MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – D1Baseball announced that K-State juniors Kaelen Culpepper and Tyson Neighbors were ranked among the Top 100 2024 MLB Draft Prospects.
Culpepper came in at No. 21 overall followed by Neighbors at No. 37. K-State was one of nine schools to have multiple players in the Top 50. Nine total players across six programs from the Big 12 were listed.
Of the Big 12 schools, K-State was the only member to have two players within the Top 50. Culpepper and Neighbors were joined by West Virginia’s second baseman JJ Wetherholt (No. 4), Texas’ right-hander Tanner Witt (No. 27) and Oklahoma State’s two-way player Carson Benge (No. 39).
Culpepper, a two-time All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, is coming off a standout season as the Wildcats starting third baseman. In 40 games, Culpepper turned in a slash line of .325/.423/.576 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI. His slugging percentage led the Cats’ offense and was second in batting average.
The Memphis, Tenn., product hit his first multi-home run game in Cats’ victory over KU to go with a career-high six RBI. He recorded 17 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI efforts.
Neighbors finished a dominant sophomore campaign as he was known as one of the top power relievers in the country. The NCBWA Stopper of the Year Finalist went 5-1 with a league-high 11 saves and 1.85 ERA across 25 appearances out of the bullpen. He averaged 15.9 strikeouts per nine innings, totaling 86 on his way to earning consensus All-American honors.
The Royse City, Texas right-hander held opponents to a team-best .135 batting average and .78 WHIP. Neighbors broke the program’s TrackMan-era pitch velocity record at 99-mph in the series opening win against Texas Tech.
This summer, Culpepper and Neighbors were selected to compete for the Collegiate National Team and represented the United States in friendship series against Chinese Taipei and Japan.
Culpepper was the top slugger for Team USA, matching a team-high three home runs to go with two triples. His .471 average led Team USA along with a team-high slugging percentage of .853. Culpepper socked two homers in USA’s 17-1 defeat over Chinese Taipei.
In four appearances, Neighbors allowed just three hits with four strikeouts during his 3 2/3 innings in relief for Team USA. He made two appearances during the national training camp where he struck out five batters during two hitless innings.
K-State opens the 2024 fall schedule Friday against Iowa Western set for 2 p.m.
Additionally, the Wildcats will put on their annual ALS Halloween Game on October 30 followed by the Fall World Series on November 3-5. The entire fall schedule will take place at Tointon Family Stadium with free admission to all games.
How to follow the ‘Cats: Stay up to date on K-State baseball online at www.kstatesports.com and on the team’s social media channels on Twitter and Instagram.
