K-State Takes Series with 11-3 Win over WMU

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State starter Carson Seymour allowed one run over five innings and freshman Nick Goodwin homered for the second straight day to hand the Wildcats an 11-3 victory over Western Michigan Saturday at Tointon Family Stadium.

Western Michigan (0-2) failed to record a hit off Seymour until two outs in the fourth inning. Seymour scattered three hits and struck out three in earning his first win of the season and pushing the Wildcats' (4-3) winning streak to three games.

"Good day in a lot of ways," said head coach Pete Hughes. "First of all, we won and then we got Carson Seymour back on track. I thought Carson was really good today. I probably left him in there a little too long, but if we want to go to where we want to go, Carson is probably going to have to get extended a little bit. He did awesome though and the conditions were very offensive against a veteran offensive team.

"Carson definitely set the tone and gave some time to our offense to build some innings and to build the lead."

Six different Wildcats registered multiple hits in the game, with three producing multiple RBI. K-State turned in season highs in runs and hits (14).

Goodwin belted an RBI double on the first pitch he saw in the first inning to score Kaden Fowler. Dylan Phillips followed Goodwin with an RBI single and the Cats' offense struck with two runs in the first inning.

Goodwin homered in his next at-bat, a solo shot to start the third, for his second home run of the series. The freshman ended the day 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Terrence Spurlin and Caleb Littlejim strung together consecutive RBI singles in the fifth, pushing the K-State lead to 5-0.

A four-run seventh handed the Cats a 9-1 advantage. The inning featured a Kamron Willman RBI double and a three-run home run from Cameron Thompson. Thompson, who went 2-for-5 with three runs batted in, moved into a ninth-place tie on K-State's all-time hit list, as the senior now has 219 career base hits.

"We knew that their starter, (Brady) Miller, was going to be a strike thrower," Hughes added. "So when you know the ball is going to be around the plate you can be aggressive early in counts. Really great balance throughout our entire lineup. Good to get Willman going. Caleb Littlejim is playing very good baseball. I liked the fact that we got multiple RBIs and runs scored with two outs. It's something you preach, if you want to be a great team you've got to play great with two outs."

Littlejim, Spurlin and Willman each registered two hits in the game while Littlejim drove in a pair.

The Wildcat offense ended the day hitting .400 (6-for-15) with two outs with seven two-out RBI. The Broncos went just 1-for-10 with two outs and 1-for-14 with runners on base.

Kasey Ford lifted Seymour in the sixth inning and logged 2 1/3 innings with one hit allowed and one earned run. Nico Rodriguez recorded the final five outs without allowing a base runner while tallying a strikeout.

Miller suffered the loss for WMU after giving up three earned runs on six hits over three innings. The Bronco bullpen combined to allow eight runs on eight hits over five innings.

WMU second baseman Justin McIntyre led his team with two base hits, going 2-for-4 with the Broncos' lone extra-base hit, a double in the eighth.

The three-game series concludes Sunday, with first pitch set for 12 p.m. from Tointon Family Stadium. 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 11 runs on 14 hits with one error and nine left on base.
Western Michigan scored three runs on four hits with four errors and nine left on base.
The 11 runs and 14 hits were season highs for K-State.
K-State finished with five extra-base hits on the day.
Thompson had a team-best three RBI in the win.
Goodwin homered in the second straight game and finished with two RBI.
Littlejim had two hits and two RBI.
Phillips, Spurlin and Willman each drove in a run for the Cats.
Goodwin, Littlejim, Phillips, Spurlin, Thompson and Willman all had two hits to pace K-State offensively.
Zach Kokoska's double in the third was his first of the season and 13^th of his career.
Seymour worked the first five innings, allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts.
Seymour earned his first win of the season and the third win of his K-State career.

NOTES

K-State owns a 4-0 all-time series lead over Western Michigan.
Goodwin has hits in five of his first six games for K-State.
Goodwin has a team-high nine RBI on the season.
Thompson made his 190th consecutive start for the Wildcats (t-ninth all-time).
Thompson (219) is now tied for ninth in career hits in K-State history.
Thompson hit his 10^th career home run.
K-State now has five active players with 10 or more career homers.

Cats Win#KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/mTMbzwc3gB
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 27, 2021

Nick Goodwin "The Kid" strikes again 💣#KStateBSB up 3-0 over Western Michigan after 3 pic.twitter.com/03u7EXtPNZ
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 27, 2021

Big 🧀

📊 5 IP, 3H, 1 ER, 3K (97 pitches)#KStateBSB x @CheeseChucker35 pic.twitter.com/nr8bEg478j
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) February 27, 2021

Cameron Thompson launches one 415 feet to push the run total to nine. pic.twitter.com/VjsU0Qj6q4
— KSU Baseball Analytics (@ksu_analytics) February 27, 2021

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Team Stats

Cameron Thompson

Nick Goodwin

Dylan Phillips

Terrence Spurlin

Players Mentioned

Kasey Ford

Kaden Fowler

Nick Goodwin

Zach Kokoska

Caleb Littlejim

Dylan Phillips

Nico Rodriguez

Carson Seymour

Terrence Spurlin

Cameron Thompson

Kamron Willman

Players Mentioned

Kasey Ford

Kaden Fowler

Nick Goodwin

Zach Kokoska

Caleb Littlejim

Dylan Phillips

Nico Rodriguez

Carson Seymour

Terrence Spurlin

Cameron Thompson

Kamron Willman

Kansas State University Athletics