Kansas State baseball remains on track for an NCAA bid as the regular season winds down

MANHATTAN — When Kansas State baseball coach Pete Hughes built the Wildcats' 2024 nonconference schedule, he did so with eyes wide open.

Angered by last year's NCAA Tournament snub, he knew one way to avoid a repeat was to raise the Wildcats' level of competition, and it appears to be paying off.

After last weekend's series victory over Kansas at Tointon Family Stadium, the Wildcats remain in the middle of the Big 12 pack at 12-12, but the quality of their 28-19 overall record still has them on track for an NCAA bid.

Yes, K-State can ill afford a collapse over the final two conference regular-season weekends or the Big 12 Tournament, but according to bracket projections by both D1 Baseball and Baseball America the Wildcats are comfortable in at present.

K-State opens a three-game conference series Friday at second-place West Virginia (29-18, 15-9), play a midweek home game against South Dakota State on Tuesday, then play host to Brigham Young to close the regular season. The Big 12 Tournament is May 21-15 in Arlington, Texas.

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D1 Baseball has the Wildcats currently penciled in as the No. 3 seed in the Santa Barbara, California regional with host UC Santa Barbara, No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 4 Grand Canyon. Baseball America's projection also has K-State as a No. 3, but in the Terre Haute, Indiana, regional with No. 1 Indiana State, No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 4 Bowling Green.

K-State's RPI heading into the weekend is No. 38, and more importantly the Wildcats rank No. 21 in strength of schedule.

K-State had a good showing last weekend in the Sunflower Showdown against a red-hot Kansas team, using late-inning rallies to win Friday's game 3-2 and Sunday's finale, 4-2, after the Jayhawks won the middle game, 4-0.

Freshman outfielder Nick English delivered the game-winning hits in both victories.

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State baseball still on track for NCAA Tournament bid