Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, March 16
Manhattan, Kan.
4 p.m.
Kansas State University
10-8
7
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UTRGV
12-7
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5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UT Rio Grande Valley
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
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1
5
0
K-State
0
2
3
0
0
2
0
0
X
7
10
1
Cats Win Series Behind Ceballos’ Two Homers, Wicks’ Quality Start
Mar 16, 2019 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Chris Ceballos hit a pair of home runs and drove in four while Jordan Wicks turned in a quality start as K-State defeated UT Rio Grande Valley Saturday, 7-1, at Tointon Family Stadium to clinch the three-game series.
Ceballos went 2-for-4 and matched his career high with his four RBI in helping K-State (10-8) extend its season-long winning streak to four games. Wicks struck out six over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits, to collect his third win of the season.
"He's a mature kid," head coach Pete Hughes said of Ceballos. "The kid's seen a lot of baseball, which leads him to not panic and stay with his approach and not to try and do too much. He's starting to hit breaking stuff and he recognizes how people are attacking him."
Ceballos turned in the first multi-homer game by a Wildcat since Drew Mount hit two home runs last season against Mercer on March 9. The junior-college transfer leads K-State with 18 runs batted in on the year.
Wicks produced his third quality outing in his first five starts, and after allowing a first-inning run, scattered three hits over the next five frames as he pitched into the seventh inning.
"I felt good," said Wicks. "The first inning they jumped on me early but with our offense, the way we've been playing, I knew that they were going to score their share of runs. You just got to keep dealing and keep fighting there and just let the defense make plays behind you."
In relief of Wicks, Jaxon Passino and Dylan Phillips held UTRGV (12-7) hitless over the final 2 2/3 innings. The K-State bullpen has not surrendered a run over its last 22 innings pitched, dating back five games, with only five hits allowed in that span.
"The last week or 10 days, the bullpen has been lights out," said Hughes. "When you have that security blanket from the mid innings on, it can give you a lot of confidence to not panic offensively."
Junior Cameron Thompson was 2-for-4 with an RBI, his fourth straight multi-hit game. Will Brennan and Terrence Spurlin each doubled and drove in a run, as eight Wildcats registered a base hit in the game.
Andy Atwood led off the game with a double off Wicks and would later score on a double from catcher Conrado Diaz to give UTRGV a 1-0 lead after a half inning.
Ceballos' first homer, a two-run, two-out shot in the second, gave the Cats a 2-1 lead. Zach Kokoska scored after he roped a two-out single.
Phillips' solo homer in the third sparked a three-run third. Brennan's two-out double started a string of three straight hits with two outs for the Cats, as Thompson singled and Spurlin doubled to bring in two more.
The Cats hit .467 (7-for-15) with two outs while limiting the Vaqueros to one hit (1-for-10) with two gone.
Spurlin's RBI double ended the day of UTRGV starter Nick Hollas, who went 2 2/3 innings and gave up five earned runs on six hits. Four of K-State's six hits against Hollas went for extra bases.
In the sixth, Ceballos' second homer of the game pushed the lead to five at 7-1. Ceballos again drove home Kokoska, who earlier walked.
"It's teaching them how to win," Hughes added. "It's a learned behavior. You have to show up at the park on a Saturday when you've won on Friday and be hungry to win a series. Then the next challenge is to sweep the series. We are going to have to learn how to do that, and that's our challenge for tomorrow."
Jacob Hirsch turned in the only two-hit game for the Vaqueros, going 2-for-3 with a double.
UTRGV went 1-for-11 (0.91) with runners on base after going 1-for-16 in Friday's game.
K-State and UTRGV wrap up the three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium. The finale will stream live on ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Coverage is also available on News Radio 1350 KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Ceballos went 2-for-4 and matched his career high with his four RBI in helping K-State (10-8) extend its season-long winning streak to four games. Wicks struck out six over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits, to collect his third win of the season.
"He's a mature kid," head coach Pete Hughes said of Ceballos. "The kid's seen a lot of baseball, which leads him to not panic and stay with his approach and not to try and do too much. He's starting to hit breaking stuff and he recognizes how people are attacking him."
