Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, March 17
Manhattan, Kan.
2 p.m.
Kansas State University
10-8
0
vs
6
College of Charleston
15-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Charleston
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
0
2
6
13
0
Kansas State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
0
Charleston Shuts Down Wildcat Offense for Second Straight Game
Mar 17, 2018 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – For the second straight game, the College of Charleston's pitching staff kept the K-State offense off the scoreboard with a 6-0 victory Saturday in the second game of a three-game set at Tointon Family Stadium.
Charleston (15-5) starter Griffin McLarty earned his fourth win of the season as he went seven innings and allowed six hits with four strikeouts. The Cougar offense scored two runs in the third, seventh and ninth innings to hand K-State (10-8) its third straight loss and claim the weekend series.
"They've got a pretty good pitching over there, give them a lot of credit," head coach Brad Hill said after the game. "[McLarty] has a sub-1.00 ERA, but we never made him adjust. He was able to stay in his game the whole way. He did a good job of getting ahead, he was 0-1 all day long. When guys got on base he did a better job of making pitches."
Wildcat starting pitcher Gabe Littlejim tossed a career-high 6 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts in taking the loss. The junior-transfer righty allowed just two earned runs through the game's first six innings.
"I'll take Gabe Littlejim's start," added Hill. "That was so much better than where he's been. He did a god job of attacking the zone."
The Wildcats received two-hit days from seniors Jake Biller (2-for-4) and Trent McMaster (2-for-3). McMaster had the Cats' only extra-base hit of the day, a double in the fifth inning.
Charleston hit a pair of home runs on the day, a two-run homer by designated hitter Logan McRae in the ninth and a solo shot from first baseman Ari Sechopoulos in the seventh.
McRae sparked the Cougar scoring as he drew a two-out walk in the third and later advanced to third on Wondrack's double. Both would score on an infield single by Tommy Richter for an early 2-0 lead.
K-State threatened in the fifth inning as Rainer Ausmus singled and McMaster followed with a double down the left field line. A batter later, Brett Owen sent a fly ball to right field that Joey Mundy caught and gunned down Ausmus, who was attempting to tag up and score the Cats' first run of the series.
Sechopoulos led off the seventh inning with a solo home run off Littlejim. Later in the inning, Luke Morgan singled, stole both second and third and then scored on a sacrifice fly from McRae to push Charleston's lead to 4-0 as the game reached the seventh-inning stretch.
McRae finished the game going 3-for-3 with a double, home run, two runs batted in and two runs scored.
The first four hitters in Charleston's lineup combined to go 8-for-16 (.500) with five runs scored.
Freshman reliever Andrew Stratman took over for Littlejim and pitched into the ninth inning, as he went two innings and allowed a pair of earned run on three hits. Fellow freshman Alex Belch finished the final 2/3 of an inning, yielding one walk.
Charleston reliever Nathan Ocker tossed scoreless eighth and ninth innings in relief of McLarty and allowed just one base hit.
K-State and Charleston wrap up the three-game series at Tointon Family Stadium Sunday, with first pitch slated for 12 p.m. Game 3 of the series 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
Charleston (15-5) starter Griffin McLarty earned his fourth win of the season as he went seven innings and allowed six hits with four strikeouts. The Cougar offense scored two runs in the third, seventh and ninth innings to hand K-State (10-8) its third straight loss and claim the weekend series.
"They've got a pretty good pitching over there, give them a lot of credit," head coach Brad Hill said after the game. "[McLarty] has a sub-1.00 ERA, but we never made him adjust. He was able to stay in his game the whole way. He did a good job of getting ahead, he was 0-1 all day long. When guys got on base he did a better job of making pitches."
Wildcat starting pitcher Gabe Littlejim tossed a career-high 6 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts in taking the loss. The junior-transfer righty allowed just two earned runs through the game's first six innings.
"I'll take Gabe Littlejim's start," added Hill. "That was so much better than where he's been. He did a god job of attacking the zone."
The Wildcats received two-hit days from seniors Jake Biller (2-for-4) and Trent McMaster (2-for-3). McMaster had the Cats' only extra-base hit of the day, a double in the fifth inning.
Charleston hit a pair of home runs on the day, a two-run homer by designated hitter Logan McRae in the ninth and a solo shot from first baseman Ari Sechopoulos in the seventh.
McRae sparked the Cougar scoring as he drew a two-out walk in the third and later advanced to third on Wondrack's double. Both would score on an infield single by Tommy Richter for an early 2-0 lead.
K-State threatened in the fifth inning as Rainer Ausmus singled and McMaster followed with a double down the left field line. A batter later, Brett Owen sent a fly ball to right field that Joey Mundy caught and gunned down Ausmus, who was attempting to tag up and score the Cats' first run of the series.
Sechopoulos led off the seventh inning with a solo home run off Littlejim. Later in the inning, Luke Morgan singled, stole both second and third and then scored on a sacrifice fly from McRae to push Charleston's lead to 4-0 as the game reached the seventh-inning stretch.
McRae finished the game going 3-for-3 with a double, home run, two runs batted in and two runs scored.
The first four hitters in Charleston's lineup combined to go 8-for-16 (.500) with five runs scored.
Freshman reliever Andrew Stratman took over for Littlejim and pitched into the ninth inning, as he went two innings and allowed a pair of earned run on three hits. Fellow freshman Alex Belch finished the final 2/3 of an inning, yielding one walk.
Charleston reliever Nathan Ocker tossed scoreless eighth and ninth innings in relief of McLarty and allowed just one base hit.
K-State and Charleston wrap up the three-game series at Tointon Family Stadium Sunday, with first pitch slated for 12 p.m. Game 3 of the series 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 no runs on seven hits without an error and left four runners on base. Charleston scored six runs on 13 hits with no errors and stranded nine baserunners.
- Biller and McMaster led the Wildcats with two hits apiece. McMaster had K-State's only extra-base hit, a double in the fifth inning.
- Charleston's first four hitters combined to hit .500 (8-for-16) with five runs scored.
- Littlejim's 6 1/3 innings of work was a career-long outing.
- The Cats were shut out for just the second straight game and have lost three consecutive games for the first time since starting the season 0-3.
- K-State went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position while Charleston hit .333 (2-for-6).
- The Cougars hit .357 (5-for-14) with two outs while K-State hit .125 (1-for-8).
- Charleston has taken the first two games of the first-ever series between the teams.
- With a walk in the third inning, Will Brennan extended his career-best on-base streak to 41 games, dating back to last season.
- The loss marks the Wildcats' first weekend series loss of the season.
- The Cats were last shut out in consecutive games March 31-April 1 against TCU.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McLarty, Griffin (4-0)
L: Littlejim, Gabe (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Morgan, Luke 1 ; McRae, Logan 1 ; Wondrack, Danny 1
HR: McRae, Logan 1 ; Sechopoulos, Ari 1
RBI: McRae, Logan 2 ; Richter, Tommy 3 ; Sechopoulos, Ari 1
SF: Richter, Tommy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Morgan, Luke 2 ; McRae, Logan 2 ; Wondrack, Danny 1 ; Sechopoulos, Ari 1
SB: Morgan, Luke 2
CS: Manzo, Luke 1
HBP: Manzo, Luke 1
Batting:
2B: McMaster, Trent 1
Base Running:
SB: Thompson, Cameron 1
CS: Brennan, Will 1
PO: Thompson, Cameron 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
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