Kansas State University Athletics
Sunday, April 18
Manhattan, KS
1 p.m.
Kansas State University
21-15, 4-8
8
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Oklahoma
19-17, 4-8
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8
9
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Oklahoma
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0
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10
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K-State
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4
2
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X
8
14
0
Eckberg, Phillips Propel Cats to Series Win Over Sooners
Apr 18, 2021 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State scored six unanswered runs, including a go-ahead two-run home run by Dylan Phillips in the fifth, and Tyler Eckberg tossed four scoreless innings in relief as the Wildcats took the rubber game from Oklahoma Sunday, 8-3, at Tointon Family Stadium.
After the Wildcats (21-15, 4-8 Big 12) fell behind 3-2 in the top of the fifth, Nick Goodwin led off the home half with a double to right-center field. Phillips followed with his 10th bomb of the year to put K-State in front by a run.
Blake Burrows added a two-out RBI single, as the Cats plated four in the fifth before tacking on a pair in the sixth. It marked K-State's first series victory over Oklahoma (19-17, 4-8 Big 12) since the 2013 season.
"Good series win," said head coach Pete Hughes. "We've got to win series from here on out. Really good team effort. We had some kids fill in. Connor McCullough wasn't at his best and he gutted out four innings. Tyler Eckberg was the story of the day for me. He settled everything down."
Eckberg entered the game for McCullough with runners on first and second in the top of the fifth. The Sooners scratched across two runs in the inning in taking their second lead of the afternoon.
After the fifth, Eckberg allowed just one hit and retired the final nine batters he faced, including three strikeouts. The redshirt junior earned his second win of the series, totaling six innings of scoreless in relief with four strikeouts and two hits allowed.
"I was imagining multiple innings from the beginning," Eckberg said of his outing. "Obviously, when you go out there, you're just trying to get as many innings as you can, 27 outs to win a game. We kept getting guys out quickly, so just keep rolling with it."
Kasey Ford finished the game with a perfect ninth inning, striking out two. Eckberg and Ford, who each appeared twice in the series, combined to limit Oklahoma to one hit from the sixth inning on.
"It was good to have those guys," Hughes said of his bullpen." I think our bullpen depth won that series for us and the quality of our bullpen depth. It's good that Tyler and Kasey (Ford) can bounce back. They're conditioned to bounce back on back-to-back days."
Over the three-game set, the K-State bullpen allowed one earned run over 13 2/3 innings (0.66 ERA) with 13 strikeouts.
McCullough worked through traffic over the game's first four innings. The redshirt freshman righty walked three and allowed eight hits, as OU scored three runs against him.
Four straight Sooners reached base to begin the game off McCullough. Jimmy Crooks' RBI single followed Peyton Graham's leadoff double to hand Oklahoma an early one-run lead. With one out and the bases loaded, McCullough induced a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play to escape further damage.
"That was the key to the game," added Hughes. "You never know when the key to the game is going to pop up. Everyone always wants to talk about the last couple of innings and keys to the game, but that first inning. That ground ball double play and damage control. We came out of that inning with one run."
McCullough stranded six base runners over the first three innings and limited Oklahoma to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Phillips led off the second inning with a double and came home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Chris Ceballos to match the Sooners' first run.
Zach Kokoska handed the Cats a 2-1 lead with his RBI single in the third, bringing in Cameron Thompson who earlier singled. Kokoska extended both his career-long on-base streak (32 games) and hitting streak (14 games).
Five different Wildcats produced multi-hit games, led by Caleb Littlejim's 3-for-3 day. Littlejim walked, drove in a run and scored a run. Daniel Carinci, Goodwin, Kokoska and Phillips each tallied two base hits Sunday.
Phillips finished 2-for-3 with a double, home run, two RBI, two walks and two runs scored.
Oklahoma utilized eight different pitchers, as Luke Taggart suffered the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits over two innings of relief.
Graham, Tyler Hardman and Connor McKenna each had two hits to pace the OU offense. The Sooners finished 2-for-13 (.154) with runners in scoring position.
K-State hit .417 (5-for-12) with two outs and .400 (8-for-20) with runners on base. The bottom third of the Wildcat order combined to go 6-for-10 with two RBI and two runs scored.
The Cats continue their homestand Friday, as they host West Virginia in a three-game set. The series will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage will be available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live, free audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
After the Wildcats (21-15, 4-8 Big 12) fell behind 3-2 in the top of the fifth, Nick Goodwin led off the home half with a double to right-center field. Phillips followed with his 10th bomb of the year to put K-State in front by a run.
Blake Burrows added a two-out RBI single, as the Cats plated four in the fifth before tacking on a pair in the sixth. It marked K-State's first series victory over Oklahoma (19-17, 4-8 Big 12) since the 2013 season.
"Good series win," said head coach Pete Hughes. "We've got to win series from here on out. Really good team effort. We had some kids fill in. Connor McCullough wasn't at his best and he gutted out four innings. Tyler Eckberg was the story of the day for me. He settled everything down."
Eckberg entered the game for McCullough with runners on first and second in the top of the fifth. The Sooners scratched across two runs in the inning in taking their second lead of the afternoon.
After the fifth, Eckberg allowed just one hit and retired the final nine batters he faced, including three strikeouts. The redshirt junior earned his second win of the series, totaling six innings of scoreless in relief with four strikeouts and two hits allowed.
"I was imagining multiple innings from the beginning," Eckberg said of his outing. "Obviously, when you go out there, you're just trying to get as many innings as you can, 27 outs to win a game. We kept getting guys out quickly, so just keep rolling with it."
