Trying to Hit the Number
Apr 28, 2025 | Baseball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Pete Hughes has a number. He has a number in mind. He has a number in mind for the amount of wins that his Kansas State team needs to secure a spot for an NCAA Regional.
"I've got a magic number in my head in league that's going to get us there," Hughes said after a 6-5 loss to Houston on Sunday. "That's why I'm annoyed that we couldn't chip away for one more today."
K-State, 26-18 overall and 12-9 in the Big 12 Conference, has won six of eight series in 2025, including four during Big 12 action. K-State has had success in Big 12 series at home. Prior to winning the series against Houston (23-20 overall and 7-13 in the Big 12), K-State swept Utah to begin the conference season and ended March with a three-game sweep of Texas Tech. It also won a series against UCF. On the road, K-State won a series at Baylor.
However, K-State has struggled lately in the Big 12 on the road. It was swept at Oklahoma State and at Kansas.
"We had a good week this week, but if you'd asked me last week, I'd say absolutely not," Hughes said. "One of the things this team has to learn is consistency and how valuable it is in this game. We have been consistent, but we started off (the season) 1-4 and we lost five in a row 10 days ago. That can't happen.
"We're getting there. This is a good team."
The name of the game for Hughes is RPI.
K-State entered Sunday with an RPI of 40, according to the NCAA website, which was behind Kansas (26), Arizona (18), TCU (17), and West Virginia (15) in the Big 12.
This week, K-State visits Nebraska (RPI: 78) on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. before a three-game series at BYU (RPI: 53). The Cougars are 20-19 overall and 7-8 in the Big 12.
"It's huge," Hughes said. "Those wins are more valuable on the road with the RPI. I only think RPI and getting us into the tournament and how we can get to Omaha. That's all we're thinking about, and it starts with RPI. You get good RPI by beating good people and beating good people on the road. A win is more valuable on the road than at home in the RPI.
"A win at home is worth 0.75 and a win on the road is worth 1.25. That should tell you what kind of system we're working with. That's why we're playing more road games so we can have more valuable wins. It's a huge week for our program. BYU, their record doesn't look like it, but they're a scary team."
K-State was the scary team in wins over Houston on Friday (5-2) and Saturday (14-5).
Fueled by Jacob Frost's seven innings and a go-ahead three-run homer from Keegan O'Connor, the Wildcats took care of the Cougars on Friday. On Saturday, three home runs, including a grand slam by Seth Dardar, powered K-State to capture the series at Tointon Family Stadium. But K-State was unable to get the sweep as Tyler Cox's RBI-double in the top of the ninth broke a 5-5 tie and Houston held on for the win.
Sunday's game was pure guts.
Houston took a 4-0 lead its first time at bat.
But K-State fought back.
In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff hitter Shintaro Inoue took the third pitch 421 feet. After a strikeout, Dee Kennedy went 392 feet. Then Dardar walked, chasing off starting pitcher Eric Van Valkenburg. K-State trailed 4-2, but the first still wasn't complete.
"We have some veteran guys that have played a lot of baseball," Hughes said. "One through nine can hit the ball out of the park. It always gives you a chance to get back into a game or to win a game."
K-State's 77 home runs this season ties for third all-time in school history.
When senior pitcher Antoine Jean entered the game with Dardar on first base, O'Connor singled to right field and Dardar advanced to second base. David Flores singled up the middle, scoring Dardar and sending O'Connor to third.
Then, in the blink of an eye, K-State loaded the bases.
Jean, arguably the nation's best pitcher with a Division I-leading 4.47 hits allowed per nine innings and a nation-leading 16.24 strikeouts per nine innings, got out of the bases-loaded jam.
But K-State had cut Houston's lead to 4-3 to complete one of the longest first innings of the season.
Then after Houston hit a homer in the third, K-State responded when O'Connor homered to left center to make it 5-4.
K-State tied the score 5-5 in the fourth. AJ Evasco singled, David Bishop grounded out and Evasco advanced. Inoue walked. Then Maximus Martin grounded out to score Evasco.
And then the scoreboard fell silent. Innings came and left, leaving behind a string of zeroes.
That string ended in the top of the ninth, when Houston's Tyler Cox doubled down the right field line, scoring Anthony Avalos from first. Houston took a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
That's when Bishop grounded out to second base. That's when Inoue singled to center field, and Cadyn Karl pinch ran for him. That's when Martin lined out to second base. That's when Karl, with two outs, stole second. And that's when Kennedy, facing a 2-2 count, struck out swinging to end the game.
"I'm annoyed because it's about the number of wins at the end of the year in conference," Hughes said. "They don't ask you how many series you won. We're playing catchup. We got swept at Oklahoma State and at the other place. We're trying to get back into that win column with the right number."
That exact number? It remains a mystery.
That K-State entered Sunday with an RPI of 40 doesn't hurt.
"If you're inside of 50, you're in decent shape, really good shape," Hughes said. "I think we might be ahead of where we were last year at this time."
