Kansas State University Athletics

Sunday, March 21
Manhattan, KS
1 p.m.

Kansas State University

13-6

17
vs
8

New Mexico

6-10

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
New Mexico
2
3
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
8
14
0
K-State
5
3
4
0
1
2
0
2
X
17
18
1
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3
K-State Baseball vs. New Mexico - Game 3

K-State Launches Five Homers to Clinch Series

Mar 21, 2021 | Baseball

Box ScoreBox Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes (PDF)HighlightsAudio: Dylan Phillips Press ConferenceAudio: Zach Kokoska Press ConferenceAudio: Pete Hughes Press ConferencePhoto Gallery
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The K-State offense launched five home runs, including two from Cameron Thompson and a grand slam by Zach Kokoska, as the Wildcats won the series rubber game with New Mexico and handed head coach Pete Hughes his 700th career victory, 17-8, Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.

Thompson registered a game-high four hits in posting his first career multi-homer game. Kokoska lifted his team-leading eighth home run, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI, and Dylan Phillips drove in a career-high five runs and connected on his fifth home run of the year.

"Difficult game to coach in, probably fun to play in," said Hughes, in his third year at K-State. "The conditions where it was classic early spring Kansas wind. You coach it like it's a one-run game, even with the seven-run lead in the fifth and sixth inning. It felt like it was a one-run game. Hats off to our pitchers for grinding it out and understanding the big picture. Got some great performances, I know offensively we did.

"I was happy because of the weekend overall. We got (Cameron) Thompson back and feeling good about himself. Great day for Cam today. We need him. (Chris) Ceballos is a different hitter than he was a week ago. I can tell with his body language at the plate and how he's taking pitches. It was a day we needed."

K-State (13-6) tallied season highs in runs and base hits (18) in winning the series, with nine going for extra bases. Seven different Wildcats turned in multi-hit efforts and five carded multiple RBI. The Cats scored multiple runs in five separate frames.

Caleb Littlejim lifted his eighth career home run and first of the season in a 2-for-5 day. Kamron Willman roped a two-RBI double while Dylan Caplinger and Daniel Carinci each added a pair of hits.

The Wildcats scored 12 runs in the game's first three innings, with five coming in the bottom of the first. Lobos starting pitcher Tristin Lively faced just five batters and left the game before recording an out as he surrendered five runs on three hits.

New Mexico (6-10) jumped on K-State starter Connor McCullough, plating two in the top of the first and three more in the second to even the score, 5-5, after an inning and a half. McCullough's day ended after three frames, with a career-high six earned runs given up on 10 hits.

Eric Torres entered the game in the fourth inning and kept the Lobos offense off the scoreboard in the fourth and fifth innings. Torres logged 2 1/3 innings with two unearned runs against him on four hits and earned the victory.

"The most underrated performance was Eric Torres coming in and settling things down and stopping the momentum from across the field," Hughes added. "Good team win. You gotta learn how to win that rubber match if you want to do a good job in the Big 12."

Thompson and Phillips each homered as part of a three-run second, pushing the Cats in front 8-5 after two innings.

Phillips' homer traveled 458 feet to straightaway center field and was the sophomore's 20th career long ball. The Omaha, Nebraska, native extended his on-base streak to 30 games, going back to last season, while his hitting streak sits at 10 games.

UNM added a run in the top of the third, cutting K-State's lead to two, before Kokoska connected on a two-strike, two-out grand slam.

"It felt amazing," Kokoska said of his third-inning slam. "I think it was actually the first one in my entire baseball career. It's an unreal feeling and even more awesome to hit that to help my team out and kind of give us that jump in runs to make the pitchers a little more comfortable and have everyone feel good at the plate so they can go up and do the same."

Kokoska's homer ended Isiah Campa's outing. Campa suffered the loss after allowing seven runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Tyler Eckberg sat down all eighth UNM hitters he saw, striking out two. Littlejim moved from center field to the mound and tossed a scoreless ninth.

Mack Chambers went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored to pace the Lobos. Kyle Landers and Cole Posey each recorded two hits for New Mexico.

UNM went hitless (0-for-8) with two outs.

The Wildcats turned in seven two-out RBI, as they hit .417 (5-for-12) with two outs. K-State got its leadoff man on in six of eight innings and went 6-for-15 (.400) with runners in scoring position.

The Cats have hit 30 home runs this season, all coming in the last 15 contests. Four different Wildcats have turned in a multi-homer game and, as a team, K-State has nine multi-home run efforts.

