Kansas State University
University of Oklahoma
May 06, 2017 | Baseball
GAME RECAP
11
5
NR
OKLAHOMA
SOONERS
31-16 (9-7 Big 12)
NR
K-STATE
WILDCATS
25-21 (4-12 Big 12)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OU | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| KSU | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
- Time of Game: 3:46
- First Pitch: 6:35
- Temperature: 76 F
- Wind: NW 5
- Attendance: 2,344
- ? GAMECENTER
- ? HIGHLIGHTS
- ? BOX SCORE
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Oklahoma's Steele Walker blasted two of his team's four home runs to lead the Sooners to an 11-5 victory over Kansas State in game one of the three-game series Friday night at Tointon Family Stadium.
K-State (25-21, 4-12 Big 12) stranded a season-high 15 baserunners and went 2-for-14 (.143) with runners in scoring position as it saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.
All four of Oklahoma's (31-16, 9-7 Big 12) home runs came with two outs, ending the night with eight two-out RBI, including all five runs in the third inning off Wildcat starter Justin Heskett. Seven of the Sooners' first eight runs were scored with two out as they hit .500 (8-for-16) when down to their final out on the night.
Heskett (5-3) suffered his first loss since March 24 at Texas (6 starts). The junior righty allowed seven earned on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings, his shortest outing in his last six starts.
Sooner starting pitcher Jake Irvin was credited with his sixth victory (6-0) of the season after throwing six innings and allowing three earned on nine hits with six strikeouts.
OU got a pair of two-run home runs from Cade Harris and Steel Walker as part of the five-run third that gave the Sooners a 5-1 lead. K-State took an early 1-0 lead on a Jake Wodtke RBI groundout in the second.
The Cats chipped away at the Sooners' lead with single runs in both the third and fourth innings. Cameron Thompson singled home Quintin Crandall in the third before Josh Ethier doubled in Hanz Harker in the fourth.
Oklahoma immediately responded with a pair of runs in the fifth to push its lead back to four, as OU got a sacrifice fly from Austin O'Brien and a batter later, Brylie Ware singled home Renae Martinez to put the score at 7-3 at the game's halfway mark.
After O'Brien's solo shot in the seventh, Walker blistered his second two-out, two-run homer, this time off reliever Luke Hauswirth, in the eighth. The Sooners' fourth home run of the night capped a string of six unanswered runs that made the score 11-3 headed to the final frame.
K-State managed to get the bases loaded and scratch across two runs by way of a balk and an RBI walk by Will Brennan. The Cats left the bases full for the second time in the game, and left at least one baserunner on in every inning.
Brennan ad Ethier led K-State with two hits and an RBI apiece on the night. Ethier, Crandall and Steve Serratore each registered a double.
Four Wildcat reliever combined to throw the final 4 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits and yielding three walks without a strikeout. In the game, K-State pitchers gave up seven walks with five punchouts – the first time in its last 15 games to have more walks than strikeouts.
K-State will honor its nine seniors in a pregame ceremony Saturday at Tointon Family Stadium. First pitch of game two with the Sooners is scheduled for 2 p.m., and will stream live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. 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 11 hits and committed one error and left 15 runners on base. Oklahoma scored 11 runs on 11 hits with no errors and stranded six baserunners.
• Will Brennan and Josh Ethier recorded the only multi-hit nights for K-State, with two apiece.
• It was the first time in the last 15 games that K-State pitchers had more walks than strikeouts.
• Oklahoma had just four at-bats with runners in scoring position (2-for-4) while K-State went 2-for-14 (.143).
• K-State got its leadoff man aboard in five innings while OU did so just once.
• K-State went 0-for-9 with two outs and the Sooners hit .500 (8-for-16) with two outs.
• OU had eight two-out RBI while K-State had one.
• The 15 stranded baserunners were a season high for K-State.
NOTES
• K-State is now 77-192-1 all-time vs. Oklahoma and 17-41 in Big 12 play.
• OU has won the last four overall in the series.
• Jake Scudder extended his on-base streak to 15 games while Ethier and Brennan extended their career-long on-base streaks to 14 games.
• Five Wildcats have on-base streaks of 12 games or more (Scudder, Ethier, Brennan, Thompson, Serratore).
