MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State (4-0) continues the preseason journey in Texas on Wednesday, February 22 when the Wildcats take on Lamar (3-0) at Vincent Beck Stadium. Game time is scheduled for 6pm CT in Beaumont.
The Wildcats finished the season with the program’s first road sweep season opener with four games and victories over Stephen F. Austin.
German Fajardo starts on the hill for the second time this season and finishes eighth overall of his career. The Nogales, Arizona product threw four complete innings in its opening weekend, allowing for just two earned runs.
Wednesday’s game will be streamed live on ESPN+, while fans can listen or follow live stats provided by Lamar’s sports communications department at kstatesports.com/watch.
Tickets for the series at SFA are available now and can be purchased at sfajacks.evenue.net.
GAME #1
K-STATE (4-0, 0-0 BIG 12) AT LAMAR (3-0, 0-0 SOUTHLAND)
Friday, February 17 // 6 p.m. CT // Vincent-Beck Stadium (3,500) // Beaumont, Texas
Expected starters: German Fajardo (0-0, 0-0 Big 12) v. Trea Morse
Watch: ESPN+
Listen online: kstatesports.com/watch // Mitch Fortner
Live Stats | tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
K-State travels to Beaumont, Texas to face Lamar in a preseason singles game Wednesday night at Vincent Beck Stadium… K-State is in its 123rd baseball season and fifth under head coach Pete Hughes… The Wildcats are out too one of the hottest starts in school history after defeating Stephen F. Austin in a four-game series… The sweep was the first four-game road series sweep in opening weekend… The 4-0 start to the season is the program’s best start in the Pete Hughes era… K-State is one of two remaining undefeated teams in the Big 12 alongside nationally ranked No. 24 Texas Tech… Cole Johnson became the first player to hit a multi-home run game in the Big 12-recorded -High Four RBI… Junior shortstop Nick Goodwin is on a four-game winning streak while five Wildcats have reached base in all four games… Four freshmen made their college debuts on the mound, below r three real newcomers with Cole Wisenbaker, Mason Buss and Andrew Evans … Brendan Jones and Kaelen Culepper each set a new career high with three hits …
PEEKING LAMAR
Lamar opened the 2023 season 3-0 with a home win over the Oakland Golden Grizzlies… LU meets Texas A&M at 5 p.m. tonight in College Station… Lamar was picked to finish behind Southeastern Louisiana and McNeese in the Southland Preseason Poll to finish third overall Senior infielder Josh Blankenship was named to the Preseason Second Team All-Southland Conference…LU added 29 freshmen to the 2023 roster in the offseason…Senior infielder Kirkland Banks and All-WAC Defensive Team Selection Kirkland Banks returned for his final season Lamar returns…The Cardinals are led by seventh-year head coach Will Davis…The LSU grad has guided Lamar to an overall record of 142-151 (.485) since joining the program in 2016…Lamar bats as a 14-run team on 18 hits, .196 and 13 RBI…Kevin Dodge and Tanner Wilson lead the offense with a .333 batting average, each producing three hits ing… In the circle, Lamar threw 11 different pitchers opening weekend… The Cardinals have a 2.57 ERA allo wing 11 runs (eight earned) on 20 hits while limiting opponents to .217… Left-hander Jacob Ellis has a team low of 2.08 ERA and deserves one of three starts on the mound…Lamar finished 37-21 overall in 2022, including a win at the Western Athletic Conference Championship…Trhea Morse is the predicted starter for the midweek competition…Morse earned a start against Oakland by pitching 1 2/3 innings with one earned run being a double.
WITHIN THE SERIES
Wednesday marks the 10th overall meeting between K-State and Lamar and the first under Hughes…K-State is currently on a five-game winning streak against the Cardinals to lead the all-time streak 6-3, with all games at Beaumont taking place… The two schools last met on April 1, 2008 when the Wildcats won 4-1… The streak began in 1967 when Lamar led the streak with a two-game winning streak… K-State is 5-0 in the last five matchups.
W, 3:0 – February 22, 1986 (Beaumont)
W, 3-2 – February 23, 1986 (Beaumont)
W, 6-5 – February 23, 1986 (Beaumont)
W, 8-7(10) – March 3, 2007 (Beaumont)
W, 4-1 – April 1, 2008 (Beaumont)
OPENING DAY
The Wildcats drew 2-3 in the season opener under fifth-year head coach Pete Hughes after posting a 7-6 win over Stephen F. Austin back in 2000.