Ceballos turned in the first multi-homer game by a Wildcat since Drew Mount hit two home runs last season against Mercer on March 9. The junior-college transfer leads K-State with 18 runs batted in on the year.
Wicks produced his third quality outing in his first five starts, and after allowing a first-inning run, scattered three hits over the next five frames as he pitched into the seventh inning.
"I felt good," said Wicks. "The first inning they jumped on me early but with our offense, the way we've been playing, I knew that they were going to score their share of runs. You just got to keep dealing and keep fighting there and just let the defense make plays behind you."
In relief of Wicks, Jaxon Passino and Dylan Phillips held UTRGV (12-7) hitless over the final 2 2/3 innings. The K-State bullpen has not surrendered a run over its last 22 innings pitched, dating back five games, with only five hits allowed in that span.
"The last week or 10 days, the bullpen has been lights out," said Hughes. "When you have that security blanket from the mid innings on, it can give you a lot of confidence to not panic offensively."
Junior Cameron Thompson was 2-for-4 with an RBI, his fourth straight multi-hit game. Will Brennan and Terrence Spurlin each doubled and drove in a run, as eight Wildcats registered a base hit in the game.
Andy Atwood led off the game with a double off Wicks and would later score on a double from catcher Conrado Diaz to give UTRGV a 1-0 lead after a half inning.
Ceballos' first homer, a two-run, two-out shot in the second, gave the Cats a 2-1 lead. Zach Kokoska scored after he roped a two-out single.
Phillips' solo homer in the third sparked a three-run third. Brennan's two-out double started a string of three straight hits with two outs for the Cats, as Thompson singled and Spurlin doubled to bring in two more.
The Cats hit .467 (7-for-15) with two outs while limiting the Vaqueros to one hit (1-for-10) with two gone.
Spurlin's RBI double ended the day of UTRGV starter Nick Hollas, who went 2 2/3 innings and gave up five earned runs on six hits. Four of K-State's six hits against Hollas went for extra bases.
In the sixth, Ceballos' second homer of the game pushed the lead to five at 7-1. Ceballos again drove home Kokoska, who earlier walked.
"It's teaching them how to win," Hughes added. "It's a learned behavior. You have to show up at the park on a Saturday when you've won on Friday and be hungry to win a series. Then the next challenge is to sweep the series. We are going to have to learn how to do that, and that's our challenge for tomorrow."
Jacob Hirsch turned in the only two-hit game for the Vaqueros, going 2-for-3 with a double.
UTRGV went 1-for-11 (0.91) with runners on base after going 1-for-16 in Friday's game.
K-State and UTRGV wrap up the three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium. The finale will stream live on ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Coverage is also available on News Radio 1350 KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with streaming audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored seven runs on 10 hits with one error and left five runners on base.
- UTRGV scored one run on five hits without an error and stranded six baserunners.
- Ceballos hit two home runs and matched his career high with four RBI.
- Ceballos upped his team-leading RBI total to 18.
- Five of K-State's 10 hits went for extra bases (three home runs, two doubles).
- Ceballos and Phillips each have three home runs on the season.
- Wicks registered his third quality outing in five starts.
- Thompson turned in his fourth straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-4.
- K-State went 7-for-15 (.467) with two outs while holding UTRGV to 1-for-10 with two gone.
- UTRGV went 1-for-11 with runners on base after going 1-for-16 in Friday's game.
- K-State leads the all-time series with UTRGV, 4-1
- K-State's season-long winning streak is now at four games
- The K-State bullpen has not allowed a run and given up only five hits over its last 22 innings, going back to the series finale vs. Old Dominion on March 10.
- The Wildcats have held a lead in 15 of 18 games this season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wicks, Jordan (3-0)
L: Hollas, Nick (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Atwood, Andy 1 ; Diaz, Conrado 1 ; Sepulveda, Christian 1 ; Hirsh, Jacob 1
RBI: Diaz, Conrado 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Atwood, Andy 1
CS: Hirsh, Jacob 1
Batting:
2B: Brennan, Will 1 ; Spurlin, Terrence 1
HR: Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 2
RBI: Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Spurlin, Terrence 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Brennan, Will 1 ; Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 2 ; Ceballos, Chris 2
SB: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
4
lf/p
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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LHP
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