Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, April 16
Manhattan, Kan.
4 p.m.
Kansas State University
17-17, 3-9
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Texas
26-12, 6-6
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Texas
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K-State
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No. 7 Texas Salvages Series Finale Saturday
Apr 16, 2022 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State eyed its first-ever sweep of Texas Saturday, but the seventh-ranked Longhorns managed to grind out a 4-2 victory to salvage the series finale at Tointon Family Stadium.
Texas (26-12, 6-6 Big 12) broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the sixth when Douglas Hodo and Dylan Campbell recorded back-to-back two-out doubles. Starter Lucas Gordon, along with relievers Luke Harrison and Aaron Nixon, combined to keep the Wildcats (17-17, 3-9 Big 12) scoreless over the game's final five innings.
"We are not satisfied with a series win, we needed to play good today and we didn't play good enough to get it done," head coach Pete Hughes said. "Had some opportunities, we gave up some soft runs. When you lose like that, it makes it a little more difficult. We didn't score from the fifth inning on, so that makes things difficult, as well. It was a tough day offensively, there's no question.
"This one will sting a little bit, but you win a weekend series and feel good about that. Definitely gives our program some momentum headed into a week where we've got a lot of baseball to be played, starting on Monday."
The three Longhorn hurlers allowed just two hits after the fourth inning. K-State managed two baserunners with one out in the seventh, but Nixon extinguished the threat by recording consecutive outs.
Nixon logged 2 2/3 shutout innings of relief in earning his fourth save of the season. He struck out four while Gordon (3-1) punched out seven over his five frames of work.
Catcher Justin Mitchell helped manufacture a Wildcat run in the second inning with a sacrifice fly before his RBI groundout tied the game, 2-2, in the fourth. Mitchell, who finished the day 1-for-3, led off the ninth with a single.
Texas answered Mitchell's first RBI with a sacrifice fly of its own, coming off the bat of Mitchell Daly in the third. A batter later, a two-out Wildcat error extended the frame and allowed the go-ahead run to score.
In the start, K-State's Connor McCullough yielded just one earned run over his five innings, striking out three and walking three.
Blake Corsentino lifted McCullough in the sixth and promptly struck out the first to Texas batters he saw before surrendering consecutive doubles to Hodo and Campbell. Cosentino (2-4) struck out four over three frames.
Nick Goodwin's leadoff triple in the second inning marked the Wildcats' only extra-base hit of the game. Goodwin sprinted home on Mitchell's sacrifice fly.
K-State's offense was suppressed to one hit with two outs (1-for-10) while going 1-for-15 with runners on base. The Cats were hitless with men in scoring position, finishing 0-for-6.
Friday, the Wildcats clinched their first conference series victory of the year, as they have won three of the last four series against Texas.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
K-State claimed an early one-run lead when Goodwin sprinted home on a sacrifice fly from the bat of Mitchell. Goodwin led off the second with a triple down the right field line, his second of the season.
A Trey Faltine single and an Austin Todd double resulted in Texas having two in scoring position with just one away. Daly lifted a game-tying sacrifice fly before a Wildcat error, with two outs, allowed Todd to score and give the Longhorns a one-run edge.
Mitchell's second run batted in, this time via a groundout, tied the game at 2 in the fourth. Mitchell brought in Dylan Phillips who stood on third after singling, advancing to second on a wild pitch and stealing third.
Corsentino entered the game to begin the sixth and promptly struck out the first two UT hitters he faced. Hodo and Campbell strung together back-to-back two-out doubles to give the Longhorns their first lead of the game, 3-2.
K-State threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh after Blake Adams drew a one-out walk and Dominic Johnson singled to put two on and one out. Nixon extinguished the inning by retiring the next two batters by way of a strikeout and a groundout.
An insurance run came in the top of the ninth off a sacrifice fly to right field from Stehly.
Mitchell led off the bottom of the ninth with an opposite-field single, but Nixon earned his fourth save of the year by sitting down the next three Wildcat hitters in order.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UP NEXT
K-State will play a pair of midweek games, traveling to Wichita State Monday before hosting Omaha on Tuesday. Monday's tilt with the Shockers can be seen on ESPN+ and with radio coverage on the K-State Sports Radio Network on Sirius XM Channel 375. Tuesday's home contest with the Mavericks will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and on News Radio KMAN.
Texas (26-12, 6-6 Big 12) broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the sixth when Douglas Hodo and Dylan Campbell recorded back-to-back two-out doubles. Starter Lucas Gordon, along with relievers Luke Harrison and Aaron Nixon, combined to keep the Wildcats (17-17, 3-9 Big 12) scoreless over the game's final five innings.
"We are not satisfied with a series win, we needed to play good today and we didn't play good enough to get it done," head coach Pete Hughes said. "Had some opportunities, we gave up some soft runs. When you lose like that, it makes it a little more difficult. We didn't score from the fifth inning on, so that makes things difficult, as well. It was a tough day offensively, there's no question.
"This one will sting a little bit, but you win a weekend series and feel good about that. Definitely gives our program some momentum headed into a week where we've got a lot of baseball to be played, starting on Monday."
The three Longhorn hurlers allowed just two hits after the fourth inning. K-State managed two baserunners with one out in the seventh, but Nixon extinguished the threat by recording consecutive outs.
