K-State Hosts #12 West Virginia in Final Home Series

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State is set to host 12^th-ranked West Virginia in its final home series of the season, starting Friday at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium.

The Wildcats (28-20, 14-10 Big 12) will continue the conference series with the Mountaineer's (39-8, 18-4 Big 12) on Saturday for a 4 p.m. first pitch. Sunday marks Senior Day, where eight players will be honored prior to its 1 p.m. series finale in: David Bishop, Jacob Frost, Kyan Lodice, Keegan O'Connor, Cayden Phillips, Michael Quevedo, Ben Rosin, and JJ Slack.

After belting a record-tying three home runs and notching 16 total bases to break the school single-game record to help the Wildcats win the series at BYU, O'Connor was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.

The entire Big 12 three-game series will broadcast on ESPN+, while radio coverage is available on KMAN. A live streaming audio is also available at K-StateSports.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 #49
K-STATE (28-20, 14-10 BIG 12) vs. #12 WEST VIRGINIA (39-8, 18-4 BIG 12)
Friday, May 9 // 6 PM CT // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Jacob Frost (1-3, 4.86 ERA) vs. LHP Griffin Kirn (4-1, 3.59 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Hannah Whetstone
Radio: KMAN // Matt Walters, Trevor Hurley
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #50
K-STATE (28-20, 14-10 BIG 12) vs. #12 WEST VIRGINIA (39-8, 18-4 BIG 12)
Saturday, May 10 // 4 PM CT // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Michael Quevedo (6-1, 5.27 ERA) vs. RHP Chase Meyer (8-2, 2.31 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Hannah Whetstone
Radio: KMAN // Matt Walters, Trevor Hurley
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

GAME #51
K-STATE (28-20, 14-10 BIG 12) vs. #12 WEST VIRGINIA (39-8, 18-4 BIG 12)
Sunday, May 11 // 1 PM CT // Tointon Family Stadium (2,344)
Projected Starters: LHP Lincoln Sheffield (6-4, 5.64 ERA) vs. RHP Jack Kartsonas (6-1, 1.84 ERA)
Watch: ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Mike Clark, Hannah Whetstone
Radio: KMAN // Matt Walters, Trevor Hurley
Listen Online: KStateSports.com/watch
Watch | Listen Online | Live Stats

THE MATCHUP
K-State is set to host 12^th-ranked West Virginia in its final home series of the season, starting Friday at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium … The Wildcats (28-20, 14-10 Big 12) will continue the conference series with the Mountaineer's (39-8, 18-4 Big 12) on Saturday for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Sunday marks Senior Day, where eight players will be honored prior to its 1 p.m. series finale in: David Bishop, Jacob Frost, Kyan Lodice, Keegan O'Connor, Cayden Phillips, Michael Quevedo, Ben Rosin, and JJ Slack.

A LOOK AT K-STATE
The Wildcats head into the final home weekend of the regular season with an overall record of 28-20, and 14-10 in Big 12 action after winning their sixth conference series of the season … K-State is slashing .279/.384/.506 as a team, that includes 101 doubles, three triples and 86 home runs with three starters hitting above a .300 … Graduate Keegan O'Connor's .338 average and 15 home runs leads the Cats' offense … His incredible .706 slugging percentage is first in the Big 12 … Maximus Martin is second with a .337 average and 14 homers, followed by Seth Dardar (.313) … Shintaro Inoue is the only player to make an appearance in all 48 games … O'Connor and Martin rank third and fourth in the league in home runs, while Martin is third in 53 RBI … K-State is the only Big 12 member with three players posting a 1.000 OPS or better … 23 of K-State's 28 wins have come with left-handers Jacob Frost (1-3), Michael Quevedo (6-1) and Lincoln Sheffield (6-4) starting on the mound.

