The Stone Cold Foxes roller derby team from Junction City traveled to Belleville, Illinois to play the Cofluence Crush on Saturday.

The Foxes won the bout by a score of 163-96.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jason Hammel struck out 10, Drew Butera and Salvador Perez homered, and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Texas Rangers 5-3 Sunday.

Hammel (2-5) pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings. He gave up four hits, including three doubles, and two walks.

Perez and Butera each homered off Cole Hamels (3-5), who allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings with a season-low two strikeouts. Hamels didn’t give up more than two earned runs in any of his five previous starts.

Hammel left with runners on the corners and one out. Jurickson Profar grounded into an inning-ending double play on Tim Hill’s second pitch.

Kelvin Herrera pitched a scoreless ninth inning after allowing a leadoff single for his 11th save in 12 chances.

The Rangers’ runs came on seventh-inning homers by Joey Gallo, his 15th of the season with one on, and Robinson Chirinos, his seventh.

Texas went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position, 0 for 7 during the first three innings.

Royals rookie Hunter Dozier, who grew up about 45 miles north of Globe Life Park in Denton, Texas, had a two-out, two-run single in the first inning and his third straight multihit game.

When Hammel held St. Louis to one run in seven innings to win last Wednesday, it ended a string of 13 winless starts for the 35-year-old. He went into Sunday’s game leading the American League in hits allowed with 71.

Butera, who caught while Perez was the designated hitter, sliced a solo home run down the right-field line in second inning. It was Butera’s first homer of the year and the first of his 17 career homers that went to the opposite field.

Perez’s home run, his ninth of the season, was a two-run shot pulled into the visitors’ bullpen in the third inning.

The Chapman High School Irish were represented on the 2018 All-NCKL softball and baseball teams.

Softball:

Alex Hoelsher — 1st team infield

Ashylnn Bledsoe — 1st team outfield

Emma Elliott — 1st team catcher

Rachel Duer — honorable mention outfield

Baseball:

Gabe Barten — 1st team infield

Brandon Colston — 1st team outfield

Trenton Hodson — honorable mention catcher

Zack Loy — honorable mention outfield

Information was provided by Chapman High School Athletic Director Clint Merritt.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – After leading the school to a historic victory over Kentucky and its first NCAA Elite Eight in eight seasons, head coach Bruce Weber has agreed to a two-year contract extension through the 2022-23 season, continuing his leadership of the Kansas State men’s basketball program, Director of Athletics Gene Taylor announced on Friday (May 25).

The extension comes less than a year after Weber agreed to a two-year contract in August 2017. Weber now has five years on his agreement that runs until April 30, 2023. The seventh-year head coach will be paid $2.5 million in 2018-19 and receive a $100,000 increase to his salary in each remaining contract year culminating in a $2.9 million base for the 2022-23 season.

The extension was unanimously approved by the K-State Athletics, Inc., Board of Directors.

“We are very fortunate to have not only such an outstanding basketball coach but also a man in Coach Weber who conducts his program with integrity and class and is widely respected across the nation,” said Taylor. “Certainly last season was one of the most memorable postseason runs in our program’s history, and we are excited for next season and the years ahead under Coach Weber’s leadership.”

Hired on March 31, 2012 as the 24th head coach in school history, Weber has guided K-State to a 125-80 (.610) overall record and four NCAA Tournament appearances in six seasons, including the school’s sixth 25-win season in 2017-18 that culminated in a thrilling run to the Elite Eight. His 125 wins are the fourth-most by a head coach in school history and the most since Jack Hartman retired as the school’s all-time winningest coach in 1986. He is the fifth head coach to take K-State to at least four NCAA Tournaments (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018) in a tenure, while his four 20-win seasons are only surpassed by three other head coaches in school history.

