Houston celebrates their win against Arizona after game one of an NCAA college baseball series, Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar

Houston baseball finished with its best record in the Big 12 and seeks to win its first-ever Big 12 tournament game in its first appearance since joining the conference last season.

The Cougars ended the regular season with a 29-24 overall record and went 12-17 in conference play. 

No. 11 seed Houston will face No. 6 seed Kansas State at 8 p.m. at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

The winner will face TCU on Thursday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m.

Houston vs Kansas State preview

Houston baseball has struggled with offensive production all season long, ranking second-to-last in the Big 12 in hits, runs and batting average.

Kansas State faces the same struggles as the Cougars, ranking just two spots ahead of UH in the same categories.

Houston, however, ranks just one spot ahead of the Wildcats in team ERA, sitting at 5.57 and Kansas State at 5.66.

In fielding percentage, Houston ranks last with a .964, totaling 70 errors on the season.

The Wildcats rank second-to-last with a .966 fielding percentage and committed 64 errors.

Statistically, the two teams are evenly matched and are set for a high-stakes round one match-up.

Previous match-up

From April 25-27, the Cougars dropped two out of three games to Kansas State in their season series on the road.

The Wildcats won game one 5-2 and game two 14-5 to take the series over UH.

Houston fought back in the series finale to win 6-5 and avoid the sweep.

Kansas State outscored Houston 24-13 in the series, even though they tallied just one more hit throughout the three games.

Walks, errors and not scoring with runners on base plagued Houston and proved to be the difference in the series.

Players to watch

Kansas State’s first three batters lead their offense and are the difference makers for their team. The trio of junior infielder Maximus Martin, graduate infielder Seth Dardar and graduate outfielder Keegan O’Connor does the heavy lifting for the Wildcats.

They’ve combined for a .329 batting average this season and totaled 131 runs, 181 hits, 151 RBIs and 42 home runs.

On the other side of the ball, pitchers Michael Quevedo and Lincoln Sheffield lead the team with six wins each.

Quevedo also leads with 70 strikeouts on the year and has a 6.28 ERA. Sheffield came in at third on his team with 64 strikeouts and finished the regular season with a 5.99 ERA.

For the Cougars, the batting trio is junior infielder Connor McGinnis, redshirt sophomore infielder Xavier Perez and sophomore outfielder Tre Broussard. 

They’ve combined for a .314 batting average and racked up 113 runs, 152 hits, 102 RBIs and 19 homers.

Broussard is also a threat on the basepaths, finishing fourth in the Big 12 with 30 stolen bases.

Graduate pitcher Antoine Jean is the guy to watch from Houston’s pitching staff. Jean has a 2.43 ERA and has racked up 104 strikeouts.

Opponents are only batting .162 against the southpaw, so he will be a key factor in Houston’s biggest game this season.

Overall, each squad is comparable statistically and has very similar records.

With the season on the line for both teams, it will be another hard-fought Big 12 matchup to find out who will advance to play No. 3 TCU in the second round on Thursday evening.

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“Houston baseball set to face Kansas State in the first round of Big 12 tournament” was originally posted on The Cougar