SLATE: BatCats back in action today

What was originally just a three-game series with TCU has now turned into a four-game stretch as the Wildcats and Horned Frogs gear up for a rematch of this past weekend’s series (that the Wildcats won) in the 2021 Big 12 Baseball Championship. Kansas State, the 7th-seed, will take the 2nd-seeded purple lizards at 12:30pm from Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The game can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Keith Moreland and Greg Swindell on the call (both are Texans and Longhorns, so expect them to favor the Frogs). Brian Smoller and Matt Walters will have the call on the K-State Sports Radio Network (which is pretty much just KMAN and online at K-State Sports for baseball).

Somehow, Mike Dibbini has added at 14th newcomer for the 2021 season. I say somehow, because the Wildcats are already set to return 18 letter winners from the 2020 squad (if Brookelynn Entz returns), and a 14th addition means the Cats could start the season with 32 players on the roster, which seems...excessive, but apparently isn’t when compared with other Big 12 rosters (like Oklahoma State’s 27). Numbers aside, the newest Wildcat is Porter List, who is a transfer from Wisconsion. The Minnesota native will have three years of eligibility remaining after spending her freshman season with the Badgers this past year.

The K-State track and field program was unable to advance a whole team to the NCAA West Regional this year, but will be sending 27 individual athletes as well as one relay team to this week’s final NCAA Championship qualifying event. The individual numbers are fairly even, with 14 women and 13 men representing K-State, with the men’s 4x400-meter team rounding out the group. Seniors Ariel Okorie and Lauren Taubert have already punched their tickets to the national meet in the heptathlon, their second-straight, while five Wildcats (senior Helene Ingvaldsen (women’s hammer throw), junior Taylor Latimer (women’s shot put), senior Ashley Petr (women’s discus), junior Tejaswin Shankar (men’s high jump), and senior Jullane Walker (men’s long jump)) will be attempting to also qualify for their second straight championship. Action begins today at 6:00pm CDT and runs through Saturday, and you can watch the whole meet over at WatchESPN (not ESPN+), or follow the live stats.

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