Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, February 26
Manhattan, KS
3 p.m.
Kansas State University
3-2
9
vs
8
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Western Michigan
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Western Michigan
0
0
0
4
0
1
3
0
0
8
10
2
K-State
0
0
0
0
3
1
0
5
X
9
10
2
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Wildcats Rally for 9-8 Win over Western Michigan
Feb 26, 2021 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, including a game-tying three-run homer from freshman Nick Goodwin, to win its home opener Friday over Western Michigan, 9-8, at Tointon Family Stadium.
"Good team win," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "Not to be cliche, but we have a deep bench. We used a lot of people. I always tell our guys a couple of things: The message this week was that we need to own the seventh, eighth and ninth and finish off games. An indicator of a good team is a team that can play when they're down and a team that can play when they're up. We were down today and fought back. It was a mature approach to get back in that game and trust our bullpen. It was a really good team effort to be able to chip away against a really good offensive team."
In its five-run eighth, K-State (3-2) got a leadoff solo homer from Terrence Spurlin before walks by Cameron Thompson and Zach Kokoska helped set up Goodwin's first career home run. Blake Burrows scored the winning run after a throwing error by WMU (0-1) reliever Dane Armbrustmacher on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Dylan Caplinger.
"It was a changeup," Goodwin said of his game-tying homer. "Going into the AB I was just looking for a pitch that I could handle. I let a first-pitch fastball go by for a strike, so I kind of had an idea that something soft was coming. I got a pitch that I could handle and put a good swing on it."
The Wildcats twice trailed by four runs, first after a four-run fourth that was highlighted by a three-run home run by Drew Devine and again after a two-run homer from Logan Hudson in the seventh.
"Battle back twice from a four-run deficit, that's the mark of a good team," added Hughes. "You can play when you're four runs down. You can play when you're four runs up, the right way. We did it, and no one ever panicked. We got some big hits. We put some traffic on the bases and put some pressure on them and hit a mistake. It was a really good character win, too. Pretty proud of our guys. I never felt the mood of the dugout go the wrong way, which is a good sign."
Goodwin ended the night 2-for-5 with three RBI and Kokoska, who hit a three-run home run in the fifth that trimmed the deficit to a single run, went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and two walks.
Spurlin produced a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two runs. Thompson doubled and drove in a run in the sixth.
Wildcat starter Jordan Wicks posted his second straight outing with 10 strikeouts, going six innings with four earned runs on six hits in a no-decision effort. Wicks' 10 strikeouts match his career high.
"I thought he was awesome early on," Hughes said of Wicks." He made one mistake really. He was up 0-2, and they hit the big home run by Devine, who is a veteran player. Veteran players who have had success are going to hit mistakes. I'm sure the most disappointed person in our program for making that mistake is Jordan himself. Ten strikeouts and one walk, we need to give him a little better run support there so that every pitch doesn't have to have such a fine line to it and margin for error."
Jaxon Passino picked up the win after not allowing a hit to go with a strikeout and a walk in one inning of relief. Tyler Eckberg was credited with his second save of the year and 10th of his career after tossing a scoreless ninth.
WMU's Easton Sikorski struck out six over his five innings, allowing three earned on six hits. Armbrustmacher took the loss after surrendering two runs (one earned) in two-third of an inning.
Connor Charping and Sean O'Keefe each turned in three hits for Western Michigan while Devine drove in three.
K-State continues the three-game series with Western Michigan Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ 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
"Good team win," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "Not to be cliche, but we have a deep bench. We used a lot of people. I always tell our guys a couple of things: The message this week was that we need to own the seventh, eighth and ninth and finish off games. An indicator of a good team is a team that can play when they're down and a team that can play when they're up. We were down today and fought back. It was a mature approach to get back in that game and trust our bullpen. It was a really good team effort to be able to chip away against a really good offensive team."
In its five-run eighth, K-State (3-2) got a leadoff solo homer from Terrence Spurlin before walks by Cameron Thompson and Zach Kokoska helped set up Goodwin's first career home run. Blake Burrows scored the winning run after a throwing error by WMU (0-1) reliever Dane Armbrustmacher on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Dylan Caplinger.
"It was a changeup," Goodwin said of his game-tying homer. "Going into the AB I was just looking for a pitch that I could handle. I let a first-pitch fastball go by for a strike, so I kind of had an idea that something soft was coming. I got a pitch that I could handle and put a good swing on it."
The Wildcats twice trailed by four runs, first after a four-run fourth that was highlighted by a three-run home run by Drew Devine and again after a two-run homer from Logan Hudson in the seventh.
"Battle back twice from a four-run deficit, that's the mark of a good team," added Hughes. "You can play when you're four runs down. You can play when you're four runs up, the right way. We did it, and no one ever panicked. We got some big hits. We put some traffic on the bases and put some pressure on them and hit a mistake. It was a really good character win, too. Pretty proud of our guys. I never felt the mood of the dugout go the wrong way, which is a good sign."
Goodwin ended the night 2-for-5 with three RBI and Kokoska, who hit a three-run home run in the fifth that trimmed the deficit to a single run, went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and two walks.
