Kansas State University Athletics
Sunday, February 21
Surprise, AZ
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
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New Mexico
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K-State
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New Mexico
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New Mexico Walks Off Wildcats, 4-3
Feb 21, 2021 | Baseball
SURPRISE, Ariz. – K-State held a 3-1 lead after seven innings, only to see New Mexico rally to score three runs over the final two innings to cap a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Wildcats Sunday at the Sanderson Ford College Classic at Surprise Stadium.
K-State starting pitcher Connor McCullough powered through seven innings, matching his career high with nine strikeouts while allowing one run on four hits. The right-hander retired the first six New Mexico hitters he saw on his way to his fourth quality outing in five career starts.
"It's unfortunate when a quality start gets wasted at this level, "said head coach Pete Hughes. "Connor McCullough was dominant and deserved a better result. We need to play our best baseball from the seventh inning on if we want to play at a championship level. We have to own those innings. We did not do that tonight, but we will keep working until we do."
McCullough left the game with a 3-1 lead, as a solo homer by Jared Martin in the fourth was the only blemish on his ledger. He gave way to the bullpen, who surrendered three runs (two earned) in the final 1 1/3 innings.
Griffin Hassall hit the only batter he faced, who would later come around to score, to start the eighth. Closer Tyler Eckberg entered the game for Hassall and allowed singles to Kyler Castillo and Martin before Willie Cano's RBI fielder's choice tied the game.
Eckberg took the mound again in the ninth and issued a leadoff walk to C
ole Posey. Posey moved to second on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Connor Mang and later scored the game-winning run on an infield single by Mack Chambers.
In the top half of the ninth, freshman Nick Goodwin worked a leadoff walk ahead of a Dylan Phillips single to give the Cats two baserunners with no outs. Daniel Carinci executed a sacrifice bunt to move the duo into scoring position. UNM reliever Bobby Meza induced a pop up before an inning-ending strikeout, stranding the runners on the base paths.
K-State scored all three runs of its runs off Lobos starter Tristin Lively, as Dylan Caplinger blistered an RBI single in the third to score Terrence Spurlin.
The Cats took advantage of two New Mexico errors in the fourth. Kamron Willman reached on an error and later scored on an error committed on a single from Goodwin. Phillips drove in Goodwin with a groundout to cap the K-State scoring.
Carinci produced the Wildcats' only extra-base hit, a double to begin the seventh inning.
Lively ended the night with seven strikeouts in six innings in a no-decision. Reliever Terrell Hudson gave up one hit with three strikeouts over two innings.
Eckberg suffered the loss while Meza picked up the victory.
Four Lobo pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts.
K-State was hitless (0 for 9) with two outs and 2 for 9 (.222) with runners in scoring position.
UNM went 0 for 7 with two outs and 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
The Wildcats conclude their weekend at the Sanderson Ford College Classic Monday against Gonzaga at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be streamed on FloBaseball (paid) with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Fans can also catch live, free audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
K-State starting pitcher Connor McCullough powered through seven innings, matching his career high with nine strikeouts while allowing one run on four hits. The right-hander retired the first six New Mexico hitters he saw on his way to his fourth quality outing in five career starts.
"It's unfortunate when a quality start gets wasted at this level, "said head coach Pete Hughes. "Connor McCullough was dominant and deserved a better result. We need to play our best baseball from the seventh inning on if we want to play at a championship level. We have to own those innings. We did not do that tonight, but we will keep working until we do."
McCullough left the game with a 3-1 lead, as a solo homer by Jared Martin in the fourth was the only blemish on his ledger. He gave way to the bullpen, who surrendered three runs (two earned) in the final 1 1/3 innings.
Griffin Hassall hit the only batter he faced, who would later come around to score, to start the eighth. Closer Tyler Eckberg entered the game for Hassall and allowed singles to Kyler Castillo and Martin before Willie Cano's RBI fielder's choice tied the game.
Eckberg took the mound again in the ninth and issued a leadoff walk to C
ole Posey. Posey moved to second on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Connor Mang and later scored the game-winning run on an infield single by Mack Chambers.
In the top half of the ninth, freshman Nick Goodwin worked a leadoff walk ahead of a Dylan Phillips single to give the Cats two baserunners with no outs. Daniel Carinci executed a sacrifice bunt to move the duo into scoring position. UNM reliever Bobby Meza induced a pop up before an inning-ending strikeout, stranding the runners on the base paths.
K-State scored all three runs of its runs off Lobos starter Tristin Lively, as Dylan Caplinger blistered an RBI single in the third to score Terrence Spurlin.
The Cats took advantage of two New Mexico errors in the fourth. Kamron Willman reached on an error and later scored on an error committed on a single from Goodwin. Phillips drove in Goodwin with a groundout to cap the K-State scoring.
Carinci produced the Wildcats' only extra-base hit, a double to begin the seventh inning.
Lively ended the night with seven strikeouts in six innings in a no-decision. Reliever Terrell Hudson gave up one hit with three strikeouts over two innings.
Eckberg suffered the loss while Meza picked up the victory.
Four Lobo pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts.
K-State was hitless (0 for 9) with two outs and 2 for 9 (.222) with runners in scoring position.
UNM went 0 for 7 with two outs and 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
The Wildcats conclude their weekend at the Sanderson Ford College Classic Monday against Gonzaga at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be streamed on FloBaseball (paid) with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Fans can also catch live, free audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored three runs on five hits and committed one error and left five on base.
- New Mexico scored four runs on seven hits with three errors and stranded seven baserunners.
- McCullough equaled his career high with nine strikeouts over seven innings.
- McCullough allowed one earned run on four hits for his fourth career quality start (5 starts).
- Caplinger and Phillips each recorded an RBI.
- Both teams were hitless with two outs, combining to go 0 for 16.
- Carinci recorded the only extra-base hit of the game for the Cats, a double in the seventh.
- K-State went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position while UNM was 1 for 10.
- Four Lobo pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts.
- The all-time series is now tied 8-8-1, dating back to 1971.
- The Wildcats had won the last two meetings in the series.
- Cameron Thompson made his 187th consecutive start for the Wildcats.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MEZA, Bobby (1-0)
L: Eckberg, Tyler (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Carinci, Daniel 1
RBI: Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Caplinger, Dylan 1
SH: Carinci, Daniel 1 ; Spurlin, Terrence 1 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Willman, Kamron 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Spurlin, Terrence 1
SB: Willman, Kamron 1
CS: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Caplinger, Dylan 1
Batting:
HR: MARTIN, Jared 1
RBI: MARTIN, Jared 2 ; CANO, Willie 1
SH: MANG, Connor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CHAMBERS, Mack 1 ; CASTILLO, Kyler 1 ; MARTIN, Jared 1 ; POSEY, Cole 1
SB: CHAMBERS, Mack 1
HBP: CHAMBERS, Mack 1 ; POSEY, Cole 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
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H
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RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
lf/1b
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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