K-State Completes Sweep of UNC, 10-3

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kamron Willman homered as part of a three-hit day and Cameron Thompson drove in three runs in K-State's 10-3 victory over Northern Colorado Wednesday night at Tointon Family Stadium.

K-State (19-14) put up four runs in both the second and fourth innings on its way to completing a two-game midweek sweep of Northern Colorado (7-22).

Nick Goodwin tallied two RBI in going 2-for-3 with two steals. Willman registered his second home run of the season and tied his career high with three hits, including a double to lead off the sixth. The Wildcats have now homered in 11 straight games.

"Overall, a good, strong performance," said head coach Pete Hughes. "I thought we started off strong. You've got to finish games. Even though they get a little out of hand, you've got to finish them. I want to play clean baseball, then you look at the final line and you've got four errors, that's disappointing. We're better than that.

"Good pitching performance. Nice night by Kam Willman. I thought our plate discipline once again was outstanding tonight. Ten walks, those are some of the things we need to do to build a good offense here as we get deep into our second half of our season."

K-State's 10 walks were a season high, as the Cats worked 17 walks over the two-game series. Nine different Wildcats drew a walk Wednesday.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the second, Thompson laced a triple to the wall in left field to clear the bases. After Goodwin singled him home, the Cats put up a four-spot and led 5-1.

K-State's four-run fourth was highlighted by Willman's two-run home run. The Cats also got an RBI single from Dylan Phillips and a Chris Ceballos RBI double to extend their lead to 9-1.

Zach Kokoska tacked on the final run with an RBI single up the middle in the fifth. Kokoska ended the day 1-for-3 with a walk in pushing his on-base streak to 29 games.

Freshman Brett Wozniak made his first collegiate start, going three-plus innings and striking out three. Wozniak scattered four hits in allowing one earned run with a pair of walks.

Four Wildcat relievers combined to not allow an earned run over the final six frames, including three scoreless innings from Jaxon Passino. Passino struck out five with five hits and a walk against him in earning the win.

"Jaxon Passino, not afraid of the zone," added Hughes. "He's going to get his strikeouts and give up his hits. I thought he did a good job of holding those guys at bay to help us build a lead."

Following Passino, Kasey Ford, Luke Hauswirth and Phillips all logged one inning of work. Ford retired all three he faced while Hauswirth and Phillips each struck out the side in their respective innings. Hauswirth yielded two unearned runs after a pair of Wildcat errors extended the eighth inning.

"We got Kasey (Ford) some work and he was dominant," Hughes said. "Luke Hauswirth hasn't pitched in a long time. We didn't play defense behind Luke. He should've fared much better than that, but his defense didn't help him out. I thought Dylan Phillips was really sharp tonight. He was down in the zone and had a really good fastball. That's promising going into the weekend."

The five Wildcat pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts against four walks. The 15-strikeouts performance was one shy of K-State's season high.

UNC got an RBI groundout by Ben McKay in the second inning before scoring two runs in the eighth. Shaydon Kubo led the Bears with his 2-for-3 effort.

Matt Burkart and Carson Gross each doubled for UNC.

The Wildcats continue their homestand with a three-game series against Oklahoma starting Friday at 6 p.m. The entire series will be carried on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage will be available on the News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and live, free audio at K-StateSports.com/watch.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

K-State scored 10 runs on 10 hits with four errors and 13 left on base.
Northern Colorado scored three runs on 10 hits with three errors and 13 left on base.
Willman and Goodwin had multi-hit performances for K-State.
Willman had a season-high three hits.
Willman hit his second homer of the season.
K-State had four extra-base hits on the night.
Thompson drove in a team-best three runs.
Goodwin and Willman drove in two runs each.
Phillips, Kokoska and Ceballos also drove in a run.
The Cats matched their season high with five stolen bases.
K-State finished with a season-high 10 walks.
Wozniak got the start and worked the first three innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Passino (2-0) picked up the win and worked three scoreless innings of relief, allowing five hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
Ford and Phillips also worked scoreless innings of relief for K-State.
K-State pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts.
K-State went 6-for-15 with two outs, 8-for-26 with runners on and 6-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

NOTES

Kokoska improved his career-best on-base streak to 29 games.
K-State has homered in 11 straight games.
Phillips has a team-high 36 RBI on the year.
The Cats have 49 homers on the season, good for second in the Big 12.
Thompson made his 217^th consecutive start and is second in career starts in K-State history.
K-State is 18-1 in the all-time series against Northern Colorado.
The Cats have five straight wins over the Bears.

Cats Win 😼#KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/NLQTEmx4VY
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 15, 2021

KamGONE Willman 🚀#KStateBSB 9 - N. Colorado 1 | Top 5 pic.twitter.com/JVkLeVYEVA
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 15, 2021

Littlejim flashing the leather with a diving grab in left 😱#KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/elFkVWThSP
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 15, 2021

Next Event

Team Stats

Kamron Willman

Nick Goodwin

Cameron Thompson

Dylan Phillips

Players Mentioned

Chris Ceballos

Kasey Ford

Nick Goodwin

Luke Hauswirth

Zach Kokoska

Jaxon Passino

Dylan Phillips

Cameron Thompson

Kamron Willman

Brett Wozniak

Players Mentioned

Chris Ceballos

Kasey Ford

Nick Goodwin

Luke Hauswirth

Zach Kokoska

Jaxon Passino

Dylan Phillips

Cameron Thompson

Kamron Willman

Brett Wozniak

Kansas State University Athletics