Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, March 25
Fort Worth, Texas
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
11-9, 0-1
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TCU
16-5, 3-1
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Kansas State
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10
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TCU
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Photo by: Sharon Ellman
Photo by: Sharon Ellman
Photo by: Sharon Ellman
Photo by: Sharon Ellman
Photo by: Sharon Ellman
Photo by: Sharon Ellman
Photo by: Sharon Ellman
Photo by: Sharon Ellman
Cats Unable to Complete Comeback at No. 19 TCU Friday
Mar 25, 2022 | Baseball
FORT WORTH, Texas – In its Big 12 opener at 19th-ranked TCU Friday night, K-State brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth inning but were unable to complete the comeback, as the Horned Frogs escaped with a 7-5 victory in the series opener at Lupton Stadium.
Trailing by five runs going into the night's final frame, K-State (11-9, 0-1 Big 12) plated three runs in the top of the ninth. Jeff Heinrich delivered a pinch-hit RBI single before Nick Goodwin added a two-run, two-out single with the bases loaded, inching the Wildcats within two runs.
Goodwin's single came off TCU closer River Ridings, who inherited the bases loaded jam. Ridings collected his team-leading seventh save after inducing a game-ending groundout from Cole Johnson, who represented the go-ahead run.
The Horned Frogs (16-5, 3-1 Big 12) scored five runs over the game's first three innings, as they took advantage of a season-high four walks from K-State starter Blake Adams. All four walks issued by Adams, two in the first and two in the third, came around to score.
"They set the tone early," head coach Pete Hughes said. "We battled back, but credit to (TCU) they answered our two runs in the third inning. That's deflating when we come back and are down a run and then they tack two more on. We allowed them to use one of their weapons, which was the base on balls, just out of character for Blake (Adams).
"We gave them some soft runs, honestly. A pickoff error and a wild pitch scored a run. We left a lot of guys on base, and they got a big two-out hit and we didn't. When you don't walk people and play good defense, you usually win the game. That's basically what TCU did."
After TCU scored three in the first, Dylan Phillips delivered a two-run, two-out double in the top of the third to bring the Cats within a run. The Frogs answered in the home half of the inning with a two-RBI single with two outs from Kurtis Byrne.
Adams turned in his shortest start of the season, going five innings while scattering four hits and five runs allowed (four earned). Entering Friday ranked third in the Big 12 in strikeouts, the junior right-hander struck out just one and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch and a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt.
K-State's deficit stayed at three runs until the bottom of the seventh. TCU got an RBI double from David Bishop and a sacrifice fly from Tommy Sacco.
Bishop turned in the Horned Frogs' lone multi-hit game, going 2-for-4. Byrne led TCU with two RBI.
Relievers Blake Corsentino and Ty Ruhl were each responsible for one of the two runs in the seventh. Four K-State pitchers combined to turn in just two strikeouts against six walks.
In the top of the sixth, an infield single by Phillips and a walk by Goodwin gave the Cats two on and one out. Following a nine-pitch at-bat, Orlando Salinas drew a walk with two outs to load the bases. However, TCU starter Riley Cornelio wiggled out of the jam with an inning-ending strikeout.
Cornelio, the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, earned the win after allowing two earned runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked three.
K-State finished with more hits than the Frogs (10-7) with a 4-2 advantage in extra-base hits. Four Cats registered multiple hits, with two each from Kaelen Culpepper, Goodwin, Dominic Johnson and Phillips.
Johnson extended his hitting streak to 15 games, as it is the longest hitting streak by a Wildcat since the 2014 season. He has multiple hits in 10 of his last 11 games overall.
The Wildcats left 10 men on base and finished 4-for-18 with runners on base.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Adams issued back-to-back walks in the bottom of the first, both of which came around to score. The first on a fielder's choice off the bat of Gray Rodgers. The Frogs' second run came on a wild pitch wile Rodgers come in to score on an error on a pickoff attempt by Adams.
Phillips trimmed the deficit to a run with a two-out, two-run double in the top of the third, scoring Culpepper and Dominic Johnson.
The Frogs answered in the bottom half, getting two runs back on a two-out single by Byrne. Two walks by Adams in the inning came around to score and push the TCU lead back to three runs.
In the top of the sixth, an infield single by Phillips and a walk by Goodwin gave the Cats two on and one out. Following a nine-pitch at-bat, Salinas drew a walk with two outs to load the bases. However, Cornelio wiggled out of the jam with an inning-ending strikeout.
Heinrich delivered a pinch-hit single in the top of the ninth, scoring Culpepper. Goodwin, with two outs and the bases loaded, singled back up the middle to add two more and make it a two-run game, forcing TCU to bring in its closer in Rivers.
Rivers induced a game-ending groundout, stranding the tying runs on the base paths.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UP NEXT
K-State and TCU continue the three-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. The contest 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.
Trailing by five runs going into the night's final frame, K-State (11-9, 0-1 Big 12) plated three runs in the top of the ninth. Jeff Heinrich delivered a pinch-hit RBI single before Nick Goodwin added a two-run, two-out single with the bases loaded, inching the Wildcats within two runs.
Goodwin's single came off TCU closer River Ridings, who inherited the bases loaded jam. Ridings collected his team-leading seventh save after inducing a game-ending groundout from Cole Johnson, who represented the go-ahead run.
The Horned Frogs (16-5, 3-1 Big 12) scored five runs over the game's first three innings, as they took advantage of a season-high four walks from K-State starter Blake Adams. All four walks issued by Adams, two in the first and two in the third, came around to score.
