K-State Blasts No. 29 Missouri, 12-0, Friday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Derek Bunker had five hits and four RBI from his leadoff spot and two Wildcat pitchers combined for a shutout as Kansas State rolled to a 12-0 win over No. 29 Missouri Friday afternoon at Tointon Stadium. With the win, K-State improved to 22-8 on the season and 4-3 in Big 12 play, while Missouri dropped to 22-9 overall and 4-3 in league play.

The win marked the first time since 2001 that Kansas State had beaten Missouri in Manhattan and also was the second shutout of a conference opponent for the Cats under head coach Brad Hill. K-State’s 4-3 start in league play is also the best since the 2002 season as the Cats opened that campaign 4-3 as well.

Bunker paced the 16-hit attack for Kansas State as the junior was a triple away from hitting for the cycle. Bunker collected two singles, a double, hit his second career homer and accounted for five of the Cats’ 12 runs on the day. In all, four Wildcats had multi-hit games, all nine starters scored at least one run and seven players drove in at least one run against the Tigers.

Starting pitcher Brad Hutt moved to 6-1 on the season with a solid outing, going 6.0 innings and scattering six hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Justin Murray earned his first save of the season after tossing the final 3.0 innings with no walks and four strikeouts.

K-State got the scoring started in the third with two runs as Bunker hooked a 1-1 offering inside the foul pole in right to give the Cats a 1-0 lead. Jordan Cruz, who had three hits on the day, legged out an infield single before scoring from first on a Drew Biery double to give K-State a 2-0 edge.

Three straight hits in the fourth from Byron Wiley, Nate Tenbrink and Eli Rumler scored the Cats’ third run before an Eddie Vasquez ground out upped the margin to 4-0 after four.

Tenbrink added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give the Wildcats a 5-0 lead before a three-run seventh and a four-run eighth put the game out of reach. Vasquez and Rob Vaughn each had RBI-singles in the seventh, while Vasquez, Vaughn, Bunker and Cruz added RBI’s in the eighth as the Cats took a 12-0 lead.

Missouri starter Aaron Crow (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he gave up five runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings. The Tigers used five pitchers in all on Friday.

Along with Bunker’s big day, Cruz finished 3-for-6, while Wiley and Vaughn each had two hits. Wiley extended his current hitting streak to six games, while Biery upped his current streak to a career-best 10 games with a 1-for-6 day.

Kansas State and Missouri continue play Saturday with game two of a three-game series. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Tointon Stadium.

– k-statesports.com –