Following a year that saw K-Sate reach unprecedented athletic, academic, administrative and fundraising success, John Currie was named an FBS Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced today.

The honor, one of only four given to FBS athletic directors across the country, was revealed in this week’s edition of SportsBusiness Journal in conjunction with NACDA’s annual convention in Orlando, Fla. Currie will accept the award during a Saturday luncheon at the convention.

“John’s outstanding leadership the past four years has resulted in the recognition of K-State having a model intercollegiate athletics program,” said K-State President Kirk Schulz. “The combination of tremendous athletic, academic and administrative achievements, as well as national acclaim for our university, is extraordinary. This is a special honor, and I am so proud of John and his team for bringing pride to all members of the Wildcat family.”

Since Currie’s introduction as director of athletics on May 18, 2009, K-State’s intercollegiate program has experienced a tremendous turnaround and enjoyed accomplishments and national attention that are unmatched in program history, including a record-setting 2012-13 academic year.

This past year K-State achieved a milestone that only four other BCS schools have obtained since 1998 when the Wildcat football, men’s basketball and baseball teams won conference championships in the same season. K-State also became the first Big 12 school to have league coach of the year honorees in football, men’s basketball and baseball in the same year as Bill Snyder, Bruce Weber and Brad Hill took top coaching honors.

“Thanks to our terrific fans, the best collective group of head coaches in the country, over 450 dedicated student-athletes and a determined and hard-working staff, we have made tremendous progress towards our vision of a model intercollegiate athletics program,” Currie said. “It is humbling to receive an award such as this, and I am pleased to accept this honor on behalf of our team, fans and university community.”

A BCS bowl berth in football and second straight NCAA Tournament appearance in volleyball highlighted the fall season. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams advanced to the postseason with Weber leading the men’s team to the most wins ever by a first-year head coach in school history and the program’s first league title in 36 years.

Five track and field athletes were crowned Big 12 champions in the spring and Hill’s baseball squad – picked seventh out of nine teams in the Big 12 preseason poll – won the program’s first conference championship in 80 years. The Wildcats made even more history by hosting their first NCAA baseball regional and winning on their home field to advance to their first Super Regional.

K-State has also had another outstanding academic year in 2012-13 with  73 current or former student-athletes earning degrees, while a total of 236 earned Big 12 Commissioner’s honor roll accolades this spring, the most since 2008.

In addition, a total of 95 Wildcat student-athletes earned Academic All-Big 12 recognition in all sports during the 2012-13 athletic season, while senior women’s basketball player Brittany Chambers, junior outfielder Jared King and Petra Niedermayerova from women’s tennis all earned the inaugural Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year award in their respective sports.

With the friendly slogan of “Welcome to K-State” symbolizing the goal of providing The Best Fan Experience in the Big 12, K-State’s marketing and fundraising efforts have been completely overhauled in Currie’s tenure.  Responding to a new emphasis on personal interaction and communication, K-State supporters have pushed attendance to new heights, while  the Ahearn Fund’s fiscal year 2012’s record of $25.8 million means that annual cash giving totals have doubled since Currie’s arrival.

Thanks to the grass-roots support of the 9,000-plus members of the Ahearn Fund, more than $125 million of facility enhancements are also currently underway, including the new West Stadium Center at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The transformational project will provide new amenities for all Wildcat fans including improved ADA access, 200 percent more general restroom and concession facilities as well as new revenue-generating premium seating capacity. A key element of the facility will be a long-desired dining hall to serve the nutritional needs of all K-State teams.

Other notable facility enhancements completed under Currie are the new $18 million award-winning Basketball Training Facility, a new outdoor tennis complex, indoor rowing facility as well as incremental upgrades that have benefitted each of K-State’s 16 athletics programs.

Currently a member of the NCAA Division I Administrative Cabinet and the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors, Currie was named to SportsBusiness Journal’s 2011 prestigious Forty Under 40 list of national sports leaders and currently serves the Big 12 as a member of the Game Management/Officiating Subcommittee as well as the Championship and Awards committee.

— KSU Sports Information —

Third-ranked Oregon State jumped out of the gate with nine runs in the first three innings – including five in the first – and never looked back as the Beavers forced a decisive third game of the Corvallis Super Regional with a 12-4 victory over Kansas State Sunday evening at Goss Stadium.

First pitch for the third game between the Beavers (49-11) and Wildcats (45-18) was moved to 9 p.m. (CT) Monday and will be televised on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.

The Beavers carded 13 hits in the first four frames, including seven with two strikes. After two quick outs in the first inning, Oregon State put together six-straight hits, beginning with back-to-back home runs by Michael Conforto and Dylan Davis. Danny Hayes continued the inning with a double down the right-field line before Ryan Barnes singled to center, extending the lead to three and knocking K-State starter Blake McFadden out of the game.

