MANHATTAN, Kan. – One of the top freshmen defensive ends in the nation a year ago, Kansas State’s Wyatt Hubert was one of 92 players in the nation to be named to the watch list for the 2019 Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s most outstanding defensive player, the Charlotte Touchdown Club announced Tuesday.

 

Hubert, a 2018 Freshman All-American by USA TODAY Sports, gives the Wildcats their 15^th candidate for the award since 2011. Last year, defensive back Duke Shelley was on initial watch list, while the 2017 season saw Shelley, fellow defensive back D.J. Reed, defensive tackle Will Geary and defensive end Reggie Walker on the preseason watch list.

 

A native of Topeka, Kansas, Hubert played in all 12 games as a freshman in 2018 with seven starts. He totaled 34 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks to go along with a pass breakup and an interception against No. 18 Mississippi State. Hubert led all Big 12 freshman in TFLs per game (0.71), while he was second among freshmen in sacks per game (0.38), the latter ranking third in that nation.

 

Hubert’s best game of the year came in K-State’s 21-6 victory over Texas Tech when he posted seasons highs in tackles (5), sacks (2.0) and TFLs (2.0).

 

Kansas State reports for fall camp on Thursday, August 1, in preparation for its season and home opener against Nicholls on Saturday, August 31. The game, which kicks off at 6 p.m., will be shown on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

 

Tickets to the home opener and the other six home games in 2019 are on sale now through the K-State Athletics Ticket office online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.

 

– k-statesports.com –

 

RYAN LACKEY
Director of Football and Golf Communications | K-State Athletics

 

A three-run 10th inning home run by Adam Rellihan lifted the Kansas City Knights to a 4-1 win over the Junction City Brigade Monday night at Rathert Field. The Knights lead the best two out of three Cowdin Cup semifinal round playoff series 1-0. Game two will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Eudora, Kansas. If a game three is necessary it will be played at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Rathert Field.

The Brigade struggled to play well at times in the ballgame, explained Coach Derek Francis. “We came out flat and just didn’t play good baseball. We missed some signs, didn’t execute on the little things, couldn’t get a bunt down and had a couple of errors.”Francis noted Kansas City played clean baseball.

A 10th inning throwing error left runners on base with two out before Rellihan hit his home run over the center field fence. The Knights have won three out of five meetings against the Brigade this season.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – A charitable person in the community and one of the top safeties in the Big 12, Kansas State senior Denzel Goolsby has been selected as a nominee for the 2019 AFCA Good Works Team, the American Football Coaches Association has announced.

Goolsby’s inclusion on the list marks the 11th for the Wildcats in the last 12 years. Most recently, Dalton Risner was named to the team at season’s end last year and was a candidate in 2017.

The semifinal round of the Cowdin Cup playoffs open Monday evening with the Junction City Brigade hosting the Kansas City Knights. The teams went 2-2 against one another during the regular season.

Game one of the best two out of three series begins at 7 p.m. at Rathert Field. Game two will be in Kansas City Tuesday evening, and if a third contest is needed it will be at Rathert Field Wednesday evening.

The other semifinal round series finds the Topeka Golden Giants playing the Midwest A’s. They will play Monday evening in Belton, Missouri.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Francisco Lindor homered after originally being scheduled to get the day off, José Ramírez hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 5-4 on Sunday.

Lindor talked his way into the lineup at designated hitter after manager Terry Francona planned on resting the All-Star shortstop. His two-run homer in the third tied the game at 2-all.

Ramírez’s leadoff homer put Cleveland ahead in the sixth and the Indians went on to their seventh win in eight games. Cleveland has also won 13 of 16.

Rookie Zach Plesac (4-3) allowed two runs in six innings. The right-hander gave up a run in the first and allowed Jorge Soler’s solo homer in the third.

Brad Hand allowed Bubba Starling’s first major league home run in the ninth, but struck out the next three hitters for his 27th save in 28 opportunities.

Glenn Sparkman (4-5) allowed both homers and gave up five runs — four earned — in 5 2/3 innings.

Soler hit his 27 home run in the third and took a homer away from Jason Kipnis the following inning. Soler leaped at the wall in right field to catch Kipnis’ towering drive.

Sparkman threw his hands in the air as he looked toward right field. Soler tipped his cap to the pitcher.

Cheslor Cuthbert’s RBI double put Kansas City ahead in the first. Plesac retired the first two hitters, but walked Hunter Dozier and Soler. Cuthbert double over third base, scoring Dozier.

Soler’s homer made it 2-0 before Kevin Plawecki reached on shortstop Humberto Arteaga’s throwing error. Lindor golfed a low pitch to right for his 16th home run.

Ramírez, who has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games, homered to right on an 0-2 pitch, his 10th of the season.

Plawecki and rookie Oscar Mercado also had RBIs for the Indians.

Kansas City is 7-3 since the All-Star break and snapped Cleveland’s six-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory on Saturday.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jakob Junis and the Kansas City Royals have been on a roll since the All-Star break.

