K-State Enters Final Weekend of Regular Season at Cincinnati

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State enters the final weekend of the regular season with a three-game conference series beginning Thursday against Cincinnati at UC Baseball Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Wildcats (30-21, 16-11 Big 12) are tied fifth in the Big 12 standings, while the Bearcats sit two games behind K-State in sixth. The Wildcats took the season series with Cincinnati (29-22, 14-13 Big 12) last season in Manhattan, claiming the only series between the two squads with a trilling 12-inning walk-off victory.

K-State will send left-handers Jacob Frost, Michael Quevedo, and Lincoln Sheffield to the hill for the series, which begins Thursday at 5 p.m. CT. Game two is scheduled for 5 p.m. followed by the series finale at noon.

The entire Big 12 three-game series will broadcast on ESPN+, while radio coverage is available on KMAN with Brian Smoller calling all the action. A live streaming audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

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 #52
K-STATE (30-21, 16-11 BIG 12) at CINCINNATI (29-22, 14-13 BIG 12)
Thursday, May 15 // 5 PM CT // UC Baseball Stadium
Projected Starters: LHP Jacob Frost (1-3, 4.92 ERA) vs. RHP Nathan Taylor (5-2, 3.41 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // Anthony Mazzini, Zach Segal
Radio: KMAN // Brian Smoller
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #53
K-STATE (30-21, 16-11 BIG 12) at CINCINNATI (29-22, 14-13 BIG 12)
Friday, May 16 // 5 PM CT // UC Baseball Stadium
Projected Starters: LHP Michael Quevedo (6-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. LHP Kellen O'Connor (3-2, 4.70 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // Anthony Mazzini, Billy Hatcher
Radio: KMAN // Brian Smoller
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #54
K-STATE (30-21, 16-11 BIG 12) at CINCINNATI (29-22, 14-13 BIG 12)
Saturday, May 17 // 12 PM CT // UC Baseball Stadium
Projected Starters: LHP Lincoln Sheffield (6-4, 5.65 ERA) vs. TBA
Watch: ESPN+ // Anthony Mazzini, Billy Hatcher
Radio: KMAN // Brian Smoller
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State (30-21, 16-11 Big 12) is coming a series win over then 12^th-ranked West Virginia in its final home series of the regular season … The Wildcats scored six unanswered runs in the bottom of the ninth to overcome a five-run deficit and take the series opener, 8-7 … K-State dropped the middle game, 10-3, before rallying in the eighth inning with seven runs to hand WVU its first series loss on the road, while its 17 hits are the most allowed by the Mountaineers this season … Seth Dardar registered the Cats' 90^th home run of the year, breaking the previous record of 89 set in 2021, with his second grand slam of the season that led the Cats to a 14-9 victory in the series finale … The Wildcats won their seventh Big 12 series of the season – eighth overall – and first series win over WVU since 2021 … K-State has homered in 38 of 51 games this season, going 27-11 … Under Hughes, K-State has turned in the top four seasons in terms of home run production: 2025 (90), 2021 (89), 2022 (84), and 2023 (77) … Hughes earned his 850^th career victory, posting an 850-655-3 (.565) overall record in his 28 seasons as a head coach … K-State improves to 17-21 in the all-time series against WVU with a 15-21 record in Big 12 games, while moving to 11-10 in games played in Manhattan … The Wildcats finished with a conference-best 18-3 (.857) home record in 2025 – sixth-best winning percentage at home in school history … The victory marked the sixth come-from-behind win – second this weekend … This season, K-State is 5-3 against nationally ranked opponents, including a 4-3 mark vs. teams ranked by D1Baseball.

SCOUTING CINCINNATI
Cincinnati (29-22, 14-13 Big 12) has won seven of its last 10 games overall that includes a home series win over Oklahoma State and road series sweep at Kansas … The Bearcats are ranked sixth in the Big 12 standings, two games behind K-State and Arizona … Cincinnati is coming off a 9-8 victory in the series finale at TCU … The Horned Frogs claimed the conference series, 2-1, that included a 7-6 walk-off victory … UC is third in the Big 12 and 25^th nationally with a .978 fielding percentage … The Bearcats have stolen a league-high 121 bases this season, ranking 14^th overall in Division I and averaging 2.37 per game … On the mound, the Bears own a 5.41 ERA with 10 saves ... Offensively, UC is paced by Kerrington Cross, who leads the team and Big 12 with a .406 average ... Three players have driven in 40+ RBI this season, led by 47 from Landyn Vidourek, who's 14 home runs ranks sixth in the league.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Thursday's contest marks the fourth-ever meeting between the two schools, while it is the first in Cincinnati … Last season, K-State claimed the first season series, 2-1, with a pair of thrilling victories … The Cats shut out the Bearcats in the first meeting, 4-0, behind nine-hitless innings from Jacob Frost and Jackson Wentworth, marking the ninth no-hitter in school history … Cincinnati won the middle game, 11-7, before K-State walked off the rubber match, 14-13, in extras … K-State has a 25-24 edge in runs scored in the series, while both squads have collected victories with margins of victory of four runs.

LAST THREE MEETINGS
W, 4-0 – March 8, 2024 (Manhattan)
L, 7-11 – March 9, 2024 (Manhattan)
W, 14-13 [12] – March 10, 2024 (Manhattan)

ON THE ROAD
K-State has won 12 of its 30 road games in 2025, that includes a 4-8 record in Big 12 contests … The Wildcats road schedule features eight teams (12 games) that finished with an RPI of 50 or better in 2024 … On the road, the Wildcat offense is hitting .257 with a .792 OPS and 38 home runs ... K-State averages 6.5 runs a game on 10.6 hits on the road ... Conversely, the Cats hit .321 at home with a 1.044 OPS, averaging 9.4 runs per game and 8.2 hits a game ... In road and neutral contests, K-State starters and relievers have a combined ERA of 5.93 with 282 strikeouts and 146 walks ... Three starters are hitting north of .300 on the road with Martin (.352), Dardar (.333), and O'Connor (.310) … Ten players have homered at least once on the road, while seven have multip … Dardar and O'Connor have each sent out seven blasts on the road, while O'Connor leads the offense with 28 RBI.

