Kansas State University Athletics
Wednesday, March 23
Manhattan, Kan.
4 p.m.
Kansas State University
11-8
3
vs
4
Air Force
7-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Air Force
1
0
2
0
0
0
1
0
0
4
8
2
K-State
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
3
9
3
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Photo by: Scott D. Weaver / K-State Athletics
Wildcats’ Winning Streak Snapped Wednesday
Mar 23, 2022 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State's season-long eight-game winning streak came to an end on a chilly, windy Wednesday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium, as Air Force handed the Wildcats their first home loss of the season 4-3.
K-State (11-8) scored three unanswered runs, capped by a Nick Goodwin game-tying RBI single in the sixth, to climb out of a 3-0 hole. Air Force (7-12) retook the lead in the next half inning on Aerik Joe's RBI double.
"We certainly didn't play well enough to beat anybody, especially a competitive, tough program like Air Force," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "When you can't make routine plays, when you leave runners on base, you don't deserve to beat anyone. And Air Force played good enough to win; They made plays and they made pitches at the end. Disappointing day, plenty of opportunities to win that game but we couldn't capitalize."
The Wildcats loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth and had runners on first and second with two gone in the ninth, but were unable to plate the game-tying run.
A season-high three errors by the Wildcats resulted in two unearned runs, with two errors coming in the game's first three innings.
"I don't want to take anything away from Air Force," said Hughes. "They played great with two outs. They came out and swung the bats and set the tone of the game right away. Although we did play poorly, they did deserve to win the game."
The Falcons jumped out to a 3-0 lead by way of a Gabriel Garcia home run in the third sandwiched around two errors from the Cats that resulted in AFA runs. Sam Kulasingam raced home in the first inning when Dylan Phillips mishandled a ball in right field, and Jake Greiving was able to score on a two-out throwing error by starting pitcher Collin Rothermel in the third.
In the seventh, reliever German Fajardo struck out the first two Air Force hitters he faced before issuing back-to-back walks. Joe then snuck a double down the right field line that brought home Braydon Altorfer.
Kaelen Culpepper helped trim the deficit when he connected on an opposite-field home run in the bottom half of the third. It was the freshman's first homer of his collegiate career, as he had a two-hit day (2-for-4).
"It was good to get Culpepper going offensively," added Hughes. "We think he's going to hit for power for us. So it was good to see that tool come out for us today. Hopefully he'll play in his first conference weekend with some confidence."
Orlando Salinas took advantage of an error by Air Force in the fifth, scoring from third on a throwing error by third baseman Jay Thomason. Salinas singled earlier in the frame and inched the Cats within a run.
Dylan Phillips led off the next inning with a double and stood on third after a single by Josh Nicoloff. Goodwin followed with his game-tying RBI single to the gap in right center field, and K-State had runners on the corners with nobody out.
After a pop out by catcher Justin Mitchell, Salinas grounded into an inning-ending double play.
K-State stranded five base runners from the sixth inning on and finished the game 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Culpepper, Goodwin and Nicoloff each registered two-hit days for K-State. Nicoloff extended his hitting streak to 13 games while Dominic Johnson's hitting streak reached 14.
Air Force closer Doyle Gehring struck out two in the ninth inning, including the game's final out, to earn his team-leading fifth save of the season.
Rothermel, making his second collegiate start, struck out six over five innings – both season highs. He scattered five hits and allowed three runs (one earned).
Fajardo logged two innings in relief of Rothermel, striking out four but walking three. Fajardo suffered his first loss (0-1).
Blake Corsentino made his fifth relief appearance of the year and allowed just one hit over two innings. He struck out two and did not issue a walk.
Duke Benge was credited with the victory after two shutout frames, giving up two hits and not yielding a walk.
Garcia led AFA with three hits, going 3-for-5 with his homer. Greiving went 2-for-5 and accounted for the Falcon's second multi-hit effort.