BOMB AWAY
K-State leads the Big 12 with 10 team homers and was the only team to produce double-digit bombs in its opening weekend… The Wildcats sent five deep and out in the series finale against Stephen F. Austin, marking the third time in the Hughes era … The five home runs were just under two to set a program record seven … The Cats have produced more than 80 home runs over the past two seasons … Cole Johnson and Roberto Pena each started a Grand Slam against SFA (February 20), um marking the first time since 2010 that two Wildcats hit grand slams in the same game…Three home runs against SFA were 2-out bombs while five were down the tally with the Cats…
Dig the long ball
Cole Johnson became the first player in the Big 12 to record a multi-home run game that season… The senior dropped two bombshells in back-to-back at-bats in the series finals against Stephen F. Austin… He sent off his first collegiate grand -Slam, who took his career to 11…Johnson is just four home runs away from matching his season-high seven from last season…
HOME. SWEET. HOME.
K-State finished its 2022 home game slate with a record of 21-7, marking the second straight season the Cats have reached the 20-win plateau at home… It was the first time K-State had 20 back-to-back streak of wins – home wins for three straight seasons from 2009-11… For the past two seasons, K-State is 45-14 (.763) – good for the third-best win total and third-best home win percentage in the Big 12. At home, the Wildcat offense hit .303 while hitting .566 with 60 homers…K-State averaged 6.9 runs per game on 10.2 hits at Tointon Family Stadium…The Wildcat Bullpen boasted himself at home with a 3.83 ERA, striking Out 128 vs. 60 walks… K-State has homered 24 of their 28 home games, while 60 of their 82 homers have come from the Tointon Family Stadium.
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 754- 584-3 (.563) 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 compiled a record 102-92 (.526)…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 had a season differential of +22 runs in four games… The Wildcats outplayed their opponents 7-0 in the fourth inning alone and 13-2 starting in the seventh inning… The Cats are 3-0 when they a home hit run and 2-0 on multiple home runs…K-State won four games when one or more errors were committed…
FROM THE PEN
The Cats’ bullpen posted a 5.00 ERA after opening weekend with SFA hitting .301… Blake Corsentino leads by two appearances while Ty Ruhl put up a team-high five innings with a team-low 1.80 ERA… Shay Hartis and Corsentino were each rewarded with a save… Four pitchers were credited with a win during the series at Stephen F. Austin… Tyson Neighbors hit a high five batters over the weekend… Thirteen pitchers made their season debuts at Nacogdoches.
PROMISING PROSPECTS
K-State’s Nick Goodwin cracked D1Baseball’s top 100 college prospects list ahead of the 2023 MLB Draft…Goodwin came in 77th overall and 12th in the top 50 shortstops…Cole Johnson came in 109th on the top 150 Outfielder ratings…Just 10 student-athletes from the Big 12 were voted into the top 100, with TCU’s Brayden Taylor leading the pack at number 8…Redshirt freshman Jackson Wentworth was right-righted into D1Baseball’s Top 200 Starting Pitchers List elected sitting 185. …
REVIEW OF SCHEDULE 2023
The Wildcats are planning 56 regular season games highlighted by 27 games at Tointon Family Stadium… K-State will play in 23 games against teams that made the NCAA tournament a year ago… The 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship will be played again at at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas May 24-28… The 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament begins June 2nd.
NEXT
K-State will compete in the 2023 Karbach Round Rock Classic February 24-26 in Round Rock, Texas… The Wildcats will face top-ranked LSU, Sam Houston and Iowa in the three-day event.
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). .
NEW FACES
The 2023 roster includes 19 new faces with 10 transfers and nine freshmen…Four of the Wildcats’ 10 transfers are from four-year universities, including three from Power 5 programs with Shay Hartis (Texas Tech), Trae Robertson (Missouri). ) and Jared Henry (UMass)…Combined with nine freshmen and three redshirts, 22 players on K-State’s 38-man roster have never played a game in a Wildcat uniform…Plus, only seven have more than a year of experience .
MLB DRAFT
K-State saw three players in the 2022 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft in Dylan Phillips (8th round, Los Angeles Angels), Blake Adams (13th round, Colorado Rockies) and Dominic Johnson (13th round, Detroit Tigers) … Phillips was the Wildcats’ fourth top-10 draft pick in the last four years … Dylan Phillips finished his stint in Manhattan as the program’s all-time home run leader at 44 — breaking the previous record of 37 by Scott Poepard, who had stood since 1997.
