Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, March 5
Los Angeles, Calif.
8 p.m.
Kansas State University
3-6
10
at
5
Loyola Marymount
1-8-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Kansas State
2
2
0
0
3
2
0
0
1
10
17
0
LMU
0
0
0
0
0
3
2
0
0
5
5
1
Offense Carries Cats to 10-5 Victory at LMU
Mar 05, 2022 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – K-State got a hit from all nine in its lineup Saturday night, including three-hit nights from Brady Day and Cole Johnson, as the Wildcats earned their first series victory of the year with a 10-5 win over Loyola Marymount at Page Stadium.
K-State (3-6) raced out to a 9-0 lead after scoring multiple runs in four of the game's first six innings. Orlando Salinas, Jr. belted a two-run homer in the second to help back Connor McCullough's outing, as the Cats eclipsed double-digit runs and hits for the second straight day.
"A good team win, one through nine," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "A lot of contributors and clean defense, no errors. The offense drove the show and we had a lot of people contribute. Brady Day and Cole Johnson continue to swing hot bats. Orlando Salinas got us going early on and that just makes everything easier."
Six different Wildcats turned in multi-hit efforts while seven drove in at least one run. Johnson was 3-for-5 with an RBI double for his second consecutive three-hit game. Day ended 3-for-6 with a double and is now 5-for-10 with two doubles in the series.
Salinas' second-inning bomb doubled the Wildcats' lead to 4-0. K-State added three more in the fifth after rattling off five straight hits to start the inning, with Nick Goodwin and Josh Nicoloff tallying back-to-back RBI doubles.
K-State's extended its stretch to nine unanswered runs an inning later with an RBI single from Justin Mitchell and a run-producing double from Johnson.
K-State hit .526 (10-for-19) with runners in scoring position and .444 (12-for-27) with men on base.
McCullough earned his first win of the season after logging 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and scattering three hits. The redshirt sophomore retired the first eight he faced and allowed just two hits through five innings.
The only trouble McCullough ran into was in the sixth when he began the frame by hitting the first two Lions hitters he saw and walking the next two. His night was done after allowing three earned and striking out two in the fifth.
"I thought Connor pitched great," added Hughes. "I've coached him for three years and I know when he's getting tired. I should've picked up on it when he hit the first two batters of the sixth inning and had someone warming and ready. He's been so dependable and his pitch count was at 70-75, so that inning got away from him but that's on me."
Griffin Hassall pitched the final two innings, sitting down all six he faced with two strikeouts. Landry Wideman surrendered two runs on two hits, including a two-run home run to LMU's Grant Weiss in the seventh inning.
Loyola Marymount (1-8-1) received two-hit days from both Cole Roberts and Jared Thomas, as the pair accounted for four of the Lions' five base hits. Thomas was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
The Lions offense was limited to just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-10 with two outs.
LMU starter Matt McClure suffered the loss after allowing nine hits, seven earned runs and four walks over his four innings of work. McClure struck out three as his record dipped to 1-2.
After beginning the season 0-5, the Wildcats have won three of their last four games and go for the series sweep Sunday afternoon.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
K-State's offense started early with three hits and two runs in the top of the first. Dylan Phillips and Goodwin carded back-to-back RBI singles to give McCullough a 2-0 lead before he took the mound.
Salinas doubled the advantage an inning later when he belted his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that scored Cole Johnson. Johnson led off the frame with a single and stole second.
A three-run fifth included consecutive RBI doubles from Goodwin and Nicoloff before two more in the sixth extended K-State's run to nine unanswered runs. In the sixth, Mitchell and Cole Johnson each tallied an RBI.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UP NEXT
K-State concludes the three-game series at Loyola Marymount Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. The contest will be streamed on WCC Network with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free, live audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/Watch.
K-State (3-6) raced out to a 9-0 lead after scoring multiple runs in four of the game's first six innings. Orlando Salinas, Jr. belted a two-run homer in the second to help back Connor McCullough's outing, as the Cats eclipsed double-digit runs and hits for the second straight day.
"A good team win, one through nine," head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. "A lot of contributors and clean defense, no errors. The offense drove the show and we had a lot of people contribute. Brady Day and Cole Johnson continue to swing hot bats. Orlando Salinas got us going early on and that just makes everything easier."
Six different Wildcats turned in multi-hit efforts while seven drove in at least one run. Johnson was 3-for-5 with an RBI double for his second consecutive three-hit game. Day ended 3-for-6 with a double and is now 5-for-10 with two doubles in the series.
Salinas' second-inning bomb doubled the Wildcats' lead to 4-0. K-State added three more in the fifth after rattling off five straight hits to start the inning, with Nick Goodwin and Josh Nicoloff tallying back-to-back RBI doubles.