Nixon logged 2 2/3 shutout innings of relief in earning his fourth save of the season. He struck out four while Gordon (3-1) punched out seven over his five frames of work.
Catcher Justin Mitchell helped manufacture a Wildcat run in the second inning with a sacrifice fly before his RBI groundout tied the game, 2-2, in the fourth. Mitchell, who finished the day 1-for-3, led off the ninth with a single.
Texas answered Mitchell's first RBI with a sacrifice fly of its own, coming off the bat of Mitchell Daly in the third. A batter later, a two-out Wildcat error extended the frame and allowed the go-ahead run to score.
In the start, K-State's Connor McCullough yielded just one earned run over his five innings, striking out three and walking three.
Blake Corsentino lifted McCullough in the sixth and promptly struck out the first to Texas batters he saw before surrendering consecutive doubles to Hodo and Campbell. Cosentino (2-4) struck out four over three frames.
Nick Goodwin's leadoff triple in the second inning marked the Wildcats' only extra-base hit of the game. Goodwin sprinted home on Mitchell's sacrifice fly.
K-State's offense was suppressed to one hit with two outs (1-for-10) while going 1-for-15 with runners on base. The Cats were hitless with men in scoring position, finishing 0-for-6.
Friday, the Wildcats clinched their first conference series victory of the year, as they have won three of the last four series against Texas.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
K-State claimed an early one-run lead when Goodwin sprinted home on a sacrifice fly from the bat of Mitchell. Goodwin led off the second with a triple down the right field line, his second of the season.
A Trey Faltine single and an Austin Todd double resulted in Texas having two in scoring position with just one away. Daly lifted a game-tying sacrifice fly before a Wildcat error, with two outs, allowed Todd to score and give the Longhorns a one-run edge.
Mitchell's second run batted in, this time via a groundout, tied the game at 2 in the fourth. Mitchell brought in Dylan Phillips who stood on third after singling, advancing to second on a wild pitch and stealing third.
Corsentino entered the game to begin the sixth and promptly struck out the first two UT hitters he faced. Hodo and Campbell strung together back-to-back two-out doubles to give the Longhorns their first lead of the game, 3-2.
K-State threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh after Blake Adams drew a one-out walk and Dominic Johnson singled to put two on and one out. Nixon extinguished the inning by retiring the next two batters by way of a strikeout and a groundout.
An insurance run came in the top of the ninth off a sacrifice fly to right field from Stehly.
Mitchell led off the bottom of the ninth with an opposite-field single, but Nixon earned his fourth save of the year by sitting down the next three Wildcat hitters in order.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored two runs on five hits with one error and left eight on base.
- Texas scored four runs on seven hits, committed no errors and stranded eight baserunners.
- Goodwin recorded K-State's only extra-base hit, a leadoff triple in the second inning.
- The Wildcats were limited to two hits and no runs after the fourth inning.
- Mitchell was responsible for both of the Cats' runs batted in, going 1-for-3.
- McCullough allowed one earned run over his five innings, striking out three and walking three.
- Corsentino suffered the loss after allowing two runs on four hits in three relief innings.
- Gordon earned the win for UT, striking out seven in five frames.
- Harrison and Nixon combined to hold the Cats to two hits over the final four innings.
- Three Longhorn pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and four walks.
- K-State finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-15 with men on base.
- Texas went 3-for-11 with two outs and 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
- The series victory marks Hughes' fifth over a ranked opponent and third against a top-10 team while at K-State.
- K-State has won three of the last four series against Texas.
- The Wildcats have won four of the last six games between the teams in Manhattan.
- The Cats are now 13-4 at home.
- Texas leads the all-time series 61-22-1 (51-22-1 Big 12).
- K-State is 11-24 at home against the Longhorns.
- The Cats are 3-10 against ranked teams this season and 3-7 against the top 10.
- Texas marks the fourth straight weekend opponent ranked in the nation's top 20 and the third consecutive in the top 10.
UP NEXT
K-State will play a pair of midweek games, traveling to Wichita State Monday before hosting Omaha on Tuesday. Monday's tilt with the Shockers can be seen on ESPN+ and with radio coverage on the K-State Sports Radio Network on Sirius XM Channel 375. Tuesday's home contest with the Mavericks will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and on News Radio KMAN.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gordon, Lucas (3-1)
L: Corsentino, Blake (2-4)
S: Nixon, Aaron (4)
Batting:
2B: Todd, Austin 1 ; Hodo III, Douglas 1 ; Campbell, Dylan 1
RBI: Daly, Mitchell 1 ; Stehly, Murphy 1 ; Campbell, Dylan 1
SH: Daly, Mitchell 1
SF: Daly, Mitchell 1 ; Stehly, Murphy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Todd, Austin 1 ; Hodo III, Douglas 1 ; Faltine, Trey 2
SB: Stehly, Murphy 1
CS: Stehly, Murphy 1
HBP: Faltine, Trey 1
Batting:
3B: Goodwin, Nick 1
RBI: Mitchell, Justin 2
SF: Mitchell, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1
SB: Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
HBP: Johnson, Cole 1
Game Leaders
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4
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2
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Players Mentioned
RHP/DH
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