2021 Kansas State Wildcats baseball team

2021 Kansas State Wildcats baseball
2021 Kansas State Wildcats baseball
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	15–11 (2–4 Big 12)
Head coach	Pete Hughes (3rd season);
Assistant coaches	Buck Taylor (3rd season); Austin Wates (3rd season); Thomas Hughes (1st season);
Home stadium	Tointon Family Stadium
	Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

2021 Big 12 Conference baseball standings
v t e	Conf						Overall
Team	W		L		T	PCT	W		L		T	PCT
No. 3 Texas ‍†‍‍^y	17	–	7	–	0	.708	50	–	17	–	0	.746
No. 8 TCU ‍†‍‡‍^y	17	–	7	–	0	.708	41	–	19	–	0	.683
No. 9 Texas Tech ‍‍‍^y	14	–	10	–	0	.583	39	–	17	–	0	.696
No. 23 Oklahoma State ‍‍‍^y	12	–	12	–	0	.500	36	–	19	–	1	.652
Oklahoma ‍‍‍	11	–	13	–	0	.458	27	–	28	–	0	.491
Baylor ‍‍‍	11	–	13	–	0	.458	31	–	20	–	0	.608
Kansas State ‍‍‍	10	–	14	–	0	.417	34	–	23	–	0	.596
West Virginia ‍‍‍	8	–	16	–	0	.333	25	–	27	–	0	.481
Kansas ‍‍‍	8	–	16	–	0	.333	30	–	27	–	0	.526

† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 26, 2021^[1] Rankings from D1baseball

The 2021 Kansas State Wildcats baseball team represented Kansas State University during the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Wildcats played their home games at Tointon Family Stadium as a member of the Big 12 Conference. They were led by head coach Pete Hughes, in his 3rd season at Kansas State.

Previous season

The 2020 Kansas State Wildcats baseball team notched a 10–7 record in February and early March; however, the remainder of the season was abruptly halted on March 13, 2020, when the Big 12 Conference canceled the remainder of the athletics season due to the Coronavirus pandemic.^[2]

Personnel

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons at K-State	Alma mater
Pete Hughes	Head coach	3	Davidson (1990)
Buck Taylor	Pitching Coach	3	San Francisco State (1995)
Austin Wates	Assistant coach	3	Virginia Tech (2017)
Thomas Hughes	Volunteer Assistant Coach	1	Kansas State (2019)

Roster

2021 Kansas State Wildcats roster

Pitchers

5 – Connor McCullough (RHP) – Freshman
7 – Luke Hauswirth (RHP) – Senior
8 – Andrew Stratman (RHP) – Junior
11 – Nico Rodriguez (RHP) – Freshman
12 – Tyler Eckberg (RHP) – Junior
13 – Caleb Littlejim (RHP) – Senior
22 – Zak Herbers (RHP) – Junior
27 – Gavin Hinchliffe (RHP) – Sophomore
32 – Wesley Moore (LHP) – Junior
33 – Jordan Wicks (LHP) – Sophomore
34 – Tyler Ruhl (RHP) – Freshman
35 – Carson Seymour (RHP) – Sophomore
37 – Eric Torres (LHP) – Sophomore
40 – Griffin Hassall (RHP) – Sophomore
41 – Grant Nicholson (LHP) – Freshman
45 – Josh Flack (RHP) – Sophomore
47 – Brett Wozniak (LHP) – Freshman
55 – Casey Ford (RHP) – Senior

Catchers

30 – Chris Ceballos – Senior
36 – Mason Crews – Sophomore
38 – Austin Garrett – Junior
39 – Raphael Pelletier – Freshman
44 – Dylan Caplinger – Junior

Infielders

2 – Jaxon Passino – Junior
3 – Cameron Thompson – Senior
6 – Terrence Spurlin – Junior
10 – Kamron William – Junior
15 – Luke Beckstein – Freshman
16 – Elijah Dale – Freshman
17 – Cole Johnson – Sophomore
18 – Brady Day – Freshman
20 – Daniel Carinci – Sophomore
25 – Nick Goodwin – Freshman

Outfielders

1 – Dom Hughes – Freshman
4 – Blake Burrows – Sophomore
23 – Jordan Maxson – Junior
24 – Dylan Phillips – Sophomore
26 – Chris Herb – Junior
28 – Zach Kokoska – Junior
29 – Chad Shade – Senior
31 – Kaden Fowler – Junior
43 – Cameron Uselton – Freshman

^[3]

Schedule and results

2021 Kansas State Wildcats Baseball Game Log^[4]

Regular Season (15–11)

February (5–2)

