Kansas State University Athletics
Wednesday, May 25
Arlington, Texas
4 p.m.
Kansas State University
27-28
3
vs
5
Texas Tech
37-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
K-State
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
3
3
3
Texas Tech
0
3
0
0
0
2
0
0
X
5
8
0
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
Molina, Red Raiders Stifle Wildcats in First Round, 5-3
May 25, 2022 | Baseball
ARLINGTON, Texas – Texas Tech starter Mason Molina struck out a career-high 10 and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Wednesday, as the second-seeded and eighth-ranked Red Raiders defeated No. 7 seed K-State 5-3 in the opening round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Globe Life Field.
In addition to his strikeout total, Molina set a career high with 6 2/3 innings in retiring 18 of the first 19 hitters he faced. K-State (27-28) registered all three of its hits in the seventh inning, scoring three against Molina, capped by a two-out, two-run double from Kaelen Culpepper.
The Wildcats committed three errors in the second inning, leading to three Texas Tech (37-18) runs – all with two outs.
"The last thing you can do is provide offense for your opponent, and we did that," said head coach Pete Hughes. "We didn't play catch and gave them free 90s early on in that game. That's not taking anything away from Molina, he was awesome, he was the difference-maker and came at us with fastballs and no-hit us for a good portion of that game.
"Disappointing night, but any time you're going to have the same amount of errors as hits, it's going to be tough to beat a quality team like that."
With runners on the corners and two outs, a failed pickoff attempt by Connor McCullough allowed Kurt Wilson to run home from third. A throwing error from catcher Justin Mitchell trying to gun down Parker Kelly resulted in a second unearned run.
Earlier in the inning, Kelly produced TTU's only RBI base hit with a single to left. Dillon Carter's two-run, two-out triple in the sixth pushed TTU's lead to five runs.
A walk coaxed by Cameron Uselton in the third marked the lone Wildcat baserunner through six innings. Cash Rugely led off the seventh with a walk before Nick Goodwin doubled and Cole Johnson's RBI single provided the first run against Molina.
"Molina threw a really good game," Hughes added. "His fastball had a lot of spin on it. We've got to be disciplined and we weren't disciplined enough to take advantage of it."
Molina exited with two outs in the seventh and Culpepper standing on second base. Andrew Devine took over to face Mitchell, who represented the tying run, and induced an inning-ending groundout.
Devine, along with relievers Derek Bridges and Austin Becker, combined to hold K-State without a hit over the final 2 1/3 innings.
Texas Tech's four pitchers racked up 14 strikeouts – a season high total for K-State hitters and the most by the Wildcats in any Big 12 Championship contest.
In the top of the eighth, Rugely reached after being hit by a pitch with two outs. Bridges came into the game and struck out Dylan Phillips to end the inning. Becker worked a perfect ninth to collect his second save of the season.
McCullough logged his fifth quality start of the season, as he allowed three earned runs over six innings. His 113 pitches marked a career high, as he struck out four, walked two and surrendered eight hits.
In relief of McCullough, Blake Corsentino struck out five of the six he faced over two perfect frames.
Wilson turned in the day's only multi-hit game, going 3-for-4 with a double.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Three K-State errors helped gift Texas Tech three runs (two unearned) in the bottom of the second inning. A failed pickoff attempt by McCullough allowed Wilson to scamper home from third. Kelly produced TTU's only run-producing hit, with a single to left field that brought in White.
Kelly later scored on a throwing error after swiping second base, as all three Red Raider runs came with two outs.
Back-to-back hits by Easton Murrell and Cole Stilwell with two outs along with a walk issued to Jace Jung loaded the bases for the Red Raiders in the fifth. McCullough was able to keep TTU off the board by getting Coleman to fly out.
Carter extended the Red Raiders' lead to five runs with a two-out, two-run triple in the sixth. He drove home Wilson, who led off with a single, and Kelly, who earlier walked. The first five Tech runs all came with two outs.
Held without a hit through six innings, K-State got to Molina with three runs on three hits in the top of the seventh. Goodwin's one-out double marked the Cats' first hit and Cole Johnson followed with an RBI single.
Culpepper, down in the count 0-2 and with two outs, ripped a two-run double the other way down the right field line to bring K-State within two runs, 5-3, as the game hit the seventh-inning stretch.
In the top of the eighth, Rugely reached after being hit by a pitch with two outs by Devine, bringing Phillips to the plate as the game's tying run. Bridges then lifted Devine and struck Phillips out to keep the Red Raider lead intact.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
UP NEXT
K-State faces either third-seeded Oklahoma or No. 6 seed West Virginia Thursday in an elimination game at the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at 12:30 p.m. The game can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage can be heard on the K-State Sports Radio Network with live audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/Watch.
In addition to his strikeout total, Molina set a career high with 6 2/3 innings in retiring 18 of the first 19 hitters he faced. K-State (27-28) registered all three of its hits in the seventh inning, scoring three against Molina, capped by a two-out, two-run double from Kaelen Culpepper.
The Wildcats committed three errors in the second inning, leading to three Texas Tech (37-18) runs – all with two outs.
"The last thing you can do is provide offense for your opponent, and we did that," said head coach Pete Hughes. "We didn't play catch and gave them free 90s early on in that game. That's not taking anything away from Molina, he was awesome, he was the difference-maker and came at us with fastballs and no-hit us for a good portion of that game.
"Disappointing night, but any time you're going to have the same amount of errors as hits, it's going to be tough to beat a quality team like that."