SCOUTING #12 WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia enters the weekend as one of two teams featured in the nation polls, ranking as high as No. 9 by Baseball America … The Big 12 leaders are coming off a tough 10-9 midweek loss at Pitt… Last season, won the Tucson Region to advance to the program's second Super Regional, before dropping two games against North Carolina … The Mountaineers are slashing .298/.422/.484 on the year with 94 extra-base hits including 56 doubles which ranks third in the league … WV averages 8.1 runs on 10.3 hits per contest … As a team, the Mountaineers are slashing .305/.405/.470 with 103 stolen bases – second highest in the league … Seven starters are batting over .300 led by Sam White (.368) … WVU has a league-best 3.77 ERA which ranks 12^th in the country … Twenty pitchers have made outings this season with a team-high 22 appearances from reliever Reese Bassinger (6-0, 3.22 ERA) … Bassinger and Carson Estridge each have earned five saves … Lefty Griffin Kirn (4-1, 3.59 ERA) will get the start in the series opener followed by right-handers Chase Meyer (8-2, 2.31 ERA) on Saturday and Jack Kartsonas (6-1, 1.84 ERA) on Sunday.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Friday marks the 36^th meeting between West Virginia and K-State with the Mountaineers leading the all-time series 20-15 since the series start in 2013, with the series tied 9-9 in games played in Manhattan … WVU took the regular season series 2-1 in Morgantown in 2024, but the Wildcats defeated the Mountaineers in the elimination round of the Big 12 Championships to split the season series … A record-breaking outing from former Wildcat Owen Boerema and an explosive seven-run fourth inning handed K-State a 8-4 tournament victory …. Boerema tossed a complete game to set the record for the longest outing in the NCAA game held at Globe Life Field, while he also became the first pitcher in K-State history to throw a complete game in a conference tournament ... K-State is 4-6 in the last 10 meetings between the two programs.

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
L, 10-6 – April 2, 2023 (Manhattan)
W, 4-3 – May 10, 2024 (Morgantown)
L, 0-13 – May 11, 2024 (Morgantown)
L, 5-12 – May 12, 2024 (Morgantown)
W, 8-4 – May 22, 2024 (Arlington)

WELCOME TO TOINTON
Tointon Family Stadium is home to the best Big 12 home record in 2025 … K-State is 16-2 at home this season … K-State baseball is 424-219 when playing at Tointon Family Stadium (since 2002) … The Wildcats are 118-44 at home under Hughes … The Cats 16-0 start at home in 2006 set a program record.

HOME COOKIN'
K-State has won 16 of its 18 home tilts in 2025 … At home, the Wildcat offense is hitting .318 with a 1.056 OPS and 48 home runs ... K-State averages 9.6 runs a game on 10.4 hits at Tointon Family Stadium ... Conversely, the Cats are hitting .257 with a .792 OPS in games away from home, averaging 5.8 runs per game and 8.2 hits a game ... The Wildcat bullpen boasts a 4.79 ERA at home, striking out 152 compared to 54 walks (2.81 strikeout-to-walk ratio) ... In road and neutral contests, K-State starters and relievers have a combined ERA of 5.93 with 282 strikeouts and 146 walks ... K-State has homered in all but one game at home this season, with 48 of its 86 home runs coming at Tointon Family Stadium ... Seven starters are hitting north of .300 at home led by O'Connor hitting at a .383 clip at home, followed by Kennedy (.362) and Inoue (.349) … Four players have tallied five or more home runs at Tointon, led by O'Connor and Martin each with eight.

RECORD CHASING
K-State enters the weekend with chances at breaking two team records and three individual -
team home run record (89), Conference wins in a single season (16), 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.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK
After his record-tying performance helped the Wildcats to a series win at BYU, K-State's Keegan O'Connor has been named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, the conference office announced Monday … It is the first weekly honor for O'Connor at K-State and 25^th weekly award K-State has garnered under seventh-year head coach Pete Hughes … O'Connor tied the program's single-game home run record in an 18-4 victory over the Cougars on Friday, becoming just the fifth Wildcat in school history to hit three home runs in a game — and the first since 2006 … A native of Andover, Massachusetts, O'Connor finished just a grand slam shy of the home run cycle and a double short of hitting for the cycle, finishing the game going 5-for-6 with six runs batted in and four runs scored. He also became the second Big 12 player this season to hit three homers in a single game … For the week, the graduate left fielder hit .476 (10-for-21) with a 1.048 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage … Five of his 10 hits were for extra-bases, totaling an incredible 1.548 OPS and driving a team-high eight RBI.

