Kansas State University Athletics
Sunday, February 17
Northridge, Calif.
3 p.m.
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Kansas State
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CSUN Outlasts K-State Sunday, 4-2
Feb 17, 2019 | Baseball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – K-State junior Will Brennan turned in a quality start on the mound to go with a three-hit game at the plate, but CSUN overcame an early two-run deficit to take the third game of a four-game series at Matador Field, 4-2.
Brennan, who hit in the three spot in the order, retired the final 10 CSUN batters he faced after allowing three first-inning runs. Brennan struck out six hitters over his six innings of work, yielding just three hits in the loss.
"He was really good," head coach Pete Hughes said of Brennan's pitching performance. "He's definitely a kid that's a front-of-the-line rotation guy for us. We've got to get him more offense when he's on the mound. Will kept us in the game when we didn't swing the bats the way we should've."
Brennan was spotted a 2-0 lead before he took the hill after senior Thomas Hughes led off the game with a home run and freshman Dylan Phillips lifted a sacrifice fly that brought in Cameron Thompson. The Wildcats began the game with three straight hits, including a single from Brennan.
CSUN (2-1) countered with three runs on two hits in the bottom of the opening frame. Matador first baseman Jayson Newman laced a two-run double to tie the game before Wesley Ghan-Gibson's sacrifice fly handed the Matadors a one-run lead.
Brennan powered through the next five innings as he allowed just two baserunners over that stretch, sitting down 16 of 18 CSUN hitters overall.
"He started being more aggressive early in the counts to keep his pitch count down," added Hughes. "His stuff is really, really good. I was really happy with him, he got his pitch counts down after that first inning. To be able to have the confidence to attack the zone, he had that. He pitched good enough to give us a chance to win."
At the plate, Brennan reached base four times, finishing 3-for-3 with a walk. Thompson turned in a two-hit game (2-for-4). K-State (1-2) out-hit CSUN 9-5. Hughes' leadoff homer – the first by a Wildcat since 2014 – was K-State's only extra-base hit.
Both sides remained scoreless until CSUN added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth off Wildcat reliever Gavin Hinchliffe.
Matador starting pitcher Isaiah Nunez earned the win after allowing two earned runs on eight hits over six innings. Nunez struck out five and issued just one walk.
K-State produced just one base hit over the final three innings and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Newman led CSUN with two doubles and three runs batted in and shortstop Brandon Bohning was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
K-State and CSUN wrap up the four-game series on Monday at 4 p.m. CT. The game will stream live on BigWest.TV as part of the CSUN Sports Network with coverage also available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free, live audio can also be found at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Brennan, who hit in the three spot in the order, retired the final 10 CSUN batters he faced after allowing three first-inning runs. Brennan struck out six hitters over his six innings of work, yielding just three hits in the loss.
"He was really good," head coach Pete Hughes said of Brennan's pitching performance. "He's definitely a kid that's a front-of-the-line rotation guy for us. We've got to get him more offense when he's on the mound. Will kept us in the game when we didn't swing the bats the way we should've."
Brennan was spotted a 2-0 lead before he took the hill after senior Thomas Hughes led off the game with a home run and freshman Dylan Phillips lifted a sacrifice fly that brought in Cameron Thompson. The Wildcats began the game with three straight hits, including a single from Brennan.
CSUN (2-1) countered with three runs on two hits in the bottom of the opening frame. Matador first baseman Jayson Newman laced a two-run double to tie the game before Wesley Ghan-Gibson's sacrifice fly handed the Matadors a one-run lead.
Brennan powered through the next five innings as he allowed just two baserunners over that stretch, sitting down 16 of 18 CSUN hitters overall.
"He started being more aggressive early in the counts to keep his pitch count down," added Hughes. "His stuff is really, really good. I was really happy with him, he got his pitch counts down after that first inning. To be able to have the confidence to attack the zone, he had that. He pitched good enough to give us a chance to win."
At the plate, Brennan reached base four times, finishing 3-for-3 with a walk. Thompson turned in a two-hit game (2-for-4). K-State (1-2) out-hit CSUN 9-5. Hughes' leadoff homer – the first by a Wildcat since 2014 – was K-State's only extra-base hit.
Both sides remained scoreless until CSUN added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth off Wildcat reliever Gavin Hinchliffe.
Matador starting pitcher Isaiah Nunez earned the win after allowing two earned runs on eight hits over six innings. Nunez struck out five and issued just one walk.
K-State produced just one base hit over the final three innings and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Newman led CSUN with two doubles and three runs batted in and shortstop Brandon Bohning was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
K-State and CSUN wrap up the four-game series on Monday at 4 p.m. CT. The game will stream live on BigWest.TV as part of the CSUN Sports Network with coverage also available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free, live audio can also be found at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored two runs on nine hits with one error and eight runners left on base.
- CSUN scored four runs on five hits without an error and left five on base.
- K-State has hit five home runs in the first three games of the season.
- Brennan retired 16 of the last 18 hitters he faced, including the final 10 batters.
- K-State was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position for the second straight game.
- Brennan had a team-high three hits and is hitting .636 (7-for-11) this season.
- CSUN now leads the all-time series 4-3.
- Hughes' leadoff home run was the first leadoff homer by a Wildcat since 2014 (Ross Kivett) and the first of his collegiate career.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nunez, Isaiah (1-0)
L: Brennan, Will (0-1)
S: Schriever, Blake (1)
Batting:
HR: Hughes, Thomas 1
RBI: Hughes, Thomas 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1
SH: Maxson, Jordan 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1
SF: Phillips, Dylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hughes, Thomas 1 ; Thompson, Cameron 1
SB: Littlejim, Caleb 1
PO: Brennan, Will 2
Batting:
2B: Newman, Jayson 2 ; Lucas, Andrew 1
RBI: Newman, Jayson 3 ; Ghan-Gibson, Wesley 1
SF: Ghan-Gibson, Wesley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bohning, Brandon 2 ; Barret, Kyle 1 ; Bortolin, Angelo 1
SB: Bohning, Brandon 2
HBP: Barret, Kyle 1
Game Leaders
p/dh
AB
3
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ BaseballIF/OF
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