WATCH: Brian Smoller talks K-State baseball on K-Nation
MANHATTAN, KS. (KSNT) - K-State baseball just finished one of its best seasons ever with a trip to the Super Regionals.
Brian Smoller has had a front seat with the Bat Cats for over two decades, calling the games on TV and radio. Smoller made the trip to the K-Nation studio to discuss the historic run.
He was asked what the success in the 2024 season means for the program going forward.
"I think it's a takeoff point for this new kind of era of K-State baseball under Pete Hughes," Smoller said. "They had crawled and fought so hard through the month of April and May to get to that point of postseason to kind of establish themselves."
Smoller says that this is a way for Pete Hughes and staff to recruit based off of results.
"Now that they've done it now, I think they've kind of turned that corner...You can look back and say, 'Hey, we're a program that's deserving of being in this spot,'" Smoller said.
K-State athletic director Gene Taylor trusted in Pete Hughes' vision even when he didn't have to, signing the K-State skipper to a contract extension before any postseason success occurred.
"It was one of the more rewarding moments," Smoller said. "Winning that regional in Arkansas certainly was a high point, but I think getting the name called up on the screen was the first moment where you're like, 'Okay, all this has paid off to this moment.'"
The full interview with Smoller can be watched above.
K-Nation airs every Sunday night on KSNT after 27 News at 10. It’s a 30-minute weekly sports special revolving around K-State and KU sports. Click here for more K-Nation content.