“I have said many times that the support that our players and coaches receive is some of the best in the country and I couldn’t be more appreciative of this commitment from President (Richard) Myers and Gene (Taylor),” said Weber. “We are proud of what we have been able to accomplish these last six years, including last season’s special run, and this vote of confidence gives the staff and I everything we need to continue to build this program in the right way. We can’t wait to get back in the gym and start working with the players again.”

Weber is coming off perhaps the best coaching performance of his career, guiding a K-State team picked to finish eighth in the Coaches’ preseason Big 12 poll to a second 25-win season in his tenure and its first trip to the Elite Eight since 2009-10. He is the first Wildcat head coach to lead the program to multiple 25-win seasons.

During the Wildcats’ run in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, Weber became just the 10th Division I head coach to take three different schools (Southern Illinois, Illinois and K-State) to the Sweet 16.

Led by All-Big 12 selections Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade, the Wildcats posted a 25-12 overall record and a fourth-place finish in the Big 12 with a 10-8 mark in 2017-18, which included nine victories over postseason team and season sweeps of conference foes Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas. The 10 Big 12 victories were the most since also winning 10 in 2013-14, while the fourth-place finish was the best since winning the league title in 2012-13. The team finished 19th in the final USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll, which was the program’s highest such final ranking since concluding the 2009-10 season at No. 7.

Weber’s ability to rally his team through adversity was put on further display during K-State’s memorable run to the Elite Eight, as the Wildcats were forced to play the entire NCAA Tournament without their leading scorer and rebounder Wade, who became just the fourth player in school history to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team. Highlighted by special performances from Brown, sophomore Xavier Sneed and freshman Mike McGuirl, the squad knocked off No. 8 seed Creighton, Cinderella and No. 16 seed UMBC and No. 5 seed Kentucky before falling to 11-seeded Loyola Chicago in South Regional Final. It marked the 12th Elite Eight in school history, including just the second in the last 25 seasons.

For the second time in his tenure, Weber helped coach a pair of Wildcat players to All-Big 12 honors in 2018, as Wade and Brown became just the sixth tandem in school history to earn recognition to the Coaches’ 15-member All-Big 12 First, Second or Third Teams. Wade joined Michael Beasley (2008), Jacob Pullen (2010, 2011) and Rodney McGruder (2013) as the only First Team selections in the Big 12 era with only Beasley and Pullen doing it as undergraduates. Named to the league’s Second Team, Brown became the fifth Wildcat to earn recognition to one of the Big 12’s top three all-conference teams as well as the All-Defensive Team in the same season.

The run to the Elite Eight in 2018 was the second straight NCAA Tournament for Weber’s Wildcats, which tallied a 21-14 overall record to go with an 8-10 mark in Big 12 play in 2016-17. He led K-State to earn its first postseason victory in five seasons with a 95-88 win over Wake Forest in the First Four in Dayton, which also happened to be the 100th win of his tenure. Senior Wesley Iwundu repeated his selection to the Coaches’ All-Big 12 Third Team and capped off his impressive senior campaign by becoming the 50th Wildcat selected in the NBA Draft and the first since 2008 when he was taken with the 33rd overall pick in the second round by the Orlando Magic.

Weber, 61, has compiled a 438-235 (.651) record in his 20 seasons as a head coach, which includes stints at Southern Illinois (1998-2003) and Illinois (2003-11). His .651 winning percentage ranks 37th among active Division I head coaches, while he is the 41st coach (21st active coach) in NCAA history to take three different schools to the NCAA Tournament. Weber’s teams have participated in postseason play in 14 of his 20 seasons, including 12 NCAA Tournament appearances. He has averaged 21.9 victories a season in his head coaching career.

Weber has tutored 11 players named to All-Big 12 teams the past six seasons, including first team selections McGruder and Wade, second team picks Angel Rodriguez (2013), Marcus Foster (2014) and Brown and third team honoree Iwundu (2016, 2017). In addition, he has helped mentor three Big 12 All-Defensive Team members in Rodriguez (2013), Iwundu (2016) and Brown (2018) as well as three players selected to the league’s All-Newcomer Team, including Brown and Wade, who became the first Wildcat duo to be honored on all-rookie squad in 2015-16.