Kasey Ford finished the game with a perfect ninth inning, striking out two. Eckberg and Ford, who each appeared twice in the series, combined to limit Oklahoma to one hit from the sixth inning on.
"It was good to have those guys," Hughes said of his bullpen." I think our bullpen depth won that series for us and the quality of our bullpen depth. It's good that Tyler and Kasey (Ford) can bounce back. They're conditioned to bounce back on back-to-back days."
Over the three-game set, the K-State bullpen allowed one earned run over 13 2/3 innings (0.66 ERA) with 13 strikeouts.
McCullough worked through traffic over the game's first four innings. The redshirt freshman righty walked three and allowed eight hits, as OU scored three runs against him.
Four straight Sooners reached base to begin the game off McCullough. Jimmy Crooks' RBI single followed Peyton Graham's leadoff double to hand Oklahoma an early one-run lead. With one out and the bases loaded, McCullough induced a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play to escape further damage.
"That was the key to the game," added Hughes. "You never know when the key to the game is going to pop up. Everyone always wants to talk about the last couple of innings and keys to the game, but that first inning. That ground ball double play and damage control. We came out of that inning with one run."
McCullough stranded six base runners over the first three innings and limited Oklahoma to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Phillips led off the second inning with a double and came home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Chris Ceballos to match the Sooners' first run.
Zach Kokoska handed the Cats a 2-1 lead with his RBI single in the third, bringing in Cameron Thompson who earlier singled. Kokoska extended both his career-long on-base streak (32 games) and hitting streak (14 games).
Five different Wildcats produced multi-hit games, led by Caleb Littlejim's 3-for-3 day. Littlejim walked, drove in a run and scored a run. Daniel Carinci, Goodwin, Kokoska and Phillips each tallied two base hits Sunday.
Phillips finished 2-for-3 with a double, home run, two RBI, two walks and two runs scored.
Oklahoma utilized eight different pitchers, as Luke Taggart suffered the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits over two innings of relief.
Graham, Tyler Hardman and Connor McKenna each had two hits to pace the OU offense. The Sooners finished 2-for-13 (.154) with runners in scoring position.
K-State hit .417 (5-for-12) with two outs and .400 (8-for-20) with runners on base. The bottom third of the Wildcat order combined to go 6-for-10 with two RBI and two runs scored.
The Cats continue their homestand Friday, as they host West Virginia in a three-game set. The series will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage will be available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live, free audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored eight runs on 14 hits with no errors and 11 left on base.
- Oklahoma scored three runs on 10 hits with two errors and nine left on base.
- Carinci, Goodwin, Kokoska, Littlejim and Phillips all had multi-hit games.
- Littlejim had a team-high three hits in the win.
- Phillips hit his 10th homer of the year and drove in two runs.
- Burrows, Ceballos, Kokoska and Littlejim all drove in runs for the Cats.
- K-State had three extra-base hits.
- McCullough allowed three runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts in four innings of work.
- Eckberg (3-3) earned the win in relief, allowing no runs on two hits with one walk and three strikeouts in four innings of work.
- Eckberg earned both wins in the series after allowing two hits over six total innings (no runs).
- Ford worked a perfect ninth final inning, striking out two.
- In the series, the K-State bullpen allowed one earned run over 13 2/3 innings (0.66 ERA).
- The bottom third of the Wildcat order combined to go 6-for-10 with two RBI and two runs scored.
- The Cats were 5-for-12 with two outs, 8-for-20 with runners on and 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
- Kokoska has a career-best on-base streak of 32 games.
- Kokoska has a career-high 14-game hitting streak.
- Thompson made his 220th consecutive start and is second in career starts in K-State history.
- K-State has 51 homers on the year, which is good for second in the Big 12.
- Phillips joins Kokoska with double-digit homers for the Cats.
- Phillips has a team-best 39 RBI on the year.
- K-State is 82-202-1 (22-50 Big 12) against Oklahoma.
- K-State is 52-88 at home against OU.
- It was K-State's first series win over Oklahoma since 2013.
Cats Win 😼#KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/PesZRxxeNY
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 18, 2021
'Cats, Man. #KStateMBB x EMAW pic.twitter.com/ZDkolFs2fM
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 18, 2021
Big country gets it done. #KStateBSB x @kc_ford12 pic.twitter.com/Cio5SsUqTz
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 18, 2021
🥶 @blake_burrows 🥶
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 18, 2021
'Cats hang two more on the Sooners#KStateBSB 6 - Oklahoma 3 | Top 6 pic.twitter.com/pXijsPOIUo
Dude just rakes #KStateBSB x @DylanP_16 pic.twitter.com/i7sCMARLWw
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) April 18, 2021
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Eckberg, Tyler (3-3)
L: Taggart, Luke (1-4)
Batting:
2B: Graham, Peyton 2 ; Squires, Brett 1 ; McKenna, Conor 1
RBI: Crooks, Jimmy 1 ; Tredaway, Tanner 1 ; Bohrofen, Jace 1
SH: Tredaway, Tanner 1
SF: Bohrofen, Jace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Graham, Peyton 1 ; Hardman, Tyler 1 ; Squires, Brett 1
SB: Tredaway, Tanner 1
Batting:
2B: Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1
HR: Phillips, Dylan 1
RBI: Phillips, Dylan 2 ; Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1 ; Burrows, Blake 1
SH: Burrows, Blake 1
SF: Ceballos, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 2 ; Phillips, Dylan 2 ; Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Carinci, Daniel 1 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1
SB: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1
CS: Phillips, Dylan 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
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5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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INF
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