PREVIEW: Kentucky Baseball Playing in Round Rock Classic this Weekend

Kentucky Baseball is headed to Round Rock, Tx. this weekend to compete in the Karbach Round Rock Classic, their first Classic since 2018 (Shriners Hospital for Children College Classic).

Crossed bat Wildcats logo x @KarbachRRC. A perfect match.

📸 @MylesVisionn pic.twitter.com/8xrnHO2Wor

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) February 22, 2024

The Karbach Round Rock Classic began in 2020 and has been won by Tennessee (2020), Texas A&M (2021), Stanford (2022), and LSU (2023). Kentucky is looking to become the fourth SEC team to win the Round Rock Classic this weekend.

The Cats will face Washington State on Friday (3:00 p.m. EST), Texas State on Saturday (5:00 p.m. EST), and Kansas on Sunday (1:00 p.m. EST).

All three games will be streamed on D1Baseball.com.

Kentucky

Kentucky Baseball heads into the Round Rock Classic 4-0 after a season opening sweep of USC-Upstate and a comeback 9-5 victory over Morehead State on Tuesday.

The Cats are the only undefeated team participating in the Classic.

A Wildcat offense that hasn’t gotten off to the best start to the season has been led early by transfers 3B Nick Lopez and 1B Ryan Nicholson. Lopez and Nicholson are tied for the team-lead with five hits apiece. Three of Lopez’s five hits have been doubles.

Lopez has struggled defensively however, totaling three errors in the first four innings of Tuesday’s win over Morehead State. He was replaced in the fifth inning by Mitchell Daly, who eventually drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Expect Lopez and Daly to rotate in-and-out of the hot corner.

Senior SS Grant Smith has also started nicely in 2024, driving in a team-leading six RBI through his first 14 at-bats.

The weekend trio of RHP Travis Smith, LHP Dominic Niman, and RHP Mason Moore will be making their second appearances of the season in Round Rock. Smith, Niman, and Moore combined for 14.1 IP, 13 allowed hits, four earned runs, and 11 strikeouts in their first series of the season against USC-Upstate.

Preseason NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List member RHP Johnny Hummel is off to an incredible start in the blue and white, totaling two saves in two appearances. Hummel has yet to allow a hit, sitting the side down in order in both appearances.

Washington State

The Washington State Cougars are 3-1 in their first four games under new head coach Nathan Choate. The Cougs took three of four from Utah Tech in their season opening series.

Wazzu’s offense is off to a hot start, as they are hitting a team .318 BA. Junior DH Casen Taggart is off to a blistering 6-12 start at the plate with two home runs and five RBI. The Cougs are a power threat, as they boast nine home runs through their first four games.

Four Cougar players (Taggart, RF Alan Shibley, CF Nate Swarts, and LF Max Hartman) with 12 or more at-bats on the season are hitting over .316. The Wazzu outfield is among one of the best in the country.

Friday’s probable starting pitcher is senior RHP Grant Taylor. Taylor had a bit of a rough go-around in their season opener, giving up 10 hits and five earned runs to Utah Tech in 5.0 innings pitched.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Washington State leads 3-0

Texas State

Texas State swept Youngstown State to open their 2024 campaign before falling to No. 5 TCU 6-5 on Tuesday. The Bobcats are a talented, young team looked to make a major statement this weekend.

Texas State outscored Youngstown 37-4 over just 25 innings of play in their three-game sweep.

Freshman phenom Ryne Farber has exploded onto the scene, notching nine hits in his first 12 at-bats (three doubles) for a whopping .750 BA and a .842 OBP, which is third best in the country. Sophomore catcher Rashawn Galloway has looked impressive as well, batting .333 with three runs and an RBI in three games.

Galloway went viral in Texas State’s loss to TCU for hitting with work gloves on his hands.

My guy at Texas State batting with work gloves. Bruh 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/8EKRZbpJni

— Jay Lump (@JAY_LUMP) February 21, 2024

Saturday’s probable pitcher is LHP Jack Stroud, who dominated in his first start of the season. Stroud pitched 5.0 innings, giving up just four hits and no earned runs.

ALL-TIME SERIES: No prior meetings

Kansas

Kentucky will round out their weekend in Texas with a baseball game between the two winningest basketball programs of all time.

The Jayhawks are not off to a great start in 2024, losing their first two games of the season to Illinois-Chicago. Kansas rebounded nicely however, beating UIC 8-2 in the series finale before holding off Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 13-7 on Tuesday.

Sophomore 2B Kodey Shojinaga was named the Big 12 Co-Player of the Week on Monday. Shojinaga hit .462/.533/1.077 (6-for-13), with two doubles, two home runs, five RBIs, four runs scored and a 1.610 OPS in three games against Illinois-Chicago.

Shojinaga was the Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year last season after leading Kansas in batting average (.378), hits (74), multi-hit games (20), OBP (.421), and OPS (.947) in his first season of college baseball.

Jayhawks RHP Patrick Steitz will start against the Cats on Sunday. Steitz threw six scoreless innings in Kansas’ 8-2 win over UIC last Sunday.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Tied at 1-1

Game 1: Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 (Dell Diamond – 3:00 p.m. EST) D1Baseball.com
UK: RHP Travis Smith (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 4.0 IP) vs WSU: RHP Grant Taylor (1-0, 9.00 ERA, 5.0 IP)
Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024 (Dell Diamond – 5:00 p.m. EST) D1Baseball.com
UK: LHP Dominic Niman (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP) vs TXST: LHP Jack Stroud (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP)
Game 3: Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024 (Dell Diamond – 1:00 p.m. EST) D1Baseball.com
UK: RHP Mason Moore (1-0, 3.38 ERA, 5.1 IP) vs KU: RHP Patrick Steitz (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP)