Hard-Working Evasco Seeks Even More Production
Mar 02, 2026 | Baseball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
He's one of the most highly regarded left-handed hitting outfielder/first basemen in college baseball, he's a top-100 prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft, and he's coming off a Freshman All-American season that made Kansas State baseball nation wonder what's next for sophomore AJ Evasco in the 2026 season.
Well, the 20-year-old Evasco, a 6-foot-6, 220-pounder with a mean bat, and boasting a very long and broad-shouldered athletic build, is busy leading the new-look Wildcats, who made a season-opening statement with wins over Iowa, UConn, Penn State and Air Force in the MLB Desert Invitational, and improved to 8-4 over the weekend by winning a series against Columbia during the home-opening weekend in front of sellout crowds at Tointon Family Stadium.
"The Desert Invitational and playing No. 9 Auburn just gave me confidence for the rest of the season facing that type of pitching," says Evasco, who went 11-for-22 with three doubles, two triples and 10 RBI over the season's first five games. "We had a good game against Iowa, and that gave me confidence. It was really nice being back at home and being comfortable. I kind of struggled in the previous two games at Louisiana, so getting back here felt really nice, for sure."
In the three-game series against Columbia this past weekend, Evasco batted 4-for-10 with one double and 3 RBI but it was his two-run home run — his first home run of the season — during game one of the series that causes the overly-humble star to grin a small grin after a mini-victory.
"It felt really good," he says. "I was struggling to until that point, so it gave me confidence for the rest of the series."
The goal moving forward? Simple.
"To do more than I did last year," he says.
Currently, Evasco leads the team in batting average (.362), at-bats (47), hits (17), doubles (4), triples (2), fielding percentage (1.000), and he ranks second in RBI (15) and slugging percentage (.596), and third in on-base percentage (1.030).
"He's just a super-talented kid," K-State head coach Pete Hughes says. "He has the ability to put the barrel on the baseball on different pitches, and he can swing at different angles. He's very athletic with his hands. His hand-eye is so good that you put the ball into play enough you're going to get positive results."
This comes after Evasco hit .311 over 51 starts and 56 appearances as a freshman. He set K-State all-time freshman records with 11 home runs and 52 RBI to go along with 12 doubles and one triple. He recorded 14 multi-hit games and had a team-best 14-game hitting streak that spanned from March 1-23 of 2025. Defensively, he was outstanding with a .992 fielding percentage, showcasing his consistency and all-around impact throughout the season.
Then on June 9, while scrolling through Instagram, Evasco made the discovery: He had been named a 2025 Freshman All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, joining just 33 other freshmen across the country. During the season, Evasco surpassed the previous freshman home run record of 10 set by Nick Goodwin in 2021 and Dylan Phillips in 2019. He also broke the freshman RBI record previously shared by Brett Reid in 1999 and Nick Martini in 2009.
"I was really happy about the honor," he says. "I was just surprised that they posted it because I hadn't heard anything about it. But it was really nice. The home runs last year pleased me the most because in high school, I didn't hit home runs like that. Then I came here and worked with Coach Wates and started hitting home runs. That was the biggest thing for me."
Evasco, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, returned to his hometown during the summer — but not by his choosing. Sixteen games into his summer league season with Newport of the NECBL, and while slashing .278/.328/.444 with 15 hits and six RBI, Evasco pulled a quadriceps, forcing him to return home, and then onto Manhattan, for recovery until he was "good to go."
Over the fall, Evasco and Wates devised ways for him to reap even better production this season.
"I worked on hitting breaking balls, especially against lefties and lefties spin, because I knew this year they were going to pitch me differently after the year I had my freshman season. They were going to throw me sliders and curveballs, so I worked on that the most."
Hard work has paid off.
As a sophomore, does Evasco ever pinch himself at his success and his opportunity to help lead the Wildcats?
"You know, sometimes it's tempting to do that, but you feel like you always have to keep going," Evasco says. "I'm definitely excited about it. I lead by what I do on the field and try to be a good example for everybody watching.
"Once you become complacent that's when you start going down."
Baseball America recently published a story, "Nine More Underrated College MLB Draft Prospects to Watch in 2026," which was accompanied by a large photo of Evasco in a K-State uniform. Baseball America wrote: "Last season, posted a 90th percentile exit velocity just under 105 miles-per-hour while flashing the ability to drive the baseball with authority to all parts of the field."
Looking toward the 2026 MLB Draft? That's simply not in Evasco's DNA.
"He's a steady-Eddie," Hughes says. "He's not looking for the accolades, he's not thinking about draft, he's not thinking about agents and player ratings. He doesn't care about that stuff. He just wants to get better every day, loves to work, loves baseball and wants to win. Those kids with that mindset are oftentimes your most consistent performers. He's pretty grounded kid who comes from a great family."
And he's a leader for this K-State baseball family, which is shooting for a third-consecutive NCAA Regional.
"What I like most about the team is we're a really good hitting team this year, maybe a little better than last year," he says. Maybe not as many home runs, but contact wise, we're a good team. We have energy that we bring. Our pitching is pretty good as well. Our hitting is probably going to take us there.
"It seems like we've just started our season and we're almost to Big 12 play. I'm really excited for it."
K-State coaches, teammates, MLB scouts and fans are excited to see what Evasco does next over the next couple months.
He follows some simple words.
"With hard work, you can do anything you want, and you can prove anybody wrong," he says. "If you keep working, you can do anything you want."