The Wildcats have also excelled off the court under Weber’s guidance, as all 19 student-athletes to finish their eligibility have earned their degrees since he became head coach in 2012. He has coached 16 Academic All-Big 12 recipients, including a school-record five in 2016-17, while student-athletes have made a combined 91 appearances on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll in his tenure.

–www.k-statesports.com–

Kansas State University, the nation’s first operational land-grant institution and a Carnegie Foundation Tier One university, is recognized as one of the nation’s best colleges with world-class research and academic excellence located in America’s No. 1 College Town (Manhattan, KS).

————
TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Current junior guard Barry Brown, Jr., is withdrawing his name from the 2018 NBA Draft process and will return to K-State for his senior season in 2018-19.

“Although the process was more than enjoyable I have decided to withdraw my name from the 2018 NBA Draft,” said Brown via social media. “Thank you to everyone who supported me and I am looking forward to finishing my senior season as a Wildcat.”

A 6-foot-3, 195-pound three-year lettermen from St. Petersburg, Florida, Brown enters his senior season in 2018-19, ranking 12th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,283 points having seen action in all 105 career games at K-State with 83 consecutive starts. He also ranks third all-time in steals with 189, just 22 shy of breaking Jacob Pullen’s career mark of 210 set from 2007-11, as well as in the career Top 10 for field goals attempted (1,094), 3-point field goals attempted (401) and minutes played (3,283).

“Obviously, we are excited to have Barry back for his senior season,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “This was an important step for him and his family to explore his dreams of playing in the NBA. He went into it with the right mindset and now realizes where he needs to improve in the next year to reach that goal. I know that he is excited and ready to get back to building on what we accomplished last season.”

An All-Big 12 Second Team selection and a member of the Big 12’s All-Defensive Team, Brown enjoyed a career-best season as a junior in 2017-18, averaging 15.9 points on 44.8 percent shooting (203-of-453), including 31.8 percent (42-of-132) from 3-point range, to go with 3.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 34.7 minutes per game. The team leader in double-digit scoring games (29), 20-point games (11), assists (120) and steals (67), he became the first Wildcat to post 500 points, 100 rebounds, 100 assists and 50 steals in a single season.

Brown became the fifth Wildcat to be named to one of the Big 12’s First, Second or Third Teams as well as the All-Defensive Team in the same season, joining Jacob Pullen (2010, 2011), Rodney McGruder (2012), Angel Rodriguez (2013) and Wesley Iwundu (2016). Overall, he is first All-Defensive Team member since Iwundu in 2016.

In helping K-State to its first Elite Eight since 2010, Brown was selected to NCAA South Regional All-Tournament after averaging 13.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in games against Kentucky and Loyola Chicago. Overall, he averaged a team-best 15.8 points per game in the Wildcats’ four NCAA Tournament games.

Brown finished among the Big 12 leaders in six categories, including scoring (eighth), assists (11th), free throw percentage (13th), steals (second), assist/turnover ratio (13th) and minutes (sixth). He also ranked among the conference’s Top 15 in six categories in league-only games, including scoring (fourth), assists (eighth), field goal percentage (15th), steals (second), assist/turnover ratio (11th) and minutes (sixth).

With the return of Brown, K-State is now expected to return 11 lettermen in 2018-19, including all six players who earned starts, from a team that won 25 games a season ago and advanced to its first NCAA Elite Eight since 2009-10. Along with Brown, the team will return All-Big 12 First Team selection Dean Wade (16.2 ppg., 6.2 rpg.), fellow senior Kamau Stokes (9.0 ppg., 3.4 apg.), rising juniors Xavier Sneed (11.1 ppg., 5.1 rpg.) and Makol Mawien (6.8 ppg., 3.4 rpg.) and sophomore Cartier Diarra (7.1 ppg., 2.0 apg.).

