Courtesy of Kansas State Athletics
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State heads to California for a four-game road trip leading off with a three-game series against UC Irvine starting on Friday at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark in Irvine.
The series opener is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT followed by games two and three at 3 p.m. CT.
Left-hander Owen Boerema (4-1) will get the start in the series opener while German Fajardo (2-1) will earn his 11th start of the season on Saturday with Collin Rothermel (1-1) starting on Sunday.
Friday marks the first meeting between the two schools in California with K-State leading the all-time series 3-2 since its start in 2008 with all five games played in Manhattan.
The series can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with radio coverage available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is available for the three-game series at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.
GAME #40
K-STATE (24-15, 9-6 Big 12) vs. UC IRVINE (22-11, 7-8 Big West)
Friday, April 21 | 8 p.m. CT | Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (2,900)
Projected Starters: LHP Owen Boerema v. LHP Nick Pinto
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats | Tickets
GAME #41
K-STATE (24-15, 9-6 Big 12) vs. UC IRVINE (22-11, 7-8 Big West)
Saturday, April 22 | 3 p.m. CT | Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (2,900)
Projected Starters: RHP German Fajardo v. RHP Danny Suarez
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats | Tickets
GAME #42
K-STATE (24-15, 9-6 Big 12) vs. UC IRVINE (22-11, 7-8 Big West)
Sunday, April 23 | 3 p.m. CT | Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark (2,900)
Projected Starters: RHP Collin Rothermel v. TBD
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: 1350AM/93.3/93.7FM
Listen Online: kstatesports.com/watch
Live Stats | Tickets
A LOOK AT K-STATE
The Wildcats look to bounce back after a tough loss against in-state foe Wichita State, moving to 24-15 overall … K-State is slashing .273/.405/.467 as a team which includes 66 doubles, eight triples and 57 home runs with two starters hitting over .300 … K-State leads the nation in walks with 262 while ranking seventh in sacrifice flies (25), and 12th in stolen bases (88) … Brady Day leads the offense hitting .344 followed by Cash Rugely at .331 with the duo each posting a team-high 35 walks while combing for 63 runs scored … Roberto Pena has launched 10 homers this season followed by Nick Goodwin with nine while they rank second and third in RBI combing for 86 this season among the Big 12 … Goodwin and Brendan Jones have started in all 39 games for K-State at shortstop and center field… Jones ranks second in the league with 21 stolen bases which ranks 21st in the nation … Goodwin is second in the nation in sac flies with seven … As a team, the Wildcats have been dangerous on the base path with 88 stolen bases which ranks 12th in Division I … The Wildcats have a 4.96 team ERA with 353 strikeouts compared to 137 walks … K-State leads the league and ranks 32nd in DI with a 2.58 strikeout-to-walk ratio while also leading the Big 12 in fewest walks per nine innings at 3.64 and total walks allowed … Sixteen pitchers have made appearances on the mound with five making over 10 outings this year while German Fajardo has a team-high 10 starts … Left-handed Owen Boerema ranks second in the league with 64 total strikeouts while the Minnesota product is just one-of-six pitchers to strikeout 12+ in a single game … Pete Hughes is in his fifth season at the helm and has compiled an 122-107 (.533) record during his time with Wildcats … Hughes is 774-599-3 (.564) in his 26 years as a head coach …
SCOUTING UC IRVINE
The Anteaters enter the weekend with an overall 22-11 record for a 31 RPI including an 11-6 record at home … The Eaters currently rank seventh in the Big West standings at 7-8 … UCI is led by fifth-year head coach Ben Orloff who has guided the program to a 142-77 record … The Anteaters are slashing .287/.407/.427 averaging 7.3 runs a game on 9.7 hits … UCI has totaled 98 extra-base hits including 23 homers … Two starters are hitting over .300 led by Anthony Martinez … The freshman is hitting .366 on the year with 36 RBI and 29 runs scored along with a team-high .619 slugging percentage … Seven players have sent one out of the park this season led by Martinez and Chase Call with seven … On the mound, UCI has a 4.96 team ERA with opponents hitting .269 with a 2.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio which ranks 12th in Division I … David Vizcaino and Nick Pinto have each picked up four victories for the Anteaters with Vizcaino earning nine starts and Pinto eight … Tanner Brookes leads in appearances with 17 followed by Jacob King at 16 as the duo has combined for 38.1 innings and 54 strikeouts … King has a team-high six saves …
INSIDE THE SERIES
K-State leads the all-time series 3-2 since its series start in 2008 … The Cats won the 2022 series 2-1 in Manhattan while the Anteaters outscored the Cats 27-25 … K-State won the series finale, 5-3, with the offense hitting three home runs including a go-ahead shot from Nick Goodwin …
L, 3-4 – April 22, 2008 (Manhattan)