Spurlin produced a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two runs. Thompson doubled and drove in a run in the sixth.
Wildcat starter Jordan Wicks posted his second straight outing with 10 strikeouts, going six innings with four earned runs on six hits in a no-decision effort. Wicks' 10 strikeouts match his career high.
"I thought he was awesome early on," Hughes said of Wicks." He made one mistake really. He was up 0-2, and they hit the big home run by Devine, who is a veteran player. Veteran players who have had success are going to hit mistakes. I'm sure the most disappointed person in our program for making that mistake is Jordan himself. Ten strikeouts and one walk, we need to give him a little better run support there so that every pitch doesn't have to have such a fine line to it and margin for error."
Jaxon Passino picked up the win after not allowing a hit to go with a strikeout and a walk in one inning of relief. Tyler Eckberg was credited with his second save of the year and 10th of his career after tossing a scoreless ninth.
WMU's Easton Sikorski struck out six over his five innings, allowing three earned on six hits. Armbrustmacher took the loss after surrendering two runs (one earned) in two-third of an inning.
Connor Charping and Sean O'Keefe each turned in three hits for Western Michigan while Devine drove in three.
K-State continues the three-game series with Western Michigan Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ 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 nine runs on 10 hits with two errors and 10 left on base.
- Western Michigan scored eight runs on 10 hits with two errors and five left on base.
- Wicks allowed his first runs since March 8, 2020 against Stanford.
- Wicks' 10 strikeouts tied his career high.
- Kokoska's homer in the fifth was K-State's first home run of the 2021 season.
- Kokoska now has 10 home runs in his K-State career.
- Spurlin's eighth-inning homer was the 10th long ball of his Wildcat career.
- Goodwin's homer was the first of his K-State career.
- Goodwin, Kokoska, Spurlin and Thompson combined for four extra-base hits.
- Goodwin and Kokoska had three RBI each. Thompson and Spurlin also had RBI for K-State.
- Western Michigan totaled six extra-base hits.
- Passino picked up the fourth win of his K-State career.
- Eckberg earned the 10th save of his career and second of the year.
- K-State's 10 left on base was the second most in a game this season.
- K-State went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Western Michigan was 4-for-12.
- K-State now holds a 3-0 series lead over Western Michigan.
- Goodwin has hits in four of his first five games for K-State.
- Thompson made his 189th consecutive start for the Wildcats (T-9th all-time).
- Thompson (217) is now just one hit away from ranking in the top-10 in hits in K-State history.
Cats Win!#KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/FVXPkylHfJ
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 27, 2021
Coach Hughes 🤜 🤛 Nick Goodwin
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 27, 2021
Good day at the yard for the freshman
📊 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB#KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/rNjV04BA1a
🗣 We do. #KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/xKdDghiWjP
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 27, 2021
That's what speed do.
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 27, 2021
Burrows cruises around the diamond on the Caplinger bunt and the Wildcats now lead 9-8 as we head to the 9th. #KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/tU3NjLjx7l
Goodbye baseball! Nick Goodwin hammers his first career homer to tie it up at 8#KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/JdVpNoxtoT
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 27, 2021
T6!!
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 26, 2021
Spurlin's solo bomb makes it a two-run game in the 8th #KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/yIOh4drjqo
Another 10 strikeout performance from Jordan Wicks #KStateBSB x @wicks_jordan pic.twitter.com/utjawZda4E
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 26, 2021
A two-out double from Cam cuts the WMU lead to just one!
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 26, 2021
End 6 | Broncos 5, #KStateBSB 4 pic.twitter.com/Q9NZQ4H0e4
Outta here in a HURRY
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 26, 2021
Koko gets three runs back with a laser to right! #KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/ZE0U9JVjVL
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Passino, Jaxon (1-0)
L: ARMBRUSTMACHER, DANE (0-1)
S: Eckberg, Tyler (2)
.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Batting:
2B: O'KEEFE, SEAN 2 ; MORRISON, WILL 1
3B: CHARPING, CONNOR 1
HR: HUDSON, LOGAN 1 ; DEVINE, DREW 1
RBI: HUDSON, LOGAN 2 ; O'KEEFE, SEAN 1 ; DEVINE, DREW 3 ; HAJDUKOVIC, ETHAN 1
SF: HAJDUKOVIC, ETHAN 1
Base Running:
RUNS: CHARPING, CONNOR 1 ; MCINTYRE, JUSTIN 1 ; HUDSON, LOGAN 2 ; O'KEEFE, SEAN 2 ; DEVINE, DREW 1 ; MORRISON, WILL 1
Batting:
2B: Thompson, Cameron 1
HR: Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Spurlin, Terrence 1
RBI: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 3 ; Goodwin, Nick 3 ; Spurlin, Terrence 1
SH: Caplinger, Dylan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 2 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Burrows, Blake 1 ; Carinci, Daniel 1 ; Spurlin, Terrence 2 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1
SB: Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1
HBP: Kokoska, Zach 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
LHP
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