"They set the tone early," head coach Pete Hughes said. "We battled back, but credit to (TCU) they answered our two runs in the third inning. That's deflating when we come back and are down a run and then they tack two more on. We allowed them to use one of their weapons, which was the base on balls, just out of character for Blake (Adams).
"We gave them some soft runs, honestly. A pickoff error and a wild pitch scored a run. We left a lot of guys on base, and they got a big two-out hit and we didn't. When you don't walk people and play good defense, you usually win the game. That's basically what TCU did."
After TCU scored three in the first, Dylan Phillips delivered a two-run, two-out double in the top of the third to bring the Cats within a run. The Frogs answered in the home half of the inning with a two-RBI single with two outs from Kurtis Byrne.
Adams turned in his shortest start of the season, going five innings while scattering four hits and five runs allowed (four earned). Entering Friday ranked third in the Big 12 in strikeouts, the junior right-hander struck out just one and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch and a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt.
K-State's deficit stayed at three runs until the bottom of the seventh. TCU got an RBI double from David Bishop and a sacrifice fly from Tommy Sacco.
Bishop turned in the Horned Frogs' lone multi-hit game, going 2-for-4. Byrne led TCU with two RBI.
Relievers Blake Corsentino and Ty Ruhl were each responsible for one of the two runs in the seventh. Four K-State pitchers combined to turn in just two strikeouts against six walks.
In the top of the sixth, an infield single by Phillips and a walk by Goodwin gave the Cats two on and one out. Following a nine-pitch at-bat, Orlando Salinas drew a walk with two outs to load the bases. However, TCU starter Riley Cornelio wiggled out of the jam with an inning-ending strikeout.
Cornelio, the reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, earned the win after allowing two earned runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked three.
K-State finished with more hits than the Frogs (10-7) with a 4-2 advantage in extra-base hits. Four Cats registered multiple hits, with two each from Kaelen Culpepper, Goodwin, Dominic Johnson and Phillips.
Johnson extended his hitting streak to 15 games, as it is the longest hitting streak by a Wildcat since the 2014 season. He has multiple hits in 10 of his last 11 games overall.
The Wildcats left 10 men on base and finished 4-for-18 with runners on base.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Adams issued back-to-back walks in the bottom of the first, both of which came around to score. The first on a fielder's choice off the bat of Gray Rodgers. The Frogs' second run came on a wild pitch wile Rodgers come in to score on an error on a pickoff attempt by Adams.
Phillips trimmed the deficit to a run with a two-out, two-run double in the top of the third, scoring Culpepper and Dominic Johnson.
The Frogs answered in the bottom half, getting two runs back on a two-out single by Byrne. Two walks by Adams in the inning came around to score and push the TCU lead back to three runs.
In the top of the sixth, an infield single by Phillips and a walk by Goodwin gave the Cats two on and one out. Following a nine-pitch at-bat, Salinas drew a walk with two outs to load the bases. However, Cornelio wiggled out of the jam with an inning-ending strikeout.
Heinrich delivered a pinch-hit single in the top of the ninth, scoring Culpepper. Goodwin, with two outs and the bases loaded, singled back up the middle to add two more and make it a two-run game, forcing TCU to bring in its closer in Rivers.
Rivers induced a game-ending groundout, stranding the tying runs on the base paths.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored five runs on 10 hits, committed two errors and left 10 on base.
- TCU scored seven runs on seven hits without an error and stranded six baserunners.
- Four Wildcats produced two-hit games.
- Goodwin and Phillips each doubled and drove in two.
- K-State tallied four extra-base hits, all doubles, to TCU's one.
- Adams walked a season-high four hitters over five innings, his shortest outing of the year.
- All four TCU hitters Adams walked came around to score.
- Four K-State pitchers struck out two while walking six.
- The Cats were 4-for-18 with runners on base and 3-for-12 with men in scoring position.
- K-State tallied four two-out RBI.
- TCU was led by Bishop's two hits while Byrne drove in two.
- Cornelio struck out five and walked three over six innings, allowing two earned runs.
- Ridings collected his seventh save of the season.
- The Frogs were 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position and 4-for-16 with runners on base.
- TCU leads the all-time series 24-12 and is now 15-3 at home.
- K-State is 0-2 against ranked opponents this season.
- The teams have split the last 10 matchups in the series.
- Hughes is 5-5 against the Horned Frogs as the Wildcats' head coach.
- Dominic Johnson pushed his hitting streak to 15 games, with multiple hits in 10 of his last 11 games.
- Josh Nicoloff's 13-game hitting streak came to an end but his on-base stretch reached 15 games.
- Cole Johnson owns a 13-game on-base streak.
- The Wildcats have lost back-to-back games for the first time since starting the season 0-5.
UP NEXT
K-State and TCU continue the three-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. The contest 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: Cornelio, Riley (3-1)
L: Adams, Blake (2-2)
S: Ridings, River (7)
Batting:
2B: Johnson, Dominic 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
RBI: Heinrich, Jeff 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 2 ; Goodwin, Nick 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Dominic 2 ; Jones, Brendan 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 2
HBP: Culpepper, Kaelen 1
Batting:
2B: Taylor, Brayden 1 ; Bishop, David 1
RBI: Bishop, David 1 ; Rodgers, Gray 1 ; Sacco, Tommy 1 ; Byrne, Kurtis 2
SF: Sacco, Tommy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nunez, Elijah 1 ; Taylor, Brayden 2 ; Bishop, David 2 ; Rodgers, Gray 1 ; Sacco, Tommy 1
SB: Nunez, Elijah 2 ; Sacco, Tommy 1 ; Boyers, Luke 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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4
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2
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2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP/DH
/ Baseball
RHP
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/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF/LHP
/ Baseball
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