MANHATTAN, Kan.&nbsp;– K-State sophomore left-handed pitcher&nbsp;Jordan Wicks&nbsp;took home the season’s first Big 12 Pitcher of the Week award after striking out 10 Oregon State hitters across seven shutout innings in the season-opening win Friday, the league office announced Monday.The 2021 Big 12 Preseason Co-Pitcher of the Year equaled his career-high strikeout output, keeping the Beavers scoreless off three hits in a 3-2 win on Opening Day. Wicks retired 18 of the final 20 Beaver batters he faced in the victory.The award is the second weekly league honor of Wicks’ career, as he was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week in 2019.Dating back to last season, Wicks has allowed one earned run on 16 base hits with 36 strikeouts over his last 33 innings pitched (0.27 ERA).The Conway, Arkansas, product was a preseason all-America selection by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Last week, he was placed on USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list, which honors the country’s premier amateur player.K-State’s home opener is set for Friday at 3 p.m. against Western Michigan at Tointon Family Stadium, kicking off an eight-game homestand. Every home game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with radio coverage available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/watch.--&nbsp;<a href="http://www.k-statesports.com/" target="_blank">www.k-statesports.com</a>&nbsp;--

Wicks Collects Initial Big 12 Pitcher of the Week Honors