W, 9-7 (11) – April 23, 2008 (Manhattan)
W, 13-8 – April 22, 2022 (Manhattan)
L, 7-16 – April 23, 2022 (Manhattan)
W, 5-3 – April 24, 2022 (Manhattan)
A SEASON OF FIRSTS
The Wildcats' Dillons Sunflower Showdown series sweep was the first sweep over KU on the road since 2013 … The 2023 team is the fastest team to nine conference wins in program history … Fastest team to 24 overall wins since 2013 … First team to 11 road wins in a season and is just two wins shy of tying a program record 13 done by the 2013 and 1991 teams … K-State completed its first sweep over Oklahoma at home since 1990 … The sweep over the Sooners marked the first Big 12 series sweep since 2013 … K-State is the first member of the Big 12 to reach nine conference victories this season … First time in 123-years of K-State baseball history the Wildcats led off the season with a four-game road series sweep …
BRING OUT THE BROOMS
K-State has swept four three-plus game series this season including two Big 12 foes which marks the first since 2013 … The Cats are 13-0 in the four series and have outscored opponents 144-72 (+72) … The Wildcats plated 21 runs in the series finale against the KU Jayhawks in the highest-scoring game in series history to complete the Showdown sweep … K-State is the only program in the Big 12 to have two conference sweeps this season …
KEEP AN EYE ON 25
Junior Nick Goodwin was named to the 2023 Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, as the College Baseball Foundation announced the season's initial list Tuesday … The award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year ... It is named for former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who played for the Red Raiders from 1977 to 1980 … Wallace died of leukemia at the age of 27 … Goodwin, a junior from Overland Park, Kan., ranks second in the nation with seven sacrifice flies while ranking third in the league with 42 RBI … At the plate, the Overland Park native has a slash line of .289/.422/.535 to go with four doubles, two triples, and nine homers … Goodwin hit his 29th and 30th career home runs in the Cats sweep over Kansas to tie fifth overall in the K-State all-time leaderboard … He was one of seven shortstops from the Big 12 represented on the watch list …
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Texas leads the Big 12 standings with an 8-4 league record and 27-12 overall with the Wildcats following closely behind in second at 9-6 and 24-15 overall … TCU (22-15, 7-5) ranks third in the standings followed by West Virginia (26-11, 5-4) and Oklahoma State (25-13, 8-7) closing the top five … Texas Tech (27-12, 6-6) ranks sixth followed by Kansas (19-18, 5-7), Baylor (14-23, 5-10) and Oklahoma (19-19, 4-8) …
WALK THE WALK
The Cats have walked a nation-leading 262 times this season, averaging 6.7 per contest … Brady Day and Cash Rugely lead the Wildcats with 35 total walks each which ranks 18th in Division I and third in the Big 12 … K-State has registered double figure walks in eight games this season … The Cats had 16 walks against Youngstown State (March 10) which was nine short of matching the Division I all-time record … K-State is on pace to break the single-season Top 10 leaderboard with just 14 left to match the 10th top performance of 276 set in 1982 … The Wildcats all-time single-season walks record was set in 1995 with 382 …
GOTTA BE QUICKER THAN THAT
K-State has caused trouble on the base path for opponents, stealing a 88 bases which ranks 10th in all Division I and second in the Big 12 while sitting 12th with 2.26 per game … Brendan Jones has been the speedster for the Cats lineup with 21 stolen bases which is second in the Big 12 and 21st among all Division I players … The Cats nearly matched the program record with 11 stolen bases against Youngstown State (March 10) and were just one base shy of matching the record … The Cats 88 stolen bases surpasses the 2022 season total by 46 … The K-State single-season record is 149 set in 2009 thru 62 games …
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Raphael Pelletier continues to be a threat behind the plate as the redshirt-sophomore catcher from Mascouche, Quebec, Canada has thrown out a league-high 13 runners this season after tossing out a pair of runners on Tuesday against Wichita State … As a team, K-State is second in the league in caught stealing with 21 runners thrown out while having the lowest stolen base attempt percentage at .400 …
THE LONG BALL
K-State has launched 57 balls out of the park this season which ranks third in the Big 12 and 42nd across Division I … Eleven players have recorded multiple homers this season led by Roberto Pena with 10 … Nick Goodwin leads the current career leaderboard with 30 which ranks fifth on the all-time leaderboard … Four players have hit multiple homers in a single game with Kaelen Culpepper, Cole Johnson, Orlando Salinas, Jr., and Pena … Brendan Jones hit the Cats only game leadoff home run in the series opener against the West Virginia … The Cats have produced 80+ home runs the past two seasons … K-State hit back-to-back home runs for the third time this season against Wichita State by Culpepper and Pena … Four Wildcats have hit grand slams this season with the last coming from Kyan Lodice against Kansas (April 16) … Johnson and Pena each launched a grand slam against SFA (Feb. 20) to mark the first time since 2010 where two Wildcats posted grand slams in the same game … Just eight homers have been against left-handed pitchers, 26 are solo shots while 22 have come with one-out … The Wildcats were the only team to produce double digit bombs in the opening weekend (10) … The Wildcats sent five deep and out in the series finale against No. 24 West Virginia marking the fourth time in the Hughes era, and second this season … The five home runs were just short two of matching a program record seven …
