Kansas State University Athletics
Wednesday, February 21
Elon, N.C.
3 p.m.
Kansas State University
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Kansas State
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Elon
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K-State Survives Elon’s Comeback Wednesday, 8-7
Feb 21, 2018 | Baseball
ELON, N.C. – K-State's Will Brennan recorded three hits, Drew Mount drove in three runs and starter Caleb Littlejim threw a career-high 5 1/3 innings in an 8-7 victory over Elon Wednesday at Walter C. Latham Park.
Junior Rainer Ausmus' seventh-inning home run, his second of the season, handed K-State (2-3) an 8-3 lead as the game reached the seventh-inning stretch. Elon (1-4) responded with four runs in the home half, cutting the Wildcat lead to a single run.
Freshman Jaxon Passino entered the inning with a one-run lead and two Phoenix runners on base. He promptly forced a pop out and a strikeout to get the Cats out of the jam. Sophomore Jared Marolf preserved K-State's second straight win with a perfect ninth inning for the first save of his career. Passino and Marolf combined to retire the final eight batters the Phoenix sent to the plate.
Brennan went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI to lead the Wildcats. Mount drove in three runs for the second consecutive game while Ausmus homered for the second game in a row. Hanz Harker and Brett Owen each drove in one.
Littlejim, making his first start of the season, earned the victory after his career-long outing, allowing three hits and two earned runs with two strikeouts. The sophomore righty began the game by retiring the first seven batters he faced.
Elon starter Dean McCarthy took the loss as the Cats tagged him for five earned runs in 1 2/3 innings.
K-State wasted no time in getting the scoring started, as Brennan and Jake Biller recorded back-to-back hits to begin the game. Mount brought home Brennan on an RBI groundout for the game's first run.
K-State brought all nine Wildcats to the plate and scored four runs in the top of the second inning to push the lead to 5-0. Mount added two more RBI in the inning with a two-out single with the bases loaded. K-State registered four base hits in the inning with Brennan also driving in a run.
Elon scraped across an unearned run in the fourth inning with an RBI single from shortstop Ryne Ogren. Ogren did most of the damage for the Phoenix as he ended the night going 3-for-4 with four RBI.
K-State plated single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Brennan's third base hit of the game, a double in the sixth, drove in his second run of the game and gave K-State a 7-1 edge.
The Cats' lead was trimmed to 7-3 after the Phoenix added two in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Elon right fielder Liam O'Regan led off the inning with a double and later scored on a ground ball off the bat of Joe Satterfield. Ogren singled off reliever Andrew Stratman to bring in Elon's third run.
Elon made it a one-run game after its four-run seventh inning. The inning saw K-State utilize three relievers, and Stratman and Mitch Zubradt combined to issue four consecutive walks as six straight Phoenix hitters reaching safely before Passino entered the ballgame.
Passino recorded five outs, three via strikeout, without a walk or hit as he kept Elon scoreless.
Ausmus and TK McWhertor each turned in multi-hit performances, both going 2-for-5 with a run scored.
K-State continues its eight-game roadtrip as it begins a three-game set at Old Dominion (2-2) on Friday at Bud Metheny Baseball Complex. Friday's first pitch is set for 2 p.m. CT, as sophomore righty Kasey Ford takes the mound. The entire series with the Monarchs can be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and streamed free at k-statesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior Rainer Ausmus' seventh-inning home run, his second of the season, handed K-State (2-3) an 8-3 lead as the game reached the seventh-inning stretch. Elon (1-4) responded with four runs in the home half, cutting the Wildcat lead to a single run.
Freshman Jaxon Passino entered the inning with a one-run lead and two Phoenix runners on base. He promptly forced a pop out and a strikeout to get the Cats out of the jam. Sophomore Jared Marolf preserved K-State's second straight win with a perfect ninth inning for the first save of his career. Passino and Marolf combined to retire the final eight batters the Phoenix sent to the plate.
Brennan went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI to lead the Wildcats. Mount drove in three runs for the second consecutive game while Ausmus homered for the second game in a row. Hanz Harker and Brett Owen each drove in one.