Hunter Dozier homered in the first inning and Junis pitched two-hit ball through six dominant innings as the Royals beat Cleveland 1-0 on Saturday night, snapping the Indians’ six-game winning streak.

Kansas City improved to 7-2 since the break — after going 30-61 before it — as Junis, Scott Barlow, Jake Diekman and Ian Kennedy combined to three-hit Cleveland, which is an MLB-best 27-11 since June 4.

“It has been a pretty good run and as a team, it doesn’t get much better than this,” said Junis, who struck out seven in beating the Indians for the first time in four starts this season. “This is exactly what we set out to do, so hopefully we can continue it and keep getting better and keep this roll going.”

Junis (6-8), who retired 13 in a row between the second and sixth, was removed after 94 pitches on a steamy evening with a heat index of 99 degrees at the first pitch. The right-hander has won both of his post-break starts, allowing a lone run over 13 innings against the White Sox and Cleveland.

“He really slowed our bats down and seemed like he could go to a breaking ball for a strike whenever he wanted to,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “Then he’d elevate a fastball for effect and go right back to it, and it kind of gave us fits.”

Batting third, Dozier sent a 349-foot shot to right off Adam Plutko for his 15th homer. The run stood up as Cleveland managed singles by Francisco Lindor in the first and Jason Kipnis in the sixth, and a Greg Allen double in the seventh.

Kennedy pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save as the Indians failed to advance a runner past second base, yet remained three games behind AL Central-leading Minnesota.

“This was a lot of fun,” Dozier said. “Junis did a heck of a job and all our bullpen guys did awesome. Plutko threw a really good one, as well, as it was just one of those nights where pitchers dominated.”

Plutko (3-2) worked a season-high seven innings, giving up two hits and striking out four.

Kansas City preserved the shutout in the sixth when center fielder Billy Hamilton made a superb running catch, robbing Lindor with a leaping grab before crashing into the wall. He kept the ball hidden in his glove for several seconds to add a dramatic touch.

“I was thinking about acting like I just missed it the whole time and stay at the fence like I was mad, but Juni was in the zone, so I couldn’t do him like that,” Hamilton said, laughing. “You can’t be messing around with him, so I decided to run around for a little bit instead.”

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State associate head men’s basketball coach Chris Lowery was selected to the Southern Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday (July 18), joining seven other individuals, in a release by athletics department officials.

 

Lowery, who spent time at Southern Illinois as a player (1991-94), assistant coach (2001-03) and head coach (2004-12), will be formally inducted into the university’s Hall of Fame on Friday, October 18. In those three capacities, he was part of 283 wins with a combined seven NCAA Tournaments and eight Missouri Valley Conference Championships, including conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in each stint.

 

Lowery will be joined in the Saluki Hall of Fame class by Jake Alley (baseball), Karlton Carpenter (football), Craig Coffin (football), Deke Edwards (wrestling), Kelly Gerlach Hovland (women’s golf), Deb Heyne Gross (volleyball) and Tim Kratochvil (baseball).

 

Lowery is the third member of the K-State Athletics staff to be named to the SIU Athletics Hall of Fame, joining women’s basketball assistant coach Chris Carr (2006) and head coach Bruce Weber (2018).

 

Lowery began his long association with SIU in 1990 when he started his stellar playing career for legendary head coach Rich Herrin. Known as a scrappy, hustling player, he helped lead a basketball renaissance at SIU, guiding the Salukis to an 86-37 (.699) record from 1990-94, which included a pair of MVC titles and consecutive NCAA Tournaments in 1993 and 1994. He was named Second Team All-MVC as a sophomore in 1992. In all, he scored 1,225 points and dished out 391 assists in his career.

 

Lowery earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from the university in 1995.

 

After assistant coaching stops at Rend Lake (Ill.) College (1995-97), Missouri Southern (1997-2000) and SE Missouri State (2000-01), Lowery returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach under Weber in 2001. During his two-year stint as an assistant, he helped the Salukis to a 52-15 (.776) record and consecutive MVC regular-season titles and NCAA Tournament appearances from 2001-03.

 

Lowery returned to his alma mater for third time a year later when he was named the 12^th head coach in school history on April 9, 2004. In his first year, the Salukis posted a 27-8 record, including a 15-3 mark in league play, and he became the youngest coach, at age 32, to ever win MVC Coach of the Year honors. The squad won the league’s regular season crown and beat Saint Mary’s in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

 

In 2006-07, Lowery helped SIU to its greatest season in school history, as the Salukis won a school-record 29 games and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002. The team finished with a No. 11 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and earned its highest NCAA Tournament seed (No. 4).

 

During his eight-year stint (2004-12) as head coach, Lowery helped SIU to a 145-116 (.556) record with four postseason appearances, two Missouri Valley Championships and one State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title. His teams averaged 18.1 wins over his tenure, including three 20-win seasons, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament on three occasions (2005, 2006, 2007), including a 2007 trip to the Sweet 16. He was twice named the Missouri Valley Coach of the Year (2005, 2007).

