Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, March 5
Manhattan, KS
3 p.m.
Kansas State University
6-2
6
vs
3
Eastern Illinois
5-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Eastern Illinois
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
8
0
K-State
1
0
0
2
2
1
0
0
X
6
10
1
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
K-State Wins Fifth Straight, Takes Down EIU 6-3
Mar 05, 2021 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State claimed its fifth straight win behind six scoreless innings from starting pitcher Jordan Wicks to go with a home run and two RBI from Zach Kokoska in a 6-3 victory over Eastern Illinois in the series opener Friday at Tointon Family Stadium.
Wicks earned his second win and logged his second quality start of the season, as the lefty scattered five hits without a walk on 100 pitches. The preseason Big 12 pitcher of the year retired nine of the final 10 hitters he faced while holding EIU hitless with runners in scoring position (0-for-5).
"[He had] a pretty good mix," head coach Pete Hughes said of Wicks. "He had the fastball with the velocity early on, and both sides of the plate. The changeup was great to the right handers. A couple of lefties in that lineup struggled seeing his cutter/slider. Everything came off the fastball tonight and being able to work both sides of the plate.
"You always have a chance when you get a good start, a quality start again by Jordan (Wicks). I thought it was a solid game, honestly. When you play a game that gets rolling, it means you're playing clean baseball."
Kokoska handed Wicks a 1-0 lead after he launched a solo home run over the fence in right-center field in the bottom of the first inning. It was Kokoska's second long ball of the season and 11th of his K-State career.
"You don't really remember what you see when a moment like that happens," said Kokoska on his first-inning homer. "You just trust in your approach and trust your instincts and just let the barrel fly and good things will happen."
The Wildcats' lead swelled to six runs after the sixth inning, as Chris Ceballos produced an RBI single in the fourth and Kokoska and Dylan Phillips each roped RBI doubles in the fifth.
Phillips extended his career-best on-base streak to 19 games and now has a base hit in 18 of his last 19 games, going back to last season.
Kokoska ended the day 2-for-4 with a double, home run, two RBI and two runs scored.
Nick Goodwin doubled, stole third and scored on a balk in the fourth while Kamron Willman tripled in the sixth and scored on a second balk by Panthers starter Ky Hampton.
K-State's (6-2) offense collected six extra-base hits (four doubles, triple, home run). Kokoska, Phillips and Willman each registered two hits as seven Wildcats tallied a hit in the game.
Hampton suffered the loss for Eastern Illinois (5-5) after being tagged for six earned runs on 10 hits over his six innings.
K-State closer Tyler Eckberg was credited with his third save of the season after retiring all three he faced in the ninth, including a game-ending strikeout. Four Wildcats pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts without issuing a walk.
EIU did score three runs in the eighth, highlighted by a two-run triple by shortstop Trey Sweeney. The Panthers got two hits off Jaxon Passino and a third off Eric Torres in the inning.
"We made a couple of mistakes up in the zone, they took advantage of it and got back in the game," added Hughes. "I'm still a little bit frustrated with what we're doing offensively. I just have really high expectations for our guys offensively. Ten hits, feel good about a win, but every time we go out there we're trying to get Big 12 ready."
Both sides finished 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position while EIU was held to 1-for-9 with two outs.
Saturday's game, which has sold out, is set for a 1 p.m. start at Tointon Family Stadium. The second game of the three-set set will be broadcast on 12 Now on ESPN+ with free, live audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Wicks earned his second win and logged his second quality start of the season, as the lefty scattered five hits without a walk on 100 pitches. The preseason Big 12 pitcher of the year retired nine of the final 10 hitters he faced while holding EIU hitless with runners in scoring position (0-for-5).
"[He had] a pretty good mix," head coach Pete Hughes said of Wicks. "He had the fastball with the velocity early on, and both sides of the plate. The changeup was great to the right handers. A couple of lefties in that lineup struggled seeing his cutter/slider. Everything came off the fastball tonight and being able to work both sides of the plate.
"You always have a chance when you get a good start, a quality start again by Jordan (Wicks). I thought it was a solid game, honestly. When you play a game that gets rolling, it means you're playing clean baseball."
Kokoska handed Wicks a 1-0 lead after he launched a solo home run over the fence in right-center field in the bottom of the first inning. It was Kokoska's second long ball of the season and 11th of his K-State career.
"You don't really remember what you see when a moment like that happens," said Kokoska on his first-inning homer. "You just trust in your approach and trust your instincts and just let the barrel fly and good things will happen."
