Blunt, Wildcats Run Past Jackrabbits, 21-11, Tuesday
May 17, 2005 | Baseball
The Wildcats scored their 21 runs on 12 hits and took advantage of 13 walks by Jackrabbit pitching on the night. K-State found itself down, 10-8, heading into the seventh inning, but an 11-run frame on just four hits broke the game wide open. In the inning, Blunt drove in the first of 11 runs with a single to left, while Murphy added an RBI-single, and SDSU’s Josh Elliot walked in two and hit another batter with the bases loaded. After a two-run David Baker single made the score 14-10, Blunt laced a three-run, inside-the-park homer down the line in left to give the Wildcats a 19-11 lead.
The inside-the-park homer was the first for a Wildcat since Josh Dent did it back on February 14 last season against
B.J. Kissel (2-1) earned the win in relief by throwing the final 3.0 innings and giving up one run on four hits. Kissel relieved Seth Lackow, who gave up three runs on four hits in the sixth inning. Senior Mitch Walter got the no-decision after giving up seven runs, four earned, on eight hits in 5.0 innings.
After K-State took a 3-0 lead in the first, the Jackrabbits battled back with a five-run third, highlighted by a grand slam from Tony Lane, to take a 5-3 lead. But, the Wildcats answered with three more in the bottom half of the third as Barrett Rice drove in a run with a single and Cris Tapia sliced a two-run homer to left to give the Cats the lead back at 6-5.
The Wildcats upped the margin to 8-5 until South Dakota State scored two in the sixth and three in the seventh to take a 10-8 lead into the bottom half of the inning.
Elliot (3-5) took the loss on the mound for
For K-State, Blunt extended his current hitting streak to a career-best 16 games after his 2-for-4 night, while Tapia’s six RBI were also a career-high. Blunt also stole three bases to give him 26 for the season, the sixth-most in school history. Murphy finished the night 2-for-4 with four runs scored, while Baker also had two hits and drove in three.
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