K-State Meets with Media Ahead of 2025 NCAA Tournament

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State head baseball coach Pete Hughes and student-athletes David Bishop, Maximus Martin, Keegan O'Connor and JJ Slack addressed the media Tuesday in advance of Friday's opening round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament against UTSA in Austin, Texas.

K-State (31-24) was selected as the No. 3 seed in the Austin Regional and will take on the second-seeded UTSA Roadrunners (44-13) on Friday, May 30, at 6 p.m. CT at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the Kansas State/UTSA game will play the winner of No. 2 national seed Texas (42-12) and fourth-seeded Houston Christian (32-23) on Saturday, May 31.

The Austin Regional will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, while radio coverage is available on the K-State Sports Network. A free, live streaming audio is available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

All tickets are handled and sold through the Texas Athletics ticket office and will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, May 29.

Below is a transcript of the press conference.

PETE HUGHES, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Opening statement…
"Exciting time of the year. You know, you've heard me say it's the reason why we all came to Kansas State is to play in the postseason and here we are. It's the best time of the year. Our kids have been going at it strong, not since the start of the season but since the fall in late August. And it's a lot of dedication and discipline with these guys. And it's a yearlong thing, being able to sacrifice and get better and commit to get in the tournament, to go to Omaha and try to win a national championship for Kansas State."

On returning to the NCAA Tournament…
"This is especially rewarding, you know, because we really had to revamp our entire lineup, and we lost two major components in our starting rotation. We lost arguably the best closer in the country, a first-round shortstop, a center fielder, catcher, and our second baseman was a high draft choice. That's a lot to rebuild and to have sustained success is the mark of a national program when you cannot rebuild, when you can reload. That was the significance of this year and being rewarded to go to play in the postseason."

On challenges playing in the Austin Regional…
"Well, Texas is a regular season SEC champ by two games. That's pretty sturdy competition. And then you look at our opponent for Friday, UTSA, they've won 44 games. That's a lot of winning. Houston Christian had a great turnaround in their program in this past year. So, one through four, it's a real solid tournament. When you don't host, you know you're going to walk into a venue that's going to have its challenges, but I'm glad I'm going to walk into that venue with guys that are up for a good challenge and a good fight."

On scouting UTSA…
"They're super offensive. It's a winning program. It's a winning head coach, like I said earlier, 44 wins, they're really offensive. They get on base. They're creative in getting on base. A lot of hit by pitches and walks. There's a lot of free passes going on that creates a lot of offense. So, other than having a winning head coach and a winning program, it's their offenses is going to be something that's going to be a major area of focus for us to try to stabilize if we if we want to have a good game against these guys."

DAVID BISHOP, SENIOR, INF
On how facing top competition in the preseason helped prepare for the postseason…
"Obviously, in order to be ready for games like this in the regional, you have to play teams like Arkansas, you know, teams that are great – Omaha caliber teams. So, for us to play against them, do well and have success it shows that our players have the confidence to go into this regional and know that we can walk out with a win and take over the regional."

MAXIMUS MARTIN, JUNIOR, INF/OF
On playing in his first NCAA Regional…
"Pretty awesome. I mean, this is going to be my first regional in the past two years of college. I've never been on a team over .400 and this year we're definitely were over that. I've had nothing but positive things to say about this place. It's probably one of the best decisions of my life. Take the chance and flipped where I was going towards the end of the last summer in the portal, and then deciding to come here is definitely one of the best decisions and I've had a great time here. Everybody gets along really well, and we're competing really well. As long as we stay healthy and continue to bring energy on the field, we can make a really good run, and everybody's just excited to keep going – super amped up."

KEEGAN O'CONNOR, GRADUATE, OF
On competing in first regional at K-State…
"I'm thrilled to get down to Austin. This the reason that we all came to Kansas State. I mean, playing in an atmosphere like Austin will be awesome, and just looking forward to getting down there."

JJ SLACK, GRADUATE, RHP
On what it means to play in the NCAA Tournament…
"There's nothing like it, you know. It's the greatest feeling you'll have until you get to go to the next one. It's kind of just be where your feet are and take it all in and enjoy the moment. Not many teams get to do this. There's only 64 in the country and you get to be proud that you're one of them."

– k-statesports.com –

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.

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Meets with Media Ahead of 2025 NCAA Tournament

Players Mentioned

David Bishop

Maximus Martin

Keegan O'Connor

JJ Slack

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