Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, April 12
Austin, Texas
6:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
15-20, 2-5
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Texas
22-14, 4-5
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Texas
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K-State Stuns No. 14 Texas in Series Opener
Apr 12, 2019 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas –Griffin Hassall yielded one hit over five innings, Chris Ceballos homered and Will Brennan recorded a six-out save in K-State's 6-4 series-opening win over No. 14 Texas Friday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
Hassall (1-1) allowed one earned run on one hit in picking up his first career win while Brennan retired all six batters he faced to preserve the victory and earn K-State's (15-20, 2-5 Big 12) first win road win over Texas (22-14, 4-5 Big 12) since 2013.
"Really good team win tonight," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "Winning starts with good starting pitching and Griffin Hassall, a freshman, showed great composure. We got our bunts down and played fundamental baseball – clean baseball – with no errors. We had a veteran come in at the end of the game and win a ballgame for us. Happy for Will Brennan, he was dominant tonight."
Ceballos delivered a two-run home run in the top of the sixth that extended the Wildcats' lead to 4-1. The junior catcher is now tied for the team lead with five homers and paces the Cats with 25 runs batted in.
Ceballos and Thomas Hughes each drove in two while Zach Kokoska and Dylan Phillips both produced two hits.
The Cats led from start to finish, as they scored two in the first to go with their two-run sixth while also adding single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Twice, Texas cut K-State's lead down to a single run with a run in the third before two in the sixth brought the score to 4-3.
Brennan entered the game in the bottom of the eighth after a walk and an RBI double by Zach Zubia put the score at 6-4 with nobody out. The junior two-way player got out of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts and ended with the night with four punchouts to pick up the second save of his career.
Cameron Thompson led off the game with a double and later scored on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Hughes. Brennan, who singled, scored on an RBI double by Kokoska as the Wildcats brought seven hitters to the plate in opening a 2-0 lead after half an inning.
Texas' first hit came with two outs in the third inning and a runner on second base as Masen Hibbeler singled to score Duke Ellis. Ellis was hit by a pitch and stole second, with his run cutting K-State's lead in half at 2-1 after three innings.
The Longhorns got those two runs back in the next half inning, as Austin Todd roped an RBI double down and Tate Shaw added an RBI single off K-State reliever Mitch Zubradt. Zubradt allowed two runs on three hits while recording one out, as the senior allowed his first runs this season.
Freshman Eric Torres lifted Zubradt with one out and two runners on. Torres proceeded to get the next two Longhorn hitters out to strand a pair in scoring position. Torres did not allow a hit or a run over 1 2/3 innings.
Hughes came through with a two-out RBI single in the top of the seventh inning to make it a two-run game at 5-3. Rainer Ausmus led off the inning with a single and Blake Burrows, how pinch ran for Ausmus, scored from second base on Hughes' single.
Caleb Littlejim provided a two-out double off the left field wall in the top of the eighth that scored Phillips to extend the lead to 6-3. Phillips registered his second hit of the game earlier in the inning.
Texas starter Bryce Elder pitched into the seventh inning, finishing with 6 2/3 innings of work while giving up five earned runs on eight hits in taking the loss.
Hibbeler led the Longhorns with a 2-for-4 effort.
K-State limited Texas to 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position while going 4-for-14.
The three-game series continues Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be televised on the Longhorn Network and streaming on the ESPN app. Radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Hassall (1-1) allowed one earned run on one hit in picking up his first career win while Brennan retired all six batters he faced to preserve the victory and earn K-State's (15-20, 2-5 Big 12) first win road win over Texas (22-14, 4-5 Big 12) since 2013.
"Really good team win tonight," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "Winning starts with good starting pitching and Griffin Hassall, a freshman, showed great composure. We got our bunts down and played fundamental baseball – clean baseball – with no errors. We had a veteran come in at the end of the game and win a ballgame for us. Happy for Will Brennan, he was dominant tonight."
Ceballos delivered a two-run home run in the top of the sixth that extended the Wildcats' lead to 4-1. The junior catcher is now tied for the team lead with five homers and paces the Cats with 25 runs batted in.
Ceballos and Thomas Hughes each drove in two while Zach Kokoska and Dylan Phillips both produced two hits.