Date	Time (CT)	TV	Opponent	Stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall	Big 12
February 19	1:00 pm	FloSports	vs. Oregon State*	Surprise Stadium Surprise, AZ	W 3–2	Wicks (1–0)	Abel (0–1)	Eckberg (1)	1,352	1–0	—	Stats Story
February 20	6:00 pm	FloSports	vs. Gonzaga*	Surprise Stadium Surprise, AZ	L 5–17	Jacob (1–0)	Flack (0–1)	—	845	1–1	—	Stats Story
February 21	6:00 pm	FloSports	vs. New Mexico*	Surprise Stadium Surprise, AZ	L 3–4	Meza (1–0)	Eckberg (0–1)	—	368	1–2	—	Stats Story
February 22	11:00 am	FloSports	vs. Gonzaga*	Surprise Stadium Surprise, AZ	W 6–1	Ford (1–0)	Spellacy (0–1)	Rodriguez (1)	316	2–2	—	Stats Story
February 26	3:00 pm	ESPN+	Western Michigan*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 9–8	Passino (1–0)	Armbrust... (0–1)	Eckberg (2)	458	3–2	—	Stats Story
February 27	2:00 pm	ESPN+	Western Michigan*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 11–3	Seymour (1–0)	Miller (0–1)	—	587	4–2	—	Stats Story
February 28	12:00 pm	ESPN+	Western Michigan*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 2–1	McCullough (1–0)	Huisman (0–1)	Littlejim (1)	398	5–2	—	Stats Story

March (8–8)

Date	Time (CT)	TV	Opponent	Stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall	Big 12
March 5	3:00 pm	ESPN+	Eastern Illinois*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 6–3	Wicks (2–0)	Hampton (2–1)	Eckberg (3)	402	6–2	—	Stats Story
March 6	1:00 pm	ESPN+	Eastern Illinois*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	L 5–6	Nicholson (2–0)	Seymour (1–1)	Stevenson (2)	587	6–3	—	Stats Story
March 7	1:00 pm	ESPN+	Eastern Illinois*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	L 7–14	Doherty (1–0)	Eckberg (0–2)	—	587	6–4	—	Stats Story
March 9	6:00 pm	ESPN+	South Dakota State*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 15–4	Herbers (1–0)	McSherry (1–1)	—	378	7–4	—	Stats Story
March 10	6:00 pm	ESPN+	South Dakota State*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 10–0	Littlejim (1–0)	Bishop (0–1)	—	297	8–4	—	Stats Story
March 12	12:00 pm		vs. Northern Illinois*	Reckling Park Houston, TX	W 4–3	Eckberg (1–2)	Seebach (0–1)	—	300	9–4	—	Stats Story
March 13	10:00 am		vs. Northern Illinois*	Reckling Park Houston, TX	W 3–1⁽¹⁰⁾	Torres (1–0)	Michaels (0–1)	—	330	10–4	—	Stats Story
March 13	2:00 pm		at Rice*	Reckling Park Houston, TX	W 8–3	Wicks (3–0)	Garcia (1–1)	—	1,238	11–4	—	Stats Story
March 14	6:00 pm		at Rice*	Reckling Park Houston, TX	L 0–1	Wood (1–0)	Littlejim (1–1)	—	1,041	11–5	—	Stats Story
March 19	6:00 pm	ESPN+	New Mexico*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 7–1	Wicks (4–0)	Garley (0–1)	—	587	12–5	—	Stats Story
March 20	4:00 pm	ESPN+	New Mexico*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	L 4–6	Arbruester (3–1)	Seymour (1–2)	Meza (3)	587	12–6	—	Stats Story
March 21	1:00 pm	ESPN+	New Mexico*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 17–8	Torres (2–0)	Campa (1–2)	—	587	13–6	—	Stats Story
March 23	6:00 pm	ESPN+	at Wichita State*	Eck Stadium Wichita, KS	L 1–5	Kaminska (1–0)	Herbers (1–1)	Haase (5)	1,818	13–7	—	Stats Story
March 26	6:00 pm	ESPN+	at #20 Oklahoma State	O'Brate Stadium Stillwater, OK	L 5–14	Scott (5–1)	Wicks (4–1)	—	3,383	13–8	0–1	Stats Story
March 27	6:00 pm	ESPN+	at #20 Oklahoma State	O'Brate Stadium Stillwater, OK	L 2–4	Standlee (2–0)	Littlejim (1–2)	—	3,846	13–9	0–2	Stats Story
March 28	1:00 pm	ESPN+	at #20 Oklahoma State	O'Brate Stadium Stillwater, OK	L 2–8	Wrobleski (2–2)	McCullough (1–1)	—	3,203	13–10	0–3	Stats Story

April (2–1)

