Wildcats drop 16-inning battle with No. 9 Shockers, 12-7
Mar 17, 2004 | Baseball
Manhattan - Wichita State broke a 7-7 tie in the top of the 16th inning by scoring five runs as the ninth-ranked Shockers snapped Kansas State’s 11-game winning streak with a 12-7 win Wednesday night before an all-time record crowd of 3,053 at Tointon Stadium.
The effectiveness of the bullpen kept Kansas State in the game as B.J. Kissel, Brett Bagley, Carlos Torres and Matt Petersen combined to shut out the Shockers for 10 of the middle innings in Wednesday night’s 16-inning battle.
The Wildcats (14-5) rallied three times in the game, including scoring one run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, to send the game into extra innings. With the score 6-5 in the ninth, the Wildcats answered with three straight hits as Terry Blunt singled to right and Jason Long doubled down the right field line. Josh Dent then beat out an infied single and Blunt scored to tie the game at six. K-State had a chance to win it in the ninth but Steve Murphy struck out, sending the game into extra frames.
Both teams went scoreless until the 15th when Wichita State (7-0) plated a run on a two-out double by Logan Sorensen off of Wildcat reliever Josh Batilla. K-State then responded with a run in the bottom half as Terry Blunt sliced a single through the left side of the infield to score Eli Rumler and once again keep the game alive.
In the decisive 16th, Wichita State scored five runs on five hits and capitalized on two costly K-State errors to push across the game-winning runs. Josh Batilla took the loss on the mound to fall to 2-2 on the season while Wichita State’s Kyle Banick imroved to 1-0 by pitching the final 3.0 innings.
In the early goings, K-State jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first before the Shockers answered with three in the second and one in the third to take a 4-2 lead. However, Steve Murphy tied the game in the bottom of the third when he belted an opposite-field two-run homer off of Wichita State ace Mike Pelfrey.
The Shockers scored two more in the fourth and K-State chipped away with one in the sixth and the one run in the ninth to tie the game.
The top five hitters in the order led K-State as Blunt, Long, Murphy, Dent and Chris Carlson each had two hits to lead the 14-hit attack for the Wildcats.
Kansas State and No. 9 Wichita State meet again Thursday at Eck Stadium in Wichita. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Senior Danny Wilson is expected to get the start on the mound for the Wildcats.
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