VS RANKED OPPONENTS
K-State is 3-2 against ranked teams this season with three straight victories over opponents featured in at lead one national poll ... K-State has won six of its last 10 games against top-25 teams, dating back to a series win over then-No. 15 Oklahoma State … The Cats finished 4-7 against ranked teams last season with wins over No. 25 UCF, No. 15 Oklahoma State and No. 5 Arkansas … This season, K-State is out-hitting top-25 teams .281-.2225 with a .400 on-base percentage and slugging .427, while the pitching staff has a 3.80 ERA (19 ER, 45 IP) against opponents 5.80 ERA (29 ER, 45 IP).

BIG BAT CATS
With 86 home runs on the year, K-State is just four home runs from breaking the school record … K-State ranks second in the Big 12 and 11^thin the nation after sending out nine in the series at BYU, led by a record-tying three in the middle game by Keegan O'Connor … O'Connor became the fifth player to send out three in a single game in school history ... For the first time since 2022, four different players have reached double figure home runs: O'Connor (15), Martin (14), Kennedy (11) and Dardar (10) … The Cats have hit multiple home runs in 25 contests this season (22-3) ... In total, 13 different players have sent one out this season … Five different players have each turned in multi-home run performances (Latest: Dardar, O'Connor at BYU, May 2) … 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 a single-season record 89 in 2021.

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 15 homers on the year, O'Connor is now just one home run away from matching the program's single-season record … He ties first in the Big 12 with nine home runs in conference play, ranking second overall in the league.

WINNING TIME
In K-State's 28 wins this season, the Wildcats are hitting .374 with runners in scoring position and .292 with two outs ... Conversely, the Cats have a .200 average with runners in scoring position while hitting .209 with two outs over 20 losses ... K-State has produced 81 two-out RBI in victories with 30 in losses ... Overall, K-State hits .324 in victories against just .213 in defeats ... In 20 losses, K-State pitchers have combined for 102 walks (5.1 per game) while in victories the staff averages 3.1 walks per game (88 walks in 28 wins) and 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

CATS VS. THE BIG 12
K-State, which is 14-10 in league games, has six Big 12 Conference series this season including sweeps over Utah and Texas Tech while going 2-2 in series on the road … The Cats won their first road series at BYU over the weekend and picked up the program's third road series win against Baylor – first since 2017 … The Cats rank sixth in the league standings with a 14-10 conference record, that includes league-best 10-2 record at home … K-State is hitting .278 in conference play, averaging 7.2 runs on 9.3 hits … O'Connor paves the way for the offense, slashing .391/.436/.815 with a team-leading 10 doubles and nine home runs 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 +79-run differential through 48 games this season ... The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 113-53 (+60) 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 25-11 when hitting a home run and 22-3 when hitting multiple homers ... K-State has won 10 of 15 games in which it has not committed an error while going 18-15 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 6-16 when scoring five or fewer runs in a game and is 22-4 when scoring at least six runs ... K-State is 7-8 in games decided by two runs or fewer ... Home runs account for 152 of the 367 runs batted in on the season (41.4 percent) … K-State is hitting .319 on the season with runners in scoring position and .258 with two outs, driving in 111 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 Big 12 standings, with an NCAA-leading winning percentage (.830) … Arizona State is second in the league standings followed by a three-way tie for third between Kansas, Arizona and TCU to round out the Top-5 … The Wildcats rank sixth in the conference standings … The Big 12 has two teams in the latest D1Baseball Top 25 rankings with No. 12 West Virginia and No. 22 Arizona ... The Big 12 has three teams in the top 25 of the RPI (16. TCU, 20. West Virginia, 23. Arizona), seven in the top 50 (38. Kansas, 40. Arizona State, 43. Cincinnati, 46. K-State) and 12 in the top 70 (55. Oklahoma State, 57. Texas Tech, 59. BYU, 63. Baylor, 67. UCF). Houston (No. 91) and Utah (No. 140) round out the Conference's RPI rankings through Monday, May 5 … Cincinnati's Kerrington Cross (player), Oklahoma State's Harrison Bodendorf (pitcher) and Kansas State's Keegan O'Connor (newcomer) were tabbed as recipients of the Big 12 Baseball weekly awards for games ending May 4.

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David Bishop

Owen Boerema

Seth Dardar

Jacob Frost

Shintaro Inoue

Dee Kennedy

Kyan Lodice

Maximus Martin

Keegan O'Connor

Cayden Phillips

Michael Quevedo

Ben Rosin

Lincoln Sheffield

JJ Slack

Kansas State University Athletics