Takeaways from K-State’s 4-0 start to 2026

Few things were hotter in the Arizona desert this past weekend than the Kansas State Wildcats, who jumped to a 4-0 record to start the 2026 season.

Kansas State played in the MLB Desert Invitational from Feb. 13-16, taking on Iowa, UConn, Penn State and Air Force. The Wildcats swept the weekend, winning all four games 15-6, 7-3, 24-5 and 11-8, respectively. Games took place at the Spring Training complexes of various MLB teams.

With the Wildcats headed to Arlington on Feb. 20 to take on Auburn, Nebraska and Michigan, here are a few takeaways from their first series of the season.

The Dee Kennedy Show

The Wildcats scored 57 runs in four games, with 53 coming on RBIs. Nobody had more than shortstop Dee Kennedy, who brought in 15 runners in just 14 at-bats.

The junior tops the NCAA leaderboards in RBIs, and with a .500 average and 1.857 OPS is off to one of the hottest starts in college baseball. Kennedy’s best game was in the blowout win over Penn State, where he knocked two of his three home runs on the weekend, scored five times, and batted in seven.

Kennedy was electric on the basepaths as well, stealing safely on all five of his attempts. After spending almost all of 2025 at third base, Kennedy is still getting used to playing shortstop for Kansas State.

Though he was part of three double plays, he also committed two errors, the most on the team. Head Coach Pete Hughes will likely take an error every couple of games if it means that Kennedy is going to continue to hit the cover off the ball.

Kennedy was named the Golden Spikes Award x D1 Baseball Player of the Week as well as the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week.

A Well-Balenced Lineup

Of course, you don’t average over 14 runs a game and attain a team OPS of 1.171 because of one player. K-State’s entire lineup dominated pitchers in the Desert Invitational, outslugging their opponents .649 to .421.

The Wildcats took smart at-bats too, a good sign this early into the season. They walked 31 times across the four games, five more times than they struck out.

In addition to Kennedy, four players started all four games, and every single one had an OPS over 1.000. AJ Evasco matched Kennedy’s efforts with a .500 batting average, going 9/18 with four extra base hits and 10 RBIs.

Leadoff man Robby Bolin tallied five walks and six hits for a .579 OBP, but was caught stealing twice. Shintaro Inoue avoided striking out in 17 at-bats but drew four free passes, whereas East Tennessee State transfer Grant Gallagher struck out a team-high seven times but still slugged his way to a 1.143 OPS.

The only discernible weakness in the lineup for K-State was behind the dish. Bear Madliak and Shea McGahan shared time at catcher, but hit a combined .272 in 11 at-bats. Madliak demonstrated a bit more patience at the plate, walking three times.

Liggett is Legit

While Kansas State took an early lead and didn’t look back in three of its four games, the Saturday matchup was a lot less certain. After scoring a run in the first inning, the Wildcats surrendered a pair in the second and another in the third to fall behind 3-1.

Carson Liggett, a redshirt senior, stepped in to pitch with no outs in the third and struck out three straight.

He kept K-State in the game, hurling five scoreless frames with five strikeouts and just two hits and two walks allowed. Eventually, the bats woke back up in the eighth inning and put the Wildcats back on top for a 7-3 win.

Liggett utilized a strong breaking ball and powerful high fastball combo to generate multiple swings and misses by UConn.

The transfer from Louisville spent ample time as a starter for the Cardinals, but then missed all of 2025 due to injury. After his impressive outing, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him make the switch back to the starting rotation down the road.

Just Throw Strikes

Though it’s not exactly hard to win baseball games with how the offense performed over the weekend, the pitching staff did an excellent job of limiting damage.

The main way they accomplished that was by limiting free passes. Kansas State had a combined WHIP of 1.50 compared to an opponent WHIP of 2.63. The Wildcats only walked 14 batters, and when they allowed base runners they forced ground balls to create double plays– 10, to be exact.

The starting pitching has the most room to improve going forward. Although senior lefty Lincoln Sheffield surrendered a respectable two earned runs in five innings, the other three starters– James Guyette, Donte Lewis and Tanner Duke– allowed a combined 11 runs in 9.2 innings. With stronger opponents on the horizon, the pitching staff is going to need to go deeper into games.

The Wildcats take on No. 9 Auburn in Arlington, TX on Friday, Feb. 20.

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