MANHATTAN, Kan. — K-State heads out for one last vote before the Big 12 play Wednesday when the Wildcats (11-5) take on the Creighton Bluejays (6-5) at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb .
The single game matchup is scheduled for 6pm while the two programs meet later in the season for the second round on Monday 10 April at the Tointon Family Stadium.
Wildcats freshman right-hander Mason Buss (1-0) will get his first collegiate start against the Bluejays, facing junior left-hander Cade Lommel (0-2).
Wednesday’s nightcap marks the 99th clash between K-State and Creighton, with the Cats leading the all-time streak 53-44-1 while the Bluejays lead 23-14 in Omaha.
Tickets for the midweek matchup are available and can be purchased HERE.
The game will be broadcast on FloBaseball with radio coverage available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is available for all four games at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports App.
GAME #17
K-STATE (11-5, 0-0 Big 12) at CREIGHTON (6-5, 0-0 Big East)
Wednesday March 15 | 6 p.m. | Charles Schwab Field-Omaha (24,000)
Estimated starters: RHP Mason Buss (1-0) vs. LHP Cade Lommel (0-2)
Watch: FloBaseball
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats| tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State returns to the streets Wednesday night for the 99th meeting between the Wildcats and the Creighton Bluejays… K-State goes into the midweek nightcap with a seven-game winning streak 11-5 after beating Youngstown State in a three game series… The Cats earn a 16-2 run rule win over the Penguins highlighted by their third 10+ run inning of the season… As a team, K-State averages a .280 slash /.423/.497 9.9 runs per contest on 9.3 hits… The Cats have logged 59 extra base hits this season, including 29 doubles, four triples and 26 home runs, which ranks second in the Big 12… Junior shortstop Nick Goodwin leads offense with a .333 batting average with a team high of 19 hits and .474 percent on-base… Eight players have had double-digit RBIs this season, led by Goodwin and Cole Johnson with 20 each… The Wildcats have a team ERA of 4.60, allowing for 5.3 runs with 9.9 hits per game Opponents who hit .283… Two players from the Cats’ bullpen have a .00 ERA in newcomers Corey Cater and Jared Henry … The freshman right-hander will make his first college start Wednesday … Buss picked up his first win on the mound in the run-rule against Youngstown State (Dec. March) by throwing two full innings with an undeserved run to a hit and three strikeouts to match a season high…
EXPLORE CRIGHTON
The Bluejays go into the week on a two-game winning streak after beating BYU to move up to 6-5 in the season … Creighton fought his way to a 15-5 seven-inning run rule over Cougars, though he played in light rain…Ed Servais is in his 20th season at the helm of the Bluejay baseball program…Servais has a 624-368-1 record while with Creighton and is 806-450-2 overall…As a team Creighton has a .273/.397/.459 team slash line with 41 extra base hits in 11 games…Three players batting over .300…Junior shortstop Nolan Clifford leads the offense with a .400 batting average, two doubles and two home runs and a team high. 479 on-base percentage… Four players have recorded double-digit RBIs while Jack Grace, a 6-foot-3 senior from Illinois, has gone on court five times this season… The Bluejays have a team of 6.26 ERA allowing opponents to hit .287 while scoring 6.6 runs per contest on 9.4 hits… Senior right-hander Ryan Windham has a team-low 2.45 ERA with four starts a nd one loss… Junior Cade Lommel will start Wednesday… The left-hander has three games in one start this season and is 0-2 through 2 1/3 innings…
WITHIN THE SERIES
Wednesday’s game marks the 99th meeting between the two programs since the series began in 1903…K-State leads the series all-time 53-44-1 and returned to the Victory Column after beating the Bluejays in the 7-5 at home last season… K-State is 5-5 in the last 10 meetings and 2-3 in the last five… The Wildcats have blasted four homers while the pitching staff hit 18 batters in the last meeting …
L, 3-8 – April 4, 2018 (Omaha)
L, 0-4 – April 5, 2019 (Omaha)
W, 9-2 – April 6, 2019 (Omaha)
L, 1-11 – April 7, 2019 (Omaha)
W, 7-5 – April 5, 2022 (Manhattan)
LAST TIME-OUT
The Wildcats extended their winning streak to seven after sweeping past Youngstown State last weekend…K-State outscored YSU 45-12 with 30 hits, including four homers and 39 RBI…Cash Rugely led the Cats offense 5-9 (.556) at the plate with a 1.111 slug percentage, a triple, a homer, five walks and five stolen bases… Brendan Jones sent two in back-to-back games for his first college home runs… Owen Boerema, Shay Hartis and Mason Buss Each of them was rewarded with wins on the mound, with Boerema hitting a season-high eight… Tyson Neighbors earned Saturday night’s save, taking the teams’ season total to four…