RECORD CHASING
K-State enters the final weekend of the regular season with chances of breaking a program record with the most conference victories in a single season … The team's 16 conference wins in 2025 ties a program record set in 2013, where the Cats claimed the Big 12 regular season title … Additional records to watch for are individual records – single-season home run record (16), freshman home run (10) and freshman RBI records (50) … Under Hughes, K-State has broken 21 records (five team, six individual, 10 class records) with since he became the Wildcats' skipper in 2019.

BIG BAT CATS
K-State's record-breaking 90^th home run came in poetic fashion, as Seth Dardar's grand slam capped a seven-run eighth-inning rally that propelled the Wildcats to a 14-9 rubber game victory over then 12^th-ranked West Virginia … K-State's 90 home runs ranks second in the Big 12 and 12^thin the nation … O'Connor became the fourth player in school history to launch 16 home runs, tying the single-season record, while he is the fifth player to send out three in a single game ... For the first time since 2022, four different players have reached double figure home runs: O'Connor (16), Martin (14), Kennedy (11) and Dardar (11) … The Cats have hit multiple home runs in 24 contests this season (24-3) ... In total, 13 different players have sent one out this season … Five different players have each turned in multi-home run performances … K-State recorded a season-high six homers in three contests this year: vs. William & Mary (March 9), vs. Wichita State (April 22), at BYU (May 2) … The Cats have generated eight back-to-back performances this season (Latest: Dardar, O'Connor at BYU, May 2) … Martin, Evasco and Dardar 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 the top four.

POWER SUPPLY
This year, K-State has 11 different players with multiple home runs … Keegan O'Connor, Maximus Martin, Dee Kennedy and Seth Dardar have produced 10+ homers in 2025, marking the first time since 2022 K-State had four different players reach double figures … With a team-leading 16 homers on the year, O'Connor is the fourth player in school history to tie the school record… He ties first in the Big 12 with 10 home runs in conference play, ranking third overall in the league.

WINNING TIME
In K-State's 30 wins this season, K-State is hitting .331 in victories against just .209 in defeats ... In 21 losses, K-State pitchers have combined for 118 walks (5.6 per game) while in victories the staff averages 3.1 walks per game (92 walks in 30 wins) and 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

CATS VS. THE BIG 12
K-State, which is 16-11 in league games, has won seven Big 12 Conference series this season including sweeps over Utah and Texas Tech while going 2-2 in series on the road … The Cats are one victory away from setting a program record in conference victories … The Cats won road series at BYU and Baylor … The Cats rank tie fifth in the league standings with a 16-11 conference record, that includes league-best 4-8 record on the road … K-State is hitting .285 in conference play, averaging 7.3 runs on 9.5 hits … O'Connor paves the way for the offense, slashing .387/.426/.783 with a team-leading 10 home runs and 33 RBI in Big 12 games … K-State's Big 12 slate features 30 games (15 home, 15 road) … K-State finished its 2024 Big 12 schedule tied sixth in the league at 15-15.

NUMBERS NUGGETS
K-State has a +78-run differential through 51 games this season ... The Wildcats outscore opponents 117-58 (+59) between the second and third innings ... 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 27-11 when hitting a home run and 24-3 when hitting multiple homers ... K-State has won 11 of 17 games in which it has not committed an error while going 19-15 when committing at least one error ... When holding opponents to five or fewer runs, the Wildcats are 19-4 ... Conversely, K-State has a record of 6-17 when scoring five or fewer runs in a game and is 24-4 when scoring at least six runs ... K-State is 8-8 in games decided by two runs or fewer ... Home runs account for 161 of the 392 runs batted in on the season (41.1 percent) … K-State is hitting .326 on the season with runners in scoring position and .258 with two outs, driving in 114 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 sits atop the conference rankings, while Arizona State is two games behind followed by a two-way tie for third between Kansas and TCU … Arizona and K-State are tied fifth with 16-11 conference marks … West Virginia is the only school ranked in the latest D1Baseball polls, coming in at No. 16 ... The Big 12 has two teams in the top 25 of the RPI (16. TCU, and 23. West Virginia) and five in the top 50 (34. Kansas, 35. Cincinnati, 37. Kansas State, 40. Arizona, 41. Arizona State) … Cincinnati's Jack Natili (player and newcomer) and Kansas' Cooper Moore (pitcher) were named the Big 12 baseball's weekly awards recipients for games ending May 11.

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
The top 12 teams in the regular season standings will advance to the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, May 21 to Saturday, May 24 … It marks the fourth consecutive season that Globe Life Field has served as the backdrop to the event and the sixth time (2002, 2004) Arlington has served as host ... The Big 12 is the only Conference to host its baseball Championship at the permanent home of a Major League Baseball team, the Texas Rangers, and the only one to crown a champion in a climate-controlled facility … Tickets can be purchased at GlobeLifeField.com/Big12.

K-State Enters Final Weekend of Regular Season at Cincinnati

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Seth Dardar

Jacob Frost

Dee Kennedy

Maximus Martin

Keegan O'Connor

Michael Quevedo

Lincoln Sheffield

Jackson Wentworth

Kansas State University Athletics