Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, March 9
Manhattan, Kan.
3 p.m.
Kansas State University
12
vs
3
Mercer
Mount Crushes Two Grand Slams, Cats Roll
Mar 09, 2018 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State junior Drew Mount became the first Wildcat to hit two grand slams in a game since 1994 and starting pitcher Kasey Ford struck out a career-high 10 hitters in a 12-3 series-opening victory over Mercer Friday at Tointon Family Stadium.
Mount's pair of slams came in the fifth and sixth innings, helping K-State (9-4) score 10 runs over the two innings and gave Ford an 11-1 lead after six. The junior-college transfer ended the game going 2-for-4 with eight runs batted in, the most by a Wildcat since Drew Biery's nine RBI in 2006.
The Santa Clara, California, native, who has been named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week each of the last two weeks, leads the conference with seven home runs and 26 RBI.
Ford, a sophomore, held Mercer (11-4) scoreless through the game's first five innings and, at one point, retired 10 consecutive MU hitters. The 6-foot-6 right-hander went seven innings, scattering eight hits and allowing three earned runs with his career-best strikeout total for his third victory in his last three starts.
Ford equaled the longest outing of his career and threw 108 pitches, a career high, with 78 going for strikes.
Along with Mount, three other Wildcats – Kyle Barfield, Brett Owen, Cameron Thompson – turned in multi-hit performances and extended K-State's winning streak to five games. The Cats have registered 10 or more hits in nine consecutive games and are 9-1 over their last 10 games.
Barfield, a senior right fielder, matched his career high with three hits, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Owen and Thompson each went 2-for-3. Thompson drove in a pair of runs, scored twice and walked twice in extending his on-base streak to 20 games, dating back to last season.
Barfield drove in the game's first run in the second inning with a single to left field, scoring Rainer Ausmus, who led off the inning with a walk. K-State also got a single from TK McWhertor but stranded two runners in the inning.
The game remained a one-run game until the Cats put up five in the fifth inning, capped by Mount's first grand slam. Mount's homer came after Thompson made the score 2-0 with an RBI single with the bases full that scored Owen.
The Bears David Posas led off the top of the sixth with a solo home run to get Mercer its first run, but Ford proceeded to strike out the next three hitters to come to the plate.
In the home half of the inning, Will Brennan, Jake Biller and Thompson each drew walks before Mount came to the plate with the bases loaded for the second straight inning. His second grand slam broke the game open and pushed K-State's lead to 11-1.
MU third baseman Jackson Ware led off the seventh with a solo homer off Ford and the Bears would add one more in the inning with an RBI single from Posas.
The Cats tacked on their final run in the bottom of the seventh on a Brennan sacrifice fly that scored Barfield. Brennan, who was twice hit by a pitch and walked, extended his career-long on-base streak to 36 games, going back to 2017.
A pair of K-State freshmen, Andrew Stratman and Alex Belch, tossed the game's final two innings in relief of Ford without surrendering a hit. Belch struck out three Bears in the ninth inning.
Three Wildcat pitchers combined to strike out 13 Mercer batters, yielding just three walks and limiting the Bears to 1-for-12 (.083) with runners in scoring position.
K-State continues its three-game set vs. Mercer on Saturday at Tointon Family Stadium. Game 2 of the series is slated for 2 p.m., and the entire 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
Mount's pair of slams came in the fifth and sixth innings, helping K-State (9-4) score 10 runs over the two innings and gave Ford an 11-1 lead after six. The junior-college transfer ended the game going 2-for-4 with eight runs batted in, the most by a Wildcat since Drew Biery's nine RBI in 2006.
The Santa Clara, California, native, who has been named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week each of the last two weeks, leads the conference with seven home runs and 26 RBI.
Ford, a sophomore, held Mercer (11-4) scoreless through the game's first five innings and, at one point, retired 10 consecutive MU hitters. The 6-foot-6 right-hander went seven innings, scattering eight hits and allowing three earned runs with his career-best strikeout total for his third victory in his last three starts.
Ford equaled the longest outing of his career and threw 108 pitches, a career high, with 78 going for strikes.
Along with Mount, three other Wildcats – Kyle Barfield, Brett Owen, Cameron Thompson – turned in multi-hit performances and extended K-State's winning streak to five games. The Cats have registered 10 or more hits in nine consecutive games and are 9-1 over their last 10 games.
Barfield, a senior right fielder, matched his career high with three hits, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Owen and Thompson each went 2-for-3. Thompson drove in a pair of runs, scored twice and walked twice in extending his on-base streak to 20 games, dating back to last season.
Barfield drove in the game's first run in the second inning with a single to left field, scoring Rainer Ausmus, who led off the inning with a walk. K-State also got a single from TK McWhertor but stranded two runners in the inning.
The game remained a one-run game until the Cats put up five in the fifth inning, capped by Mount's first grand slam. Mount's homer came after Thompson made the score 2-0 with an RBI single with the bases full that scored Owen.
The Bears David Posas led off the top of the sixth with a solo home run to get Mercer its first run, but Ford proceeded to strike out the next three hitters to come to the plate.
In the home half of the inning, Will Brennan, Jake Biller and Thompson each drew walks before Mount came to the plate with the bases loaded for the second straight inning. His second grand slam broke the game open and pushed K-State's lead to 11-1.
MU third baseman Jackson Ware led off the seventh with a solo homer off Ford and the Bears would add one more in the inning with an RBI single from Posas.
The Cats tacked on their final run in the bottom of the seventh on a Brennan sacrifice fly that scored Barfield. Brennan, who was twice hit by a pitch and walked, extended his career-long on-base streak to 36 games, going back to 2017.
A pair of K-State freshmen, Andrew Stratman and Alex Belch, tossed the game's final two innings in relief of Ford without surrendering a hit. Belch struck out three Bears in the ninth inning.
Three Wildcat pitchers combined to strike out 13 Mercer batters, yielding just three walks and limiting the Bears to 1-for-12 (.083) with runners in scoring position.
K-State continues its three-game set vs. Mercer on Saturday at Tointon Family Stadium. Game 2 of the series is slated for 2 p.m., and the entire 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 12 runs on 10 hits without committing an error and left six runners on base. Mercer scored three runs on eight hits with no errors and stranded nine baserunners.
- Brennan extended his career-best on-base streak to 36 games, dating back to last season, but failed to record a base hit for the first time this season (0-for-1).
- The top four Wildcat hitters in the lineup each scored four runs and combined to drive in 11 of the Cats' 12 runs.
- K-State drew seven walks and struck out six times while Mercer struck out 13 times with the three bases on balls.
- Mount recorded his first multi-home run game and leads the Big 12 with seven homers and 26 RBI.
- Ford has three wins and three quality starts in his last three outings and struck out a career-high 10 hitters.
- Four Cats had multi-hit games, with Barfield tallying a game-high three hits.
- K-State hit .333 (6-for-18) with runners on base and were 3-for-3 with the bases loaded.
- The teams combined to go 1-for-18 (.056) with two outs.
- Mercer hit .083 (1-for-12) with runners in scoring position.
- This was the first-ever meeting between K-State and Mercer.
- Mount became the first Wildcat to hit two grand slams in a game since Todd Fereday on April 2, 1994 at Iowa State.
- Mount's eight RBI are the most in a game since Drew Biery's nine against South Dakota State on May 17, 2006.
- The Wildcats have recorded double-digit hits in 10 of 13 games this season, including each of their last nine games.
- Ford turned in the first 10-strikeouts performance by a Cat pitcher since Logan Wiley's 10 at Wichita State on May 4, 2016.
Players Mentioned
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