For the second straight year, the Sunflower Showdown will play out at the Big 12 baseball tournament. K-State and KU each are in need of a victory as both dropped their pool play opener on Wednesday, the Cats fell to Baylor 11-8, while the Jayhawks couldn’t hold off Oklahoma in a 3-2 loss. K-State and KU meet at 3:00 pm Friday afternoon in the Big 12 tournament at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. Coverage begins at 2:30 on SportsRadio 1350 from the K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson, Brian Smoller and Matt Walters.

Add another non-conference opponent from a major conference to the schedule for the K-State men’s basketball team. The Roanoke Times is reporting that the Cats will host Virginia Tech at Bramlage Coliseum during non-conference play this winter. The home-and-home series was announced on Wednesday by Hokies coach Seth Greenberg with a return trip to Blacksburg during the 2011-2012 season. The game has not yet been confirmed by K-State, but was reportedly arranged by ESPN. K-State is ranked #5 in the nation for next season by ESPN.com’s Andy Katz, while Virginia Tech is pegged at #22. The Hokies return the ACC’s top scorer Malcom Delaney, who averaged 20.2 points per game a year ago.

The balance of K-State’s non-conference schedule has not been released, but previous games have been announced against Florida, Duke, Marquette, Gonzaga, UNLV, and Washington State.

The Manhattan High baseball will compete Friday afternoon in the 6A state baseball tournament for the first time in three years, as they match up with Blue Valley-Stilwell in the opening round. The 19-3 Indians are the #3 seed in Lawrence, while the sixth seeded Tigers are 17-5. Manhattan High coach Don Hess says the Indians will face Blue Valley’s Ryne Stanek, who will pitch for Arkansas next season, but runs will be at premium as MHS can counter with Alec Giambrone or Lane Trudo. Manhattan High baseball and Blue Valley-Stilwell will hit the field at 1:30 pm Friday afternoon in the 6A state baseball tournament quarterfinals at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence. Coverage will be on a tape delayed basis on KMAN after the K-State baseball game against KU at the Big 12 tournament.

Riley County police arrested 18 year old Robert Dunn on Thursday afternoon at Manhattan High school for burglary. Dunn won the class 6A discus title at the state track meet a year ago, and was set to defend his title Friday and compete in the shot put on Saturday, where he placed second last season. Dunn will not compete for MHS following his arrest, and he did not make the trip with the team to Wichita.

Brian Bannister pitched six strong innings and David DeJesus drove in a pair of runs for Kansas City, lifting the Royals to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. Boston snapped a five-game winning streak following a three-game sweep of Tampa Bay. Bannister (4-3) gave up three runs on nine hits and struck out four while winning his third straight. He won for the first time in five decisions against the Red Sox. Joakim Soria pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save. Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-2) continued his up-and-down season with a shaky performance, walking a season-high eight while allowing three runs over 4 2-3 innings.

Logan Vick hit two of Baylor’s four home runs and drove in three runs as the Bears outlasted Kansas State 11-8 at the Big 12 tournament Wednesday night in a game delayed nearly three hours because of rain.Vick reached base in all six of his plate appearances, drawing three walks to go along with a double, a solo home run and a two-run homer. Landis Ware added a home run and four RBIs and Raynor Campbell also homered for the sixth-seeded Bears (32-21).Baylor opened an 8-1 lead after Ware’s three-run home run in the third inning, but third-seeded Kansas State (35-19) rallied back to tie it with a six-run fifth inning highlighted by Mike Kindel’s two-run single.Vick immediately gave Baylor the lead back with a leadoff homer off Evan Marshall (5-5) in the top of the sixth, and Willie Kempf kept the Bears (8-2) ahead with 4 1-3 innings of scoreless relief.

An independent investigation into the Kansas athletic department says at least $1 million worth of tickets were sold inappropriately over the past five years. The investigation conducted by a Wichita law firm showed that five Kansas athletics staffers and a consultant sold or used at least 17,609 basketball tickets, 2,181 football tickets and a number of parking passes and other passes for personal purposes. Many were relayed to brokers. The investigation estimated the losses could be as much as $3 million over $887,000 from basketball tickets and believe the scam could have started several years earlier. The university said it will take immediate measures to prevent future wrongdoing within the ticket office. It is also working with federal authorities investigating the allegations.

Billy Butler homered and Luke Hochevar pitched eight strong innings to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. Butler went 2 for 3 to raise his average to .348, second in the American League. He led off the sixth with his fifth home run to snap a 2-2 tie. Hochevar (5-2), the only Royals starter with a winning record, held the Rangers to two runs on six hits, striking out four and walking none. In winning his past two starts, Hochevar has allowed five runs on 10 hits in 17 innings. Joakim Soria worked a flawless ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances and the 100th of his career. Rangers right-hander Scott Feldman (2-5) allowed four runs on seven hits with one walk and two hit batters in 6 2/3 innings.

Left out in the cold two years ago, the K-State volleyball team got an assist this week for a European tour. The Wildcats were set to go to China in 2008, but their travel company went bankrupt and took their money the day before the trip. But, USA Athletes International, a group out of Kansas City, stepped in and offered to pay for a trip to Hungary, Slovenia and Italy after seeing a piece about the Cats on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” K-State coach Suzie Fritz says USAAI really stepped up to the plate but admits the offer was a little hard to believe at first. K-State was also alotted 10 extra practices before they left for Europe. Fritz says the combination of extra practices and five matches is a big advantage over other teams in the Big 12. K-State volleyball will return home on Tuesday, June 1st from their trip to Europe.

Every team sport in Kansas features eight teams in their state tournament except soccer, which gives just four teams a chance at the ultimate prize. The 15-3 Manhattan High girls will play in a substate Tuesday night at Maize after beating Leavenworth and Olathe Northwest last week to win a regional championship. Manhattan High coach Brett Nelson says the Indians are very focused on getting to Olathe next week. The Indians won a Centennial League championship with an undefeated record, but Nelson says the state tournament would be the high water mark.

Manhattan High girls soccer and Maize will meet up Tuesday night at 6:00 pm in the 6A substate.