MANHATTAN, Kan. Jason King collected the second game-winning RBI in his young career in the bottom of the 11th as he capped a seven-run come-from-behind win in second game of the doubleheader, propelling the Wildcats to a 11-10 victory. The win came after an 8-3 loss to Le Moyne in the first game of the twin-bill. With the doubleheader split, K-State moves to 4-6, while Le Moyne is now 3-8.
The come-from-behind win was the second of the season. The Cats were down 9-8 against Michigan State last Sunday, but King drove in the final run of a two-run ninth inning for the 10-9 win. It was also the Cats first extra-inning win since an 8-2 victory over Nebraska in 10 innings on April 29 of last season.
In the top of the ninth of the second game, Le Moyne added to its 6-4 lead with four runs on four hits, as the Dolphins batted around and looked to put the game out of reach for the Wildcats. Le Moyne got two doubles and two singles in the inning as Robert Perez, Stephen Crawford, Matt Nandin and Corey O’Neill all scored.
However, the six-run deficit did not affect the Cats as the first eight batters all reach base, the first four by way of walks or hit-by-pitches. Derek Bunker and Jason King led the inning of by walking and Rob Vaughn was hit by the next pitch to load the bases for Brett Scott. Scott singled to left, which brought in both Bunker and King. Dane Yelovich was then hit by a pitch, which moved Scott to second and Vaughn to third.
The Dolphins then brought in relief pitch Al Ondrako, but the results remained the same. Ondrako walked Munester, which moved everyone up 90 feet and brought in Vaughn to pull the Cats within three at 10-7. Jordan Cruz then got the Wildcats within one at 10-9 with a two-RBI single to left, which scored Scott and Yelovich. Following a strikeout the first out of the inning Drew Biery walked to load the bases for King, who brought in the game-tying run with a flyout to center. With Bunker up again with two outs, he hit a line drive to left, but a diving catch by Chris Edmondson saved the Dolphins and sent the game into extra innings.
Daniel Edwards (1-1) came in to pitch the 10th and sat down Le Moyne in order to set up the offense in the bottom of the inning. However, the Wildcats also went down in order and Le Moyne put the pressure back on the Wildcat hurler. Edwards came right back and put the Dolphins down in three-straight batters, the final two coming by way of strikeouts to set the stages for his offense.
In the bottom of the 11th against Le Moyne pitcher Mike Anarumo (0-1), Adam Muenster crushed a ball off the top of the leftfield wall, narrowly missing a walk-off home run, but he did get into scoring position with a leadoff double. Following a strikeout, Nate Tenbrink was intentionally walked. The Dophins then brought its catcher, Phil St. Amant, into the game to pitch. Biery was the first to face St. Amant and reached first an error Crawford, which allowed the two base runners to move up 90 feet. With the bases loaded and one out, King singled through the right side to score Muenster and give K-State the improbable came-from-behind win.
In game one, Le Moyne broke open with four runs in the second inning against K-State starter Ben Hornbeck, but all four runs were unearned. With two outs and runners at second and third, Chris Murphy hit a chopper to third, which went under Tenbrink’s glove and hit the bag, and allowed one to score and moved a runner to third. Edmondson followed with a three-RBI home run to right field to give the Dolphins the early 4-0 lead.
Kansas State came back and tied the game with one in the bottom of the second and three in the third. Byron Wiley led off the second with a walk and then stole second base. He then moved to third on a flyout to deep center by Rob Vaughn and scored on the very next delivery on a wild pitch.
Following back-to-back strikeouts to start the third, Drew Biery hit a 1-0 pitch over the left centerfield wall for a solo home run, his first of the season. Justin Bloxom then singled to right, stole second base, and then scored on a Tenbrink RBI single to get within one run at 4-3.
The Dolphins took a 6-3 lead after scoring one run in both the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Chris Hayes led off with a single and then moved to second on a sac bunt. He then scored from second on a single to left by Sean Paino.
In the fifth, Edmondson hit a leadoff double to right field and moved to third on a wild pitch. He was drove home on a sac fly to right by Stephen Crawford to push the score to 6-3 and put the game out of reach for K-State. The Dolphins added some insurance in the ninth with two runs, giving Le Moyne the 8-3 win.
Kansas State and Le Moyne will conclude their four-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday. First pitch from Tointon Stadium for game one is set for 1 p.m.
