HawgBeat - Fayetteville Regional Preview: Kansas State
HawgBeat does an in-depth scouting report on the Kansas State Wildcats and how they stack up with Arkansas baseball.
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The Arkansas Razorbacks (43-14) are set to host the Fayetteville Regional as the No. 5 national seed in the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament this weekend at Baum-Walker Stadium.
While the first squad the Diamond Hogs will face is the 4-seed Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, the Fayetteville Regional also features the 3-seed Kansas State, which will begin regional play against 2-seed Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
Led by sixth-year head coach Pete Hughes, the Wildcats enter the regional with a 32-24 overall record and they posted a 15-15 record in Big 12 play this season.
Kansas State's key resume series win came over Oklahoma State in April, plus they took trips to Tennessee and Clemson for midweek games to earn the No. 30 toughest schedule nationally and a No. 45 RPI ranking.
"It was definitely a tough schedule for us," junior infielder Kaelen Culpepper said Tuesday. "It definitely prepared us for what we're about to face going into the postseason. I think Coach Hughes and the rest of the coaching staff did a really good job of helping us prepare for really good baseball we're about to play in a couple of days here."
Graduate senior ace Owen Boerma (6-3, 4.91 ERA) will get the start on the mound Friday against Louisiana Tech for the Wildcats, and Jackson Wentworth (4-5, 4.18 ERA) in the Saturday game, according to Hughes.
Fayetteville Regional Preview: Louisiana Tech
Boerma threw a complete game against West Virginia (4 earned runs allowed, 10 strikeouts, 2 walks) his last time out on May 22. Wentworth gave up six earned runs on seven hits the next day in an elimination loss to TCU in the Big 12 Tournament.
Junior righty Tyson Neighbors leads the team with eight saves and he has 15 walks and 55 strikeouts across 20 relief appearances. Sophomore left-hander Cole Wisenbaker has also been a reliable bullpen arm with a team-best 2.83 earned run average in 28.2 innings pitched.
Redshirt junior second baseman Brady Day was a 12th round selection by the Atlanta Braves in the 2023 MLB Draft, but he elected to return to Kansas State and he paces the team with a .332 batting average and 53 runs batted in.
While the Wildcats have just three batters hitting over .300 on the year, Kansas State does rank 10th nationally with 127 stolen bases. Center fielder Brendan Jones leads the team and ranks 6th in the country with 37 stolen bags.
Kansas State will begin regional play Friday evening at 7 p.m. CT against the 2-seed Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Arkansas and Southeast Missouri State will play the first game of the Fayetteville Regional on Friday at 2 p.m. CT and the game will also be streamed live on ESPN+.
Fayetteville Regional Preview: Southeast Missouri State
Below is a comparison of the Arkansas and Kansas State's metrics and stats, as well as a look at the projected starting lineup and noteworthy pitchers for the Wildcats...
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Team Metrics Comparison
| Metric | Kansas State (32-24) | Arkansas (43-14) |
|---|---|---|
| RPI | 45 | 5 |
| Strength of Schedule | 30 | 14 |