With runners on the corners and two outs, a failed pickoff attempt by Connor McCullough allowed Kurt Wilson to run home from third. A throwing error from catcher Justin Mitchell trying to gun down Parker Kelly resulted in a second unearned run.
Earlier in the inning, Kelly produced TTU's only RBI base hit with a single to left. Dillon Carter's two-run, two-out triple in the sixth pushed TTU's lead to five runs.
A walk coaxed by Cameron Uselton in the third marked the lone Wildcat baserunner through six innings. Cash Rugely led off the seventh with a walk before Nick Goodwin doubled and Cole Johnson's RBI single provided the first run against Molina.
"Molina threw a really good game," Hughes added. "His fastball had a lot of spin on it. We've got to be disciplined and we weren't disciplined enough to take advantage of it."
Molina exited with two outs in the seventh and Culpepper standing on second base. Andrew Devine took over to face Mitchell, who represented the tying run, and induced an inning-ending groundout.
Devine, along with relievers Derek Bridges and Austin Becker, combined to hold K-State without a hit over the final 2 1/3 innings.
Texas Tech's four pitchers racked up 14 strikeouts – a season high total for K-State hitters and the most by the Wildcats in any Big 12 Championship contest.
In the top of the eighth, Rugely reached after being hit by a pitch with two outs. Bridges came into the game and struck out Dylan Phillips to end the inning. Becker worked a perfect ninth to collect his second save of the season.
McCullough logged his fifth quality start of the season, as he allowed three earned runs over six innings. His 113 pitches marked a career high, as he struck out four, walked two and surrendered eight hits.
In relief of McCullough, Blake Corsentino struck out five of the six he faced over two perfect frames.
Wilson turned in the day's only multi-hit game, going 3-for-4 with a double.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Three K-State errors helped gift Texas Tech three runs (two unearned) in the bottom of the second inning. A failed pickoff attempt by McCullough allowed Wilson to scamper home from third. Kelly produced TTU's only run-producing hit, with a single to left field that brought in White.
Kelly later scored on a throwing error after swiping second base, as all three Red Raider runs came with two outs.
Back-to-back hits by Easton Murrell and Cole Stilwell with two outs along with a walk issued to Jace Jung loaded the bases for the Red Raiders in the fifth. McCullough was able to keep TTU off the board by getting Coleman to fly out.
Carter extended the Red Raiders' lead to five runs with a two-out, two-run triple in the sixth. He drove home Wilson, who led off with a single, and Kelly, who earlier walked. The first five Tech runs all came with two outs.
Held without a hit through six innings, K-State got to Molina with three runs on three hits in the top of the seventh. Goodwin's one-out double marked the Cats' first hit and Cole Johnson followed with an RBI single.
Culpepper, down in the count 0-2 and with two outs, ripped a two-run double the other way down the right field line to bring K-State within two runs, 5-3, as the game hit the seventh-inning stretch.
In the top of the eighth, Rugely reached after being hit by a pitch with two outs by Devine, bringing Phillips to the plate as the game's tying run. Bridges then lifted Devine and struck Phillips out to keep the Red Raider lead intact.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored three runs on three hits with three errors and left three on base.
- Texas Tech scored five runs on eight hits, committed no errors and stranded five baserunners.
- McCullough threw a career-high 113 pitches over six innings.
- McCullough turned in his fifth quality start of the season, allowing three earned runs on eight hits.
- Corsentino struck out five of the six he faced in two perfect relief innings.
- Culpepper and Goodwin each doubled, while Culpepper drove in two of the Cats' three runs.
- K-State recorded all three of its hits in the seventh inning.
- The Wildcats struck out 14 times, a season high and their highest single-game total in a conference tournament game.
- Molina retired 18 of the first 19 he faced over the game's first six frames.
- Moline finished with a career-high 10 strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.
- Wilson turned in the game's only multi-hit performance, going 3-for-4.
- Carter drove in two with a two-out triple in the sixth.
- All five of TTU's runs came with two outs.
- The Red Raiders bullpen combined to toss 2 1/3 innings without allowing a hit.
- K-State went 1-for-10 with two outs and 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
- Texas Tech was 5-for-13 with two outs and 4-for-11 with men on base.
- The matchup marked the third straight conference tournament in which K-State and Texas Tech have met.
- K-State is 3-4 against the Red Raiders at the Big 12 Baseball Championship.
- The Cats fall to 5-8 in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship.
- The Wildcats are 17-23 all-time at the Big 12 Championship.
- Texas Tech leads the all-time series 50-31-1 and has won all four matchups in 2022.
- K-State is 3-12 against ranked teams this season and 3-8 against the top 10.
- The Cats' have equaled their longest losing streak of the season at five games.
- Away from home this season, the Wildcats are 6-21 (0-4 in neutral-site contests).
UP NEXT
K-State faces either third-seeded Oklahoma or No. 6 seed West Virginia Thursday in an elimination game at the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at 12:30 p.m. The game can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Radio coverage can be heard on the K-State Sports Radio Network with live audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/Watch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Molina, M. (2-5)
L: McCullough, Connor (3-4)
S: Becker, A. (2)
Batting:
2B: Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1
RBI: Johnson, Cole 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Phillips, Dylan 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
SB: Johnson, Cole 1
HBP: Rugely, Cash 1
Batting:
2B: Wilson, K. 1
3B: Carter, D. 1
RBI: Kelly, P. 1 ; Carter, D. 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, K. 1 ; White, H. 2 ; Kelly, P. 2
SB: Kelly, P. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
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/ Baseball
OF/LHP
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INF
/ Baseball
OF
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