Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, March 22
Stillwater, Okla.
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
11-11, 0
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Oklahoma State
13-7, 0
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K-State
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Oklahoma State
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Cowboys Pull Away Late in Big 12 Opener
Mar 22, 2019 | Baseball
STILLWATER, Okla. – In a one-run game in the eighth inning, Oklahoma State brought home six runs in the bottom half of the inning to pull away with an 11-4 victory over K-State Friday in the Big 12 opener for both teams at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
Bryce Carter drove in four, including a two-run single in the eighth, to lead Oklahoma State (13-7, 1-0 Big 12). K-State (11-11, 0-1 Big 12) had cut the Cowboy lead to a single run at 5-4 after runs in the top of the seventh and eighth innings.
"Right now, our margin for error is not very big," said head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "We don't execute a sac bunt earlier in the game. We didn't run the bases particularly well. We had too many free passes. We left some runners on bases. We had our chances leading up to that last inning and could've extended the lead ourselves, but we didn't."
In the eighth, OSU brought a dozen hitters to the plate. The Cowboys tallied three hits to go with four walks along with a K-State error.
Five Wildcat pitchers combined to issue a season-high 12 walks while the K-State offense went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Chris Ceballos had a game-high three hits, going 3-for-4 with a game-tying solo run in the sixth inning. Zach Kokoska also homered, a solo shot in the second inning that put the Cats in front 1-0.
Freshman Griffin Hassall allowed two earned runs on five hits over 3 1/3 innings, striking out two and walking two in a no decision. Hassall retired eight of the first nine OSU batters he faced in his second career start.
"I thought he did a good job, it was a gutty outing," Hughes said of Hassall's start. "He kept them off balance and I think we got him out at just the right time."
Jaxon Passino suffered the loss after going 2 2/3 innings and allowing three earned. The sophomore right-hander walked a career-high six batters and gave up three hits.
"I thought Passino was awesome," Hughes added. "There were some borderline calls, but that kid made some big pitches. I was happy to see that. He will get the results if he keeps pitching like that."
Passino came on in relief of Hassall with one out in the fourth and Christian Funk standing on second. After inducing a groundout, Passino walked three straight hitters to give the Cowboys a 2-1 lead.
With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Oklahoma State plated three runs on three hits to take a 5-2 lead. Carter delivered the go-ahead two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded off Passino.
Back-to-back doubles by Rainer Ausmus and Thomas Hughes cut a run off the Wildcats' deficit, making the score 5-3 as the game reached the seventh-inning stretch.
K-State cut it to a one-run game at 5-4 in the eighth, as Cameron Thompson and Ceballos each singled in the frame. Thompson came around to score on an RBI fielder's choice from Terrence Spurlin.
Five Cowboy hitters turned in two-hit games, as OSU out-hit the Wildcats 12-9. The Cowboys hit .400 (8-for-20) with runners on base and .462 (6-for-13) with two outs.
Oklahoma State starter Jensen Elliott picked up the victory after a quality start, going 6 1/3 innings with three earned allowed on six hits.
K-State and Oklahoma State continue the three-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m. Fans can watch the game free on OSU's YouTube Channel, along with coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free audio will be streamed at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Bryce Carter drove in four, including a two-run single in the eighth, to lead Oklahoma State (13-7, 1-0 Big 12). K-State (11-11, 0-1 Big 12) had cut the Cowboy lead to a single run at 5-4 after runs in the top of the seventh and eighth innings.
"Right now, our margin for error is not very big," said head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "We don't execute a sac bunt earlier in the game. We didn't run the bases particularly well. We had too many free passes. We left some runners on bases. We had our chances leading up to that last inning and could've extended the lead ourselves, but we didn't."
In the eighth, OSU brought a dozen hitters to the plate. The Cowboys tallied three hits to go with four walks along with a K-State error.
