Kansas State University Athletics
Monday, February 17
Edinburg, Texas
7 p.m.
Kansas State University
2-2
9
at
2
UTRGV
2-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Kansas State
3
0
2
0
1
3
0
0
0
9
10
1
UT Rio Grande Valley
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
2
5
3
Ford, Early Offense Carry K-State to 9-2 Victory Monday
Feb 18, 2020 | Baseball
EDINBURG, Texas – K-State starter Kasey Ford struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings while Dylan Phillips had a three-hit night, helping the Wildcats earn a series split with a 9-2 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley Monday night at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
Ford, a senior, turned in his highest strikeout total since striking out 10 during the 2018 season. In earning the win, the 6-foot-6 righty did not surrender a base hit until the fourth inning, as he scattered just two hits in his outing and allowed one earned run.
"No one wants to have success in a Kansas State uniform more than that kid," head coach Pete Hughes said of Ford. "He's paid the price to have an outing like that. We needed him in game four of the series and he gave us a quality outing when it was such an offensive night with the wind blowing out, he pitched awesome. They just weren't seeing his fastball; it was too much for them.
"Good team win tonight, I thought we played good team defense over the last four days. Kasey set the tone and got us going."
K-State (2-2) handed Ford a nine-run lead and jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings. The Wildcats produced season highs in both runs and hits (10), spearheaded by Phillips' three hits and three runs batted in.
Cameron Thompson highlighted the Cats' three-run first inning with his RBI double. Zach Kokoska chipped in a run-scoring single before Phillips laced his first RBI of the night. K-State tallied four base hits and brought eight to the plate in the opening frame, chasing UTRGV (2-2) starter Landon Staats.
Staats lasted just one inning after allowing three earned on four hits and a walk in being tagged with the loss.
Terrence Spurlin pushed an 0-2 pitch down the right field line with two outs to bring in Chris Ceballos and Kokoska, extending the Wildcat lead to 5-0 after the top of the third. K-State was aided by a UTRGV error in the third.
Kokoska walked twice and scored a career-high four times.
Phillips knocked RBI singles in both the fifth and sixth innings, with his latest single capping a three-run sixth. The Cats took advantage of two Vaquero errors in the inning in opening a 9-0 lead.
Zak Herbers took over for Ford in the sixth, finishing with five strikeouts over 3 2/3. Herbers, a junior making his Wildcat debut, earned the save after allowing one earned run on three hits.
Ford and Herbers held UTRGV to 2 for 14 with runners on base and 1 for 8 with two outs. No Vaquero turned in a multi-hit game.
K-State finished 8 for 19 with runners on base.
The Cats continue their road swing through Texas with the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi. The four-team tournament begins Thursday with K-State taking on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 6:30 p.m. K-State will also meet Missouri and Utah over the four-day event.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Ford, a senior, turned in his highest strikeout total since striking out 10 during the 2018 season. In earning the win, the 6-foot-6 righty did not surrender a base hit until the fourth inning, as he scattered just two hits in his outing and allowed one earned run.
"No one wants to have success in a Kansas State uniform more than that kid," head coach Pete Hughes said of Ford. "He's paid the price to have an outing like that. We needed him in game four of the series and he gave us a quality outing when it was such an offensive night with the wind blowing out, he pitched awesome. They just weren't seeing his fastball; it was too much for them.
"Good team win tonight, I thought we played good team defense over the last four days. Kasey set the tone and got us going."
K-State (2-2) handed Ford a nine-run lead and jumped out to a 5-0 lead after three innings. The Wildcats produced season highs in both runs and hits (10), spearheaded by Phillips' three hits and three runs batted in.
Cameron Thompson highlighted the Cats' three-run first inning with his RBI double. Zach Kokoska chipped in a run-scoring single before Phillips laced his first RBI of the night. K-State tallied four base hits and brought eight to the plate in the opening frame, chasing UTRGV (2-2) starter Landon Staats.
Staats lasted just one inning after allowing three earned on four hits and a walk in being tagged with the loss.
Terrence Spurlin pushed an 0-2 pitch down the right field line with two outs to bring in Chris Ceballos and Kokoska, extending the Wildcat lead to 5-0 after the top of the third. K-State was aided by a UTRGV error in the third.
Kokoska walked twice and scored a career-high four times.
Phillips knocked RBI singles in both the fifth and sixth innings, with his latest single capping a three-run sixth. The Cats took advantage of two Vaquero errors in the inning in opening a 9-0 lead.
Zak Herbers took over for Ford in the sixth, finishing with five strikeouts over 3 2/3. Herbers, a junior making his Wildcat debut, earned the save after allowing one earned run on three hits.
Ford and Herbers held UTRGV to 2 for 14 with runners on base and 1 for 8 with two outs. No Vaquero turned in a multi-hit game.
K-State finished 8 for 19 with runners on base.
The Cats continue their road swing through Texas with the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi. The four-team tournament begins Thursday with K-State taking on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 6:30 p.m. K-State will also meet Missouri and Utah over the four-day event.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored nine runs on 10 hits with one error and left seven on base.
- UTRGV scored two runs on five hits with three errors and stranded five baserunners.
- Ford struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings, earning his first win since 2018.
- Ford's strikeout total was his highest since he struck out 10 in 2018.
- Herbers fanned five in his Wildcat debut, earning a save with 3 1/3 innings of work.
- Phillips paced the Cats with three RBI in a 3 for 4 night.
- Kokoska scored four times, a career high.
- UTRGV was held to 2 for 14 with runners on base and 1 for 8 with two outs.
- K-State leads the all-time series, 6-4.
- K-State is 3-2 on the road against UTRGV.
- The Wildcats have won the last two in the series after a three-game skid to the Vaqueros.
- Thompson made his 171st consecutive start for the Wildcats.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ford, Kasey (1-0)
L: Staats, Landon (0-1)
S: Herbers, Zak (1)
Batting:
2B: Thompson, Cameron 1
3B: Spurlin, Terrence 1
RBI: Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 3 ; Spurlin, Terrence 2
SH: Willman, Kamron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Burrows, Blake 2 ; Willman, Kamron 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 4 ; Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1
SB: Kokoska, Zach 1
Batting:
2B: Atwood, Andy 1
RBI: King, Preston 1 ; Galvan, Aaron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Atwood, Andy 1 ; Hirsh, Jacob 1
CS: Rojas Jr., Freddy 1
HBP: Diaz, Conrado 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
4
H
1
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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RHP
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OF/LHP
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
IF/OF
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