Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, May 7
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Miscues Cost Cats in Series Opener Friday at Baylor
May 07, 2021 | Baseball
WACO, Texas – K-State saw its season-long six-game winning streak come to an end Friday night, as the Baylor Bears scored runs in seven different innings on their way to a 17-2 victory over the Wildcats in the series opener at Baylor Ballpark.
A four-run second, aided by a pair of K-State (27-17, 6-10 Big 12) errors, handed Baylor (28-13, 8-8 Big 12) a six-run lead. Wildcat starter Connor McCullough gave up a home run in each of the first three innings while the Bears plated multiple runs in each of the game's first five frames.
"Disappointed for our guys, we didn't pitch it or play defense good enough to win," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "We'll be back at it tomorrow trying to find a way to win a series. We can't let Friday beat us twice. We've been here before."
Andy Thomas lifted a two-out, two-run home run in the first before Jared McKenzie's three-run homer in the second – also coming with two outs. McCullough started the second with a strikeout, but back-to-back errors extended the inning.
The Bears brought 10 to the plate in the second inning, with McCullough's second strikeout of Davion Downey ending the four-run frame with the bases loaded.
Jack Pineda's three-run homer in the third ended the day for McCullough, who allowed a career-high nine runs (five earned) while issuing a career-high five walks. Additionally, the 2 1/3 innings marked the shortest outing of McCullough's career.
Chris Ceballos homered for the fifth straight game, getting the Cats on the board with a solo shot in the fourth. Ceballos, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, connected on his ninth homer of the season to mark K-State's league-best 70th of the year.
Cameron Thompson drove in K-State's second run of the game with a fielder's choice RBI in the fifth. Caleb Littlejim led off the inning with a single and scored on Thompson's ground ball.
Zach Kokoska pushed his on-base streak to 40 games with a 2-for-3 day. Kokoska singled in the second and doubled in the fourth and now has multiple hits in each of his last six games.
Brett Wozniak, Luke Hauswirth and Nico Rodriguez filled in in relief of McCullough. Hauswirth matched his career high with four strikeouts over three innings of work.
The quartet of Wildcat pitchers totaled 10 strikeouts.
Hayden Kettler took the win after scattering seven hits in six innings. Kettler struck out six without a walk, allowing two earned runs.
Four Bears registered a three-hit game, with McKenzie and Pineda each driving in four.
BU tallied seven two-out RBI, hitting .500 (7-for-14) with two gone.
K-State was held hitless with runners in scoring position (0-for-6) with one hit coming with runners on base (1-for-11).
The three-game series continues Saturday, with game two set for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Baylor Ballpark. The matchup 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
A four-run second, aided by a pair of K-State (27-17, 6-10 Big 12) errors, handed Baylor (28-13, 8-8 Big 12) a six-run lead. Wildcat starter Connor McCullough gave up a home run in each of the first three innings while the Bears plated multiple runs in each of the game's first five frames.
"Disappointed for our guys, we didn't pitch it or play defense good enough to win," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "We'll be back at it tomorrow trying to find a way to win a series. We can't let Friday beat us twice. We've been here before."
Andy Thomas lifted a two-out, two-run home run in the first before Jared McKenzie's three-run homer in the second – also coming with two outs. McCullough started the second with a strikeout, but back-to-back errors extended the inning.
The Bears brought 10 to the plate in the second inning, with McCullough's second strikeout of Davion Downey ending the four-run frame with the bases loaded.
Jack Pineda's three-run homer in the third ended the day for McCullough, who allowed a career-high nine runs (five earned) while issuing a career-high five walks. Additionally, the 2 1/3 innings marked the shortest outing of McCullough's career.
Chris Ceballos homered for the fifth straight game, getting the Cats on the board with a solo shot in the fourth. Ceballos, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, connected on his ninth homer of the season to mark K-State's league-best 70th of the year.
Cameron Thompson drove in K-State's second run of the game with a fielder's choice RBI in the fifth. Caleb Littlejim led off the inning with a single and scored on Thompson's ground ball.
Zach Kokoska pushed his on-base streak to 40 games with a 2-for-3 day. Kokoska singled in the second and doubled in the fourth and now has multiple hits in each of his last six games.
Brett Wozniak, Luke Hauswirth and Nico Rodriguez filled in in relief of McCullough. Hauswirth matched his career high with four strikeouts over three innings of work.
The quartet of Wildcat pitchers totaled 10 strikeouts.
Hayden Kettler took the win after scattering seven hits in six innings. Kettler struck out six without a walk, allowing two earned runs.
Four Bears registered a three-hit game, with McKenzie and Pineda each driving in four.
BU tallied seven two-out RBI, hitting .500 (7-for-14) with two gone.
K-State was held hitless with runners in scoring position (0-for-6) with one hit coming with runners on base (1-for-11).
The three-game series continues Saturday, with game two set for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Baylor Ballpark. The matchup 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 two runs on seven hits with two errors and six left on base.
- Baylor scored 17 runs on 17 hits with one error and 12 left on base.
- Ceballos homered for the fifth straight game and has nine homers on the season (20 in his K-State career).
- Kokoska had a pair of hits as the only multi-hit performance for K-State.
- Thompson drove in a run.
- The Cats had two extra-base hits.
- McCullough went just 2 1/3 innings, allowing a career-high nine runs (five earned) on five hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
- McCullough allowed three home runs.
- Wozniak, Hauswirth and Rodriguez worked the final 5 2/3 innings.
- Baylor scored in each of the first six innings.
- The 17 runs allowed tied for a season high.
- The 17 hits tied for second-most allowed by the Cats this year.
- Baylor was 7-of-14 with two outs, 12-of-29 with runners on and 9-of-21 with runners in scoring position.
- K-State was just 1-for-11 with runners on and 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
- Thompson made his 228th consecutive start and is second in career starts in K-State history.
- Kokoska extended his career-best on-base streak to 40 games.
- Kokoska has hits in 28 of his last 30 games.
- K-State has homered in 10 straight games and in 21 of its last 22 games overall.
- The Cats have 70 homers on the year, tops in the Big 12 and second-most in a single season in program history (75 in 1997).
- Baylor leads the all-time series 51-28 (47-23 Big 12).
- K-State is 9-30 in games played in Waco.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kettler, Hayden (4-2)
L: McCullough, Connor (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Kokoska, Zach 1
HR: Ceballos, Chris 1
RBI: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Ceballos, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ceballos, Chris 1 ; Littlejim, Caleb 1
CS: Goodwin, Nick 1
HBP: Goodwin, Nick 1
PO: Kokoska, Zach 1
Batting:
2B: Thomas, Andy 1 ; Downey, Davion 1
3B: Pineda, Jack 1
HR: Pineda, Jack 1 ; McKenzie, Jared 1 ; Thomas, Andy 1
RBI: Pineda, Jack 4 ; McKenzie, Jared 4 ; Thomas, Andy 3 ; Nevin, Kyle 2 ; Gonzales, Alex 1 ; Cardoza-Oquendo, E. 2
SF: Cardoza-Oquendo, E. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pineda, Jack 3 ; McKenzie, Jared 2 ; Richardson, Tre 1 ; Thomas, Andy 3 ; Valdez, Antonio 1 ; Downey, Davion 2 ; Nevin, Kyle 2 ; Caley, Cam 2 ; Cardoza-Oquendo, E. 1
HBP: McKenzie, Jared 1 ; Richardson, Tre 1 ; Thomas, Andy 1 ; Downey, Davion 1
Game Leaders
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Players Mentioned
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