KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Kansas City Royals have acquired outfielder Reymond Fuentes from the San Diego Padres for left-hander Kyle Bartsch.

The trade was announced Thursday.

The 23-year-old Fuentes hit a combined .294 with five home runs, 33 RBIs and 25 steals in Triple-A and Double-A last season. He made his major league debut in 2013, hitting .152 in 23 games with the Padres.

The 23-year-old Bartsch went 5-5 with seven saves and a 2.29 ERA in 41 relief appearance at the advanced Class A level.

IRVING, Texas (AP) – TCU and Baylor will have to wait until after Thanksgiving for their rematch next season.

The Big 12 released its 2015 conference football schedule Wednesday. The 10 teams will play a nine-game, round-robin league schedule without a championship game for the fifth year in a row.

The last of four weekday games is Baylor at TCU on the Friday after Thanksgiving for the Horned Frogs’ regular-season finale.

TCU is fifth in the College Football Playoff rankings, two spots ahead of the Bears. Both have one loss, TCU’s being 61-58 at Baylor the second Saturday of October.

The rest of the midweek games are Thursday nights: West Virginia at TCU on Oct. 29; Baylor at Kansas State on Nov. 5; and Texas Tech at Texas on Thanksgiving.

Seven Home Games Highlight 2015 Football Schedule

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State finalized its 2015 football schedule today, announcing a seven-game home slate highlighted by five conference matchups with Big 12 foes TCU, Oklahoma, Baylor, Iowa State and West Virginia.

The conference office has announced that the Wildcats’ game with Baylor will be played on Thursday, November 5, giving K-State its second straight season with a primetime Thursday night matchup at home.

“We are excited about our seven-game home schedule for 2015 including five tough Big 12 Conference opponents,” said Athletics Director John Currie. “Following another record-setting attendance this past season which saw our current home sellout streak reach 20 straight games, our fans will be anxious for another season as we host the likes of TCU, Oklahoma, Baylor, West Virginia and Iowa State.”

The 2015 slate will get underway on September 5 against South Dakota as the Cats play two of their first three games at home to open the season.

Following the season opener against the Coyotes, K-State will hit the road for a non-conference matchup with UTSA in San Antonio’s Alamodome on September 12 before returning home to face Louisiana Tech on September 19 in the final non-conference game of the season.

K-State will enjoy the first of two bye weeks on September 26 before opening Big 12 play at Oklahoma State on October 3. Two consecutive home games follow as TCU (October 10) and Oklahoma (October 17) visit Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

The Wildcats then travel to Texas on October 24 before enjoying the final bye week on October 31 leading up to the November 5 game at home against Baylor.

Following the Thursday night game with Baylor, K-State will continue Big 12 Conference action on November 14 at Texas Tech before welcoming Iowa State to Manhattan on November 21. After a November 28 game at KU, the Wildcats will conclude the regular season on December 5 at home against West Virginia.

All game times, ticket information and promotional schedules will be announced in the coming months with season tickets going on sale in March. With K-State riding a current home sellout streak of 20 straight games and another season ticket sellout anticipated, K-State officials encourage fans to act early when tickets become available.

2015 K-State Football Schedule
Date                      Opponent
Sept. 5                  South Dakota
Sept. 12                at UTSA
Sept. 19                Louisiana Tech
Sept. 26                BYE
Oct. 3                    at Oklahoma State*
Oct. 10                  TCU*
Oct. 17                  Oklahoma*
Oct. 24                  at Texas*
Oct. 31                  BYE
Nov. 5                   Baylor*
Nov. 14                 at Texas Tech*
Nov. 21 Iowa State*
Nov. 28                 at Kansas*
Dec. 5                    West Virginia*

* – Big 12 Conference game
Home games listed in BOLD

– k-statesports.com –

 

 

————
RYAN LACKEY
Assistant Director | Athletics Communications

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head football coach Bill Snyder is one of 20 semifinalists for the Maxwell Football Club Collegiate Coach of the Year, Maxwell Football Club President Ron Jaworski announced Wednesday.

