Purple Walks Off on 11th Inning Wild Pitch

Oct 26, 2018 | Baseball

Dylan Phillips scored on the second of two wild pitches in the final frame

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Dylan Phillips scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to give Team Purple a 2-1 win over Team Grey in game two of the Fall World Series on Friday at Tointon Family Stadium.

Both sides combined for eight hits in the 11 innings, but seven walks drawn by Purple, including a one-out free pass by Phillips in the final frame, helped decide the second game of the three-game set.

Both starting pitchers turned in standout performances in the game that was scheduled to go seven innings. Grey's Carson Seymour had a no-hitter entering the fifth inning before surrendering a one-out home run to Mason Crews to left field that made it 1-0 Purple. Seymour was lifted after the homer, ending his night with four strikeouts and one walk in 4 1/3 innings.

Jordan Wicks of Purple, meanwhile, scattered two hits and struck out three with no walks in five innings. The freshman southpaw retired 14 in a row to start his outing before back-to-back singles in the fifth ended his perfect night.

Wicks was spelled by Phillips in the sixth, where the left-hander combined with Brogan Heinen for a scoreless inning. In the seventh, Gavin Hinchliffe started the frame with a walk but induced back-to-back pop outs to put Purple within one out of victory. However, a deep fly ball hit by Jeffrey Boggess was misplayed by centerfielder Will Brennan near the warning track to allow Thomas Hughes to score the game-tying run from first. Hinchliffe managed to end the inning without further damage by striking out Jaxon Passino with Boggess on second base.

The run by Grey in the seventh broke up a 13-inning scoreless streak for the team in the Fall World Series. Purple won game one, 5-0, in seven innings on Thursday.

Purple decided Friday's contest in the 11th when Phillips reached with a one-out walk and was advanced to second when Chris Ceballos was hit by an Alex Belch pitch. After the two runners moved up a base on Belch's first of two wild pitches in the inning, Phillips later crossed home on Belch's second wild pitch with Rainer Ausmus at the plate.

Brennan, Phillips, Ceballos and Crews combined for the four hits by Purple. Grey's four hits comprised of one each by Passino, Terrence Spurlin, Jared Maneth and Blake Burrows. Hughes (0-for-2, 3 BB), Ceballos (1-for-3, BB, HBP) and Phillips (1-for-4, 2 BB) each reached base safely three times to lead both sides.

Grey relief pitcher Tyler Eckberg worked around two hits and two walks in his 2 1/3 scoreless innings – the longest outing by any of the relievers in the game. The junior right-hander entered in the sixth with the bases loaded, but fanned Brett Owen to help Grey escape unscathed. He then faced a situation with two runners on and two outs in the seventh, but he induced a pop out by Zach Kokoska to force the game into extra innings.

Luke Bay, who earned the win after throwing a quiet top of the 11th inning, was one of three Purple relievers to not allow a run in the final four innings. Bobby Wood pitched the scoreless eighth and ninth while Brett Lockwood had the unblemished 10th. Lockwood led off his inning with a walk before issuing a two-out base on balls, but the junior college transfer struck out Burrows to squash the threat.

Although game three of the Fall World Series will be on Sunday at noon, the series will be halted for the ALS Awareness Halloween game on Saturday, October 27 at 6 p.m. The players will play a shortened game in their Halloween costumes while candy will be handed out during the night for fans. Admission is free for all spectators and proceeds raised during the evening will benefit the ALS Association.

Season tickets are now on sale for the 2019 season and are available through the K-State Ticket Office by calling 1.800.221.CATS, visiting the ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum or by going to k-statesports.com/tickets.