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Author Topic: New Beginnings (collegian article)  (Read 2331 times)

February 16, 2006, 03:18:33 PM
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Saulbadguy

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 New beginnings
K-State baseball season starts with invitational in Texas
Published on Thursday, February 16, 2006

K-State will open the 2006 season when they travel to play a three-game set in Arlington, Texas, in the Texas-Arlington Invitational. The Wildcats' first game will be against the hometown team, Texas-Arlington.
Christopher Hanewinckel/Collegian
 

K. Jordan Kelly
Kansas State Collegian

The 2005 baseball season for K-State was one marked with success, as it topped 30 wins for the third time in the last 14 years, including a victory against No. 1 Texas — the 2005 national champion.

Today, the K-State baseball team will open its 2006 season, as the Cats head to the home of President George W. Bush and play a three-game set in the annual University of Texas-Arlington Invitational.

The four teams invited are the Wildcats, Oral Roberts, Illinois State and hosts the Texas-Arlington Mavericks. K-State is the only one of the quartet opening its season this weekend. The other three teams already have opened competition.

Texas-Arlington is the first team the Wildcats will face in their 2006 campaign. The Mavericks don’t have a returnee hitting above .300, but Oral Roberts — K-State’s Friday opponent — arguably will be K-State’s fiercest competitor this weekend, boasting a roster with four starters who are hitting above .400.

Illinois State, the Wildcats’ Saturday competition, finished with a sub-.500 record last year at 26-27.

Still, K-State coach Brad Hill isn’t taking Illinois State lightly.

“We’re not going to change our game,” Hill said. “We’re gonna go out there and attack their hitters, throw strikes and play hard.”

This is K-State’s first game out, and Hill said he thinks the advantage might lie in the weather, as the Wildcats have had close to 15 practices outside, rather than in a gym.

Physical mistakes because of the cold are tolerable, but mental ones are not as excusable, Hill said.

“I want to see us develop and execute as a team,” he said. “We need to play good D (defense), not walk guys, manufacture runs and hopefully on Sunday, we’ll be better than we were on Friday.”

Hill said the only way to do these things is through game experience, game play and talking through mistakes. With experience on the bump, he said, this is a goal that can be achieved.

The Wildcats have eight pitchers and four of the top-six hitters returning from last season, not to mention 16 promising freshmen and two redshirts.

Sophomore Brad Hutt, senior Adam Cowart and sophomore Chase Bayuk will start games one, two and three. All three have Big 12 Conference experience, and all three will be on a pitch count, which means the bullpen — like most doctors — will be on call.

Bolstered by seniors BJ Kissel and Bryan Peterson, who have experience pitching late in big games, Hill is comforted by his relievers and is confident they’ll execute when called upon, he said.

Hill isn’t the only one backing the squad and ready to go.

Sophomore Dan Edwards, a right-handed pitcher, knows the three starters are ready for action and, as a reliever himself, is mentally prepared.

“We go through all kinds of mental and physical drills during the fall to help prepare us for late-game situations. We go over every situation that could happen in a game every day in practice,” Edwards said. “So there is no situation that would be new to us.”

While some players fear the unanticipated, sophomore catcher Derek Bunker seems unabashed with pre-game jitters.

“We are looking forward to going out and showing everyone else what this team is capable of doing this season,” Bunker said. “We have a good mix of starters back from last season and good young guys on the squad, and we are just really excited to go out and get this thing rolling.”

The Texas-Arlington Invitational was scheduled to begin Friday and end Sunday, but due to the threat of cold and rainy weather, the dates have been revised.