After two straight weekends that were filled with nothing but losing, the Wildcats (23-25, 4-14 Big 12) badly need a win, and their chance comes tonight against in-state rival Wichita State (25-23, 9-6 Missouri Valley).
After being outscored 29-8 over three games this past weekend, K-State is looking for improvement in all areas, especially pitching, where their cumulative 4.45 ERA ranks dead last in the Big 12.
Hoping to solve those woes tonight for K-State will be freshman Jake Fromson, making the first start of his Wildcat career. Fromson has appeared in 20 games this season, and has a 1-1 record coupled with a 3.28 ERA as one of K-State’s better relievers.
On offense, the Wildcats have struggled to put runs on the board recently, with the exception being the seven runs they scored on Sunday while being mercy-ruled by TCU.
Senior Ross Kivett, who has divided field time between center field and second base this season, continues to lead the team in most categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, doubles, home runs, total bases, walks, and stolen bases.
Although they have a solid .287 team batting average, K-State has struggled with a power outage, accumulating 14 home runs as a team this season, which is just two more than Wichita State’s Casey Gillaspie, who is having himself a whale of a season.
Gillaspie leads his team in hitting the same way that Kivett leads his, only with higher numbers: an absurd .402 average at the plate, .511 on-base percentage, .687 slugging percentage, 12 homers, 44 RBI, and the list goes on and on. In short, Gillaspie is a menace to any opposing pitcher with the bat in his hands.
After tonight’s game, of which first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Eck Stadium in Wichita, K-State has just six games left in the 2014 regular season.