 

It is the second time in the last three years Snyder has been up for the award after being named a finalist in 2012. Snyder is joined on the list by fellow Big 12 coaches Art Briles (Baylor) and Gary Patterson (TCU).

 

A ballot member for the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2015, Snyder has guided Kansas State to a 7-2 record, including a 5-1 mark in Big 12 play, in 2014 as the Wildcats checked in at No. 12 in this week’s College Football Playoff Top 25. K-State started Big 12 play 5-0 for the second time in the last three years and the fourth overall under the legendary head coach. He guided the Wildcats to bowl eligibility for the 16^th time in 2014 and extended K-State’s bowl streak to five-straight years.

 

Tied for 33^rd all-time among FBS coaches with 185 career victories, Snyder ranks second in the FBS in wins among active coaches at their current schools and fifth in total victories among active head coaches. He has also guided K-State to a 25-8 Big 12 record since 2011, which are the most victories and best winning percentage in the conference during that time.

 

Finalist voting for of the Maxwell Football Club Collegiate Coach of the Year award will begin on Thursday, Nov. 20, and close on Monday, Dec. 8. The finalist round will include the top three coaches, while voting for the 2014 winner will open Dec. 10, and run until Dec. 21.

 

No. 12/11 K-State faces a Thursday-night road test at West Virginia at Milan Puskar Stadium. The game, which will be shown to a national audience on FOX Sports 1, will kick off at 6 p.m. (CT).

 

2014 Maxwell Coach of the Year Semifinalists

Troy Calhoun (Air Force)

Nick Saban (Alabama)

Rich Rodriguez (Arizona)

Todd Graham (Arizona State)

Art Briles (Baylor)

Jim McElwain (Colorado State)

David Cutcliffe (Duke)

Jimbo Fisher (Florida State)

Mark Richt (Georgia)

Paul Johnson (Georgia Tech)

Bill Snyder (Kansas State)

Doc Holliday (Marshall)

Hugh Freeze (Mississippi)

Dan Mullen (Mississippi State)

Urban Meyer (Ohio State)

Mark Helfrich (Oregon)

Gary Patterson (TCU)

Kyle Whittingham (Utah)

P.J. Fleck (Western Michigan)

Gary Andersen (Wisconsin)

 

Release by Ryan Lackey, K-State Asst. Director/Communications

 

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – A person with knowledge of the negotiations says free agent designated hitter Billy Butler and the Oakland Athletics have agreed to a $30 million, three-year contract.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the A’s had not announced the deal, their typical practice until a new player passes a physical. Butler would provide a right-handed bat with power who can also play first base.

Butler helped the Kansas City Royals reach the World Series last month after a 29-year playoff drought. In the postseason opener, they rallied late to eliminate Oakland in the AL wild-card game.

After losing to the San Francisco Giants in seven games, the Royals declined their $12.5 million option on Butler for next season, making the 2012 All-Star a free agent for the first time in his eight-year career.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Dakari Johnson scored 11 points, Andrew Harrison had 10 and No. 1 Kentucky used a dominant defense to blow out No. 4 Kansas 72-40 in Tuesday night’s Champions Classic.

The Wildcats (3-0) shot just 43.1 percent from the field, but they were so good on defense that it didn’t matter. Kansas (1-1) shot just 19.6 percent from the field and was 15 for 27 at the line in the storied program’s worst offensive performance since a 61-45 loss to Kentucky on Dec. 1, 1998.

Wayne Selden Jr. had nine points for the Jayhawks, and Cliff Alexander finished with eight.

The Wildcats led by as much as 35-17 in the first half. After Kansas closed to 38-28 at the half, Kentucky opened the second half with six straight points and continued extending the lead throughout the second half.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Six K-State volleyball student-athletes – Katie Brand, Taylor Johnson, Chelsea Keating, Kersten Kober, Gina Madonia and Katie Reininger – were named to the 2014 Academic All-Big 12 Team, the conference office announced. Brand, Johnson, Kober, Madonia and Reininger were honored with first team distinctions while Kober was one of three Big 12 student-athletes to be nominated with a 4.0 grade point average.

Seniors Madonia (Major: Early Childhood Education), Johnson (Marketing & Management) and Keating (Animal Sciences & Industry) all repeated as Academic All-Big 12 performers. Madonia has been named to the first team all three years she has been eligible, making her the 24th Wildcat in school history to earn three first team selections. Johnson earned first team honors for the second time in her career while Keating picked up a second team distinction for the second consecutive year.

Redshirt sophomore Brand (Life Sciences) was named Academic All-Big 12 First Team for the second time in her career.

Redshirt sophomore Reininger (English-Creative Writing) and sophomore Kober (Accounting) earned their first career Academic All-Big 12 awards. Kober was an Academic All-Big 12 Rookie honoree in 2013-14.

K-State, which had the third-most Academic All-Big 12 awards this year behind Baylor (10) and Texas Tech (9), has garnered the most Academic All-Big 12 selections in the conference’s history, with 123 since 1996. The Wildcats are also the only program with more than 100 first team selections (104). Under head coach Suzie Fritz, the Wildcats have been recognized 94 times for their academic performances by the Big 12.

First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA while the second team selections hold a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.

To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of their team’s scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.

Release by Chris Kutz, K-State Assistant Director, Athletics Communications.

Kansas State will play it’s second Thursday night game on the season this week when they travel to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers.

The last time Kansas State played on a Thursday night was in week three when they hosted then 5th ranked Auburn and fell 20-14.

During his weekly press conference Tuesday Coach Bill Snyder said that the difference between the Thursday night game in week three and this weeks game is it’s probably more difficult for K-State fans.

“Thursday night trips, that kind of distance, it’s very hard for our fan base to make those kind of trips. It takes them away from work, etc. etc.,” says Snyder.

He also said that it can be difficult on the players academically because it forces them to miss two days of classes. “Outside of that it’s a road trip.”

Linebacker Jonathan Truman explained that the biggest difference is the days are mixed up.

“Today’s Thursday for me. I was kind of thrown off when I had to go to media because I thought it was Thursday. It’s weird, our days are all mixed up right now,” said Truman.

Playing on a Thursday does increase some of the excitement for Truman because they will be one of the only teams playing Thursday night.

“You’re the only one on television, everybody is watching, prime time, it’s going to be a fun atmosphere there.”

Kansas State is 3-1 all time against West Virginia and a perfect 2-0 since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 Conference in 2012.

Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. (CT), and the game will be aired nationally on FOX Sports 1.

Kansas State hosts UMKC in women’s basketball Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.

Both teams are 1-0.

UMKC won their opener at Eastern Illinois last Sunday, 69-53. They have been picked to finish seventh in the Western Athletic Conference preseason poll as voted on by the league’s coaches.

UMKC returns three of five starters from last season, guard Calli White, guard / forward Taylor Leathers, and forward Grace Mitchell.

Kansas State opened their season with an 81-55 win over SIUE last Friday. K-State was paced by sophomore forward Breanna Lewis with 13 points, five rebounds.

Tipoff for the game Tuesday night is set for 7 p.m.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State senior linebacker Jonathan Truman is one of 10 semifinalists for the Burlsworth Award, which honors the most outstanding football player in America that began his career as a walk-on, the award’s committee announced Tuesday.

 

Truman, the lone semifinalist from the Big 12, is the third Wildcat in as many years to earn semifinalist status for the award, joining offensive lineman B.J. Finney (2012) and defensive end Ryan Mueller (2013).

 

A product of Kechi, Kansas, Truman has played in 48 career games, including starts in each of his last 21. He leads the team and ranks third in the Big 12 with 85 tackles, just four shy of his season total from last season with four games left to play. He is on pace for 123 tackles this season, which would rank 19^th in school history and be the most by a Wildcat since Josh Buhl in 2003.