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Due to the horrific natural disaster in Moore, Oklahoma, the Big 12 has postponed its baseball tournament by a day and altered the format to better accomodate the response to the tornado that slammed the region earlier this week. Oklahoma City, which neighbors Moore, will still host the event which is now scheduled to begin on Thursday.

To accomodate the change, the league has changed the tournament from its previous double-elimination format. Teams will still be divided into two pools, with the team managing the top record in each pool moving on to the championship game on Sunday. K-State’s new schedule:

• vs. #8 seed Texas Tech on Thursday (the Wildcats took the season series against Tech 3-0)
• vs. #5 seed Baylor on Friday (the Wildcats lost two of three games to Baylor, including a 13 inning, 10-8 loss)
• vs. #4 seed Oklahoma on Saturday (the Wildcats took two of three games against Oklahoma to secure the Big 12 championship last weekend)

In pool two are #2 Oklahoma State, #3 West Virginia, #6 Kansas, and #7 TCU. Each game will be played at 12:30, with championship set to start at 1 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be played at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The Wildcats are coming off their first Big 12 baseball championship and first conference baseball title of any sort since 1933.

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

A watchlist contender on several preseason awards lists, Kansas State centerfielder Jared King has been named one of 60  finalists for the Golden Spikes top amateur baseball player in the country. The Golden Spikes Award, in its 36th year, recently released its top 60 players as part of an ongoing process that will culminate in the July 19th presentation of the top player.

King will go through several additional iterations of the process before getting to the July 19 presentation, should he receive the award. The 60 contestants will be narrowed to 30 on May 28. At this point, fans will be able to vote to select three semifinalists, to be announced shortly later on June 4th. The final presentation will take place on MLB Network’s “The Rundown.”

King is one of just a handful of Big 12 players on the watchlist, with perennial powerhouse SEC leading the nation with 12. The Pac 12 is shortly behind at 10 and the ACC has five. He has helped lead K-State to a 33-15 record on the season, with a 9-7 record in the Big 12 conference. The junior is batting .331 on the season with six home runs and 42 RBIs on 166 at bats. He has an on-base percentage of .412. Additionally, his fielding percentage of .977 has helped put his team in contention for a league championship with a chance to make some noise in the NCAA tournament.

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

While the Kansas State baseball team must assist 19 players in adjusting to Division I, one player the team has little concern about is junior outfielder Jared King. King was recognized by Perfect Game as a Second Team All-American on Monday as just one of two Big 12 players to received All-American status by Perfect Game. King was a Second Team All-Big 12 selection as a sophomore and became selected to the First Team American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Midwest Region.

King is the returning regular season Big 12 batting champion, hitting .378 in 2012. He led the Wildcats with 15 doubles, 27 multi-hit games, and 12 multi-RBI games. He also recorded seven home runs and 47 RBIs. His career batting average is .346 after hitting .333 his freshman year when he was a Freshman All-American.

Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

Sophomore outfielder is the seventh Wildcat on the list since 2007

K-STATE SPORTS INFORMATION

June 20, 2012

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State sophomore outfielder Jared King was one of 15 players named to the first team of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Midwest Region team on Wednesday.

King was named to the all-region team for the first time in his career, while the Wildcats have now placed seven players on the list since 2007, including three first-team performers.

A product of Dublin, Ohio, King won the Big 12 regular-season batting title with a .378 batting average, and he finished in the top 10 of the conference in 10 offensive categories en route to second team all-conference honors.

King was a major factor in the Wildcats’ late-season run to the postseason as he hit .409 with six doubles, two triples, three home runs and 21 RBI over the final 17 games. He enters his junior campaign just outside of the school’s career top 10 lists in batting average (.346) and slugging percentage (.558).

Voted on by the head coaches, the ABCA All-Midwest Region team is comprised of players from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

K-STATE SPORTS INFORMATION

May 22, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Kansas State placed three players on the Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Baseball teams as the conference announced its postseason awards on Tuesday. Sophomore outfielder Jared King and senior first baseman Wade Hinkle earned second-team honors, while junior outfielder Tanner Witt was an honorable mention selection.

King picked up his second-straight second-team designation, while Hinkle and Witt were honored for the first time in their careers. The Wildcats have now placed at least three players on the All-Big 12 teams in each of the last four years, while K-State has earned 33 All-Big 12 citations since head coach Brad Hill’s first season in 2004.

In addition, relief pitcher Nate Williams was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team, marking the second-straight season the Wildcats have had a player on the squad in its second year of existence.

King became the first Wildcat since Andy Replogle in 1973 and 1974 to earn either first or second team all-conference honors as both a freshman and sophomore. The Dublin, Ohio, product won the Big 12 regular-season batting title with a .378 average and hit seven home runs with 45 RBI. He finished second in the conference in hits (79), total bases (120) and slugging percentage (.574), while he ranked in the top 10 in seven other categories. The outfielder has hit .418 over the final 14 regular-season games to help K-State earn its sixth-straight Big 12 Championship appearance.

Hinkle finished the regular season with a .335 batting average to rank second on the team and ninth in the Big 12. The Albuquerque, N.M., product, who collected 10 home runs and 48 RBI to lead the team in both categories, is one of three players in conference with at least 10 home runs and is also second in the Big 12 in both walks (44) and on-base percentage (.481). The first baseman is looking to become the first Big 12 player since 2008 to finish in the top five of the league in both home runs and walks.

Witt had his best production year as a junior by finishing the regular season with a .313 batting average, and he ranked in the top 15 of the league in conference-only batting average at .329. Witt has also set career highs in hits (45), doubles (9), triples (3), RBI (21), walks (38), on-base percentage (.447) and stolen bases (20). Earlier this season, the Hawthorn Woods, Ill., product set a school record and tied a Big 12 record with six walks in one game.

Williams finished the regular season ranked fourth overall and led all Big 12 freshmen with six saves. The Valley Center, Kan., native has tallied a 1-3 record and a 3.73 ERA in his 22 outings, with nine walks and 21 strikeouts in 31.1 innings of work. He broke the K-State freshman saves record, which was set by the Wildcats’ all-time saves leader James Allen in 2009.

Kansas State, the No. 8 seed in the 2012 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, takes on top-seed Baylor at 12:30 p.m., Wednesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla. Fans can hear the game on the five-station K-State Sports Network. Live action of every game will be streamed on the Big 12 Digital Network atwww.big12sports.com. To order tickets, fans can contact the Oklahoma City RedHawks at (405) 218-1000 or by visiting www.big12sports.com.

Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

After a week that saw him hit .625 (10-16) in four games, K-State outfielder Jared King has been named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week.

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