The Cats led from start to finish, as they scored two in the first to go with their two-run sixth while also adding single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Twice, Texas cut K-State's lead down to a single run with a run in the third before two in the sixth brought the score to 4-3.
Brennan entered the game in the bottom of the eighth after a walk and an RBI double by Zach Zubia put the score at 6-4 with nobody out. The junior two-way player got out of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts and ended with the night with four punchouts to pick up the second save of his career.
Cameron Thompson led off the game with a double and later scored on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Hughes. Brennan, who singled, scored on an RBI double by Kokoska as the Wildcats brought seven hitters to the plate in opening a 2-0 lead after half an inning.
Texas' first hit came with two outs in the third inning and a runner on second base as Masen Hibbeler singled to score Duke Ellis. Ellis was hit by a pitch and stole second, with his run cutting K-State's lead in half at 2-1 after three innings.
The Longhorns got those two runs back in the next half inning, as Austin Todd roped an RBI double down and Tate Shaw added an RBI single off K-State reliever Mitch Zubradt. Zubradt allowed two runs on three hits while recording one out, as the senior allowed his first runs this season.
Freshman Eric Torres lifted Zubradt with one out and two runners on. Torres proceeded to get the next two Longhorn hitters out to strand a pair in scoring position. Torres did not allow a hit or a run over 1 2/3 innings.
Hughes came through with a two-out RBI single in the top of the seventh inning to make it a two-run game at 5-3. Rainer Ausmus led off the inning with a single and Blake Burrows, how pinch ran for Ausmus, scored from second base on Hughes' single.
Caleb Littlejim provided a two-out double off the left field wall in the top of the eighth that scored Phillips to extend the lead to 6-3. Phillips registered his second hit of the game earlier in the inning.
Texas starter Bryce Elder pitched into the seventh inning, finishing with 6 2/3 innings of work while giving up five earned runs on eight hits in taking the loss.
Hibbeler led the Longhorns with a 2-for-4 effort.
K-State limited Texas to 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position while going 4-for-14.
The three-game series continues Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be televised on the Longhorn Network and streaming on the ESPN app. Radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored six runs on 10 hits without an error and left seven on base.
- Texas scored four runs on five hits with no errors and stranded six baserunners.
- Ceballos tied the team lead with his fifth home runs and upped his RBI total to 25.
- Kokoska and Phillips turned in the only multi-hit games for the Wildcats.
- Kokoska, Littlejim and Thompson each doubled.
- Brennan recorded the second save of his career, retiring all six he faced.
- Brennan stole his team-leading eighth base.
- Hassall earned his first collegiate win, allowing one run on one hit over five innings.
- Torres retired all four hitters he faced after inheriting two baserunners in the sixth.
- Five Wildcat pitchers combined to walk four and strike out seven.
- K-State limited Texas to 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position while going 4-for-14.
- K-State laid down three sacrifice bunts.
- Texas leads the all-time series 56-19-1.
- The Wildcats are now 10-30-1 on the road.
- K-State snapped a six-game road losing skid and won its first game in Austin since 2013.
- K-State won its first conference road game of the season.
- The Cats have won three of the last four against the Longhorns.
- K-State won consecutive games for the first time since March 15-16 (span of 17 games).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hassall, Griffin (1-1)
L: Elder, Bryce (2-2)
S: Brennan, Will (1)
Batting:
2B: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1
HR: Ceballos, Chris 1
RBI: Hughes, Thomas 2 ; Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 2 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1
SH: Hughes, Thomas 1 ; Spurlin, Terrence 1 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Brennan, Will 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Burrows, Blake 1
SB: Brennan, Will 1
HBP: Brennan, Will 1
Batting:
2B: Todd, Austin 1 ; Zubia, Zach 1
RBI: Hibbeler, Masen 1 ; Todd, Austin 1 ; Zubia, Zach 1 ; Shaw, Tate 1
SH: Kennedy, Eric 1 ; McCann, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ellis, Duke 1 ; Hibbeler, Masen 1 ; Todd, Austin 2
SB: Ellis, Duke 1
HBP: Ellis, Duke 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
cf/p
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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