BY GEORGE WATSON l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Anyone who thinks Kansas State’s rise into a top 10 program came out of nowhere need only look at the last two weeks of the 2008 season.

Or, for that fact, the last two years.

Picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 Conference, the Wildcats have been one of the biggest surprises in college baseball in 2009, riding the sudden emergence of one of the top pitchers in the nation and a veteran offense onto the precipice of a Big 12 regular-season championship. The 10th-ranked Wildcats enter this weekend’s action against Texas Tech having already clinched a spot in the Big 12 Championships, trail first-place Texas by just .021 of a percentage point and have set a school record for victories (37) with six games remaining.

“I can’t explain it,” said sixth-year head coach Brad Hill. “For whatever reason we’ve had guys who decided they want to be good ballplayers and they’ve committed to the team and put the team first, and are dedicated to making themselves as individuals better in all phases of the game. Between that and (right-hander A.J. Morris) turning into a legitimate guy, those are the two big factors.”

Before Hill arrived in Manhattan, Kan., in 2004, the Wildcats had just one finish higher than ninth in the previous seven seasons of Big 12 play, and they’d qualified for the Big 12 Championships in Oklahoma City just once during that span.

But things began clicking a couple of years ago when Kansas State made the tournament despite losing five of its last six league games. In 2008 though, it was a huge surge in the final two weeks of the regular season that really began to turn things around, and Hill said that’s where the motivation for 2009 was born.

After dropping two to Missouri to begin the month of May, the Wildcats won six of their final eight games, including a win over perennial power Arizona State and a sweep of rival Kansas in the final weekend of the regular season. That gave Kansas State the sixth seed in the Big 12 Championships, and the momentum carried over as KSU beat Oklahoma State and Baylor to win its pool and reach the title game.

Even though the Wildcats lost to Texas 15-7, the seeds of success had been planted for 2009, and they’re on pace for their best conference finish since coming in fourth in the old Big 8 in 1995.

“Any time you’re put in a situation in conference where you’re playing for a championship … it is instilled in kids that they can play in this conference and have confidence playing in this conference,” Hill said. “It was one of those little notches in the belt and we’ve continued to try and build upon that and build this program. A lot of it is the perception of self and believing we can be competitive in this conference, and lastly, we believe now we can win the conference.”

Of course, having one of the most dominant pitchers in the nation leading the charge on Friday nights doesn’t hurt.

Morris, a junior who was just 4-4 last year with a 6.04 ERA serving mostly as Kansas State’s Tuesday starter, exploded onto the scene early and has never left. Morris currently leads the Big 12 in victories (11-0), ERA (1.29) and innings pitched (832/3) and ranks in the top six in strikeouts (78), games started (12) and complete games (3), and opponents are hitting just .189 against him.

Morris has lasted six innings or longer in each of his starts, and has gone eight innings or longer in five of those starts. He has also not allowed more than three earned runs in a single outing this year, and Missouri was the only team that he has not beaten, getting a no-decision after the Tigers rallied to win in the ninth.

“I’m not sure how he developed,” Hill said. “I think part of it was him looking at (2009) and going ‘Wow, I have a great opportunity to be the Friday night guy and I know I need to get better and stronger and more confidence and be tougher.’ More than anything, though, he has developed that team attitude we’ve talked about and has become more unselfish.”

Of course, Hill said, it helps when the offensive support makes such a giant leap as well.

A team that hit an underwhelming .261 in 2008 has exploded in 2009. The Wildcats rank second in the Big 12 through 48 games with a .324 team average, and nine everyday players are hitting above .300. Of those nine, only freshman outfielder Nick Martini was not with the team last year.

But it’s not just batting average that jumps out. Four players have six home runs or more, led by senior Jordan Cruz’s 10, and the Wildcats have blown away the rest of the conference in terms of stolen bases with 127, twice as many as second-ranked Texas A&M’s 63.

“Again, it’s a mark of a good team that it’s different guys on different days, and different guys on different weekends,” Hill said. “It’s been important for us that we have had a complete lineup.”

College baseball
What: Texas Tech at No. 10 Kansas State
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Tointon Family Stadium, Manhattan, Kan.
Records: Texas Tech 21-27, 9-12 in Big 12; Kansas State 37-11-1, 12-7-1
Radio: All games on KKAM 1340 AM

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