Kansas State Baseball 2026 vs Nebraska Part Deux
· Yahoo Sports
Coming off a weekend in which the Kansas State Wildcats couldn’t put it together enough to finish off a couple games, the BatCats are back in action against former Big 8 rival Nebraska from the friendly confines of Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan.
Last time out, the Wildcats only managed to take the series finale against Arizona State, but were in position for the sweep before the bullpen fell apart in both the Friday and Saturday games. The bullpen wasn’t needed on Sunday, as Lincoln Sheffield pitched a one-run complete game in a 7-inning run-rule win to escape the weekend. The Wildcats enter tonight’s game at 17-7 on the season but just 3-3 in Big 12 play, and could easily point to enough losses that should be wins that could put them over 20 wins already on the season.
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As it is, the Wildcats will attempt to match their opponent’s win total tonight, as the Nebraska Cornhuskers are in town sitting at 18-6 and 5-1 in Big 10 play after taking two of three against Michigan in Ann Arbor this past weekend.
Of course, one of those losses for the Huskers is colored purple as the Wildcats took the first meeting this season 5-3 at the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series in Arlington, TX back on February 21st. But the Huskers have been the more consistent team since, losing just three times and all on the road, including going 1-2 against then-#7 Auburn in Alabama, headed into tonight’s game.
These two teams are, on paper, evenly matched. They sit basicaly right next to each other in the current RPI, and both have now floated at least once into the bottom of the Top 25 rankings here in the first half of the season. K-State needs to avoid the major mistakes that cost it two games against Arizona State if they want to keep the win streak over Nebraska alive and get the season truly headed back in the right direction. Because while the bullpen holds a significant part of the blame for the last two losses, significant defensive lapses and poor base-running choices also contributed to the losses.
The BatCats are fully capable of blasting the corn-lovers back north with a loss. But they need to remain focused for the entire outing to do so.
Taking the mound first for the Wildcats is Cohen Feser. Feser, a redshirt senior, is making his second start this season, with his first coming against Wichita State in mid-week action two weeks ago. In that start, Feser pitched into the 4th inning but was lifted after securing just one out that inning, and gave up three runs, two earned, on six hits but just one walk. After that start, he didn’t appear again until last Friday night when he pitched just one scoreless inning in the eventual 4-5 loss to Arizona State. That start against Wichita State bumped up his ERA, but he’s still sitting at a very respectable 2.25 through six appearances and twelve full innings of work.
Countering for the Huskers will be Pryce Bender, a sophomore out of Oklahoma. The right-hander will be making his third start of the season and 7th appearance, and like Feser his last start came in a win over Wichita State. He’s got a season ERA of 4.26, which is significantly boosted by one 4-run outing against Maine where he didn’t record an out before getting pulled. In his two starts, he’s gone four innings each time, giving up just one run on eight combined hits.
Tonight’s contest is set for a 6pm start from Tointon Family Stadium, and will be broadcast on ESPN+ via production from K-StateHD.TV, with Matt Walters (play-by-play), Evan Marshall (analyst), and Hannah Whetstone (sidelines) covering the action there.
Tonight’s game will be available over-the-air on KMAN in Manhattan and streaming on the Varsity Network app and kstatesports.com/watch with the “Voices of the Wildcats” Brian Smoller and Wyatt Thompson on the radio broadcast.
Go Cats!