This article is part of our College Baseball Picks series.
College Baseball Picks Today: Saturday, April 5
Everything is bigger in Texas. The Longhorns took care of business on Friday against the elite UGA lineup with Jared Spencer’s sublime outing of 7.2 IP, 1 ER, 11 K’s. If the kid pitches like that in June, he’ll be making himself some nice extra bread in the draft.
I took care of my errands this morning with a little gym, tan, laundry, and a nice pedicure. I’m ready to rock.
Get in on the college baseball action at BetMGM with the BetMGM bonus code for a great welcome offer for new players.
Oklahoma State vs Kansas State odds
Kansas State Wildcats (-125)
Oklahoma State Cowboys (-105)
Total: 12
This is a huge series for both teams. K State is scorching at 8-2 in Big 12 play, sitting comfortably in position to make a run at winning the conference. While, the Pokes have struggled mightily as a 13-14 team (2-6 in B12). Friday I had the Cats as a +200 dog, and they came up just short in a 4-3 loss. The Pokes definitely need the series as they are dangerously close of dropping out of contention to win the conference. Though they took an important game one, it’s a long series.
K-State reasonably should have won on Friday. Aside from their hundreds of chances, the defense cost them with a four error game. I loved this team as a 100/1 longshot last season, but wasn’t too high on them for 2025. While the schedule has been on the lighter side for them, they have definitely surprised me. Even at a struggling OK State team, it’s a pivotal weekend for them too to keep pace at the top of the board as well as a true statement win.
Michael Quevedo gets the ball in game two. He hasn’t been anything spectacular with his 4.41 ERA and 42 K’s/13 BB’s in 32.2 innings, but he’s been good enough to keep his team in every game he’s started. While his 3.00 SIERA tells us he’s been on the unluckier side so far, his .381 BABIP against may be an issue against a Pokes lineup with some oomph.
The good thing for Quevedo is how much worse the OK State lineup has been against lefties than righties. Overall, the offense has not been hitting like a lot of us expected. The strikeouts are insanely high at 289 on the year (averaging 10.7 K’s per game) with almost every single hitter having a K rate at north of 21%.
The three biggest hitters in Colin Brueggemann, Brayden Smith, and Nolan Schubart are doing decent, all with a .300+ average, .970+ OPS, and six+ homers, but that’s about it. The team doesn’t really run that much (26 steals in 32 attempts) either. If Quevedo can keep the ball down, the yard, and limit the free passes, he should be able to at least go five strong innings.
The Pokes have had a mess in the starting rotation this year with a bunch of mixing and matching. For Saturday, Sean Youngerman takes the hill, one of their best arms. The thing is he’s a primary reliever getting just his second start of the season, yet to go past five innings in any of his 13 appearances. He’s good strikeout stuff (22) and impeccable command (1 walk).
The Wildcats offense has shown a lot more power than expected (52 homers) with Maximus Martin (.390 average/1.310 OPS/12 HR) leading the way. They also cause chaos on the bases (48 steals -65 attempts) always looking to grab an extra 90 feet. There’s a lot of contributors in this line up with more than half of them getting on base at north of a .420% clip. It’s a relentless approach from multiple avenues that’s given opposing teams a lot of issues even without a true star.
While I was writing this, K State flipped from a -110 dog to -125 favorite and it makes sense. They are the better team with better execution. Fundamentally, Oklahoma State is on the borderline of not being a good team. Give me the Cats on a bounce back.
Pick: Kansas State ML -125 (DK)
To get the rest of my unlimited College Baseball Slate, join here.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
