Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, May 15
Lawrence, KS
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Phillips Homers Twice as K-State Takes Sunflower Showdown Finale
May 15, 2021 | Baseball
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Dylan Phillips homered twice to back Connor McCullough's quality start in K-State's 6-2 victory over Kansas in the series finale of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown Saturday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark.
Phillips drove in three of the Wildcats' six runs and Zach Kokoska added a solo homer to salvage the series finale. McCullough yielded just a pair of runs over six innings while striking out four without a walk.
"That was a gutty performance because he wasn't feeling great," head coach Pete Hughes said of McCullough's effort. "He was a last-minute medical clearance for us, but for him, he had every way out of that start, but he knew it was a must-win for our program. I believed him when he told me he felt good and could do it. He stifled their offense long enough for us to get settled in and we finally did."
McCullough, improving his record to 5-3, held Kansas without a hit with runners on base (0-for-5). The redshirt freshman righty limited the Jayhawks to three hits over the final five innings after allowing a leadoff homer in the first.
Phillips' first home run was a two-run shot that capped a three-run third. With two outs, K-State got a triple from Dom Hughes before Chris Ceballos' RBI double. Phillips brought home Ceballos with his 12th bomb of the year.
"With two outs, Dom hits the triple off the wall then Ceballos knocks him in and we get the home run by Whammer [Phillips]," added Hughes. "It's infectious with two outs and everybody starts swinging comfortably again. It was nice to play good baseball. Defense played well, bullpen was great and we got the quality start."
Tyler Eckberg and Eric Torres combined to keep KU scoreless over the final three innings. Eckberg retired all five he faced in picking up a five-out save. With 1 1/3 scoreless innings, Torres' scoreless streak sits at 15 1 /3 innings over his last eight outings.
The trio of Wildcat pitchers combined for eight strikeouts without issuing a walk. As a staff, K-State has totaled 463 strikeouts – a single-season program record.
After KU trimmed the Wildcat lead to a single run in the bottom of the third, Phillips launched his second bomb in the sixth. It marked the sophomore's fifth career multi-homer game and upped his career home run total to 28, which is tied for seventh-most in program history.
Kokoska's team-leading 14th home run in the eighth pushed the Cats' lead to three runs at 5-2. His 14 homers are tied for third in a single season in K-State history.
The three home runs hit by K-State (29-20, 8-13 Big 12) helped shatter the program's single-season record, as the total is now 78 on the year.
An insurance run in the ninth came via a Blake Burrows bunt, scoring Cameron Thompson who led off the frame with a double.
Jordan Maxson finished 1-for-4 with a double, as all seven of K-State's hits were for extra bases.
Kansas (28-24, 7-14 Big 12) starter Everhett Hazelwood suffered the loss after giving up three earned runs on four hits over four innings. Hazelwood struck out four and walked one.
Offensively, KU got two hits from both Skyler Messinger and Anthony Tulimero.
K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium for its final home series of the season, hosting TCU in a three-game set starting Thursday. All three games will be broadcast 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
Phillips drove in three of the Wildcats' six runs and Zach Kokoska added a solo homer to salvage the series finale. McCullough yielded just a pair of runs over six innings while striking out four without a walk.
"That was a gutty performance because he wasn't feeling great," head coach Pete Hughes said of McCullough's effort. "He was a last-minute medical clearance for us, but for him, he had every way out of that start, but he knew it was a must-win for our program. I believed him when he told me he felt good and could do it. He stifled their offense long enough for us to get settled in and we finally did."
McCullough, improving his record to 5-3, held Kansas without a hit with runners on base (0-for-5). The redshirt freshman righty limited the Jayhawks to three hits over the final five innings after allowing a leadoff homer in the first.
Phillips' first home run was a two-run shot that capped a three-run third. With two outs, K-State got a triple from Dom Hughes before Chris Ceballos' RBI double. Phillips brought home Ceballos with his 12th bomb of the year.
"With two outs, Dom hits the triple off the wall then Ceballos knocks him in and we get the home run by Whammer [Phillips]," added Hughes. "It's infectious with two outs and everybody starts swinging comfortably again. It was nice to play good baseball. Defense played well, bullpen was great and we got the quality start."
Tyler Eckberg and Eric Torres combined to keep KU scoreless over the final three innings. Eckberg retired all five he faced in picking up a five-out save. With 1 1/3 scoreless innings, Torres' scoreless streak sits at 15 1 /3 innings over his last eight outings.
The trio of Wildcat pitchers combined for eight strikeouts without issuing a walk. As a staff, K-State has totaled 463 strikeouts – a single-season program record.
After KU trimmed the Wildcat lead to a single run in the bottom of the third, Phillips launched his second bomb in the sixth. It marked the sophomore's fifth career multi-homer game and upped his career home run total to 28, which is tied for seventh-most in program history.
Kokoska's team-leading 14th home run in the eighth pushed the Cats' lead to three runs at 5-2. His 14 homers are tied for third in a single season in K-State history.
The three home runs hit by K-State (29-20, 8-13 Big 12) helped shatter the program's single-season record, as the total is now 78 on the year.
An insurance run in the ninth came via a Blake Burrows bunt, scoring Cameron Thompson who led off the frame with a double.
Jordan Maxson finished 1-for-4 with a double, as all seven of K-State's hits were for extra bases.
Kansas (28-24, 7-14 Big 12) starter Everhett Hazelwood suffered the loss after giving up three earned runs on four hits over four innings. Hazelwood struck out four and walked one.
Offensively, KU got two hits from both Skyler Messinger and Anthony Tulimero.
K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium for its final home series of the season, hosting TCU in a three-game set starting Thursday. All three games will be broadcast 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 six runs on seven hits without an error and six left on base.
- KU scored two runs on nine hits with no errors and six left on base.
- Phillips homered twice for his fifth career multi-homer game.
- Phillips' 28 career homers is tied for seventh in K-State history.
- Kokoska connected on his team-leading 14th home run of the year.
- McCullough produced his third quality start of the season (6 IP, 2 ER).
- Eckberg picked up a five-out save, his fifth of the season.
- With 1 1/3 scoreless innings, Torres' scoreless streak hit 15 1/3 innings (eight appearances).
- Three K-State pitchers combined for eight strikeouts and no walks.
- Ceballos added an RBI double and Hughes hit his first career triple.
- Maxson doubled as all seven of K-State's hits went for extra bases.
- K-State leads the all-time series 181-176-1 (40-30 Big 12).
- The Wildcats are 71-92 all-time in Lawrence.
- The Cats snapped a six-game losing streak in the series.
- Thompson made his 233rd consecutive start and is second in career starts in K-State history.
- K-State broke the single-season home run record and now has 78 homers on the season.
- The Wildcat pitching staff has now combined for 463 strikeouts, most ever in a single season.
Cats Win 😼#KStateBSB pic.twitter.com/43MBasP3J9
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) May 15, 2021
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McCullough, Connor (5-3)
L: Everhett Hazelwood (2-3)
S: Eckberg, Tyler (5)
Batting:
2B: Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Maxson, Jordan 1
3B: Hughes, Dom 1
HR: Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 2
RBI: Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 3 ; Burrows, Blake 1
SH: Burrows, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kokoska, Zach 1 ; Hughes, Dom 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 2 ; Thompson, Cameron 1
HBP: Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1
.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Batting:
2B: Anthony Tulimero 1 ; Casey Burnham 1
HR: Dylan Ditzenberger 1
RBI: Dylan Ditzenberger 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dylan Ditzenberger 1 ; Casey Burnham 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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2
RBI
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4
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1
RBI
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RBI
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Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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/ Baseball
C/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF/LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
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