Edwards Breaks Saves Record as Cats Complete Sweep

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior closer Daniel Edwards picked up the 19th save of his career and freshman Jason King collected his first collegiate home run as Kansas State swept the three-game series from Binghamton with a 5-4 victory Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium. With the victory, Kansas State moves to 10-11, while Binghamton falls to 5-11.

Thomas Rooke (3-0) picked up the win, allowing one run in one inning of work. Binghamton’s Khalid Afify (0-1) took the loss in his first decision of the year.

K-State held a one-run lead going into the ninth inning as Edwards came on to try to collect his fifth save of the season. The all-American candidate got the first two outs on five pitches, striking out Ryan James and forcing Peter Bregartner to ground out on the first pitch. The Bearcats made it interesting as Joe Charron forced a two-out to put the tying run on base. However, Edwards settled down and stuck out Kyle Klee on a 2-2 pitch to preserve the victory for K-State and pick up the record.

Kansas State was the first to score for the fifth-straight game as the Wildcats grabbed two runs in the second inning. King led the frame off with a single and advanced to second on a Nate Tenbrink walk. Both runners moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Rob Vaughn. However, Binghamton starter Gio Yannuzzi had trouble handling the bunt and Vaughn was safe at first, which loaded the bases for Jordan Cruz. Cruz reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring King and moving Tenbrink to third, while Vaughn was out at second on the play. The next pitch, Cruz was thrown out attempting to steal second base, but Tenbrink raced home on the throw down to second to give the Cats the 2-0 lead.

K-State doubled its margin in the third on King’s home run. Adam Muenster singled to left field to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Biery. Following a strikeout, King nailed a 1-2, two-out pitch over the leftfield wall for his first home run as a Wildcat and pushed K-State’s lead to 4-0.

Binghamton tied up the game with four runs over the next three innings. Ryan Holley led off the third with a home run to right field and BU then got a pair of runs in the fifth inning off Wildcat reliever Todd Vogel. Klee singled to second base and went first to third on a single by Corey Taylor. Taylor then stole second and both runners were brought home on a two-RBI single by Brian Ivan to get the Bearcats within one at 4-3.

The Bearcats tied the game up in the sixth off Rooke. C.J. Lukaszewski singled up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He scored from second on a sacrifice bunt by James and a sacrifice fly by Bregartner to knot the game up at four apiece.

Rooke was bailed out by his offense in the bottom half of the inning as the Cats scored one run without even recording a hit. Afify retired the first batter he faced, but Dane Yelovich forced a one-out walk and then stole second, his fifth of the series. Both Adam Muesnter and Drew Biery walked on eight-straight pitches, which loaded the bases and knocked Afifiy out of the game. James Giuliettii came on in relief and hit Justin Bloxom on the first pitch to bring in Yelovich, which would be the eventual winning run.