Kansas State University
Wichita State University
May 03, 2017 | Baseball
GAME RECAP
4
5
NR
WICHITA STATE
SHOCKERS
21-23 (6-6 MVC)
NR
K-STATE
WILDCATS
25-20 (4-11 Big 12)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| KSU | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 9 | 0 |
- Time of Game: 3:16
- First Pitch: 6:35
- Temperature: 66 F
- Wind: W 5
- Attendance: 2,211
- ? GAMECENTER
- ? HIGHLIGHTS
- ? BOX SCORE
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Cameron Thompson and Jake Scudder in the fourth inning broke a 1-1 tie and Kansas State fended off Wichita State's late comeback attempt in a 5-4 win Tuesday night at Tointon Family Stadium.
K-State (25-20) secured its fourth straight win and 10th one-run victory of the season, its highest total since 2013 (15). The four-game winning streak is the Wildcats' longest since winning seven straight from late February to early March.
"We're playing better baseball and confidence has a lot to do with it," said head coach Brad Hill after the game. "There's still a lot of things we can do a little bit better, but at the same time, I think we feel better about ourselves."
Thompson's and Scudder's hits plated three runs for the Wildcats in the fourth, and gave K-State a 4-1 lead. After a sacrifice fly from Will Brennan in the sixth, the Cats led Wichita State (21-23), 5-1. Thompson and Scudder each had two hits in the game.
"Cameron (Thompson) and (Jake) Scudder had big hits," Hill added. "The only thing we really didn't do tonight was get a couple of add-on runs. We had a couple of changes but we did just enough. We had great defense tonight."
In the top of the eighth, the Shockers picked up two consecutive RBI groundouts from Alex Jackson and Greyson Jenista to cut the deficit to two at 5-3 before Jordan Floyd came in and recorded the final out of the inning to end the threat.
A third RBI groundout, this time from Travis Young in the ninth, made it a one-run game before Floyd retired Jordan Boyer to complete the four-out save. K-State's senior lefty reliever collects his team-leading 10th save of the season in as many opportunities.
Wildcat starter Jared Marolf (3-0) was credited with his third win of the season and his first in a starting role. The freshman righty put in four innings of work and struck out four, allowing an earned run on three hits without a walk.
Relievers Bryce Ward and Hudson Treu kept the Shockers scoreless over the next three innings, including two straight perfect innings tossed by Ward, before WSU got a pair of runs of Tyler Eckberg in the eighth.
Wichita State combined to use 10 pitchers in the ballgame and starter Keylan Killgore walked three batters in 1 2/3 innings. Tyler Jones (0-2) took the loss for WSU after surrendering K-State's three runs in the fourth inning.
"It's never easy," Hill said of facing 10 different pitchers. "A different look every time. The guys did a good job of sharing information of what they were seeing when they came up there."
Beyond the starter Killgore, no other Shocker pitcher threw more than an inning in the game.
K-State took an early 1-0 lead in the second after Josh Ethier drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs. However, the Wildcats left the bases full in the inning.
Wichita State leveled the score in the top of the fourth with back-to-back doubles from Alec Bohm and Willie Schwanke, the Shockers' only extra-base hits.
Thompson had K-State's only double and led the team with two runs driven in and now has 18 multi-hit games on the year.
K-State ends its final homestand of the season with a three-game series with Oklahoma beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m., at Tointon Family Stadium. Game one with the Sooners will be nationally broadcast on FOX College Sports and K-StateHD.TV. Fans can also listen to the game on KMAN 1350 AM, 93.3 FM and streaming free at k-statesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• K-State scored five runs on nine hits and committed no errors and left 10 runners on base. Wichita State scored four runs on eight hits with one error and stranded five baserunners.
• Jake Scudder and Cameron Thompson each had a two-hit night for K-State. Thompson leads the team with 18 on the year.
• Scudder extended his on-base streak to 14 games while Josh Ethier extended his career-long on-base streak to 13 games.
• Brennan's career-best 10-game hitting streak was snapped.
• K-State did not walk a batter until the ninth innings, breaking a run of 15 straight innings without a walk.
• K-State hit .455 (5-for-11) with two outs and .333 (3-for-9) with runners in scoring position. WSU hit .200 (2-for-10) with two outs and was just 1-for-10 (.100) with runners in scoring position.
• Each team got its leadoff man aboard in three innings.
• WSU walked eight K-State hitters.
NOTES
• K-State is now 54-38 all-time vs. Wichita State and is 24-18 at home.
• K-State has now won three straight in the series and nine of the last 11 overall.
• The Cats have 10 one-run victories this season, most since 2014 (15), after having just three last season and a combined 11 over the last three seasons.
• K-State's four-game winning streak is its longest since winning seven straight from February 25-March 8.
• Floyd's 10 saves are more than K-State had as a team last season (9).
