SLATE: Looking to sweep the Cornhuskers

Baseball

After winning four of their five games last week, and six of their last eight overall, the Kansas State Wildcats are headed north looking to complete a season sweep of the Nebraska Cornhuksers. The Cats won game one 6-4 in Manhattan back in early March, earning K-State’s 4th victory on the season to improve to 4-7. Now the BatCats (21-18) will look to continue to inch above .500 against a Cornhuskers team that hasn’t put it together this season, sitting at 15-23 overall after winning the Big 10 regular season championship and advancing to the regional final of the NCAA Tournament just last year.

First pitch tonight is set for 6:30pm CDT, and you might be able to watch the game streaming on B1G+, but good luck. Your best bet is to go with SmollerVision via the live stream at kstatesports.com or live on KMAN in Manhattan. The Wildcats will send one of their few lefty arms to the mound, as junior Wesley Moore is set to take the bump. Moore has yet to earn a win (or a loss) in eight appearances at K-State, including three starts this season, and has a cringe-worthy 7.84 ERA. Though he didn’t get the credit, the BatCats have won the last two games he’s started, and both were teams from the Cornhusker State (Creighton and Omaha).

Golf

Day one of the Big 12 Championships, including the first two rounds, were cut short due to inclement weather. Prior to the stoppage, the Wildcats were playing well, and had two individuals near the top of the very early leaderboard. Play resumed at 8am CDT this morning, but the event has been shortened to 54 holes instead of the original 72 holes that were scheduled.

Basketball

Recruiting of transfer athletes is still ongoing, but we’re nearing a very important deadline. May 1st is the last day to enter the transfer portal if a student wants to have immediate eligibility next season, so this week should see the last group of athletes to hit the portal, as well as more guys looking to lock up spots for next season. This article is about the Utah schools, but it gives a good explainer in the intro. Players don’t need to choose their destination by next Monday, but they do need to enter the portal if they haven’t already.

Of course, with any coaching carousel, publications want to grade the hires. Sports Illustrated gave the Cats an “A-” for the hiring of Jerome Tang, getting the slight demerit because he has no previous head coaching experience. Sporting News also gave K-State an “A-” for Tang, though bemoaned that it’s hard to get talent to Manhattan (please, continue to ignore the names in the rafters and recent success like Michael Beasley, Bill Walker, Rodney McGruder, Wes Iwundu, Dean Wade, and Nijel Pack). But it’s not all roses for the Wildcats, as Brian Hamilton at The Athletic ($) seems to be living in a different world than the rest of us, dropping Tang into his “Teir 4”, despite giving a fairly glowing review to fellow newcomer Kenny Payne who is taking over a mess at Louisville also with no head coaching experience.

It’s not all bad at The Athletic, as Chantel Jennings put out her “way-too-early” Top 25 ($) a few weeks ago, dropping the Cats in at No. 16 thanks to the return of All-American center Ayoka Lee. The Wildcats slot in as the 4th Big 12 team (behind Iowa State, Texas, and Oklahoma), and ahead of Kansas at No. 21, who was the last Big 12 team on the list. Yes, that’s correct, Baylor was not included in this Top 25. And that was before the additions of Gabby Gregory and Gisela Sanchez, as well as the Top 25 recruiting class. Next season could be really fun.

Other

Reminder, the new commenting system goes live tomorrow (though no word on exactly when during the day), so be sure and air your grievances in those comments while you still can (not that it really matters, but that’s a safe space to vent about it if you feel the need).

Also, it’s that time of year for the 2022 EDSBS Charity Bowl. The Charity Bowl is set-up to make donations in the name of your school or team to New American Pathways. That donation should take the form of the score of a victory by your morally superior and physically better team over a depraved, uncharitable and weaker rival. In that spirit, I would recommend donations of $64.00 or $59.07, but you are welcome to get creative. I’m not going to re-write the wheel on this, so go check out Marquette’s SB Nation site Anonymous Eagle for more details if you need them.