OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha baseball hits the road for a mid-week tilt to Manhattan, Kan., against Kansas State.
The Mavericks and Wildcats square off for the 15th time and the game marks just the second mid-week contest for Omaha this season.
Links for live stats, viewing and audio can be found at OMavs.com.
LEADING OFF
• Omaha has won six straight and 16 of its last 17 games.
• The Mavericks head into the game with the nation's best fielding percentage at .983.
• With a 12-0 record in conference play, Omaha joins Xavier (3-0) as one of two teams in the nation that are unbeaten in league action.
• The duo of
Braden Rogers and
Breyden Eckhout both have double-digit hitting streaks. Rogers is at career-best 15 straight games, while Eckhout posts a 10-game hitting streak heading into the matchup.
•
Parker Smejkal leads The Summit League with a .397 batting average through 21 appearances. His on-base percentage also ranks fifth in the nation at 0.551.
• His teammates Rogers,
Keil Krumwiede, Eckhout and
Ben Palensky each rank in the top-10 for the league in batting average, as they all have above a .300 mark this season.
• Wednesday will be just the second mid-week game for Omaha this season, as the Mavericks fell 12-2 at Wichita State on March 26.
• Freshman
Jackson Gordon will make his first-career start on the mound against the Wildcats.
• Senior
Payton Kinney ranks 13th in the nation with a 1.21 ERA and a league-best 6-0 record, while Saturday starter
Spencer Koelewyn leads the nation in hits allowed per nine innings at 3.16.
STARTING PITCHERS
OMAHA
Wednesday, April 10 –
Jackson Gordon – RHP / 0-0 / 3.31 ERA
K-STATE
Wednesday, April 10 – Caleb Littlejim – RHP / 1-1 / 7.30 ERA
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kansas State is led by head coach Pete Hughes who is in his first season with the program. Hughes is 13-20 at K-State, but owns a 665-512-3 record in his 22 years of coaching.
The Wildcats lead the all-time series 12-2 over Omaha, as they defeated the Mavericks in two meetings last season (3-0 in Manhattan, 6-5 in Omaha). The Wildcats recently lost a three-game series at Creighton with an 11-1 defeat in the rubber match last Sunday. Sophomore Zach Kokoska leads the team with a .327 average, a .403 on-base percentage and a .510 slugging percentage. Junior Will Brennan ranks second in the nation in at-bats per strikeouts this season, as he has not struck out in his last 37 at-bats.
LOOKING AHEAD
Omaha continues its Summit League action with a three-game road series at Oral Roberts, beginning Friday, April 12. The series-opening first pitch is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start time.