Wade and Brown were among the top scoring tandems in the country, ranking seventh and eighth, respectively, in scoring in the Big 12 and accounting for nearly 44 percent of the team’s scoring.

The Wildcats have received numerous preseason rankings, including eighth by NBCSports.com, 12^th by ESPN.com, USA Today and CBSSports.com, 13^th by The Athletic and Yahoo! Sports and 17^th by Sports Illustrated.

The non-conference schedule is expected to be completed in the coming weeks with season tickets for the 2018-19 season set to go on sale Monday, June 11.

–www.kstatesports.com–

TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

The Saint Xavier Alumni basketball game will be December 22nd at the Bradley Gym.

Lynn Jones and Dennis Throne have already been named honorary coaches, but another honorary coach has been added for this event. According to Dan Zoeller that is former boys basketball coach Brad Shelton.

Zoeller reported that the naming of one more honorary coach is coming soon.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Highlighted by Big 12-leading marks from the football, women’s tennis and women’s cross country programs, all of Kansas State’s athletic teams met and exceeded the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate multi-year standard for the seventh straight year as the NCAA released its latest Division I APR data from the 2016-17 academic year.

Also, the women’s tennis and women’s cross country programs were awarded APR Public Recognition distinction after posting perfect 1000 multi-year APRs which placed in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport.

“We are proud of our student-athletes, coaches, support staff and faculty for their commitment to success both on the field and in the classroom,” said Kristin Waller, Assistant AD for Student-Athlete Services. “These scores are further proof of our dedication to across-the-board academic success, and we are very pleased with the performance of all of our athletic programs.”

Kansas State’s highest ratings came from the two programs that earned Public Recognition Awards in addition to the football program to lead the Big 12, while the women’s basketball (996), women’s track and field (996), men’s golf (994), women’s soccer (990), women’s volleyball (990), women’s golf (984), women’s rowing (981), men’s basketball (965), men’s cross country (964), men’s track and field (962), were all near the top among their Big 12 counterparts. In fact, eight of the Wildcat’s 12 teams were ranked in the top half of their respective programs in the conference.

Also of note, a total of seven programs recorded perfect current year marks as the baseball, men’s cross country, football, women’s cross country, women’s tennis, women’s track and field and volleyball teams had perfect 1000 marks.

The Academic Progress Rate measures the eligibility, retention and graduation of student-athletes competing on every Division I sports team and also serves as a predictor of graduation success. Each year, the NCAA tracks the classroom performance of student-athletes on every Division I team through the annual scorecard of academic achievement, known as APR. The score measures eligibility and retention each semester or quarter and provides a clear picture of the academic culture in each sport. The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic years.

For more information on the Academic Progress Rate, please visit the NCAA website at www.ncaa.org.

K-State, a Tier 1 Carnegie Foundation Institution, has had another outstanding academic year in 2017-18. In addition to 49 graduates this spring, the Wildcats saw 31 student-athletes receive their diplomas in December of 2017.

To date K-State student-athletes have been recognized with the following honors: 127 Academic All-Big 12 recipients, football’s Adam Holtorf was named a Second Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), while women’s basketball student-athletes Shaelyn Martin (first team), Kayla Goth and Peyton Williams (second team) and baseball’s Jake Biller were named to the Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District VII teams.

Martin would also take home 2018 Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team honors and earn the 2017-18 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

Kansas State also had a total of 243 K-State student-athletes named to the Fall 2017 Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. The 243 student-athletes to earn the honor marked the 18th straight semester K-State has placed 200 or more student-athletes on the honor roll.

Of the 243 K-State student-athletes earning the citation for their academic excellence, 50 registered a GPA of 4.0 in the fall semester.

– k-statesports.com –

RYAN LACKEY
Asst. Director/Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Drew Butera doesn’t get much playing time.

But the Kansas City Royals backup catcher made the most of his opportunity on Wednesday.

