Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, March 25
Manhattan, KS
1 p.m.
Kansas State University
16-8, 0
7
vs
6
Oklahoma
13-10, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Oklahoma
0
0
1
0
3
2
0
0
0
6
10
0
Kansas State
0
1
0
5
0
1
0
0
X
7
7
0
Pena Plates Four, Cats Take Series from Oklahoma
Mar 25, 2023 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Roberto Pena's go-ahead RBI double in the sixth led K-State to a 7-6 triumph over Oklahoma to clinch the Big 12 series on Saturday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.
Pena, a senior from Caracas, Venezuela, drove in four runs with a pair of doubles to lead the Wildcats (16-8) to their first conference series win of the season. K-State improves to 3-2 in league action while the Sooners drop to 2-3 in conference and 13-10 overall.
"The guys had a great approach to the day from the first pitch to the final out," stated head coach Pete Hughes. "You can jump out and take a lead, but you have to battle back when that lead is taken away from you. We did that today and came out on top in a tight game."
Four pitchers saw action on the mound with freshman right-hander Mason Buss securing the victory to move to 3-0 on the year. The Pewaukee, Wis., native allowed just two hits during his 2 2/3 outings with a pair of strikeouts. Sophomore Tyson Neighbors registered his third save of the season tossing a hitless final inning.
"All you can ask for is your guys to throw strikes and compete in pressure situations and that's what they did. We had the leadership of Roberto Pena and his two big hits then we had a great relief out of Mason Buss to stop that momentum from Oklahoma and give us a chance to win."
HOW IT HAPPENED
K-State opened scoring in the second frame after Cole Johnson and Cash Rugely each walked before the duo advanced on a wild pitch to move into scoring position. A grounder to second plated Johnson to take the early 1-0 lead.
OU immediately leveled the board with a double by Rocco Garza-Gongora before the freshman came around on hit through the 3-4 hole in the third.
The bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth as the Wildcats scored five runs on three hits including a three-run RBI double from Roberto Pena. With bases loaded, Pena roped a 2-1 pitch into left center to tab three runs to the board until sophomore Brendan Jones launched his third homer of the season to push the lead out to five, 6-1.
The Sooners strung together six hits over two frames to tie the game at 6-all.
With two outs, Orlando Salinas, Jr. found the green just inches away from the right field line with his third double of the season in the sixth. The Sooners made their first pitching change of the game bringing in reliever Carson Atwood to go head-to-head with Pena.
The senior first baseman won the battle driving his second hit of the series into left center for the stand-up double to bring Salinas across the plate for the go-ahead lead.
INSIDE THE BOX
The series finale between the Cats and Sooners is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium. Tomorrow's game can be seen on the Big 12 Now on ESPN + and the ESPN app with radio coverage on KMAN (93.3FM/1350AM). A free live audio is available at kstatesports.com/watch.
Pena, a senior from Caracas, Venezuela, drove in four runs with a pair of doubles to lead the Wildcats (16-8) to their first conference series win of the season. K-State improves to 3-2 in league action while the Sooners drop to 2-3 in conference and 13-10 overall.
"The guys had a great approach to the day from the first pitch to the final out," stated head coach Pete Hughes. "You can jump out and take a lead, but you have to battle back when that lead is taken away from you. We did that today and came out on top in a tight game."
Four pitchers saw action on the mound with freshman right-hander Mason Buss securing the victory to move to 3-0 on the year. The Pewaukee, Wis., native allowed just two hits during his 2 2/3 outings with a pair of strikeouts. Sophomore Tyson Neighbors registered his third save of the season tossing a hitless final inning.
"All you can ask for is your guys to throw strikes and compete in pressure situations and that's what they did. We had the leadership of Roberto Pena and his two big hits then we had a great relief out of Mason Buss to stop that momentum from Oklahoma and give us a chance to win."
HOW IT HAPPENED
K-State opened scoring in the second frame after Cole Johnson and Cash Rugely each walked before the duo advanced on a wild pitch to move into scoring position. A grounder to second plated Johnson to take the early 1-0 lead.
OU immediately leveled the board with a double by Rocco Garza-Gongora before the freshman came around on hit through the 3-4 hole in the third.
The bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth as the Wildcats scored five runs on three hits including a three-run RBI double from Roberto Pena. With bases loaded, Pena roped a 2-1 pitch into left center to tab three runs to the board until sophomore Brendan Jones launched his third homer of the season to push the lead out to five, 6-1.
The Sooners strung together six hits over two frames to tie the game at 6-all.
With two outs, Orlando Salinas, Jr. found the green just inches away from the right field line with his third double of the season in the sixth. The Sooners made their first pitching change of the game bringing in reliever Carson Atwood to go head-to-head with Pena.
The senior first baseman won the battle driving his second hit of the series into left center for the stand-up double to bring Salinas across the plate for the go-ahead lead.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State scored seven earned runs on seven hits with no errors committed and just four runners left on
- Cats pitching staff allowed six runs (six earned) on 10 hits with four walks and nine strikeouts
- German Fajardo started his seventh game of the season
- Six different players recorded a hit in the victory
- Roberto Pena went 2-for-3 with four RBI
- Brendan Jones hit his third career home run; 30th team homer of the season
- K-State recorded the first steal of the series
- OU had its 12th double figure hit game of the season
- The Sooners stranded six on base with two in scoring position
- Wildcats hit went 3-for-8 (.375) with runners in scoring position and .429 with two outs
- Six of the Cats RBI came with two outs
- Pena had four RBI for the second time of the season
- Cats rolled their 18th double play; ranks second in the Big 12
- Cats clinched their first series against the Sooners since 2021
- K-State moves to 10-1 at home and 55-15 (.786) since 2021 at Tointon
- The Wildcats move to 3-2 in Big 12 action; first team to reach three conference victories
- Cats lead the league with 174 walks which is 20 ahead of Texas Tech
- K-State continues to lead the Big 12 in steals with 69
- Brendan Jones reached base for the 14th straight game
The series finale between the Cats and Sooners is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium. Tomorrow's game can be seen on the Big 12 Now on ESPN + and the ESPN app with radio coverage on KMAN (93.3FM/1350AM). A free live audio is available at kstatesports.com/watch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Buss, Mason (3-0)
L: Douthit, Braxton (3-1)
S: Neighbors, Tyson (3)
Batting:
2B: Garza-Gongora, Rocco 1 ; Pettis, Kendall 1
RBI: Mackenzie, Anthony 1 ; Spikerman, John 1 ; Carmichael, Easton 2 ; Madron, Bryce 1 ; Orduno, Sebastian 1
SF: Mackenzie, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mackenzie, Anthony 1 ; Garza-Gongora, Rocco 2 ; Spikerman, John 1 ; Nicklaus, Jackson 1 ; Orduno, Sebastian 1
HBP: Mackenzie, Anthony 1
Batting:
2B: Rugely, Cash 1 ; Salinas, Jr., Orlando 1 ; Pena, Roberto 2
HR: Jones, Brendan 1
RBI: Jones, Brendan 2 ; Salinas, Jr., Orlando 1 ; Pena, Roberto 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Jones, Brendan 1 ; Johnson, Cole 2 ; Rugely, Cash 1 ; Salinas, Jr., Orlando 2 ; Pena, Roberto 1
SB: Day, Brady 1
HBP: Johnson, Cole 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
4
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
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RHP
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OF
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/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ Baseball
INF
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