CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (KSNT) - Kansas State baseball needs two wins, on the road, against the University of Virginia to punch a ticket to the College World Series for the first time in program history.
So, what will it take for K-State to pull off an upset for the second weekend in a row? Here's an outline of three key elements of the game and how the 'Cats lineup against the 'Cavs. Pitching and hitting are the obvious things to focus on for any baseball team, but there's another, often overlooked, piece of the game which K-State will almost certainly try to use to its benefit.
Hitting
The Wildcats are in for quite the change of pace after beating Arkansas, which was a team that prided itself on pitching. Most notably, K-State became the first team all season to score six runs of starting pitcher and highly-touted MLB prospect Hagen Smith in one game. The Cavaliers are known for their hitting.
UVA led the ACC in runs, hits, total bases and batting average. It has four big sluggers, headlined by Harrison Didawick, who slugs .665 and has racked up 24 home runs thus far in his sophomore campaign. Four UVA hitters have 13 or more home runs, while K-State's leader is Kaelen Culpepper with 11.
Pitching
Neither team has found as much consistent pitching as it would like on the season. While UVA leads the ACC in a number of hitting categories, its team ERA is more middle of the pack at 5.53, according to the conference's website as of Thursday night.
The Cavaliers will go to their ace, Evan Blanco, for the start in the super regional's opening game on Friday. He's 7-3 on the season with a 3.57 ERA. Chase Hungate ties him for the team-lead with wins, but Hungate hasn't started a game all year. Instead, he's come out of the bullpen 28 times and averaged 1.75 innings pitched per outing. Hungate boasts a 3.86 ERA. Only Angelo Tonas (3.93 ERA) has appeared in more games on the season. Tonas notably is asked for less in each outing, he's got just 34.1 IP on the season, compared to Hungates' 49.
Jay Woolfolk will start on Saturday, UVA head coach Brian O'Connor said on Thursday. Woolfolk, who interestingly came to Virginia as a two-sport athlete and played quarterback before zeroing in on baseball, has a 6.15 ERA with 22 appearances and just five starts. In his first start since March 17, Woolfolk threw eight innings and allowed just two runs against Mississippi State in one of Virginia's regional wins.
Stolen bases
Kansas State will try to use this part of the game to its advantage. The Wildcats led all Big 12 teams with 136 stolen bases on the season. Brendan Jones doubled all other Big 12 players with 39 himself, while Kaelen Culpepper (17), Brady Day and David Bishop (16 each) join him in the league's top 10.
This category is notable because it's an area teams have been able to capitalize on against Virginia. The Cavaliers have allowed 58 stolen bases on the season, the second most in its league. Runners have taken a bag 39 times on UVA catcher Jacob Ferrence. Mississippi State stole three bases in one game off Ferrence in their first meeting in the regional. Runners have stolen successfully 78% of the time against Ferrence while Virginia, as a team, allowed stolen bases on roughly 75% of attempts. Only five of 14 teams in the ACC had a worse rate of throwing runners out.
A brief look at Kansas State
After learning about the Wildcats' opponent, it could also be helpful to know about K-State. For Wildcat fans who haven't watched too closely this spring, UVA fans who stumbled upon this article or just college baseball fans- here's a look at some notable players and trends for the Wildcats.
The bats came to life in the Fayetteville regional for Kansas State. After averaging just over three and a half runs per game in their 13 games before the regional, the Wildcats put up 33 in three games against Louisiana Tech, Arkansas and SEMO. The boost came largely from Kaelen Culpepper and Chuck Ingram, who each hit two homers in the three-game span. Culpepper won regional MVP.
K-State will start Owen Boerema on Friday and Jackson Wentworth on Saturday. Boerema has a 5.07 ERA and a 6-3 record in 18 appearances, all coming via start. Wentworth switched from reliever to starter late in the year and boasts a 4.11 ERA. However, K-State's most well-known arm isn't a starting pitcher. Closer Tyson Neighbors was an All-American in 2023 before battling injury early in his junior season. He's hit his stride late, including a ten-out save to take down the Razorbacks in the regional. Neighbors has 60 strikeouts in 36.2 IP.
As for the base running topic, K-State's Raphael Pelletier allows stolen bases at a mark just north of 78% of the time. He's allowed 43 stolen bases, throwing out 12 guys.