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Oklahoma State and Texas Tech each lead the league with a 14-3 aggregate record, while the Cowboys are on a league-high 11-game winning streak…West Virginia is third at 10-4, followed by Kansas State and Oklahoma at 11 each -5 to round out the top 5… TCU (9-6) is sixth, followed by Texas (9-7), Kansas (7-6) and Baylor (5-11)…
WHERE WE WERE
The Wildcats cut their walks by 27% and doubled their walks in the first 15 games of the 2023 season compared to this time last year… In 2022, K-State averaged 5.6 runs per game with 15 home runs, .373 on -Base Percentage and .828 OPS… Just a year later, the Wildcats were heading in the right direction with 9.5 runs per game, 25 homers, 414 OBP and .908 OPS in 15 games…
THE LONG BALL
K-State has produced 26 home runs this season, which ranks second in the Big 12 and 28th in Division I… Roberto Pena, Nick Goodwin and Cash Rugely lead the pack with four home runs each… The Cats have produced more than 80 home runs in the past two seasons… Three Wildcats have hit Grand Slams this season, the last coming against Stonehill (March 4) by Cash Rugely… Cole Johnson and Roberto Pena each started a Grand Slam against SFA (March 20). February) to mark the first time since 2010 where two Wildcats scored grand slams in the same game… Eight players recorded a multi-home run season… 23 home runs were against right-handed pitchers, 11 were solo shots, while 12 were with one-outs came… The Wildcats were the only team to produce double-digit bombs in the opening weekend (10)… The Wildcats sent five deep and outs in the series finale against Stephen F. Austin, marking their third time in the H ughes-era… The five homers were just under two from a matching program record seven…
AGAIN ON THE STREET
K-State is 4-5 playing on the road and 0-3 playing at a neutral spot…On the road, the Wildcat offense hits .255 while hitting .446 with 14 homers…K-State is averaging 7.2 runs per game on 8.4 hits on the road… The Wildcat Bullpen has a 5.31 ERA on the road and is hitting 79 versus 29 walks…
RESPECT
After seeing action in just 34 games from 12 starts last season, Raphael Pelletier has earned well-deserved respect behind the plate… The redshirt catcher sophomore from Mascouche, Quebec, Canada has seven league wins this season Runners kicked out followed by five Big 12 catchers who only have four… Pelletier is just one of his career highs from last season…
COACH HUGHES FILE
Pete Hughes got his 100th win with K-State on Feb. 18 in game two against Stephen F. Austin…Hughes is in his 26th season and is fifth at the top of K-State baseball…Hughes has a career record 761- 589-3 (.564) as head coach…His 750 career wins rank first among active Big 12 head coaches…In five seasons as head coach of the Wildcats, Hughes has a record 109-97 (.529)…He is leading the Cats to back-to-back runs in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship semifinals… In 2021, K-State went to a 34-23 mark, its highest win total since posting 45 in 2013… Three players were selected in the 2022 MLB The First Year Player Draft brings Hughes’ overall career picks to 82, including eight while at K-State.
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State has a +75 run season differential in 16 games averaging 9.9 runs on 9.3 hits… The Wildcats outplayed their opponents 28-6 in the fourth inning alone and 56-23 starting in the seventh.. .Cats are 8-1 if leading after the seventh and 1-1 if tied after seven…K-State is 3-2 if he makes no mistakes in a game…Conversely, K-State has won eight games, if one or more errors were committed, 8-3 overall… The Wildcats are 8-2 if they score the first goal and 5-2 if they score in the first inning… K-State has this season beat opponents seven times and is 4-5 when beaten… The Cats are 5-1 by limiting opponents to only 3-5 runs and being 2-3 in one run games…
FROM THE PEN
The Cats pitching team has a 4.60 ERA this season from 15 different players… Three players have had two wins on the mound, while Owen Boerema has pitched a team-high 19 1/3 innings this season … German right-hander Fajardo has managed five starts from the mound this season … Owen Boerema has beaten a team leading 26 batsmen followed by Tyson Neighbors with 20 … Four different players have earned a save this year …
NEXT
K-State kicks off the Big 12 action this weekend, March 17-19 in Waco, Texas as the Wildcats take on Baylor. The series opener on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Baylor Ballpark. The series will stream on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, while radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is available for all four games at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports App.
How to Follow the ‘Cats: Keep up to date with K-State Baseball online at www.kstatesports.com and on the team’s social media channels on Twitter and Instagram.
— www.k-statesports.com —
Kansas State University, the nation’s first operational land-grant institution and a Carnegie Foundation Tier One university, is recognized as one of the nation’s premier colleges of world-class research and academic excellence in America’s #1 College Town (Manhattan, KS). .
