The Week in Review, 5/13

Unfortunately, this week I'm relying heavily on outside sources for the news, because I've been in Omaha all weekend. First, a quick self-indulgent shoutout to my sister for graduating from college this weekend. A big accomplishment, and even more impressive because of other considerations. Way to go!

Ok, now on to the week in K-State sports...

Baseball

It was the story of the season in one weekend for Coach Hill and the Bat Cats at Tointon this weekend. The #11 Texas A&M Aggies paid a visit to the Little Apple, giving the Cats a golden opportunity to solidify their place in the field of 64. And the team tried to do just that, but came up just a little short. On Friday, it was a hard-fought 4-2 loss. On Saturday, a bitter 2-1 defeat. But in typical fashion this season, the team didn't quit, and came alive in an 11-6 victory today to salvage the weekend.

It was again a light week in the Big 12, with only three conference series being played. Seems to me like each team should get one of the two weekends around finals week off, but that's just me. Anyway, here are the updated standings.

1. Texas, 18-6 (Idle)
2. Oklahoma State, 15-8 (Swept Texas Tech, 3-0)
3. Missouri, 15-8 (Beat Oklahoma, 2-1)
4. Texas A&M, 13-9 (Beat K-State, 2-1)
5. Nebraska, 11-12 (Beat Baylor, 2-1)
6. K-State, 9-13 (Lost to Texas A&M, 1-2)
7. Oklahoma, 9-14 (Lost to Missouri, 1-2)
8. Baylor, 9-14 (Lost to Nebraska, 1-2)
9. KU, 8-15 (Swept Chicago State in non-conference action)
10. Texas Tech, 7-15 (Swept by Missouri, 0-3)

That leaves us with one weekend remaining in conference play. Next week sees a full slate of conference action, with the following matchups:

Texas A&M at Texas
Missouri at Oklahoma State
Nebraska at KU
K-State at Baylor
Texas Tech at Oklahoma

That means there's a lot at stake at the top of the conference with the top four teams squaring off. Technically, Missouri and Oklahoma State both have a chance to catch UT for the regular-season championship. It would require them to sweep their series and have A&M sweep UT in Austin, which I doubt is going to happen. UT's magic number is 1 to win the conference. Looks like Mizzou and OSU will battle it out for the number two seed.

Texas A&M will likely be the number 4 seed, as its magic number for the four-seed is also 1 (although Nebraska could very well sweep KU and UT COULD sweep A&M, though I doubt it).

Nebraska stands 1.5 games ahead of K-State for the five-spot. By taking two from KU, the Huskers would assure themselves of that spot. It would be nice if the Cats could overtake NU for that five-spot, but just taking the series off Baylor in the hellhole will be hard enough. Our Cats stand only 0.5 games ahead of OU and Baylor for the six-spot in the league. OU has an easy series with Tech coming to Norman, so we can plan on them winning at least two. If we don't take the series off BU, we can plan on at least falling behind them.

K-State owns a 1.5 game lead on KU, who sits in ninth. That's huge, especially considering the beaks play Nebraska, who will likely take the series in Lawrence. It's probably more beneficial to cheer for Nebraska this weekend, because making sure KU can't pass us is more important than improving our seed.

Texas Tech stands 2 games behind K-State, so it's theoretically possible they could catch us, but unlikely considering they travel to Norman and aren't playing worth a damn right now.

So basically, it comes down to this: take the series off Baylor, and we're in the conference tournament, and also won't be the eight seed, which means we don't face Texas in the first round. Also, taking the series keeps us in contention for a spot in the NCAA tournament, which both Rivals and SEBaseball have us in as of last week.

Stay tuned...

Track and Field

Conference championship week in Lincoln brought some decent success for the Track Cats. The men finished 10th and the women 7th in the team standings.

Big congratulations to high jumper Scott Sellers for winning the conference crown in that event, clearing a height of 7'7.75", a conference record. That's damn impressive. Sellers could jump over Yao Ming.

In two weeks, those athletes who have qualified (I'll try to list them this week) will make a return trip to storied Drake Stadium for the Midwest Regionals. Those who perform in Des Moines will move on to Nationals at Sacramento, Calif.

Have a great week everyone. The updates should be more frequent now that exams are over.