Saturday, March 10
Manhattan, Kan.
2 p.m.
Kansas State University
9-5
4
vs
11
Mercer
12-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Mercer
0
0
1
1
6
0
0
1
2
11
12
0
Kansas State
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
1
0
4
8
2
Mercer Levels Series with 11-4 Win Over K-State Saturday
Mar 10, 2018 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State leadoff hitter Will Brennan's 4-for-5, two-RBI effort was not enough to overcome the Mercer Bears Saturday, as Mercer claimed an 11-4 victory to even the series at a game apiece at Tointon Family Stadium.
The Bears (12-4) scored five runs with two outs as part of a six-run fifth inning to open an 8-2 lead in snapping K-State's (9-5) winning streak at five games. Three Mercer pitchers combined to strike out 17 Wildcat hitters.
"Fifth inning got us," head coach Brad Hill said after the game. "Two outs and only one run in and, all of a sudden, five more runs after two outs. That can't happen. Between that and the 17 strikeouts, that's what you look at."
Brennan equaled his career high with his four hits and accounted for half of the Cats' eight hits in the game. Freshman Dylan Watts (2-for-3) was the only other Wildcat to register a multi-hit performance. The duo recorded all three of K-State's extra-base hits on the day.
"That's Will every day," Hill added. "He comes to play every day. Nothing surprises me with Will."
K-State took a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in the home half of the third inning. Brennan's first hit, an RBI single, scored Kyle Barfield who drew a leadoff walk. Freshman Brett Owen later sprinted home on a passed ball by MU catcher JT Thomas to hand the Cats a short-lived lead.
The Bears tied the game in the top half of the next inning when RJ Yeager laced a single to center field that scored Alex Hanson. Yeager scored MU's first run on a sacrifice fly in the third.
The score remained 2-2 until the Bears broke through with six in the fifth. Five straight hitters reached base off Wildcat relievers Brogan Heinen and Jaxson Passino in the inning, capped by three straight extra-base hits that produced four of the Bears' two-out runs.
K-State starting pitcher Gabe Littlejim was lifted with two outs in the fifth and took the loss after surrendering four earned runs off six hits. Heinen, who relieved Littlejim, yielded three earned runs without recording an out.
Passino gave up two hits and one earned run over 2 1/3 innings of work with two strikeouts.
"Jaxon was really good," said Hill. "He is still pretty new on the mound, but he throws strikes and he has really good composure on the mound. He's done a really good job for us."
K-State added a single run in the fifth courtesy of an RBI groundout from Cameron Thompson and another run in the eighth, a run-scoring single from Brennan.
Mercer starter Austin Cox struck out eight Cats over 4 2/3 innings and MU reliever Robert Broom added seven strikeouts over 3 1/3. Broom was credited with his first win of the season.
"Their velocity overmatched us," Hill said of Mercer's pitching staff. "We haven't seen 90-plus, really, this year. But we've got to get better, that's Big 12 stuff."
The Bears tacked on two unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning.
Senior Hanz Harker and Owen each went 1-for-2 while Watts scored two runs.
K-State concludes its three-game set vs. Mercer on Sunday at Tointon Family Stadium. The series' rubber game is slated for 12 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Fans can also listen live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM).
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Bears (12-4) scored five runs with two outs as part of a six-run fifth inning to open an 8-2 lead in snapping K-State's (9-5) winning streak at five games. Three Mercer pitchers combined to strike out 17 Wildcat hitters.
"Fifth inning got us," head coach Brad Hill said after the game. "Two outs and only one run in and, all of a sudden, five more runs after two outs. That can't happen. Between that and the 17 strikeouts, that's what you look at."
Brennan equaled his career high with his four hits and accounted for half of the Cats' eight hits in the game. Freshman Dylan Watts (2-for-3) was the only other Wildcat to register a multi-hit performance. The duo recorded all three of K-State's extra-base hits on the day.
"That's Will every day," Hill added. "He comes to play every day. Nothing surprises me with Will."
