SLATE: Now Bruce Weber’s snatching up freshmen

It’s a short one today, folks. The slowness is beginning to set in.

Yesterday, Bruce Weber — or, more accurately, Shane Southwell — officially landed what’s probably the final piece of the 2021-22 Kansas State puzzle, signing 6’ 5” small forward Maximus Edwards from Our Saviour Lutheran School in New York to a national letter of intent on the first day of the spring signing period.

At the Grind Session World Championships, Edwards was named to the all-tournament team and won the dunk contest, enhancing his profile a bit. He committed back on January 10, but remains unranked at all by both Rivals and 247.

Baseball

Over on the diamond at Tointon, the BatCats throttled Northern Colorado 10-3 to complete a sweep of their two-game set. The Cats got on the board first on an unearned run when Cameron Thompson scored on a Ben McKay throwing error after Nick Goodwin grounded to short. The Bears (7-22) got the run back in the top of the second when McKay himself grounded out to short, driving in a run.

Then the Cats opened a can. After Blake Burrows walked to load the bases with two out, Thompson ripped a triple to left, clearing the sacks and giving K-State a 4-1 lead. That was enough in the end, but they weren’t done. Goodwin singled to drive in Thompson. He made it all the way to third on a stolen base and wild pitch, but was left hanging when Dylan Phillips flew out.

Phillips made up for it in the fourth, singling after Goodwin walked and stole second; Phillips then stole second himself before scoring on a Chris Ceballos double, and then Kamron Willman homered to push the score to 9-1.

K-State (19-14) finally stopped in the fifth, Zack Kokoska’s RBI single plating the final run of the day for the good guys. Jaxon Passino (2-0) made it through six, and Kasey Ford came on in the seventh followed by Luke Hauswirth, who was saddled with a pair of unearned runs in the eighth when Elijah Dale misfired on the relay throw to first which would have completed an inning-ending double play. Phillips pitched the ninth to close it out.

The Cats will be back on the field tomorrow evening as they host Oklahoma in the first of a three-game series, and the stands will be a little more full as K-State announced that they’re raising the capacity restriction to 50% for the rest of the season.

Track and Field

In today’s Sports Extra, Austin Siegel chats with All-American heptathlete — and current NCAA #1 in the event — Lauren Taubert.