Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, April 9
Austin, TX
6:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
17-12, 0
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Texas
23-8, 0
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K-State
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Texas
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Eighth Inning Dooms Cats in Opener at No. 3 Texas
Apr 09, 2021 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas – K-State's Daniel Carinci delivered a go-ahead, two-run triple in the top of the eighth inning, but the third-ranked Texas Longhorns rallied to score eight in the bottom of the eighth to claim the series opener Friday night, 13-6, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Wildcats (17-12, 2-5 Big 12) clawed out of a three-run deficit, scoring four unanswered runs across the seventh and eighth innings – capped by Carinci's two-run triple in the top of the eighth to take a 6-5 lead.
Twelve Longhorns (23-9, 8-2 Big 12) came to the plate in the eighth, as Texas recorded five hits while drawing four walks in response to the Cats' late rally. Mike Antico delivered the knockout blow with a two-out, three-run double.
"Great battle by our guys to put ourselves in position to take the lead in the eighth inning on the road, but you've got to finish the job," head coach Pete Hughes said. "Give credit to Texas, they scored in six out of eight frames and when they went down, they kept punching. We have to forget about it quick and get back to work tomorrow."
Antico ended the night 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and five RBI. In total, seven of UT's 16 hits went for extra bases.
Zach Kokoska and Cameron Thompson each turned in three hits to lead K-State. Kokoska homered and drove in two in pushing his career-long on-base streak to 25 games. His home run was his team-leading 11th of the season.
Kokoska gave the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead with a two-out single up in the middle to score Thompson. Kokoska, Thompson and Dylan Phillips each singled in the top of the first off Texas starter Ty Madden.
UT plated single runs in five of the game's first six innings off K-State starter Jordan Wicks, including a solo home run by Ivan Melendez in the sixth to give Texas a 5-2 lead.
Wicks' five runs allowed matched his season high while his 10 hits given up equaled his career high. The lefty struck out six and walked one in six innings in a no-decision effort.
K-State cut its deficit to a single rune after two in the seventh. Thompson drew a bases-loaded walk to score Terrence Spurlin and then Nick Goodwin lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Caleb Littlejim. The Cats drew three walks in the frame.
Carinci's two-run, two-out triple handed K-State its first lead since the opening inning. Carinci, who recorded his first hit over his last 20 at-bats, laced a 2-1 pitch to the right field corner and brought in Kokoska and Blake Burrows, who entered for Spurlin as a pinch runner.
Douglas Hodo sparked UT's eighth-inning rally with a leadoff double off reliever Tyler Eckberg. Eckberg surrendered three hits and two walks in the eighth. Nico Rodriguez entered the game and walked two to load the bases before yielding Antico's bases-clearing double.
Eckberg suffered the loss, dropping to 2-2 on the season, after a season-high six earned runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning.
In a game that featured the Big 12's Preseason Co-Pitchers of the Year, each starter went six innings and did not factor into the decision. Madden allowed two earned runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts for the Longhorns.
Texas finished with five two-out RBI and hit .462 with two outs while the Cats had four two-out RBI, going 4-for-13 (.308) with two gone.
Four different players had multi-hit efforts for Texas.
The Cats and Longhorns continue the series Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network 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
The Wildcats (17-12, 2-5 Big 12) clawed out of a three-run deficit, scoring four unanswered runs across the seventh and eighth innings – capped by Carinci's two-run triple in the top of the eighth to take a 6-5 lead.
Twelve Longhorns (23-9, 8-2 Big 12) came to the plate in the eighth, as Texas recorded five hits while drawing four walks in response to the Cats' late rally. Mike Antico delivered the knockout blow with a two-out, three-run double.
"Great battle by our guys to put ourselves in position to take the lead in the eighth inning on the road, but you've got to finish the job," head coach Pete Hughes said. "Give credit to Texas, they scored in six out of eight frames and when they went down, they kept punching. We have to forget about it quick and get back to work tomorrow."
Antico ended the night 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and five RBI. In total, seven of UT's 16 hits went for extra bases.
Zach Kokoska and Cameron Thompson each turned in three hits to lead K-State. Kokoska homered and drove in two in pushing his career-long on-base streak to 25 games. His home run was his team-leading 11th of the season.