Date	Time (CT)	TV	Opponent	Stadium	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Overall	Big 12
April 1	6:00 pm	ESPN+	#4 Texas Tech	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	L 1–17	Birdsell (4–1)	Wicks (4–2)	—	404	13–11	0–4	Stats Story
April 2	6:00 pm	ESPN+	#4 Texas Tech	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 7–2	Seymour (2–2)	Monteverde (5–1)	Eckberg (4)	587	14–11	1–4	Stats Story
April 3	4:00 pm	ESPN+	#4 Texas Tech	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	W 10–4	McCullough (2–1)	Montgomery (1–1)	—	587	15–11	2–4	Stats Story
April 6	6:00 pm	ESPN+	UAPB*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS							—
April 7	6:00 pm	ESPN+	UAPB*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS							—
April 9	TBD	LHN	at #4 Texas	UFCU Disch–Falk Field Austin, TX
April 10	TBD	LHN	at #4 Texas	UFCU Disch–Falk Field Austin, TX
April 11	TBD	LHN	at #4 Texas	UFCU Disch–Falk Field Austin, TX
April 13	6:00 pm	ESPN+	Northern Colorado*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS							—
April 14	6:00 pm	ESPN+	Northern Colorado*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS							—
April 16	6:00 pm	ESPN+	Oklahoma	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS
April 17	4:00 pm	ESPN+	Oklahoma	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS
April 18	1:00 pm	ESPN+	Oklahoma	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS
April 23	6:00 pm	ESPN+	West Virginia	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS
April 24	4:00 pm	ESPN+	West Virginia	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS
April 25	11:00 am	ESPN+	West Virginia	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS
April 27	6:00 pm	ESPN+	Missouri*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS							—
April 30	6:00 pm	ESPN+	Texas Southern*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS							—

May (0–0)

Date	Time (CT)	TV	Opponent	Stadium	Big 12
May 1	4:00 pm	ESPN+	Texas Southern*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	—
May 2	1:00 pm	ESPN+	Texas Southern*	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS	—
May 7	6:30 pm	ESPN+	at Baylor	Baylor Ballpark Waco, TX
May 8	3:00 pm	ESPN+	at Baylor	Baylor Ballpark Waco, TX
May 9	1:00 pm	ESPN+	at Baylor	Baylor Ballpark Waco, TX
May 14	6:00 pm	ESPN+	at Kansas	Hoglund Ballpark Lawrence, KS
May 15	2:00 pm	ESPN+	at Kansas	Hoglund Ballpark Lawrence, KS
May 16	2:00 pm	ESPN+	at Kansas	Hoglund Ballpark Lawrence, KS
May 20	6:00 pm	ESPN+	TCU	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS
May 21	6:00 pm	ESPN+	TCU	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS
May 22	4:00 pm	ESPN+	TCU	Tointon Family Stadium Manhattan, KS

Legend: = Win = Loss = Canceled Bold = Kansas State team member

"*" indicates a non-conference game.
"#" represents ranking. All rankings from D1Baseball on the date of the contest.
"()" represents postseason seeding in the Big 12 Tournament or NCAA Regional, respectively.

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
Coaches'^[5]	RV	RV*	—	—	—	—	—	—
Baseball America^[6]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Collegiate Baseball^^[7]	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
NCBWA†^[8]	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	—	RV
D1Baseball^[9]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

^ Collegiate Baseball ranked 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranked 30 teams weekly during the season.
† NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season.
* A new poll was not released for this week, so for comparison purposes, the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.

2021 MLB draft

Player	Position	Round	Overall	MLB Team
Jordan Wicks	LHP	1	21	Chicago Cubs
Carson Seymour	RHP	6	172	New York Mets
Zach Kokoska	OF	10	290	Colorado Rockies
Eric Torres	LHP	12	411	Los Angeles Angels

References

^ "2020–21 Baseball Standings". big12sports.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
^ "2020 Season Cancellation". Big 12 Conference. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
^ "2021 Baseball Roster". Kansas State Wildcats. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
^ "2021 Baseball Schedule". Kansas State Wildcats. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
^ "NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023.
^ Baseball America College: Top 25
^ NCAA DIV I Baseball Polls-Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
^ NCBWA Division I poll
^ D1Baseball poll

[1] "2020–21 Baseball Standings". big12sports.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.

[2] "2020 Season Cancellation". Big 12 Conference. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

[3] "2021 Baseball Roster". Kansas State Wildcats. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

[schedule-4] "2021 Baseball Schedule". Kansas State Wildcats. Retrieved February 19, 2021.

[5] "NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023.

[6] Baseball America College: Top 25

[CBNPoll-7] NCAA DIV I Baseball Polls-Collegiate Baseball Newspaper

[8] NCBWA Division I poll

[9] D1Baseball poll

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