Unable to finish season, K-State’s best baseball team in years copes with frustration
Kansas State baseball coach Pete Hughes sat alone in his office Thursday morning unsure of how he was going to keep himself busy for the remainder of the week, let alone the rest of the semester.
This is normally his busiest time of year. But now that all spring sporting events have been canceled in response to the coronavirus pandemic and all of his players have scattered across the country to their hometowns, he feels like he’s just sitting around and twiddling his thumbs.
“Normally, if you’re not playing you are throwing yourself into recruiting,” Hughes said. “You can’t do that right now. Everything is shut down. It’s a new dynamic. I’m watching a lot of Netflix. I almost started reading a book the other day, which hasn’t happened in a long time. When you are used to going 100 miles per hour and it comes to a grinding halt it takes some time to adjust. That is what I’m going through right now.”
Hughes would much rather be coaching his baseball team.
The Wildcats were supposed to be outside in 75 degree weather preparing for a three-game series against Baylor on Thursday. Instead, their season was abruptly cut short.
That’s a pity, because this group was showing promise. The Bat Cats were off to a 10-7 start before their season was called off, and they were flashing serious signs of potential.
By winning three of four games at Stanford, K-State claimed its first series victory over a Pac-12 opponent in 19 years. With starting pitchers Carson Seymour, Connor McCullough and Jordan Wicks leading the way on the mound, there were whispers that this team might have what it takes to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
Hughes is certain it would have happened.
“Our pitching staff was pitching at an Omaha level,” Hughes said. “I have been around this game a long time, and any time you have the pitching staff we have, you have a chance to go to Omaha. It’s just disappointing we couldn’t find out what might have happened once our bats warmed up. Your heart hurts for your players. There are so many what ifs. It’s all about perspective. We’re fortunate that the only thing we have to sacrifice is baseball for a little while, but it’s nonetheless gut-wrenching.”
It would have been fun to see what K-State’s pitching staff could have accomplished over the course of a full season.
Seymour had a 3.92 ERA as the team’s Friday starter, McCullough had a 2.25 ERA with 29 strikeouts and Jordan Wicks had a 0.35 ERA and an undefeated record while throwing on Sundays.
K-State was also playing home games in a renovated stadium that offered new amenities to fans and provided players with state-of-the art facilities. The Wildcats had just started a nine-game home stand when their season was cancelled.
“We were playing defense at a high level and we had great team chemistry,” Hughes said. “It’s too bad we can’t put it all on the field and watch it come to fruition. We had really good momentum going with some wins and the new facilities. There was a lot of good stuff happening. It will just have to be continued at another time.”
With many key players set to return next season, the future appears bright for the K-State baseball. But it’s impossible to project anything right now, given how many question marks are looming over the sport.
Will MLB still hold its annual amateur draft? Will seniors be granted an extra season of eligibility? With limited scholarships spread across a roster of 35 players, will everyone that wants to continue playing have the financial resources to do so?
All signs point to seniors in spring sports receiving an additional year of eligibility that won’t count against a team’s usual scholarship count. But not all baseball seniors will jump at the chance to return to school, as most of vast majority of them are on partial scholarships.
Hughes hopes the NCAA will allow teams to retain seniors with full scholarships, as not doing so would place a financial burden on them. But it’s unclear if that possibility will be considered.
For now, anything could happen. K-State might end up losing more players than expected or retain its entire roster.
“There are tons of question marks right now,” Hughes said. “I don’t know what is going to happen.”
Things were much simpler last week, when K-State thumped South Dakota State 10-0 and was blissfully unaware that their final 38 games weren’t going to be played.
The Wildcats thought they were heading toward a special season. Now, all they can do is wait and wonder when they will be able to return to the field in hopes of recapturing that momentum.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Unable to finish season, K-State’s best baseball team in years copes with frustration."