Kansas State sophomore AJ Evasco is drawing attention as one of the top left-handed hitting outfielders and first basemen in college baseball. After a standout freshman season, Evasco has continued to lead the Wildcats both offensively and defensively early in the 2026 campaign.
Evasco, who was named a Freshman All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in 2025, helped Kansas State start its season strong with wins over Iowa, UConn, Penn State, and Air Force at the MLB Desert Invitational. The team improved to an 8-4 record after a series win against Columbia during their home-opening weekend.
Reflecting on his early-season performance, Evasco said: “The Desert Invitational and playing No. 9 Auburn just gave me confidence for the rest of the season facing that type of pitching. We had a good game against Iowa, and that gave me confidence. It was really nice being back at home and being comfortable. I kind of struggled in the previous two games at Louisiana, so getting back here felt really nice, for sure.”
In the recent series against Columbia, Evasco went 4-for-10 with one double and three RBIs. He hit his first home run of the season during game one of that series. “It felt really good,” he said. “I was struggling to until that point, so it gave me confidence for the rest of the series.”
Evasco stated his goal is simple: “To do more than I did last year.”
So far this season, he leads Kansas State in batting average (.362), at-bats (47), hits (17), doubles (4), triples (2), fielding percentage (1.000), ranks second in RBIs (15) and slugging percentage (.596), and third in on-base percentage (1.030).
K-State head coach Pete Hughes commented: “He’s just a super-talented kid. He has the ability to put the barrel on the baseball on different pitches, and he can swing at different angles. He’s very athletic with his hands. His hand-eye is so good that you put the ball into play enough you’re going to get positive results.”
During his freshman year, Evasco hit .311 over 51 starts and set school records for freshmen with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs.
Evasco learned about his Freshman All-American honor while scrolling through Instagram last June: “I was really happy about the honor,” he said. “I was just surprised that they posted it because I hadn’t heard anything about it. But it was really nice. The home runs last year pleased me the most because in high school, I didn’t hit home runs like that. Then I came here and worked with Coach Wates and started hitting home runs. That was the biggest thing for me.”
A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, Evasco spent part of last summer recovering from a quadriceps injury suffered while playing summer league baseball.
To prepare for this season, Evasco worked with assistant coach Wates on improving his ability to hit breaking balls from left-handed pitchers.
“I worked on hitting breaking balls, especially against lefties and lefties spin, because I knew this year they were going to pitch me differently after the year I had my freshman season,” he said.
Asked if he ever reflects on his rapid success as a sophomore leader for Kansas State baseball, Evasco replied: “You know, sometimes it’s tempting to do that, but you feel like you always have to keep going,” adding: “I’m definitely excited about it. I lead by what I do on the field and try to be a good example for everybody watching.
“Once you become complacent that’s when you start going down.”
Baseball America recently featured Evasco among nine underrated college MLB Draft prospects to watch in 2026.
Coach Hughes described him as steady-focused: “He’s not looking for the accolades, he’s not thinking about draft, he’s not thinking about agents and player ratings. He doesn’t care about that stuff. He just wants to get better every day, loves to work, loves baseball and wants to win. Those kids with that mindset are oftentimes your most consistent performers. He’s pretty grounded kid who comes from a great family.”
Looking ahead toward Big 12 play and beyond this spring — including hopes for another NCAA Regional appearance — Evasco said: “What I like most about the team is we’re a really good hitting team this year, maybe a little better than last year,” he says.” Maybe not as many home runs, but contact wise, we’re a good team. We have energy that we bring. Our pitching is pretty good as well. Our hitting is probably going to take us there.
“It seems like we’ve just started our season and we’re almost to Big 12 play. I’m really excited for it.”
He summarized his approach simply: “With hard work, you can do anything you want, and you can prove anybody wrong,” he says.” If you keep working, you can do anything you want.”
