SLATE: Big recruiting win for the Wildcats caps weekend

Baseball

After picking up a solid 7-5 win over Creighton on Tuesday night in Manhattan, it was a very very rough weekend for the BatCats in Lubbock.

The Wildcats started strong against the No. 4 Red Raiders, taking a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 6th inning on Friday. But Tech’s powerful offense responded, putting up 4 in the bottom of the 6th to retake the lead, and one more in the 7th for the final 6-3 margin.

Saturday’s game was just plain bad for Kansas State, as the BatCats could generate zero offense while committing errors in the field and on the mound en-route to a 14-0 drubbing that dropped K-State to .500 overall.

Sunday, it looked like the Cats might steal one, but instead, the win got stolen from them. Connor McCollugh pitched 6.1 giving up just two runs and leaving the game in the 7th with a 5-4 lead. But Blake Adams, who has moved to the bullpen for K-State after starting the season as the Friday starter, couldn’t hold the Texas Tech bats at bay in the bottom of the 9th, allowing hits to all three batters he faced, including two home runs, to give the Red Raiders a walk-off 7-6 win to complete the series sweep.

After the series, the Cats are now 15-16 on the season, and 1-8 in Big 12 play. No mid-week game this week as the Longhorns will be in town on Thursday to start that weekend series (to get it concluded before Easter Sunday). Both the Thursday and Friday games are at 6pm CDT, with Saturday’s finale coming at 4pm CDT from Tointon Family Stadium.

Basketball

Since we last saw you, three more Wildcats hit the portal, with Maximus Edwards, Kaosi Ezeagu, and Davion Bradford all departing K-State early last week. There is rumor that one more Wildcat may yet enter the portal, but nothing official yet.

But Jerome Tang did add another member to his staff, naming Austin Carpenter as Director of Player Development back on Friday. Carpenter comes to K-State from Baylor, where he had been a graduate assistant for the past two year. There is still one on-court assistant coach position remaining, plus strength & conditioning coach and some ancillary spots (like video coordinator) are still open.

Football

First up, some great news that dropped just last night. Wichita native Will Anciaux committed to K-State, becoming the second commit for the class of 2023. The 6’6” 230lb tight end from Kapaun Mt. Carmel high school picked the Wildcats over Iowa State, Nebraska, and Kansas (where his parents are alums), and is a significant recruiting win for new TE coach Brian Lepak.

K-State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman led the penultimate spring press conference last week, and they are still working on the new defensive system installed last season, making tweeks and moving players around to find best fits. The second, and final, open practice for the media was also last week, and Kellis Robinett reports that receivers look good, there might be some depth at running back, and injuries are still an issue. Also, some young players are really setting themselves apart for their willingness to do whatever it takes to help the team, like Nelson Pipes (longsnapper) and Trevor Stange (o-line) who are practicing as defensive linemen to help keep reps off the starters there.

The Wildcats will conclude spring practices this Saturday, April 16th.

Also early last week the news came that former K-State head coach Stan Parrish, the man right before Bill Snyder at the helm of the Wildcats, had passed away at the age of 75. Nicked “Air Parrish” for his multiple, pass-oriented offensive strategy, Parrish came to Manhattan in 1986 after serving the previous two seasons as the head coach at Marshall. Parrish was a successful coach at D3 Wabash and then-D1AA (FCS) Marshall before moving to Manhattan. But in D1A (FBS), he was only able to put together 8 wins across 5 seasons, 2 wins in 3 seasons at K-State (both in his first year), and 6 more in two full seasons leading Ball State in 2009-2010 (coming off a 12-2 record in 2008 that he finished (with a loss) after Brady Hoke departed for San Diego State before the bowl game).

Soccer

Fans attending K-State soccer games at Buser Family Park will be treated to a new video board, thanks to yet another gift from the Buser family to the soccer program. The Wildcats completed their sixth season of action in 2021 by tying the school record for wins in a season with six, though they faded down the stretch and missed the post season yet again. But the Cats will return 11 of their top 12 point scorers for the 2022 season, including leading goal scorers Marisa Weichel and Kyler Goins.

Tennis

The RacquetCats also had a rough weekend in Texas, falling 4-1 to No. 21 Baylor on Friday in Waco, before getting swept 4-0 by No. 4 Texas on Sunday in Austin. The No. 52 Cats are now 9-11 overall on the season, and just 1-7 in Big 12 play.

One more match remains for the Wildcats in the regular season, with a trip to Lawrence to face No. 25 KU this coming Saturday.

Track

The track & field squad had a solid showing at the Jim Click Shootout this past weekend. On Friday, the Cats finished 5 & 6 in the women’s heptathlon, with Urte Bacianskaite finishing with a personal record of 5,488 points to earn the 5th place spot. 6th place finisher Madelyn McCabe picked up a win in the javelin throw event portion of the heptathlon with a personal record throw of 40-65m (133-4). On Saturday, K-State wrapped up the event with multiple first-place and second-place finishes, earning the top podium spot in women’s hammer throw (Emma Robbins, 63.79m/209-3), men’s high jump (1. Devon Richardson, 2.13m/6-11.75; & 2. Kyle Alcine, 2.13m/6-11.75), and women’s 400-meter dash (Shalysa Wray, 52.98 (PR)).

Other

We’re not just a bass fishing and crops judging school anymore. We have a new national championship squad on campus, as the Classy Cats picked up the D1A Pom National Championship at The College Classic over the weekend. Go (Classy) Cats!