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
K-State is 11-10 when playing on the road and 11-5 when playing in true away games as the visiting team including 5-4 in Big 12 road games ... On the road, the Wildcat offense is slashing .273/.391/.452 including 35 doubles, five triples and 29 home runs ... K-State has averaged 7.3 runs a game on 9.1 hits when on the road ... Four Wildcats are hitting over .300 on the road with Brady Day, Kaelen Culpepper, Raphael Pelletier and Brendan Jones … Day leads the offense on the road hitting .343 with 23 hits including four extra-base hits and eight RBI … Cole Johnson leads with 25 RBI on the road with six homers alongside Nick Goodwin … The Wildcat bullpen has boasted a 5.72 ERA on the road, striking out 197 compared to 82 walks ... Eight Cats have earned a victory on the road led by Kyler Heyne with three while Tyson Neighbors has a team-high four saves … Neighbors has made an appearance in 12 road games this season followed by Ty Ruhl with 10 …
LAST TIME OUT
Kaelen Culpepper and Roberto Pena each homered on Tuesday night as K-State dropped a 10-4 decision against Wichita State at Tointon Family Stadium ... K-State scored four runs on nine hits with seven left on base … Culpepper and Pena hit back-to-back homers in the fourth … Pena hit his 10th homer of the season … Six players registered a hit; three had multiple … Jackson Wentworth was credited to loss for a season record of 1-4 … Nick Goodwin and Brady Day went 2-for-3 at the plate … Culpepper led with three RBI … The bullpen combined for five strikeouts and four walks … WSU scored 10 runs on 12 hits with two errors and five left on base … Culpepper homered for the second straight game … Cats had their 14th multi-home run game … K-State hit back-to-back home runs for the third time this season … Cash Rugely reached base for the 21st straight game followed by Day (18) and Raphael Pelletier (15) … Pena leads the Cats with 10 homers; ranks fourth in the Big 12 … The Shockers lead the all-time series 57-44 … K-State is 26-19 against WSU when playing at home … The Wildcats move to 13-5 at home …
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
K-State has a season +89 run differential through 39 games averaging eight runs on 9.1 hits ... The Wildcats have outscored opponents 45-23 in the second inning alone and 108-50 (+59) from the seventh and on … Cats are 17-3 when leading after the sixth and 3-0 when tied after six ... K-State is 10-9 when committing no errors in a game … Conversely, K-State has won 14 games when one or more errors are committed, 14-6 overall ... The Wildcats are 18-6 when scoring first and 8-5 when scoring in the first inning … K-State has outhit opponents on 19 occasions this season and is 5-15 when being outhit … The Cats are 16-2 when limiting opponents to five or less runs and are 6-5 in one-run games… K-State is 19-9 when playing afternoon games and 5-6 when playing under the lights … The Cats have won 20 games against right-handed starters while going 4-6 against lefties …
FROM THE 'PEN
Under the guidance pitching coach Rudy Darrow, the Cats pitching staff has produced a 4.96 ERA which ranks fourth in the Big 12 with outings from 16 different players this season … The Wildcats have struck out 353 batters this season compared to 137 walks, averaging 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings which ranks third in the Big 12 … K-State's pitching staff leads the league with a 2.58 strikeout-to-walk ratio which is 32nd in Division I … The Cats lead the Big 12 with fewest walks allowed per nine innings at 3.63 and fewest allowed overall with 137 … Four players have earned at least three victories on the mound led by newcomer Owen Boerema with four followed by Tyson Neighbors and Mason Buss each with three … Boerema earned his fourth victory in the series opener against Oklahoma limiting the Sooners to one run with seven strikeouts during his six innings … The Litchfield, Minn., product is one of six players to strikeout 12+ batters in a single-game after fanning 12 against No. 21 Texas (April 7), ranks second in the league with 64 total strikeouts… Right-hander German Fajardo has made a team-high 10 starts on the mound this season, ranks eighth in the nation … Four different players have earned a save this year led by sophomore Tyson Neighbors with a league-high six which is the 25th-best in D1…
UP NEXT
The Cats will continue their trip in the Golden State with a midweek matchup with UC Riverside on Tuesday, April 25 at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed ESPN+ and the ESPN app with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.