K-State's eight-game winning streak, which was its longest since 2014, came to an end.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
After a K-State error allowed a run to score in the top of the first, Air Force added two in the top of the third. Garcia laced a solo homer while a second Wildcat error resulted in the Falcons' third run.
Culpepper's opposite-field homer, the first of his career, cut into the AFA lead in the bottom half of the inning. The Cats inched within a run via a throwing error from the Falcons' Thomason, which allowed Salinas to score.
An RBI single by Goodwin tied the game in the sixth inning, but Air Force retook the lead on an RBI double from Joe in the top half of the seventh.
The Wildcats loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Cole Johnson, who represented the game-tying run at third base, attempted to score after a ball got away from catcher Braydon Altorfer but was tagged out at the plate.
Dominic Johnson drew a two-out walk and stood on second base as the potential tying run after an Air Force error with two outs. Brady Day, who reached first base on the error, marked the go-ahead run but a strikeout by closer Gehring thwarted the ninth-inning threat.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UP NEXT
K-State opens Big 12 action at No. 19 TCU, with a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m. The weekend series can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage can be heard on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/Watch.
K-State (11-8) scored three unanswered runs, capped by a Nick Goodwin game-tying RBI single in the sixth, to climb out of a 3-0 hole. Air Force (7-12) retook the lead in the next half inning on Aerik Joe's RBI double.
"We certainly didn't play well enough to beat anybody, especially a competitive, tough program like Air Force," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "When you can't make routine plays, when you leave runners on base, you don't deserve to beat anyone. And Air Force played good enough to win; They made plays and they made pitches at the end. Disappointing day, plenty of opportunities to win that game but we couldn't capitalize."
The Wildcats loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth and had runners on first and second with two gone in the ninth, but were unable to plate the game-tying run.
A season-high three errors by the Wildcats resulted in two unearned runs, with two errors coming in the game's first three innings.
"I don't want to take anything away from Air Force," said Hughes. "They played great with two outs. They came out and swung the bats and set the tone of the game right away. Although we did play poorly, they did deserve to win the game."
The Falcons jumped out to a 3-0 lead by way of a Gabriel Garcia home run in the third sandwiched around two errors from the Cats that resulted in AFA runs. Sam Kulasingam raced home in the first inning when Dylan Phillips mishandled a ball in right field, and Jake Greiving was able to score on a two-out throwing error by starting pitcher Collin Rothermel in the third.
In the seventh, reliever German Fajardo struck out the first two Air Force hitters he faced before issuing back-to-back walks. Joe then snuck a double down the right field line that brought home Braydon Altorfer.
Kaelen Culpepper helped trim the deficit when he connected on an opposite-field home run in the bottom half of the third. It was the freshman's first homer of his collegiate career, as he had a two-hit day (2-for-4).
"It was good to get Culpepper going offensively," added Hughes. "We think he's going to hit for power for us. So it was good to see that tool come out for us today. Hopefully he'll play in his first conference weekend with some confidence."
Orlando Salinas took advantage of an error by Air Force in the fifth, scoring from third on a throwing error by third baseman Jay Thomason. Salinas singled earlier in the frame and inched the Cats within a run.
Dylan Phillips led off the next inning with a double and stood on third after a single by Josh Nicoloff. Goodwin followed with his game-tying RBI single to the gap in right center field, and K-State had runners on the corners with nobody out.
After a pop out by catcher Justin Mitchell, Salinas grounded into an inning-ending double play.
K-State stranded five base runners from the sixth inning on and finished the game 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Culpepper, Goodwin and Nicoloff each registered two-hit days for K-State. Nicoloff extended his hitting streak to 13 games while Dominic Johnson's hitting streak reached 14.
Air Force closer Doyle Gehring struck out two in the ninth inning, including the game's final out, to earn his team-leading fifth save of the season.
Rothermel, making his second collegiate start, struck out six over five innings – both season highs. He scattered five hits and allowed three runs (one earned).
