Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, March 24
Fort Worth, Texas
2 p.m.
Kansas State University
12-11, 0-2
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12
TCU
13-7, 2-0
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Kansas State
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TCU
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6
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12
12
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Horned Frogs Hit Four Homers, Beat K-State 12-2
Mar 24, 2018 | Baseball
FORT WORTH, Texas – No. 15 TCU hit four home runs, including three in the third inning, as the Horned Frogs took Game 2 of the three-game series from K-State, 12-2, Saturday at Lupton Stadium.
Home runs by Michael Landestoy, A.J. Balta and Conner Shepherd fueled TCU's five-run third inning that opened a 6-1 lead. Six more runs in the seventh for the Frogs (13-7, 2-0 Big 12) handed K-State (12-11, 0-2 Big 12) its third straight loss.
K-State got a solo home run from freshman Jordan Maxson for an early 1-0 lead, as he deposited a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to begin the second inning. The homer was the freshman's second of the season.
TCU tied the game in the next half inning, as starter Gabe Littlejim walked the first two TCU hitters, Balta and Adam Oviedo, and Balta would come around to score on a sacrifice fly from Coby Boulware.
Littlejim faced two batters in the third inning and issued his career-high fourth walk of the game before being lifted in favor of senior Hudson Treu. Littlejim (1-4) took his third straight loss after allowing three earned runs on two hits without a strikeout.
In the third inning off Treu, the Frogs belted three home runs, including back-to-back bombs by Landestoy and Balta. Two batters later, Shepherd hit his second solo homer of the series to cap the five-run inning.
Treu would toss two innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs.
Sophomore reliever Caleb Littlejim retired six of seven hitters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings before junior first baseman Luken Baker led off the seventh with a homer. Baker's second homer of the series sparked a six-run inning for TCU, as the Cats would use four pitchers in the inning and the Horned Frogs plated five runs with two outs. Catcher Zach Humphreys delivered a three-run single with the bases loaded to break open a 10-run lead.
Will Brennan brought in Trent McMaster on an RBI fielder's choice with the bases loaded in the top half of the seventh. Brennan was 3-for-4 with an RBI from the leadoff spot to lead the Wildcats.
Six K-State pitchers combined to allow the 12 runs (11 earned) on 12 hits while issuing eight walks with four strikeouts.
TCU starter Nick Lodolo (4-1) went seven innings and allowed just two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in the win.
Two Frogs relievers combined to keep K-State hitless over the final two innings. In the series, TCU's bullpen has tossed 5 1/3 innings and not allowed a hit while compiling 10 strikeouts.
The Cats were 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position and had multiple hits in just one inning (seventh).
Cameron Thompson, TK McWhertor and Brett Owen all singled for K-State.
K-State and TCU wrap up the conference-opening series at Lupton Stadium on Sunday. The finale is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch and will be broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest Plus. The game can also be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and streaming live on kstatesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Home runs by Michael Landestoy, A.J. Balta and Conner Shepherd fueled TCU's five-run third inning that opened a 6-1 lead. Six more runs in the seventh for the Frogs (13-7, 2-0 Big 12) handed K-State (12-11, 0-2 Big 12) its third straight loss.
K-State got a solo home run from freshman Jordan Maxson for an early 1-0 lead, as he deposited a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to begin the second inning. The homer was the freshman's second of the season.
TCU tied the game in the next half inning, as starter Gabe Littlejim walked the first two TCU hitters, Balta and Adam Oviedo, and Balta would come around to score on a sacrifice fly from Coby Boulware.
Littlejim faced two batters in the third inning and issued his career-high fourth walk of the game before being lifted in favor of senior Hudson Treu. Littlejim (1-4) took his third straight loss after allowing three earned runs on two hits without a strikeout.
In the third inning off Treu, the Frogs belted three home runs, including back-to-back bombs by Landestoy and Balta. Two batters later, Shepherd hit his second solo homer of the series to cap the five-run inning.
Treu would toss two innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs.
Sophomore reliever Caleb Littlejim retired six of seven hitters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings before junior first baseman Luken Baker led off the seventh with a homer. Baker's second homer of the series sparked a six-run inning for TCU, as the Cats would use four pitchers in the inning and the Horned Frogs plated five runs with two outs. Catcher Zach Humphreys delivered a three-run single with the bases loaded to break open a 10-run lead.
Will Brennan brought in Trent McMaster on an RBI fielder's choice with the bases loaded in the top half of the seventh. Brennan was 3-for-4 with an RBI from the leadoff spot to lead the Wildcats.
Six K-State pitchers combined to allow the 12 runs (11 earned) on 12 hits while issuing eight walks with four strikeouts.
TCU starter Nick Lodolo (4-1) went seven innings and allowed just two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in the win.
Two Frogs relievers combined to keep K-State hitless over the final two innings. In the series, TCU's bullpen has tossed 5 1/3 innings and not allowed a hit while compiling 10 strikeouts.
The Cats were 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position and had multiple hits in just one inning (seventh).
Cameron Thompson, TK McWhertor and Brett Owen all singled for K-State.
K-State and TCU wrap up the conference-opening series at Lupton Stadium on Sunday. The finale is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch and will be broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest Plus. The game can also be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and streaming live on kstatesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored two runs on seven hits and committed one error and left nine runners on base. TCU scored four runs on eight hits with one error and stranded eight baserunners.
- Brennan led K-State with three hits, his team-leading 13th multi-hit game of the season.
- Maxson hit his second home run of the season in the second inning.
- TCU scored 11 of its 12 runs in two innings.
- The Cats were 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position and are a combined 2-for-20 (.100) in the series.
- Two TCU relievers combined to not allow a hit over the final two innings.
- TCU now leads the all-time series, 18-7, and have won the last eight in the series.
- K-State is 0-8 all-time at TCU as Big 12 foes.
- The Cats drop their conference-opening series for the fifth straight season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lodolo, Nick (4-1)
L: Littlejim, Gabe (1-4)
Batting:
HR: Maxson, Jordan 1
RBI: Brennan, Will 1 ; Maxson, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Maxson, Jordan 1 ; McMaster, Trent 1
SB: Brennan, Will 1 ; Thompson, Cameron 1
HBP: Maxson, Jordan 1
Batting:
2B: Wanhanen, Connor 1
HR: Baker, Luken 1 ; Landestoy, Michael 1 ; Balta, A.J. 1 ; Shepherd, Conner 1
RBI: Wanhanen, Connor 1 ; Humphreys, Zach 2 ; Baker, Luken 1 ; Landestoy, Michael 2 ; Balta, A.J. 1 ; Shepherd, Conner 1 ; Boulware, Coby 1 ; Hanoian, Tristan 1
SF: Boulware, Coby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wanhanen, Connor 1 ; Humphreys, Zach 1 ; Baker, Luken 2 ; Landestoy, Michael 2 ; Balta, A.J. 2 ; Oviedo, Adam 1 ; Shepherd, Conner 2 ; Hanoian, Tristan 1
SB: Oviedo, Adam 1
HBP: Hanoian, Tristan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
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