The Beavers weren’t done there as Kavin Keyes and Jake Rodriguez singled off Levi MaVorhis, the latter driving in two runs, to build the early 5-0 lead.

“Obviously the top of the first told the story of the game,” head coach Brad Hill said. “Back-to-back home runs really got the crowd involved, and you could tell the team just fed off of that. Our freshman on the mound just got a little shell-shocked, and we couldn’t shut it down, so that was pretty much it.”

Oregon State scored two runs in the second and third innings and plated single runs in the fifth, seventh and ninth frames. The Beavers, who had seven two-out RBI, were led offensively by Keyes Tyler Smith with four hits apiece. Smith and Davis each drove in three runs. The Wildcats allowed 21 hits, the most since giving up 27 to Oklahoma in 2009, while the 12 runs were the second-most given up this season.

Beaver freshman pitcher Andrew Moore (14-1) matched his offense by tossing nine-plus innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits with three walks and a career-high nine strikeouts. Moore surrendered a second-inning solo homer to Jared King before consecutive sacrifice flies in the fourth, but the right-hander did not allow a run over the next four frames to keep the Wildcats at bay.

Six Wildcats recorded one hit in the game. Austin Fisher and Jon Davis teamed for the sacrifice flies in the fourth, giving K-State a school record 40 on the year. McFadden (6-3) suffered the loss as he could not make it out of the first inning, allowing four runs on four hits.

— KSU Sports Information —

Kansas State was down to its last strike in the ninth inning before Ross Kivett laced a double and Tanner Witt followed with a game-tying single, and the Wildcats promptly plated four in the 10th en route to a 6-2 victory over No. 3 Oregon State Saturday at the NCAA Corvallis Super Regional at Goss Stadium.

K-State improved its single-season record for wins as the 13th-ranked Wildcats are now 45-17 and one win away from advancing to the College World Series. The Beavers fell to 48-11.

Trailing 2-1, Kivett, the Big 12 Player of the Year, hammered a double into the right-center field gap on a full-count pitch and moved to third when OSU right-fielder Dylan Davis bobbled the ball. Two pitches later, Witt lined a single into center to tie the game.

After Jake Matthys (9-1) worked around a two-out base hit in the bottom half, the Wildcats exploded in the 10th as they sent nine men to the plate, including a go-ahead RBI single by Jon Davis, a pinch-hit RBI single by Mitch Meyer and a back-breaking two-run single through the left side of the infield by Witt.

“We found a way,” head coach Brad Hill said. “That’s the way it’s kind of been all year long. Down to our last strike, Ross comes up big and then Tanner follows it up to get it tied. And then you bring Matthys in, and I think we have a lot of confidence when he comes in to the game that we are going to be in pretty good shape.”

Witt led all hitters by going 3-for-6 with three RBI, while Kivett, Jared King and Blair DeBord each had two hits. Kivett scored two runs and Davis drove in two.

“When it got to 3-2, I wanted to put a good swing on it,” Kivett said of his ninth-inning double. “I really wasn’t trying to do too much. If I could pass the stick to this guy (Witt) and (Shane) Conlon and King, I knew we had a good chance to score a run. I don’t think there was anything special. It was just the same mentality we’ve had all year. You battle until your last strike and you battle until the last out.”

Matthys earned his ninth win of the year to move into a tie for second place in school history. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year allowed two hits in two scoreless innings with a strikeout, while middle reliever Nate Williams tossed three shutout innings and surrendered only one hit with a walk and two strikeouts.

Joe Flattery started the game on the mound for the Wildcats and was effective in his five-plus frames. The only mistake the left-hander made was on a 0-2 pitch to Michel Conforto in the fourth inning, who sent a ball over the right-field wall to give the Beavers a 2-0 lead. Flattery allowed four hits and walked two batters with three strikeouts.

“I know people talk a lot about our offense, but you have to give our pitchers a lot of credit today,” Hill said. “Flattery, Williams and Matthys – those guys had to match them today, and they did.”

The loss spoiled a solid outing by Oregon State starter Matt Boyd, who allowed just one run on five hits in seven innings of work. His only miscue came in the sixth when he hit Davis with the bases loaded and two outs to plate the Wildcats’ first run. The left-hander slammed the door on the Cats the next at-bat, while K-State also left the bases loaded in the eighth.

“Both teams pitched extremely well,” Hill said. “Obviously, I think Boyd was really tough on us. We looked really tight, confused. We just didn’t get any good swings off on him at all. He did a great job against us.”

Beaver relief pitcher Jace Fry was one strike away from his first save of the year, but ended up with the loss as he allowed the tying and go-ahead runs on four hits in 1.2 innings. Oregon State was led at the plate by Tyler Smith, who went 2-for-4.

Game two of the Corvallis Super Regional is slated for a 9 p.m. (CT) first pitch Sunday at Goss Stadium.

— KSU Sports Information —