BatCats are on a winning streak

Baseball

All’s well that ends well, right? That’s a platitude that may not be particularly satisfying to Kansas State’s baseball program, but the end of the season is going reasonably well for the BatCats. The team took the Sunflower Showdown series and topped Wichita State. Now, Kansas State has taken a series lead against San Francisco in the season’s final contest. The 4-2 decision over the Dons is the BatCats’ fourth straight win.

Starter Hudson Treu pitched five innings with two earned runs, four strikeouts and no walks, and Jaxson Passino and Tyler Eckberg then held the Dons hitless over the next four innings to seal the victory. Hanz Harker, Drew Mount, and Jordan Maxson each had two hits and Maxson and Mount added two RBIs along with one each for Dylan Watts and Cameron Thompson.

The series continues today with first pitch scheduled for 5 PM CDT.

Track and Field

The NCAA West Preliminaries begin in Sacramento on May 24, and several Kansas State track and field athletes have qualified for the event. Specifically, 18 women and nine men will participate at the West Prelims for Kansas State and a chance to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Athletes with the top 12 times/marks and the top 12 relay teams at the West Prelims will make it to the NCAAs. For Kansas State, several athletes are competing for the first time at the Prelims, including Ranae McKenzie (400H) and Tejaswin Shankar (high jump) who have the top marks in the West in their events so far.

For the combined events, the NCAA has already named qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. Nina Schultz and Ariel Okorie will represent the Wildcats in the heptathlon while Aaron Booth will participate in the decathlon.

For a full list of entires, click HERE.

Football (sort of)

This past weekend, a number of Kansas State student-athletes donned caps and gowns and graduated with their degrees. For some, this journey can be longer than expected. It took former linebacker Reggie Walker several years, but this past weekend, he finally got his degree from Kansas State.

He needed a little push from Bill Snyder and and some advice from his military parents, but Walker really appreciates the degree as a reward for his efforts, which included trying to finish school in Manhattan while raising a family. In this, he had plenty of help from Kansas State’s Second Wind program. Several former athletes have used the program’s online curriculum to finish their degrees.

Walker is working on a book on mentoring, a sort of guide for people going into college athletics, and he intends to return to school for a master’s degree in counseling. Oh, and he’s moving to Kansas City so he can be closer to Manhattan, one of his “favorite places on Earth.”

Speaking of former Wildcats, DJ Reed is getting some love from his new team. The 49’ers are high on Reed’s foot speed and athleticism, but also on his “lead by example” character. Reed, who left Kansas State early to help his family financially, is also not short on confidence. After he was drafted, he told reporters “I don’t get scored on, and then I get interceptions.”

Finally, in his weekly K-State Q&A, Kellis Robinett answers all the important questions including whether Jesse Ertz is actually Deadpool, whether a woman and/or person of color will ever be Willie the Wildcat, and whether there really is a GIF for every Big 12 team (duh!).