Littlejim, making his first start of the season, earned the victory after his career-long outing, allowing three hits and two earned runs with two strikeouts. The sophomore righty began the game by retiring the first seven batters he faced.
Elon starter Dean McCarthy took the loss as the Cats tagged him for five earned runs in 1 2/3 innings.
K-State wasted no time in getting the scoring started, as Brennan and Jake Biller recorded back-to-back hits to begin the game. Mount brought home Brennan on an RBI groundout for the game's first run.
K-State brought all nine Wildcats to the plate and scored four runs in the top of the second inning to push the lead to 5-0. Mount added two more RBI in the inning with a two-out single with the bases loaded. K-State registered four base hits in the inning with Brennan also driving in a run.
Elon scraped across an unearned run in the fourth inning with an RBI single from shortstop Ryne Ogren. Ogren did most of the damage for the Phoenix as he ended the night going 3-for-4 with four RBI.
K-State plated single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Brennan's third base hit of the game, a double in the sixth, drove in his second run of the game and gave K-State a 7-1 edge.
The Cats' lead was trimmed to 7-3 after the Phoenix added two in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Elon right fielder Liam O'Regan led off the inning with a double and later scored on a ground ball off the bat of Joe Satterfield. Ogren singled off reliever Andrew Stratman to bring in Elon's third run.
Elon made it a one-run game after its four-run seventh inning. The inning saw K-State utilize three relievers, and Stratman and Mitch Zubradt combined to issue four consecutive walks as six straight Phoenix hitters reaching safely before Passino entered the ballgame.
Passino recorded five outs, three via strikeout, without a walk or hit as he kept Elon scoreless.
Ausmus and TK McWhertor each turned in multi-hit performances, both going 2-for-5 with a run scored.
K-State continues its eight-game roadtrip as it begins a three-game set at Old Dominion (2-2) on Friday at Bud Metheny Baseball Complex. Friday's first pitch is set for 2 p.m. CT, as sophomore righty Kasey Ford takes the mound. The entire series with the Monarchs can be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and streamed free at k-statesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored eight runs on 10 hits and committed one error and left eight runners on base. Elon scored seven runs on six hits and with two errors while stranding four baserunners.
- Brennan extended his career-best on-base streak to 28 games, dating back to last season.
- Brennan led the Cats with three hits while Ausmus and McWhertor also had multi-hit games with two.
- Mount drove in three runs for the second straight game and Ausmus homered for the second consecutive game.
- Littlejim had a career-long outing, going 5 1/3 innings in picking up the win.
- K-State sent nine batters to the plate in its four-run fourth inning.
- Wildcat pitchers combined to keep Elon hitless with two outs (0-for-8).
- Marolf tallied the first save of his career.
- This was just the second time K-State and Elon have met, with the all-time series now tied 1-1.
- K-State is 2-1 in one-run games this season.
- The game marked the first time under head coach Brad Hill that the Wildcats played in the state of North Carolina.
- Brennan started his first career game at first base.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Littlejim, Caleb (1-0)
L: McCarthy, Dean (0-1)
S: Marolf, Jared (1)
Batting:
2B: Brennan, Will 1 ; Biller, Jake 1
HR: Ausmus, Rainer 1
RBI: Brennan, Will 2 ; Mount, Drew 3 ; Ausmus, Rainer 1 ; Harker, Hanz 1 ; Owen, Brett 1
SH: Owen, Brett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brennan, Will 2 ; Mount, Drew 1 ; Ausmus, Rainer 1 ; Harker, Hanz 1 ; McWhertor, TK 1 ; Watts, Dylan 1 ; Owen, Brett 1
SB: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Mount, Drew 1 ; Harker, Hanz 2 ; Watts, Dylan 1
Batting:
2B: O'Regan, Liam 1
RBI: Evers, Zach 1 ; Satterfield, Joe 2 ; Ogren, Ryne 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Evers, Zach 2 ; Satterfield, Joe 1 ; Blake, Shawn 1 ; Oldham, Matt 1 ; O'Regan, Liam 2
SB: Evers, Zach 1
Game Leaders
1b/lf
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
dh/1b
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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