K-State took a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in the home half of the third inning. Brennan's first hit, an RBI single, scored Kyle Barfield who drew a leadoff walk. Freshman Brett Owen later sprinted home on a passed ball by MU catcher JT Thomas to hand the Cats a short-lived lead.
The Bears tied the game in the top half of the next inning when RJ Yeager laced a single to center field that scored Alex Hanson. Yeager scored MU's first run on a sacrifice fly in the third.
The score remained 2-2 until the Bears broke through with six in the fifth. Five straight hitters reached base off Wildcat relievers Brogan Heinen and Jaxson Passino in the inning, capped by three straight extra-base hits that produced four of the Bears' two-out runs.
K-State starting pitcher Gabe Littlejim was lifted with two outs in the fifth and took the loss after surrendering four earned runs off six hits. Heinen, who relieved Littlejim, yielded three earned runs without recording an out.
Passino gave up two hits and one earned run over 2 1/3 innings of work with two strikeouts.
"Jaxon was really good," said Hill. "He is still pretty new on the mound, but he throws strikes and he has really good composure on the mound. He's done a really good job for us."
K-State added a single run in the fifth courtesy of an RBI groundout from Cameron Thompson and another run in the eighth, a run-scoring single from Brennan.
Mercer starter Austin Cox struck out eight Cats over 4 2/3 innings and MU reliever Robert Broom added seven strikeouts over 3 1/3. Broom was credited with his first win of the season.
"Their velocity overmatched us," Hill said of Mercer's pitching staff. "We haven't seen 90-plus, really, this year. But we've got to get better, that's Big 12 stuff."
The Bears tacked on two unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning.
Senior Hanz Harker and Owen each went 1-for-2 while Watts scored two runs.
K-State concludes its three-game set vs. Mercer on Sunday at Tointon Family Stadium. The series' rubber game is slated for 12 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Fans can also listen live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM).
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored four runs on eight hits and committed two errors and left 10 runners on base. Mercer scored 11 runs on 12 hits with no errors and stranded nine baserunners.
- Brennan extended his career-best on-base streak to 37 games, dating back to last season, and equaled his career-high with four base hits.
- The Wildcats' 2-6 hitters combined to go 0-for-19 with 14 strikeouts.
- K-State struck out a season-high 17 times.
- Littlejim walked his first batter of the season in his fourth start (18.2 IP).
- Mercer had seven two-out RBI while K-State had one.
- The Bears went 7-for-17 (.412) with two outs while K-State hit .182 (2-for-11).
- MU hit .429 with runners in scoring position and the Cats hit .250.
- The series is the first-ever between K-State and Mercer, which is now tied 1-1.
- K-State's streak of nine consecutive games with 10 or more hits came to an end.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Robert Broom (1-0)
L: Littlejim, Gabe (1-2)
Batting:
2B: David Posas 1 ; JT Thomas 1 ; Alex Hanson 1 ; Cory Wright 1 ; RJ Yeager 1
3B: Kyle Dockus 1
RBI: David Posas 2 ; Le Bassett 1 ; Alex Hanson 1 ; Cory Wright 1 ; RJ Yeager 3 ; Kyle Dockus 1
SH: Jackson Ware 1 ; Kyle Dockus 1
SF: David Posas 1 ; Le Bassett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Trey Truitt 1 ; JT Thomas 1 ; Jordan Ammons 1 ; Jackson Ware 1 ; Alex Hanson 2 ; Cory Wright 2 ; RJ Yeager 3
SB: Trey Truitt 1
HBP: JT Thomas 1 ; Le Bassett 1
Batting:
2B: Brennan, Will 2 ; Watts, Dylan 1
RBI: Brennan, Will 2 ; Thompson, Cameron 1
SH: Watts, Dylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Barfield, Kyle 1 ; Watts, Dylan 2 ; Owen, Brett 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
0
H
4
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
ph/rf
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
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