The Cats have hit multiple home runs in 21 contests this season (19-2) ... In total, 13 different players have hit at least one home run this season with 11 recording multiple home runs and three with 10 or more – Martin (12), O'Connor (10), Kennedy (10) … Five different players have each turned in multi-home run performances (Latest: Shintaro Inoue, Dee Kennedy vs. Wichita State, April 22) … K-State recorded a season-high six homers twice this year: vs. William & Mary (March 9), vs. Wichita State (April 22) … 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.

HOME COOKIN'
K-State has won 14 of its 15 home tilts in 2025, marking the second-best home start in school history ... At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .335 and slugging .673 with 41 home runs ... K-State averages 9.9 runs a game on 11.1 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 4.89 ERA at home, striking out 126 compared to 38 walks (3.32 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 14 of its 15 home games this season, with 41 of its 70 home runs coming at Tointon Family Stadium ... Seven starters are hitting north of .300 at home led by Madliak hitting at a .383 clip at home, followed by Kennedy (.379) and Martin (.364) … Four players have tallied five or more home runs at Tointon, lef by Martin with eight.

CATS VS. THE BIG 12
The Cats rank sixth in the league standings with a 10-8 conference record, that includes a 8-1 record at home … K-State is hitting .266 in conference play, averaging 6.2 runs on 8.7 hits … O'Connor paves the way for the offense, slashing .333/.384/.636 with eight doubles and four home runs in Big 12 games … The pitching staff posts a 5.72 ERA, with opponents hitting .281 … K-State's Big 12 slate features 30 games (10 home, 10 road) … K-State finished its 2024 Big 12 schedule tied sixth in the league at 15-15.

IMPACT LEFTIES
For the 10^th consecutive week, K-State will go with the lefty trio of Frost, Quevedo and Sheffield … In nine weeks, the trio has combined for a record of 8-6 with a 5.20 ERA, while picking up 137 strikeouts (5.1 per game) … Quevedo and Sheffield have started in each of their 10 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 and Frost each have one … K-State is 19-10 in games the three have started … Quevedo and Frost have each recorded 10 strikeouts in one of their outings this season … 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 12 walks in 10 starts for a 4.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio, ranking fourth overall in the conference.

NUMBERS NUGGETS
K-State has a +51-run differential through 41 games this season ... The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 58-26 in the second 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 21-9 when hitting a home run and 19-2 when hitting multiple homers ... K-State has won eight of 12 games in which it has not committed an error while going 7-9 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 19-2 when scoring at least six runs ... K-State is 7-6 in games decided by two runs or fewer ... Home runs account for 122 of the 300 runs batted in on the season (40.7 percent) … K-State is hitting .317 on the season with runners in scoring position and .271 with two outs, driving in 96 runs 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 (34-5, 13-3 Big 12) sits atop the Big 12 standings, with an NCAA-leading winning percentage (.872) … 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.

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Players Mentioned

Adam Arther

David Bishop

Tanner Duke

AJ Evasco

Jacob Frost

Shintaro Inoue

Dee Kennedy

Donte Lewis

Maximus Martin

Keegan O'Connor

Michael Quevedo

Ty Ruhl

Lincoln Sheffield

Kansas State University Athletics