Pete Hughes has a number. He has a number in mind. He has a number in mind for the amount of wins that his Kansas State team needs to secure a spot for an NCAA Regional.
"I've got a magic number in my head in league that's going to get us there," Hughes said after a 6-5 loss to Houston on Sunday. "That's why I'm annoyed that we couldn't chip away for one more today."
K-State, 26-18 overall and 12-9 in the Big 12 Conference, has won six of eight series in 2025, including four during Big 12 action. K-State has had success in Big 12 series at home. Prior to winning the series against Houston (23-20 overall and 7-13 in the Big 12), K-State swept Utah to begin the conference season and ended March with a three-game sweep of Texas Tech. It also won a series against UCF. On the road, K-State won a series at Baylor.
However, K-State has struggled lately in the Big 12 on the road. It was swept at Oklahoma State and at Kansas.
"We had a good week this week, but if you'd asked me last week, I'd say absolutely not," Hughes said. "One of the things this team has to learn is consistency and how valuable it is in this game. We have been consistent, but we started off (the season) 1-4 and we lost five in a row 10 days ago. That can't happen.
"We're getting there. This is a good team."
The name of the game for Hughes is RPI.
K-State entered Sunday with an RPI of 40, according to the NCAA website, which was behind Kansas (26), Arizona (18), TCU (17), and West Virginia (15) in the Big 12.
This week, K-State visits Nebraska (RPI: 78) on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. before a three-game series at BYU (RPI: 53). The Cougars are 20-19 overall and 7-8 in the Big 12.
"It's huge," Hughes said. "Those wins are more valuable on the road with the RPI. I only think RPI and getting us into the tournament and how we can get to Omaha. That's all we're thinking about, and it starts with RPI. You get good RPI by beating good people and beating good people on the road. A win is more valuable on the road than at home in the RPI.
"A win at home is worth 0.75 and a win on the road is worth 1.25. That should tell you what kind of system we're working with. That's why we're playing more road games so we can have more valuable wins. It's a huge week for our program. BYU, their record doesn't look like it, but they're a scary team."
K-State was the scary team in wins over Houston on Friday (5-2) and Saturday (14-5).
Fueled by Jacob Frost's seven innings and a go-ahead three-run homer from Keegan O'Connor, the Wildcats took care of the Cougars on Friday. On Saturday, three home runs, including a grand slam by Seth Dardar, powered K-State to capture the series at Tointon Family Stadium. But K-State was unable to get the sweep as Tyler Cox's RBI-double in the top of the ninth broke a 5-5 tie and Houston held on for the win.
Sunday's game was pure guts.
Houston took a 4-0 lead its first time at bat.
But K-State fought back.
In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff hitter Shintaro Inoue took the third pitch 421 feet. After a strikeout, Dee Kennedy went 392 feet. Then Dardar walked, chasing off starting pitcher Eric Van Valkenburg. K-State trailed 4-2, but the first still wasn't complete.
"We have some veteran guys that have played a lot of baseball," Hughes said. "One through nine can hit the ball out of the park. It always gives you a chance to get back into a game or to win a game."
K-State's 77 home runs this season ties for third all-time in school history.
When senior pitcher Antoine Jean entered the game with Dardar on first base, O'Connor singled to right field and Dardar advanced to second base. David Flores singled up the middle, scoring Dardar and sending O'Connor to third.
Then, in the blink of an eye, K-State loaded the bases.
Jean, arguably the nation's best pitcher with a Division I-leading 4.47 hits allowed per nine innings and a nation-leading 16.24 strikeouts per nine innings, got out of the bases-loaded jam.
But K-State had cut Houston's lead to 4-3 to complete one of the longest first innings of the season.
Then after Houston hit a homer in the third, K-State responded when O'Connor homered to left center to make it 5-4.
K-State tied the score 5-5 in the fourth. AJ Evasco singled, David Bishop grounded out and Evasco advanced. Inoue walked. Then Maximus Martin grounded out to score Evasco.
And then the scoreboard fell silent. Innings came and left, leaving behind a string of zeroes.
That string ended in the top of the ninth, when Houston's Tyler Cox doubled down the right field line, scoring Anthony Avalos from first. Houston took a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
That's when Bishop grounded out to second base. That's when Inoue singled to center field, and Cadyn Karl pinch ran for him. That's when Martin lined out to second base. That's when Karl, with two outs, stole second. And that's when Kennedy, facing a 2-2 count, struck out swinging to end the game.
"I'm annoyed because it's about the number of wins at the end of the year in conference," Hughes said. "They don't ask you how many series you won. We're playing catchup. We got swept at Oklahoma State and at the other place. We're trying to get back into that win column with the right number."
That exact number? It remains a mystery.
That K-State entered Sunday with an RPI of 40 doesn't hurt.
"If you're inside of 50, you're in decent shape, really good shape," Hughes said. "I think we might be ahead of where we were last year at this time."
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