K-State's extended its stretch to nine unanswered runs an inning later with an RBI single from Justin Mitchell and a run-producing double from Johnson.
K-State hit .526 (10-for-19) with runners in scoring position and .444 (12-for-27) with men on base.
McCullough earned his first win of the season after logging 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven and scattering three hits. The redshirt sophomore retired the first eight he faced and allowed just two hits through five innings.
The only trouble McCullough ran into was in the sixth when he began the frame by hitting the first two Lions hitters he saw and walking the next two. His night was done after allowing three earned and striking out two in the fifth.
"I thought Connor pitched great," added Hughes. "I've coached him for three years and I know when he's getting tired. I should've picked up on it when he hit the first two batters of the sixth inning and had someone warming and ready. He's been so dependable and his pitch count was at 70-75, so that inning got away from him but that's on me."
Griffin Hassall pitched the final two innings, sitting down all six he faced with two strikeouts. Landry Wideman surrendered two runs on two hits, including a two-run home run to LMU's Grant Weiss in the seventh inning.
Loyola Marymount (1-8-1) received two-hit days from both Cole Roberts and Jared Thomas, as the pair accounted for four of the Lions' five base hits. Thomas was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
The Lions offense was limited to just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-10 with two outs.
LMU starter Matt McClure suffered the loss after allowing nine hits, seven earned runs and four walks over his four innings of work. McClure struck out three as his record dipped to 1-2.
After beginning the season 0-5, the Wildcats have won three of their last four games and go for the series sweep Sunday afternoon.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
K-State's offense started early with three hits and two runs in the top of the first. Dylan Phillips and Goodwin carded back-to-back RBI singles to give McCullough a 2-0 lead before he took the mound.
Salinas doubled the advantage an inning later when he belted his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that scored Cole Johnson. Johnson led off the frame with a single and stole second.
A three-run fifth included consecutive RBI doubles from Goodwin and Nicoloff before two more in the sixth extended K-State's run to nine unanswered runs. In the sixth, Mitchell and Cole Johnson each tallied an RBI.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored 10 runs on 17 hits, committed no errors and left 10 on base.
- Loyola Marymount scored five runs on five hits with one error and stranded four baserunners.
- All nine Wildcats in the lineup recorded at least one base hit, with six turning in multi-hit efforts.
- Day and Cole Johnson paced the offense with three hits each.
- Cole Johnson registered three hits for the second straight night.
- Goodwin, Nicoloff and Salinas each drove in a pair, as seven Cats finished with an RBI.
- Salinas hit the first home run of his K-State career in the second.
- K-State has set a season high in hits in each of the last two game, with 17 hits Saturday.
- The Wildcats collected six extra-base hits, including five doubles.
- McCullough struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings and earned his first win of the year.
- Hassall logged two perfect innings of relief with two strikeouts.
- Roberts and Thomas each collected a pair of hits, as the duo accounted for four of LMU's five hits.
- McClure took the loss after allowing seven earned on nine hits in four innings.
- K-State hit .526 (10-for-19) with runners in scoring position and .444 (12-for-27) with men on base.
- The Lions were limited to just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-10 with two outs.
- K-State leads the all-time series with Loyola Marymount 2-0.
- It marks the first series victory of the season for the Cats.
- K-State has won three of its last four games after starting the season 0-5.
- The Wildcats are now 24-17 against teams from the West Coast Conference.
- Phillips has a team-leading six-game hitting streak.
- Salinas has reached base safely in all eight games in which he has appeared while Goodwin pushed his on-base streak to seven games.
UP NEXT
K-State concludes the three-game series at Loyola Marymount Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. The contest will be streamed on WCC Network with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free, live audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/Watch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McCullough, Connor (1-1)
L: MCCLURE, Matt (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Day, Brady 1 ; Mitchell, Justin 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Nicoloff, Josh 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
HR: Salinas, Jr., Orlando 1
RBI: Mitchell, Justin 1 ; Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 2 ; Nicoloff, Josh 2 ; Johnson, Cole 1 ; Salinas, Jr., Orlando 2 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Day, Brady 2 ; Mitchell, Justin 2 ; Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 2 ; Nicoloff, Josh 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1 ; Salinas, Jr., Orlando 1
SB: Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
PO: Johnson, Dominic 1
Batting:
2B: THOMAS, Jared 1 ; ROBERTS, Cole 1
HR: WEISS, Grant 1
RBI: WEISS, Grant 2 ; BLOUGH, Connor 1 ; THOMAS, Jared 1 ; PIOTROWSKI, Matthew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WEISS, Grant 2 ; BECKER, Trey 1 ; ROBERTS, Cole 2
HBP: BECKER, Trey 1 ; ROBERTS, Cole 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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