Butera had a two-run single in the 10th inning and the Royals earned a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Butera’s RBIs were his first since May 2. Jon Jay followed with an RBI single as the Royals won their first series since taking three of four from Detroit May 3-6.

“That’s a tough spot to be in right there. You don’t want to expand. You don’t want to chase, and perfect,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Didn’t try to do too much with it. It was just textbook, clutch hitting right there, just driving the ball up the middle.”

Butera was playing just his second game in 10 days. Now in his ninth big-league season, he knows how to stay prepared.

“I knew I needed to get the ball in the outfield so I was looking for something up I could drive,” Butera said. “I got a pitch up over the plate.”

Salvador Perez hammered a first-pitch fastball by Cardinals starter Michael Wacha for his eighth home run of the season to lead off the second.

Royals starter Jakob Junis gave up two runs in five innings, while striking out seven.

Blaine Boyer (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win. Kelvin Herrera earned his 10th save with a perfect 10th.

Abraham Almonte scored on a sacrifice fly in the sixth to tie it 2-2.

Wacha retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced. He gave up two runs, one earned, in 6 2/3 innings.

Bud Norris (1-1) pitched a perfect ninth, but couldn’t record an out in the 10th, giving up back-to-back singles to Jorge Soler and Alex Gordon before compounding the issue by committing an error on Alcides Escobar’s sacrifice attempt to load the bases ahead of Butera.

“Giving him three days off, (Norris) wanted the ball there,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s our guy. We’re going to give it to him.”

Francisco Pena capped a two-run second inning with an RBI double, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Pena had a pair of hits after going 1-for-12 the previous three games.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State junior defensive back Denzel Goolsby was one of 42 players across the country to be named to the 2018 watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation announced.

Goolsby’s accolade marks the seventh-straight season a Wildcat has been up for the award, joining Arthur Brown (2012 finalist), Ty Zimmerman (2013), Ryan Mueller (2014 quarterfinalist), Dante Barnett (2015 and 2016) and D.J. Reed (2017).

This is the 15th year the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation has presented the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which goes to the student-athlete who exhibits the characteristics displayed by Ronnie Lott during his legendary college and professional careers. IMPACT stands for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.

A 13-game starter at safety in 2017, Goolsby finished third on the team with 78 tackles to go along with four pass breakups and two interceptions. He also recorded a forced fumble and two recoveries, the latter tying for first in the Big 12 and 26th nationally.

A product of Wichita, Kansas, Goolsby was named the 2017 Cactus Bowl Defensive MVP after recording a timely forced fumble and recovery, setting up a short field and K-State’s go-ahead touchdown en route to a Wildcat victory over UCLA. He picked off his first-career pass against Oklahoma when he ripped the ball away from the receiver in the end zone, while he tallied another against West Virginia.

Voted a player representative by his teammates for the 2018 season, Goolsby is a two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection, including earning first-team honors a year ago. He is passionate about the Big Brothers Big Sister program as he spends time with his little, Shannon, and he also encouraged some of his teammates to sign up for the program.

Additionally, Goolsby has volunteered his time for Senior Kats (visiting local retirement homes), Cats in the Classroom (volunteering at local elementary schools) and Special Olympics Sports Day at K-State.

Season tickets are still available for the 2018 season starting at just $199 for the mobile Flex Season Ticket. Single-game tickets for the 2018 season go on sale online only for Ahearn Fund members on Monday, July 9, and for the entire public online on Thursday, July 12. Group and single-game tickets are available by phone at 1-800-221-CATS beginning Friday, July 13. The Wildcats open the 2018 slate on Saturday, September 1, when they host South Dakota at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

– k-statesports.com –

Kansas State University, the nation’s first operational land-grant institution and a Carnegie Foundation Tier One university, is recognized as one of the nation’s best colleges with world-class research and academic excellence located in America’s No. 1 College Town (Manhattan, KS).

————
RYAN LACKEY
Asst. Director/Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics