MANHATTAN, Kan. – Less than a week out from Southland Conference play, the University of the Incarnate Word baseball team will travel to Kansas State for a pair of midweek games to air live on ESPN3.
 
The Cardinals and Wildcats will meet at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, before a 12 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday.
 
HOW TO WATCH
 
Fans of UIW baseball can catch all of the action live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App.
 
FIRST PITCH
 
The Cardinals are flying high after going 3-1 in back-to-back weekends. The Broadway Birds picked up arguably the biggest win in UIW Athletics history over No. 30 Notre Dame, before falling to Purdue and No. 8 Texas A&M by a combined three runs.
 
K-State's schedule has been similarly demanding. The Wildcats started 0-3 with losses to No. 17 South Alabama, No. 17 Indiana and 2016 College World Series Champion Coastal Carolina. K-State changed course with a victory over Virginia Tech on Feb. 19 and has gone 7-1 since that time.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Record: 7-4 Overall, 0-0 Big 12
Head Coach: Brad Hill
Leaders:
No. 8 r-Jr. C TK McWhertor – .464 AVG, 13 H, 5 R, 4 RBI
No. 18 So. OF Will Brennan – .462 AVG, 24 H, 15 R, 8 RBI, 8 SB
No. 7 Sr. INF Jake Biller – .354 AVG, 17 H, 9 RBI, 8 R
Probable Starters:
Tuesday: No. 36 Fr. RHP Quinton Potter (0-0) – 6.23 ERA, 8.2 IP, 10 SO, 3 BB
Wednesday: No. 19 So. RHP Caleb Littlejim (1-0) – 4.91 ERA, 7.1 IP, 4 SO, 3 BB
Summary:
The Wildcats finished the 2017 season with a 29-26 overall record and 8-16 mark in Big 12 play. K-State is currently 7-4 and coming off of a three-game series sweep of La Salle in Manhattan, Kan. over the weekend.
 
An aggressive team on the base paths, the Wildcats rank fourth in the nation in stolen bases. K-State has two players in the top-10 individually in that category – junior outfielder Drew Mount (fourth) and sophomore outfielder Will Brennan (sixth). Brennan also ranks second in the country in hits, with 24 on the year.
 
THE CARDINAL FILE
Record: 8-5 Overall, 0-0 SLC
Head Coach: Patrick Hallmark
Leaders:
No. 5 Fr. OF Ridge Rogers – .417 AVG, 15 H, 6 R, 3 RBI
No. 24 So. C Kyle Bergeron – .408 AVG, 20 H, 15 RBI, 9 R
No. 21 Jr. OF Eddy Gonzalez – .375 AVG, 15 H, 8 R, 4 RBI
Probable Starters:
None announced.
Summary:
The Cardinals went 20-36 last season, including an 8-22 mark in Southland Conference action. UIW is currently 8-5 and coming off of a 3-1 series victory over Northern Illinois over the weekend.
 
Senior pitcher Tyler Miller was one out away from tossing a no-hitter in a complete-game shutout of NIU. Freshman outfielder Ridge Rogers is coming off of a 5-for-5 day at the plate in Sunday's series finale win against the Huskies.
 
The Cardinals rank first in the country in sacrifice flies, while sophomore infielder David Anaya is the nation's individual leader. Sophomore catcher Kyle Bergeron ranks fifth in that category. Rogers is 22^nd in the sacrifice bunts, while Bergeron ranks 23^rd in hits.
 
SERIES HISTORY
 
UIW and Kansas State will meet for the first time in program history on Tuesday.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Cardinals open Southland Conference play at home against rival Abilene Christian, Mar. 9-11. The teams will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday, before closing out the weekend with a 1 p.m. finale on Sunday.
 
STAY TUNED
 
UIW will host a two-game midweek series with Maine, beginning Tuesday, Mar. 13 at 6:30 p.m. The teams will face off at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14.
 
To purchase tickets to any UIW Athletics home event, contact Ticket Sales Coordinator Alma Lara at 210-805-3012.
 
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics visit uiwcardinals.com. Be sure to follow UIW Athletics on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.