Cats’ Run Ends in Big 12 Semifinal Saturday

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – K-State saw its conference tournament run come to an end Saturday with an elimination semifinal loss to eighth-ranked TCU, 17-7, at the 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The seventh-seeded Wildcats (34-23) forced the winner-take-all contest with a 5-2 win over the No. 2 seed Horned Frogs (39-17) earlier in the day, marking the program's longest tournament run since reaching the title game in 2008.

"Always disappointing when you exit a tournament not as champion, but very proud of our kids and the effort," said head coach Pete Hughes. "No K-State baseball team has [won three games] at the Big 12 Championship, so there's a lot to be proud of. I asked our guys to do a lot coming out of the loser's bracket. But they knew what they needed to do to get in postseason play. We've put ourselves in position to do that.

"Other than to win the Big 12 Championship, our next goal was to put ourselves in position to represent the Big 12 with an at-large bid. And I think we absolutely did that."

TCU scored 14 of its 17 runs in the first and final innings. The Frogs' seven-run first answered an early K-State run before seven more runs in the eighth inning ended the contest.

A four-run seventh brought the Cats within three at 10-7, as the inning featured back-to-back two-out hits from Terrence Spurlin and Zach Kokoska. Spurlin drove in a pair on an opposite-field single with the bases loaded while Kokoska followed up with a two-run double to left center.

Kaden Fowler and Kamron Willman also recorded hits in the seventh, helping the Wildcats answer three unanswered runs by the Frogs.

K-State struck first when Spurlin sliced an RBI double down the right field line. His two-out knock scored Cole Johnson, who singled and advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt.

Johnson, Kokoska, Spurlin and Willman all turned in two-hit performances. Spurlin finished with a team-high three RBI.

Dylan Phillips faced just five hitters in his third career start. The sophomore lefty allowed four consecutive base hits before exiting without an out recorded. A two-run double from Hunter Wolfe preceded Austin Henry's RBI single, as the Frogs played three runs before Connor McCullough took over with runners on the corners.

The Frogs registered three RBI singles off McCullough, with 11 hitters coming to the plate in the inning. Luke Boyers' two-run single and Porter Brown's RBI single capped the scoring at seven runs.

Phillips' line carried five runs on four hits while McCullough was responsible for one earned run on three hits in the first.

McCullough, in his first career relief appearance, went on to retire seven straight hitters after escaping the first inning. He threw 3 2/3 innings in relief after starting in Thursday's elimination game against Baylor, striking out two and with two earned runs on five hits.

"I was excited about Connor (McCullough) today and proud of him because that wasn't a normal bounce-back day for him," said Hughes. "He's a team guy and said I'll give you all I have. I thought his stuff was good. I thought his fastball was good, he located it. He was sharper today than he was the other day. He only had about 50 or 60 pitches in him and he gave us all he had."

Jaxon Passino took the mound for McCullough and carded a season-long 3 2/3 innings. He allowed six runs on six hits with three strikeouts.

The Cats scratched across single runs in both the third and fourth innings, cutting the deficit to four runs, 7-3, on RBI groundouts. Phillips drove in the run in the third and Caleb Littlejim added his RBI in the fourth.

TCU answered with a run in each of the next three frames in pushing its lead to 10-3 after the sixth inning. Brayden Taylor doubled home a run in the fourth and added an RBI groundout in the sixth.

TCU bookended the contest with seven in the eighth on five hits. Rodgers, Sacco and Wolfe each produced two-RBI singles in the frame.

Wolfe went 2-for-5 with four RBI to lead four Horned Frogs with multiple runs batted in. Brown and Zach Humphreys both recorded three-hit days.
The NCAA postseason field will be announced Monday at 11 a.m. CT.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

K-State scored seven runs on 10 hits with two errors and six left on base.
TCU scored 17 runs on 17 hits with two errors and five left on base.
Spurlin drove in three runs in going 2-for-4.
Johnson, Kokoska and Willman each had two-hit days.
In his first relief outing, McCullough threw 3 2/3 innings with two stirkeouts.
Passino tossed a season-high 3 2/3 innings in relief.
The Frogs scored 14 of their 17 runs with a seven-run first and eighth.
Wolfe had a game-high four RBI.

NOTES

Thompson made his 241^st consecutive start, extending his K-State record.
Thompson sits in third place on the Wildcats' career hits list with 278.
Thompson's 184 career runs scored rank second all-time at K-State.
TCU leads the all-time series 23-12.
K-State and TCU split six meetings this season (all coming in last nine days).
The teams met three times at this season's conference tournament.
The two teams have combined to score 28 runs in the first inning in the six contests (TCU 15, K-State 13).
K-State is now 6-10 against top-10 teams, with five wins against the nation's top five.
K-State's three wins in the tournament marked a program high for any single conference tournament.

We check all the boxes ✅#KStateBSB x EMAW pic.twitter.com/4v9Zm6poUX
— K-State Baseball (@KStateBSB) May 30, 2021

Team Stats

Cole Johnson

Terrence Spurlin

Zach Kokoska

Kamron Willman

Players Mentioned

Kaden Fowler

Cole Johnson

Zach Kokoska

Caleb Littlejim

Connor McCullough

Jaxon Passino

Dylan Phillips

Terrence Spurlin

Kamron Willman

Players Mentioned

Kaden Fowler

Cole Johnson

Zach Kokoska

Caleb Littlejim

Connor McCullough

Jaxon Passino

Dylan Phillips

Terrence Spurlin

Kamron Willman

Kansas State University Athletics