With Evasco's hard work, it could be quite a show.
He's one of the most highly regarded left-handed hitting outfielder/first basemen in college baseball, he's a top-100 prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft, and he's coming off a Freshman All-American season that made Kansas State baseball nation wonder what's next for sophomore AJ Evasco in the 2026 season.
Well, the 20-year-old Evasco, a 6-foot-6, 220-pounder with a mean bat, and boasting a very long and broad-shouldered athletic build, is busy leading the new-look Wildcats, who made a season-opening statement with wins over Iowa, UConn, Penn State and Air Force in the MLB Desert Invitational, and improved to 8-4 over the weekend by winning a series against Columbia during the home-opening weekend in front of sellout crowds at Tointon Family Stadium.
"The Desert Invitational and playing No. 9 Auburn just gave me confidence for the rest of the season facing that type of pitching," says Evasco, who went 11-for-22 with three doubles, two triples and 10 RBI over the season's first five games. "We had a good game against Iowa, and that gave me confidence. It was really nice being back at home and being comfortable. I kind of struggled in the previous two games at Louisiana, so getting back here felt really nice, for sure."
In the three-game series against Columbia this past weekend, Evasco batted 4-for-10 with one double and 3 RBI but it was his two-run home run — his first home run of the season — during game one of the series that causes the overly-humble star to grin a small grin after a mini-victory.
"It felt really good," he says. "I was struggling to until that point, so it gave me confidence for the rest of the series."
The goal moving forward? Simple.
"To do more than I did last year," he says.
Currently, Evasco leads the team in batting average (.362), at-bats (47), hits (17), doubles (4), triples (2), fielding percentage (1.000), and he ranks second in RBI (15) and slugging percentage (.596), and third in on-base percentage (1.030).
"He's just a super-talented kid," K-State head coach Pete Hughes says. "He has the ability to put the barrel on the baseball on different pitches, and he can swing at different angles. He's very athletic with his hands. His hand-eye is so good that you put the ball into play enough you're going to get positive results."
This comes after Evasco hit .311 over 51 starts and 56 appearances as a freshman. He set K-State all-time freshman records with 11 home runs and 52 RBI to go along with 12 doubles and one triple. He recorded 14 multi-hit games and had a team-best 14-game hitting streak that spanned from March 1-23 of 2025. Defensively, he was outstanding with a .992 fielding percentage, showcasing his consistency and all-around impact throughout the season.
Then on June 9, while scrolling through Instagram, Evasco made the discovery: He had been named a 2025 Freshman All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, joining just 33 other freshmen across the country. During the season, Evasco surpassed the previous freshman home run record of 10 set by Nick Goodwin in 2021 and Dylan Phillips in 2019. He also broke the freshman RBI record previously shared by Brett Reid in 1999 and Nick Martini in 2009.
"I was really happy about the honor," he says. "I was just surprised that they posted it because I hadn't heard anything about it. But it was really nice. The home runs last year pleased me the most because in high school, I didn't hit home runs like that. Then I came here and worked with Coach Wates and started hitting home runs. That was the biggest thing for me."
Evasco, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, returned to his hometown during the summer — but not by his choosing. Sixteen games into his summer league season with Newport of the NECBL, and while slashing .278/.328/.444 with 15 hits and six RBI, Evasco pulled a quadriceps, forcing him to return home, and then onto Manhattan, for recovery until he was "good to go."
Over the fall, Evasco and Wates devised ways for him to reap even better production this season.
"I worked on hitting breaking balls, especially against lefties and lefties spin, because I knew this year they were going to pitch me differently after the year I had my freshman season. They were going to throw me sliders and curveballs, so I worked on that the most."
Hard work has paid off.
As a sophomore, does Evasco ever pinch himself at his success and his opportunity to help lead the Wildcats?
"You know, sometimes it's tempting to do that, but you feel like you always have to keep going," Evasco says. "I'm definitely excited about it. I lead by what I do on the field and try to be a good example for everybody watching.
"Once you become complacent that's when you start going down."
Baseball America recently published a story, "Nine More Underrated College MLB Draft Prospects to Watch in 2026," which was accompanied by a large photo of Evasco in a K-State uniform. Baseball America wrote: "Last season, posted a 90th percentile exit velocity just under 105 miles-per-hour while flashing the ability to drive the baseball with authority to all parts of the field."
Looking toward the 2026 MLB Draft? That's simply not in Evasco's DNA.
"He's a steady-Eddie," Hughes says. "He's not looking for the accolades, he's not thinking about draft, he's not thinking about agents and player ratings. He doesn't care about that stuff. He just wants to get better every day, loves to work, loves baseball and wants to win. Those kids with that mindset are oftentimes your most consistent performers. He's pretty grounded kid who comes from a great family."
And he's a leader for this K-State baseball family, which is shooting for a third-consecutive NCAA Regional.
"What I like most about the team is we're a really good hitting team this year, maybe a little better than last year," he says. Maybe not as many home runs, but contact wise, we're a good team. We have energy that we bring. Our pitching is pretty good as well. Our hitting is probably going to take us there.
"It seems like we've just started our season and we're almost to Big 12 play. I'm really excited for it."
K-State coaches, teammates, MLB scouts and fans are excited to see what Evasco does next over the next couple months.
He follows some simple words.
"With hard work, you can do anything you want, and you can prove anybody wrong," he says. "If you keep working, you can do anything you want."
With Evasco's hard work, it could be quite a show.
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