 

Lowery coached two AP honorable mention All-Americans at SIU, including Darren Brooks in 2005 and Jamaal Tatum in 2007. In addition, his players earned numerous Missouri Valley honors, including two Players of the Year (Brooks and Tatum), four Defensive Players of the Year (Brooks, Randal Falker, Bryan Mullins twice), two Freshmen of the Year (Mullins and Kevin Dillard) and one Sixth Man Award (Tony Young). He coached 12 all-conference players, including five first-team selections, to go with 10 MVC All-Defensive Team honorees, five All-Freshmen picks and four All-Newcomer and Most Improved Team members.

 

Upon leaving SIU, Lowery joined the staff at K-State in 2012 and enters his eighth season as associate head coach in 2019-20. He was promoted to associate head coach on October 2, 2012.

 

Lowery has played an instrumental role in one of the best stretches in K-State history, which includes 150 wins, two Big 12 regular-season championships (2013 and 2019) and five NCAA Tournament appearances (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019) in the past seven seasons. The Wildcats’ two conference titles are the second-most by a Big 12 school in that span with the 2012-13 championship the first-ever in the Big 12 era and the first conference title by the school in more than 36 seasons.

 

A native of Evansville, Indiana, Lowery, 47, and his wife, Erika, have three children, Lexis, C.J., and Jazmyn. The couple’s son, Kahari, passed away in November 2016.

 

–www.k-statesports.com–

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

 

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – For a second-consecutive year, Kansas State center Adam Holtorf has been named to the Rimington Trophy watch list, which is presented to the nation’s premier center, the award’s committee announced Friday.

 

Holtorf, a senior from Seward, Nebraska, was also on the watch list in 2018 and this year gave the Wildcats a candidate for the award for a 10^th time in its 20-year history.

 

Holtorf has started each of K-State’s last 25 games at center, helping the Wildcats rank in the top three of the Big 12 in rushing yards per game each year. Last season, Holtorf helped anchor an offensive line that led Kansas State to 182.6 rushing yards per game to rank third in the league. Additionally, Holtorf is the top returning interior offensive lineman in the Big 12 in terms of quarterback pressure rate (1.1%), according to Pro Football Focus.

 

Aside from being one of the top linemen in the Big 12, Holtorf also earned 2018 First Team Academic All-America honors in addition to First Team Academic All-Big 12 accolades for a second-straight season. Holtorf, who earned his bachelor’s degree in agribusiness in December 2018, was one of four Wildcats that were nominated for the conference honor with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

 

Kansas State opens the 2019 season – the first under head coach Chris Klieman – on Saturday, August 31, against Nicholls. The game, which kicks off at 6 p.m. inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium, will be shown on ESPN+.

 

Tickets to the home opener and the other six home games in 2019 are on sale now through the K-State Athletics Ticket office online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.

 

– k-statesports.com –

 

RYAN LACKEY
Director of Football and Golf Communications | K-State Athletics

 

 

 

The baseball season ended for the Junction City Blues in the Single A Zone Tournament in Newton on Thursday.

Coach Pat Stivers said the Blues fell to the Hutchinson Hawks 5-4 in a semifinal round game.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Cheslor Cuthbert and Jorge Soler homered in a five-run third inning and the Kansas City Royals stayed hot Thursday, completing a four-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox with a 6-5 win.

Ian Kennedy gave up a run in the ninth, but struck out A.J. Reed looking with the tying run on second base to clinch the win and earn his 16th save in 19 opportunities.

The four-game winning streak is Kansas City’s longest of the season and just the Royals’ second series sweep this year.

The White Sox, on the other hand, have lost seven in a row since coming back from the All-Star break and drop a season-worst nine games under .500.

Royals starter Brad Keller (6-9) got off to a rocky start, allowing the first four batters of the game to reach base on a pair of infield hits, an error and a walk, leading to a pair of unearned runs. But Keller settled down after that and battled through 6 1/3 innings, allowing just a couple of runs after the first inning. Keller gave up nine hits, struck out seven and walked two.

Yoan Moncada matched his career high, set last year, with his 17th home run in the top of the third to make it 3-0 before the Royals scored.

Cuthbert led off the inning with a shot to left-center and Soler hit a two-run homer a couple of batters later to draw the Royals even. Billy Hamilton’s two-run single later in the inning put the Royals ahead for good.

Cuthbert finished with three hits.

Bubba Starling had the best game of his young career. The 26-year-old had two hits, his first multi-hit day as a big leaguer, including his first extra-base hit when he doubled in the fifth inning and first career stolen base. Starling also scored twice, the second coming on Cam Gallagher’s bunt single in the fifth inning, putting the Royals up 6-3. After going hitless in his debut, Starling has a hit in five straight games.

White Sox starter Ross Detwiler (1-1) lasted just 2 1/3 innings, giving up five runs and eight hits. In the four games this series, Chicago starters gave up 20 runs, 18 earned, in 19 innings and had an 8.53 ERA.