K-State travels south to face in-state rival Wichita State Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Eck Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app Radio coverage will also be available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live, free audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • K-State scored 17 runs on 18 hits with one error and seven left on base.
  • New Mexico scored eight runs on 14 hits with no errors and eight left on base.
  • K-State had five homers and nine extra-base hits.
  • Thompson (4 hits) and Kokoska (3 hits) led the way offensively.
  • Caplinger, Carinci, Littlejim, Phillips and Willman all had two hits on the day.
  • Thompson hit a pair of homers and now has five long balls on the year.
  • Phillips hit his fifth homer of the year and 20th of his career.
  • Kokoska hit his team-best eighth homer of the year.
  • Littlejim hit his first homer of the season.
  • K-State went 5-for-12 with two outs, 9-for-22 with runners on and 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
  • The Wildcats registered seven two-out RBI.
  • Torres earned the win in relief, allowing two runs (none earned) on four hits with a strikeout in 2 1/3 innings of work.
  • Eckberg worked the final 2 2/3 innings, retiring all eight he faced with a pair of strikeouts. 
  • UNM went hitless (0-for-8) with two outs.
NOTES
  • Coach Hughes picked up his 700th career victory (700-538-3).
  • K-State leads the all-time series with New Mexico 10-9-1.
  • The teams split their four matchups this season.
  • K-State set a season-high in runs and hits. 
  • Phillips is on a career-high 30-game on-base streak dating back to last season.
  • Phillips extended his hitting streak to 10 games with hits in 28 of his last 30 games.
  • Thompson made his 203rd consecutive start for K-State, good for sixth place in school history.
  • Thompson had his first-career multi-homer game.
  • Thompson is now tied for 10th in program history with 44 career doubles.
  • Four K-State players have had multi-homer games this season.
  • Kokoska has reached safely in each of his last 15 games.
  • Phillips finished with a career-high five RBI.
  • K-State has 30 homers on the year, all coming in the last 15 games.
  • Kokoska hit his first career grand slam.

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Next Event

Wichita State
L, 1-5

Mar 23 (Tue)

6 p.m.
Box ScoreRecapBox Score (PDF)WatchListenPreviewLive stats History
Full Schedule

Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Torres, Eric (2-0)

L: CAMPA, Isiah (1-2)

New Mexico

Batting:

2B: SCHNEIDER, Adam 1 ; CASTILLO, Kyler 2 ; POSEY, Cole 1

HR: CHAMBERS, Mack 1

RBI: CHAMBERS, Mack 2 ; CASTILLO, Kyler 1 ; SILVERMAN, Jack 1 ; CANO, Willie 1 ; RUSSELL, Lance 1

SF: CASTILLO, Kyler 1

Base Running:

RUNS: SCHNEIDER, Adam 2 ; KENNARD, Tresten 1 ; CHAMBERS, Mack 3 ; CASTILLO, Kyler 1 ; POSEY, Cole 1

SB: LANDERS, Kyle 1

K-State LogoK-State

Batting:

2B: Willman, Kamron 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 1

HR: Thompson, Cameron 2 ; Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1

RBI: Willman, Kamron 2 ; Thompson, Cameron 2 ; Phillips, Dylan 5 ; Kokoska, Zach 4 ; Carinci, Daniel 1 ; Littlejim, Caleb 2 ; Caplinger, Dylan 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Willman, Kamron 1 ; Thompson, Cameron 4 ; Goodwin, Nick 3 ; Phillips, Dylan 3 ; Kokoska, Zach 2 ; Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Carinci, Daniel 2 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1

SB: Thompson, Cameron 1

CS: Littlejim, Caleb 1

HBP: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Carinci, Daniel 1

Game Leaders

3

Cameron Thompson

3b
AB
5
R
4
H
4
RBI
2
28

Zach Kokoska

rf
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
10

Kamron Willman

ss
AB
6
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
24

Dylan Phillips

lf
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
5

Players Mentioned

20

Daniel Carinci

INF
/ Baseball
12

Tyler Eckberg

RHP
/ Baseball
28

Zach Kokoska

OF
/ Baseball
13

Caleb Littlejim

RHP/OF
/ Baseball
5

Connor McCullough

RHP
/ Baseball
24

Dylan Phillips

OF/LHP
/ Baseball
3

Cameron Thompson

INF
/ Baseball
37

Eric Torres

LHP
/ Baseball
10

Kamron Willman

INF
/ Baseball

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