Five Wildcat pitchers combined to issue a season-high 12 walks while the K-State offense went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Chris Ceballos had a game-high three hits, going 3-for-4 with a game-tying solo run in the sixth inning. Zach Kokoska also homered, a solo shot in the second inning that put the Cats in front 1-0.
Freshman Griffin Hassall allowed two earned runs on five hits over 3 1/3 innings, striking out two and walking two in a no decision. Hassall retired eight of the first nine OSU batters he faced in his second career start.
"I thought he did a good job, it was a gutty outing," Hughes said of Hassall's start. "He kept them off balance and I think we got him out at just the right time."
Jaxon Passino suffered the loss after going 2 2/3 innings and allowing three earned. The sophomore right-hander walked a career-high six batters and gave up three hits.
"I thought Passino was awesome," Hughes added. "There were some borderline calls, but that kid made some big pitches. I was happy to see that. He will get the results if he keeps pitching like that."
Passino came on in relief of Hassall with one out in the fourth and Christian Funk standing on second. After inducing a groundout, Passino walked three straight hitters to give the Cowboys a 2-1 lead.
With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Oklahoma State plated three runs on three hits to take a 5-2 lead. Carter delivered the go-ahead two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded off Passino.
Back-to-back doubles by Rainer Ausmus and Thomas Hughes cut a run off the Wildcats' deficit, making the score 5-3 as the game reached the seventh-inning stretch.
K-State cut it to a one-run game at 5-4 in the eighth, as Cameron Thompson and Ceballos each singled in the frame. Thompson came around to score on an RBI fielder's choice from Terrence Spurlin.
Five Cowboy hitters turned in two-hit games, as OSU out-hit the Wildcats 12-9. The Cowboys hit .400 (8-for-20) with runners on base and .462 (6-for-13) with two outs.
Oklahoma State starter Jensen Elliott picked up the victory after a quality start, going 6 1/3 innings with three earned allowed on six hits.
K-State and Oklahoma State continue the three-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m. Fans can watch the game free on OSU's YouTube Channel, along with coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free audio will be streamed at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored four runs on nine hits with one error and left eight runners on base.
- OSU scored 11 runs on 12 hits without an error and stranded 14 baserunners.
- Ceballos and Kokoska each hit solo home runs in the game.
- Ceballos hit his fourth homer to tie for the team lead and Kokoska launched his third.
- Ceballos had a game-high three hits, going 3-for-4.
- Kokoska went 2-for-4.
- Five K-State pitchers combined for a season-high 12 walks with four strikeouts.
- Will Brennan was held hitless for just the third time this season.
- Four of K-State's nine hits went for extra bases.
- The Cats were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
- Oklahoma State leads the all-time series 169-58 with a 45-18 mark in Big 12 play.
- The Wildcats are now 17-96 all-time in Stillwater.
- The Cowboys have taken the last six games in the series overall.
- K-State has dropped its Big 12 opener for the seventh straight season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Elliott, Jensen (3-0)
L: Passino, Jaxon (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Hughes, Thomas 1 ; Ausmus, Rainer 1
HR: Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 1
RBI: Hughes, Thomas 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Spurlin, Terrence 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Ausmus, Rainer 1
SB: Burrows, Blake 1
Batting:
2B: Navigato, Andrew 1 ; Funk, Christian 1
RBI: Morrill, Hueston 1 ; Navigato, Andrew 1 ; Simpson, Colin 1 ; Boone, Trevor 1 ; Carter, Bryce 4 ; McCusker, Carson 1 ; Funk, Christian 1 ; Cabbiness, Cade 1
SH: Cabbiness, Cade 1
SF: Funk, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Navigato, Andrew 3 ; Simpson, Colin 2 ; Boone, Trevor 1 ; Carter, Bryce 1 ; McCusker, Carson 1 ; Funk, Christian 1 ; Cabbiness, Cade 1 ; Hewitt, Max 1
HBP: Simpson, Colin 1
Game Leaders
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RBI
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4
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2
RBI
1
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4
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Players Mentioned
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