| Non-Conference RPI | 30 | 1 |
| Non-Conference SOS | 83 | 44 |
| Home Record | 20-7 | 33-3 |
| Road Record | 9-14 | 7-8 |
| Neutral Record | 3-3 | 3-3 |
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Team Stats Comparison
| Statistic | Kansas State (32-24) | Arkansas (43-14) |
|---|---|---|
| Batting Average | .271 | .268 |
| Runs Scored | 353 | 375 |
| Home Runs | 59 | 77 |
| ERA | 5.44 | 3.66 |
| Strikeouts | 550 | 670 |
| Walks | 215 | 212 |
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Kansas State Projected Starting Lineup (not official)
1. CF Brendan Jones — Senior, R/R, 6'0", 210 pounds
2024 stats: 215 AB, 61 R, 64 H, 12 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 30 RBI, 52 BB, 49 K, 37 SB, .298/.439/.484
2. DH Kyan Lodice — Senior, L/L, 6'1", 210 pounds
2024 stats: 99 AB, 15 R, 22 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 14 BB, 43 K, 7 SB, .222/.322/.364
3. SS Kaelen Culpepper — Senior, R/R, 6'2", 215 pounds
2024 stats: 225 AB, 45 R, 71 H, 12 2B, 5 3B, 9 HR, 49 RBI, 33 BB, 37 K, 16 SB, .316/.410/.533
4. 2B Brady Day — Senior, L/R, 6'0", 185 pounds
2024 stats: 214 AB, 46 R, 71 H, 15 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 53 RBI, 43 BB, 34 K, 16 SB, .332/.444/.533
5. 1B David Bishop — Senior, R/R, 5'9", 178 pounds
2024 stats: 166 AB, 26 R, 43 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 26 RBI, 14 BB, 29 K, 13 SB, .259/.314/.361
6. RF Nick English — Senior, R/R, 6'0", 195 pounds
2024 stats: 201 AB, 27 R, 51 H, 17 2B, 2 HR, 35 RBI, 24 BB, 47 K, 9 SB, .254/.341/.368
7. 3B Jaden Parsons — Redshirt Senior, R/R, 5'9", 171 pounds
2024 stats: 105 AB, 17 R, 32 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 17 BB, 22 K, 9 SB, .305/.416/.362
8. C Raphael Pelletier — Redshirt Junior, L/R, 5'8", 173 pounds
2024 stats: 166 AB, 28 R, 35 H, 6 2B, 9 HR, 27 RBI, 39 BB, 51 K, .211/.371/.410
9. LF Chuck Ingram — Redshirt Freshman, R/R, 5'10", 175 pounds
2024 stats: 225 AB, 44 R, 60 H, 10 2B, 3 2B, 9 HR, 25 RBI, 22 BB, 73 K, .267/.337/.458
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Kansas State Noteworthy Pitchers
LHP Owen Boerema — Graduate Senior, 6'5", 225 pounds
2024 stats: 17 APP, 17 GS, 4.91 ERA, 6-3 W/L, 88.0 IP, 81 H, 52 R, 48 ER, 39 BB, 99 K
RHP Jackson Wentworth — Redshirt Sophomore, 6'1", 210 pounds
2024 stats: 26 APP, 6 GS, 4.18 ERA, 4-5 W/L, 6 SV, 75.1 IP, 60 H, 40 R, 35 ER, 22 BB, 107 K
RHP Blake Dean — Freshman, 6'1", 190 pounds
2024 stats: 26 APP, 3 GS, 4.40 ERA, 4-3 W/L, 1 SV, 57.1 IP, 56 H, 40 R, 28 ER, 24 BB, 61 K
RHP Josh Wintroub — Graduate Senior, 6'3", 230 pounds
2024 stats: 15 APP, 13 GS, 6.15 ERA, 2-4 W/L, 52.2 IP, 70 H, 42 R, 36 ER, 13 BB, 54 K
RHP Tyson Neighbors — Junior, 6'2", 220 pounds
2024 stats: 20 APP, 0 GS, 3.24 ERA, 1-2 W/L, 8 SV, 33.1 IP, 23 H, 14 R, 12 ER, 15 BB, 55 K
LHP Cole Wisenbaker — Sophomore, 6'3", 180 pounds
2024 stats: 19 APP, 0 GS, 2.83 ERA, 2-0 W/L, 28.2 IP, 24 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 13 BB, 26 K
LHP Jacob Frost — Junior, 6'2", 220 pounds
2024 stats: 14 APP, 8 GS, 7.49 ERA, 3-1 W/L, 45.2 IP, 52 H, 45 R, 38 ER, 23 BB, 40 K
LHP JJ Slack — Graduate Senior, 5'10", 185 pounds
2024 stats: 13 APP, 0 GS, 4.50 ERA, 2-1 W/L, 24.0 IP, 23 H, 13 R, 12 ER, 13 BB, 27 K
RHP Andrew Evans — Sophomore, 6'5", 245 pounds
2024 stats: 11 APP, 2 GS, 10.08 ERA, 4-2 W/L, 25.0 IP, 35 H, 29 R, 28 ER, 9 BB, 19 K
