Kansas State University
Eastern Illinois University
Mar 04, 2017 | Baseball
GAME RECAP
11
12
NR
EASTERN ILLINOIS
PANTHERS
1-8 (0-0 OVC)
NR
K-STATE
WILDCATS
8-2 (0-0 Big 12)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EIU | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 15 | 6 |
| KSU | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 3 |
- Time of Game: 3:06
- First Pitch: 3:00
- Temperature: 71 F
- Wind: S 24
- Attendance: 2,185
- ? GAMECENTER
- ? HIGHLIGHTS
- ? BOX SCORE
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior Jake Wodtke's sacrifice fly to score freshman Cameron Thompson in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Kansas State baseball team a 12-11 walk-off victory over Eastern Illinois Saturday at Tointon Family Stadium.
K-State (8-2) trailed EIU (1-8) by a run going into the home half of the ninth, but managed to tie the game after Thompson tripled to right-center, scoring Hanz Harker, who came on as a pinch runner after Trent McMaster led off the inning with a pinch-hit walk.
Wodtke's fly ball to center field was enough to score Thompson and give the Wildcats their first walk-off win since the 2015 season against Wichita State.
"Just a great win for our guys tonight," said head coach Brad Hill. "Sometimes you have to steal one of these and that's just what we did. Good for our guys' confidence."
The Wildcats opened an 8-3 lead after a seven-run fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by senior Jake Scudder, who later hit a home run for the second straight day.
"I'm seeing the ball well," Scudder said. "They threw me the same pitches as yesterday, so we set an approach and it worked out today, it was good.
"Changeup away," said Scudder of the pitch he saw on his sixth-inning home run. "I've seen a lot of changeups the last two days, so I was just sitting on the changeup away and got all of it."
Scudder's third homer of the season gave the Cats a 9-5 lead after the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, the Panthers recorded six hits and took a 10-9 lead after catcher Josh Turnock hit a two-run shot to straightaway center field.
Senior right fielder Steve Serratore leveled the score at 10 with an RBI single to center to score Thompson.
Eastern Illinois reclaimed the lead after center fielder Joseph Duncan's solo home run in the top of the eight, where the score would remain 11-10 until K-State's turn to bat in the bottom of the ninth.
K-State starting pitcher Justin Heskett was in line to get the victory after leaving the game in the sixth inning with an 8-3 advantage, but received a no decision. Heskett finished the day with five innings of work and struck out three EIU hitters.
Senior left Jordan Floyd ended the game on the mound for the Cats and picked up his first victory of the season, striking out two.
Thompson led K-State with three hits from the leadoff spot and scored three runs, including the game winner.
Scudder finished 2-for-3 and drove in three runs.
In his third start behind the plate, freshman Connor Rule went 2-for-3 and had a pair of RBI, his first of his K-State career.
K-State will wrap up its home-opening series with EIU on Sunday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m., and will be broadcast worldwide on K-StateHD.TV. Fans can listen to Matt Walters (play-by-play) and Blair DeBord (analyst) call the action on KMAN 1350 AM, 93.3 FM and streaming free online at k-statesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• K-State scored 12 runs on 12 hits and committed three errors and left 10 runners on base. Eastern Illinois scored 11 runs on 15 hits and committed six errors while stranding six baserunners.
• Thompson leads the team with six multi-hit games, no other Wildcat has more than three.
• With a walk, Quintin Crandall extended his on-base streak to 18 games, dating back to last season.
• Grant Reuben had multiple hits for the second straight game, going 2-for-5 with a run scored and a double.
• In total, five Wildcats had multi-hit days.
• The 10 runners left on base were a season high for K-State.
• Floyd allowed his first earned run of the season.
• K-State hit .400 (4-for-10) with two outs and hit .400 (6-for-15) with runners in scoring position.
• The Cats got their leadoff hitter on base in six of the nine innings.
NOTES
• K-State now leads the all-time series with Eastern Illinois, 7-0, and is 6-0 at home.
• K-State is now 5-0 in one-run games this season. In 2016, the Cats were 3-10.
• This marks the first time that K-State has won back-to-back games in which both teams scored at least 10 runs since 1993 (vs. Nebraska; 14-10, 19-10).
• The last time K-State was involved in two consecutive games in which both sides scored double-digit runs was in 2012 vs. Baylor (L, 14-12; L, 12-11).
• The Wildcats are 3-2 this season when trailing or tied after the seventh inning. Last season, K-State was 2-26 when tied or trailing after seven.
• The walk-off victory was K-State's first since April 14, 2015 vs. Wichita State when Wodtke had an RBI single to give the Cats a 5-4 win in 10 innings.
• The seven runs in the fourth inning matches 2016's season-high single-inning output.