Fajardo logged two innings in relief of Rothermel, striking out four but walking three. Fajardo suffered his first loss (0-1).
Blake Corsentino made his fifth relief appearance of the year and allowed just one hit over two innings. He struck out two and did not issue a walk.
Duke Benge was credited with the victory after two shutout frames, giving up two hits and not yielding a walk.
Garcia led AFA with three hits, going 3-for-5 with his homer. Greiving went 2-for-5 and accounted for the Falcon's second multi-hit effort.
K-State's eight-game winning streak, which was its longest since 2014, came to an end.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
After a K-State error allowed a run to score in the top of the first, Air Force added two in the top of the third. Garcia laced a solo homer while a second Wildcat error resulted in the Falcons' third run.
Culpepper's opposite-field homer, the first of his career, cut into the AFA lead in the bottom half of the inning. The Cats inched within a run via a throwing error from the Falcons' Thomason, which allowed Salinas to score.
An RBI single by Goodwin tied the game in the sixth inning, but Air Force retook the lead on an RBI double from Joe in the top half of the seventh.
The Wildcats loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Cole Johnson, who represented the game-tying run at third base, attempted to score after a ball got away from catcher Braydon Altorfer but was tagged out at the plate.
Dominic Johnson drew a two-out walk and stood on second base as the potential tying run after an Air Force error with two outs. Brady Day, who reached first base on the error, marked the go-ahead run but a strikeout by closer Gehring thwarted the ninth-inning threat.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored three runs on nine hits, committed three errors and left nine on base.
- Air Force scored four runs on eight hits with two errors and stranded 11 baserunners.
- The Wildcats failed to reach double-digit hits for the first time in their last nine games.
- Culpepper launched his first career home run, a solo shot in the third.
- Culpepper, Goodwin and Nicoloff each produced two-hit days.
- Each team had two extra-base hits, a double and a home run.
- The top three in the K-State batting order combined to go 1-for-12 with three walks.
- Rothermel made his second career start and struck out a season-high six batters over five innings.
- Fajardo and Corsentino each logged two innings of relief.
- Fajardo struck out four, walked three and suffered the loss.
- The three Wildcat pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts and six walks.
- Garcia led Air Force with his 3-for-5 day, including a home run.
- Greiving added two hits while Joe doubled.
- Gehring collected his fifth save of the season after striking out two in the ninth.
- Air Force hit .167 with runners in scoring position while the Wildcats hit .250.
- K-State leads the all-time series 13-4, as this was the first meeting between the teams since 2014.
- K-State suffered its first loss at home to the Falcons (6-1).
- Dominic Johnson pushed his hitting streak to 14 games, but his stretch of nine straight multi-hit games came to an end.
- Nicoloff now has a 13-game hitting streak and Cole Johnson owns a 12-game on-base streak.
- K-State's eight-game winning streak, its longest since 2014, was snapped.
- The Cats lost their first home game of the season (7-1) while their longest home unbeaten streak to begin a season since 2014 was broken.
UP NEXT
K-State opens Big 12 action at No. 19 TCU, with a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m. The weekend series can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage can be heard on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/Watch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BENGE,DUKE (1-2)
L: Fajardo, German (0-1)
S: GEHRING,DOYLE (5)
Batting:
2B: JOE,AERIK 1
HR: GARCIA,GABRIEL 1
RBI: GARCIA,GABRIEL 1 ; JOE,AERIK 1
SH: BOOKER,JASON 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KULASINGAM,SAM 1 ; GARCIA,GABRIEL 1 ; GREIVING,JAKE 1 ; ALTORFER,BRAYDON 1
Batting:
2B: Phillips, Dylan 1
HR: Culpepper, Kaelen 1
RBI: Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Salinas, Jr., Orlando 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1
SB: Goodwin, Nick 1
HBP: Mitchell, Justin 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
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0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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RHP
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INF/OF
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RHP
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