K-State Baseball To Host Wichita State In Regional Tournament
By Dave Thoman
Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The K-State Wildcats fell short in the Big 12 tournament, losing to eventual champion Oklahoma on Saturday and failing to make Sunday’s championship game against KU. However, the regular season champion and #15 team in the nation knew it was still a lock make the NCAA tournament. The question was whether it would host one of the 16 regional tournaments across the nation. The answer came Monday, when it was announced the Wildcats would be the #1 seed and start by hosting #4 Wichita State in the four-team pod starting Friday.
K-State’s pod also includes No. 2 seed Arkansas and No. 3 seed Bryant, but the Shockers could be the most dangerous team in the double-elimination setting. WSU has been the most consistently successful baseball team in the state for multiple decades and is annually among the best in the nation. The team won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament with a 5-2 triumph over Southern Illinois for its fifth straight victory of the tournament. While WSU has not made the tournament since 2009, they are 74-55 in NCAA Tournament play while winning nine Regional championships.
Wichita State finished 39-26 on the season while K-State was 41-17. Arkansas compiled a 37-20 record on the year compared to 44-16-1 Bryant, which plays in the Northeast Conference. K-State finished 24-7 at home this year, and will look to continue that success if it hopes to advance. The Wildcats have hosted three previous Regionals, but failed to advance to the Super Regional each time. They swept this year’s two game regular season series with Wichita State in April, winning 7-6 at home and 4-1 at Wichita State.