Kansas State University Athletics
Sunday, February 20
Arlington, Texas
10:30 a.m.
Kansas State University
0-3
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12
Auburn
2-1
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9
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Auburn
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K-State
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Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Photo by: Lathe Cobb Photography
Tigers Pull Away from Wildcats Sunday
Feb 20, 2022 | Baseball
ARLINGTON, Texas – The K-State offense managed just three hits, while Auburn totaled 13 in the Tigers' 12-1 victory Sunday at Globe Life Field on the final day of the State Farm College Baseball Showdown.
Auburn (2-1) scored 11 unanswered runs, with 10 coming over a three-inning stretch (third to fifth). The Wildcats (0-3) were hampered by eight walks along with eight hit-by-pitches.
"Disappointing weekend, disappointing day," said head coach Pete Hughes. "You expect to make first-weekend mistakes, but you can't have first-weekend overall performances and excuses everywhere. I thought we probably played 10 good innings of baseball (this weekend), which isn't going to cut it.
"We've got a lot to work on, we know that. It's correctable. We have the talent; we just have to perform better and we have to execute better."
Nick Goodwin's two-out RBI single in the first inning tied the game, scoring leadoff hitter Dominic Johnson who began the game with a single. K-State was then held hitless until Raphael Pelletier singled to lead off the eighth inning. It marked Pelletier's first career hit, as the redshirt freshman earned his first start behind the plate.
The Tigers loaded the bases in five of the game's first six innings. Wildcat starter Collin Rothermel worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first and escaped with just a single run via a Nate LaRue sacrifice fly.
LaRue tacked on a second sac-fly RBI as part of a three-run third and Auburn separated itself with five more in the fifth, bringing 11 hitters to the plate. Ryan Dyal's two-run single along with a pair of hit batters with the bases loaded capped the inning.
Oklahoma transfer Christian Ruebeck suffered the loss after relieving Rothermel in the second. The sophomore righty struck out six in his Wildcat debut.
As a pitching staff, K-State racked up 17 strikeouts – a season high and more than any game last season. Three newcomers combined to keep Auburn scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings: Tyler Ruhl, Dillon Pearson and Blake Corsentino.
Corsentino struck out the side in order in the ninth while Ruhl, a redshirt freshman, tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts. Pearson punched out two over an inning.
"Ty Ruhl got a great opportunity to come in and bump his way up the depth chart," Hughes added. Everyone's getting evaluated in our program no matter what the score is. Blake Corsentino came in and proved that he can compete and throw strikes with good tempo."
The Tigers registered just one extra-base hit on the day, a double by Sonny DiChiara in the third.
Dyal went 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead the Auburn offense. Leadoff man Blake Rambush ended the day 3-for-5 with four runs scored.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Auburn loaded the bases in five of the game' first six innings. The Cats escaped with just one run allowed in the first, before allowing three in the third, two in the fourth and five in the fifth.
In the fifth, the Tigers were aided by three hit batters, two coming with the bases loaded. Additionally, K-State issued two walks to go with a wild pitch.
UP NEXT
K-State will head west for a seven-game road swing through California, starting Friday at CSU Bakersfield. The entire three-game series will be streamed on ESPN+ with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free, live audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/Watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Auburn (2-1) scored 11 unanswered runs, with 10 coming over a three-inning stretch (third to fifth). The Wildcats (0-3) were hampered by eight walks along with eight hit-by-pitches.
"Disappointing weekend, disappointing day," said head coach Pete Hughes. "You expect to make first-weekend mistakes, but you can't have first-weekend overall performances and excuses everywhere. I thought we probably played 10 good innings of baseball (this weekend), which isn't going to cut it.
"We've got a lot to work on, we know that. It's correctable. We have the talent; we just have to perform better and we have to execute better."
Nick Goodwin's two-out RBI single in the first inning tied the game, scoring leadoff hitter Dominic Johnson who began the game with a single. K-State was then held hitless until Raphael Pelletier singled to lead off the eighth inning. It marked Pelletier's first career hit, as the redshirt freshman earned his first start behind the plate.
The Tigers loaded the bases in five of the game's first six innings. Wildcat starter Collin Rothermel worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first and escaped with just a single run via a Nate LaRue sacrifice fly.
LaRue tacked on a second sac-fly RBI as part of a three-run third and Auburn separated itself with five more in the fifth, bringing 11 hitters to the plate. Ryan Dyal's two-run single along with a pair of hit batters with the bases loaded capped the inning.
Oklahoma transfer Christian Ruebeck suffered the loss after relieving Rothermel in the second. The sophomore righty struck out six in his Wildcat debut.
As a pitching staff, K-State racked up 17 strikeouts – a season high and more than any game last season. Three newcomers combined to keep Auburn scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings: Tyler Ruhl, Dillon Pearson and Blake Corsentino.
Corsentino struck out the side in order in the ninth while Ruhl, a redshirt freshman, tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts. Pearson punched out two over an inning.
"Ty Ruhl got a great opportunity to come in and bump his way up the depth chart," Hughes added. Everyone's getting evaluated in our program no matter what the score is. Blake Corsentino came in and proved that he can compete and throw strikes with good tempo."
The Tigers registered just one extra-base hit on the day, a double by Sonny DiChiara in the third.
Dyal went 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead the Auburn offense. Leadoff man Blake Rambush ended the day 3-for-5 with four runs scored.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Auburn loaded the bases in five of the game' first six innings. The Cats escaped with just one run allowed in the first, before allowing three in the third, two in the fourth and five in the fifth.
In the fifth, the Tigers were aided by three hit batters, two coming with the bases loaded. Additionally, K-State issued two walks to go with a wild pitch.
UP NEXT
K-State will head west for a seven-game road swing through California, starting Friday at CSU Bakersfield. The entire three-game series will be streamed on ESPN+ with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free, live audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/Watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored one run on three hits, committed no errors and left four on base.
- Auburn scored 12 runs on 13 hits with one error and stranded 17 baserunners.
- K-State racked up 17 strikeouts as a staff, more than any single game last season.
- Goodwin drove in the Wildcats' run, a two-out single in the first.
- Pelletier collected his first collegiate base hit with a single in the eighth.
- The Cats were held without a hit after the first inning until the eighth inning.
- Auburn had one extra-base hit, a double, while K-State had none.
- K-State combined to hit eight batters and issue eight walks.
- The Wildcats went 1-for-10 with men on base while Auburn was 6-for-23.
- This marked the first-ever meeting between K-State and Auburn.
- K-State begins the season 0-3 for the first time since 2018 and just the second time since 2009.
- Dominic Johnson has hit safely in all three games this season.
- Cash Rugely and Orlando Salinas, Jr. have reached base in all three games.
- Cole Johnson's six-game hitting streak came to an end.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bright, T. (1-0)
L: Ruebeck, Christian (0-1)
Batting:
2B: DiChiara, S. 1
RBI: Dyal, R. 3 ; LaRue, N. 2 ; Howell, K. 2 ; Foster, C. 1 ; Brown, B. 3
SF: LaRue, N. 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rambusch, B. 4 ; Moore, B. 2 ; DiChiara, S. 2 ; Dyal, R. 2 ; LaRue, N. 1 ; Hall, J. 1
SB: Rambusch, B. 1 ; Hall, J. 1
HBP: Rambusch, B. 1 ; Moore, B. 1 ; DiChiara, S. 2 ; Dyal, R. 1 ; Howell, K. 1 ; Foster, C. 1 ; Brown, B. 1
Batting:
RBI: Goodwin, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Dominic 1
SB: Johnson, Dominic 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
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