The Wildcats' lead swelled to six runs after the sixth inning, as Chris Ceballos produced an RBI single in the fourth and Kokoska and Dylan Phillips each roped RBI doubles in the fifth.
Phillips extended his career-best on-base streak to 19 games and now has a base hit in 18 of his last 19 games, going back to last season.
Kokoska ended the day 2-for-4 with a double, home run, two RBI and two runs scored.
Nick Goodwin doubled, stole third and scored on a balk in the fourth while Kamron Willman tripled in the sixth and scored on a second balk by Panthers starter Ky Hampton.
K-State's (6-2) offense collected six extra-base hits (four doubles, triple, home run). Kokoska, Phillips and Willman each registered two hits as seven Wildcats tallied a hit in the game.
Hampton suffered the loss for Eastern Illinois (5-5) after being tagged for six earned runs on 10 hits over his six innings.
K-State closer Tyler Eckberg was credited with his third save of the season after retiring all three he faced in the ninth, including a game-ending strikeout. Four Wildcats pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts without issuing a walk.
EIU did score three runs in the eighth, highlighted by a two-run triple by shortstop Trey Sweeney. The Panthers got two hits off Jaxon Passino and a third off Eric Torres in the inning.
"We made a couple of mistakes up in the zone, they took advantage of it and got back in the game," added Hughes. "I'm still a little bit frustrated with what we're doing offensively. I just have really high expectations for our guys offensively. Ten hits, feel good about a win, but every time we go out there we're trying to get Big 12 ready."
Both sides finished 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position while EIU was held to 1-for-9 with two outs.
Saturday's game, which has sold out, is set for a 1 p.m. start at Tointon Family Stadium. The second game of the three-set set will be broadcast on 12 Now on ESPN+ with free, live audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored six runs on 10 hits with one error and three left on base.
- Eastern Illinois scored three runs on eight hits with no errors and five left on base.
- K-State had six extra-base hits on the day.
- K-State's four doubles marked a season high.
- Wicks worked six shutout innings, allowing five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.
- Wicks improved to 2-0 on the year.
- Wicks now has 28 strikeouts in 19 innings of work.
- Eckberg earned his third save of the season.
- Four Wildcat pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts without issuing a walk.
- Kokoska went 2-for-4 with a homer, double and two RBI.
- It was Kokoska's second homer of the season and 11th of his career.
- Ceballos and Phillips also drove in runs for K-State.
- Willman hit his first triple of the season and first of his career.
- K-State scored a pair of runs on Eastern Illinois balks.
- K-State leads the all-time series with Eastern Illinois, 9-0.
- Thompson made his 192nd consecutive start for the Wildcats (ninth all-time).
- Phillips has hit safely in 18 of his last 19 games going back to last season.
- Phillips, Thompson and Willman have reached base in all eight games this year.
- Phillips is on a 19-game on-base streak and Thompson is on a 13-game on-base streak dating back to last season.
Cats Win#KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/0AUd2sDIZz
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) March 5, 2021
Big W's | 5️⃣ In A Row #KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/aUAjOsv8td
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) March 5, 2021
Kam Kam Kam
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) March 5, 2021
KStateBSB 6 - Eastern Illinois 0 pic.twitter.com/7j4JXQJApg
Hustle doubles #KStateBSB 5 - Eastern Illinois 0 | End 5 pic.twitter.com/GN038ijG2G
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) March 5, 2021
Carinci doubles and @ChrisCeballos20 follows suit to put the 'Cats up 3-0 after 4. #KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/HTrwkomEyJ
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) March 5, 2021
7 strikeouts and counting for Wicks #KStateBSB x @wicks_jordan pic.twitter.com/eD3mjszYny
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) March 5, 2021
💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪#KStateBSB x @ZachKokoska pic.twitter.com/6DeHMiXwQV
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) March 5, 2021
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wicks, Jordan (2-0)
L: HAMPTON (2-1)
S: Eckberg, Tyler (3)
Batting:
2B: EICKHOFF 1
3B: SWEENEY 1
RBI: SWEENEY 2 ; PENA 1
SF: PENA 1
Base Running:
RUNS: EICKHOFF 1 ; SWEENEY 1 ; TOPPEL 1
CS: EICKHOFF 1
Batting:
2B: Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Carinci, Daniel 1
3B: Willman, Kamron 1
HR: Kokoska, Zach 1
RBI: Kokoska, Zach 2 ; Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 2 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Carinci, Daniel 1 ; Willman, Kamron 1
SB: Goodwin, Nick 1
CS: Carinci, Daniel 1
PO: Phillips, Dylan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ BaseballOF/LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballINF
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