Kokoska gave the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead with a two-out single up in the middle to score Thompson. Kokoska, Thompson and Dylan Phillips each singled in the top of the first off Texas starter Ty Madden.
UT plated single runs in five of the game's first six innings off K-State starter Jordan Wicks, including a solo home run by Ivan Melendez in the sixth to give Texas a 5-2 lead.
Wicks' five runs allowed matched his season high while his 10 hits given up equaled his career high. The lefty struck out six and walked one in six innings in a no-decision effort.
K-State cut its deficit to a single rune after two in the seventh. Thompson drew a bases-loaded walk to score Terrence Spurlin and then Nick Goodwin lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Caleb Littlejim. The Cats drew three walks in the frame.
Carinci's two-run, two-out triple handed K-State its first lead since the opening inning. Carinci, who recorded his first hit over his last 20 at-bats, laced a 2-1 pitch to the right field corner and brought in Kokoska and Blake Burrows, who entered for Spurlin as a pinch runner.
Douglas Hodo sparked UT's eighth-inning rally with a leadoff double off reliever Tyler Eckberg. Eckberg surrendered three hits and two walks in the eighth. Nico Rodriguez entered the game and walked two to load the bases before yielding Antico's bases-clearing double.
Eckberg suffered the loss, dropping to 2-2 on the season, after a season-high six earned runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning.
In a game that featured the Big 12's Preseason Co-Pitchers of the Year, each starter went six innings and did not factor into the decision. Madden allowed two earned runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts for the Longhorns.
Texas finished with five two-out RBI and hit .462 with two outs while the Cats had four two-out RBI, going 4-for-13 (.308) with two gone.
Four different players had multi-hit efforts for Texas.
The Cats and Longhorns continue the series Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network 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 six runs on nine hits with one error and eight left on base.
- Texas scored 13 runs on 16 hits with one error and eight left on base.
- Kokoska and Thompson led the Cats with three hits apiece.
- Kokoska produced two of K-State's three extra-base hits (double, home run).
- Kokoska's sixth-inning home run was his team-best 11th of the year, as he is now tied for the Big 12 lead.
- Thompson has multiple hits in three straight games, going 11-for-13 in that span.
- Carinci's two-RBI triple was his first of the season and first hit in his last 20 at-bats.
- Wicks allowed a season-high 10 hits and matched his career high with five runs allowed.
- Texas recorded seven extra-base hits.
- Texas leads the all-time series 58-20-1 (48-20-1 Big 12).
- K-State has won four of the last seven meetings in the series.
- The Wildcats are 11-32-1 on the road against the Longhorns.
- K-State has 45 homers on the year, which is tops in the Big 12.
- Thompson made his 213th consecutive start, moving into third in K-State history.
- Thompson is now K-State's leader in career at-bats with 857.
- Kokoska continued his career-best on-base streak, which now sits at 25.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nixon, Aaron (2-2)
L: Eckberg, Tyler (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Kokoska, Zach 1
3B: Carinci, Daniel 1
HR: Kokoska, Zach 1
RBI: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 2 ; Carinci, Daniel 2
SH: Ceballos, Chris 1
SF: Goodwin, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Kokoska, Zach 2 ; Spurlin, Terrence 1 ; Burrows, Blake 1 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1
SB: Burrows, Blake 1
CS: Kokoska, Zach 1
Batting:
2B: Williams, Cam 1 ; Stehly, Murphy 1 ; Hodo III, Douglas 1 ; Antico, Mike 2
3B: Antico, Mike 1
HR: Melendez, Ivan 1
RBI: Zubia, Zach 2 ; Ardoin, Silas 2 ; Stehly, Murphy 1 ; Melendez, Ivan 1 ; Hodo III, Douglas 1 ; Antico, Mike 5
SF: Stehly, Murphy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kennedy, Eric 1 ; Daly, Mitchell 1 ; Ford, Lance 1 ; Zubia, Zach 1 ; Ardoin, Silas 1 ; Williams, Cam 1 ; Stehly, Murphy 1 ; Melendez, Ivan 2 ; Hodo III, Douglas 2 ; Antico, Mike 1 ; Campbell, Dylan 1
SB: Kennedy, Eric 1 ; Antico, Mike 2 ; Campbell, Dylan 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
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3
RBI
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5
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H
3
RBI
2
lf/1b
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
cf/lf
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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