Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, April 14
Lawrence, KS
3 p.m.
Kansas State University
22-14, 7-6
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Kansas
17-16, 5-5
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Kansas State
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Kansas
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Cats Take Dillons Sunflower Opener, 5-4
Apr 14, 2023 | Baseball
LAWRENCE, Kan. – K-State handed Kansas its first home loss of the season as the Wildcats took game one of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown, 5-4, on Friday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark.
With the game tied 4-4 in the eighth, Roberto Pena pushed a safety squeeze out of range of the Jayhawks (17-16, 5-5) to score the game-winning run and move the Wildcats to 22-14 overall and 7-6 in league action.
"That was a great start to the series," said head coach Pete Hughes. "Loved how our guys refused to be down. They answered KU's runs and then some."
"The guys never backed down and built energy off Nick Goodwin's home run. It was a loud statement."
Goodwin blasted his 29th career home run in the victory to move up in the program's all-time leaderboard, tying sixth overall.
"Owen [Boerema] pitched well enough on the mound for us to stay in the game but it was Ruhl and Neighbors that allowed the opportunity to win that game. They were awesome today."
Ty Ruhl (2-3) didn't allow a single hit during his 2 2/3 shutout innings in relief to pick up the victory. Tyson Neighbors earned his sixth save of the season which ranks second in the Big 12.
Six different Wildcats registered a hit in the series opener led by Brady Day who went 3-for-4 while Goodwin had a team-high two RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
KU jumped on the board in the opening frame with a pair of runs to take the early lead.
The Wildcats ended the drought in the third as Cole Johnson walked to lead off the inning before coming around on a triple from Brendan Jones. Cash Rugely hit into left for Jones to come across the plate to level the score, 2-2.
With one swing, Nick Goodwin put the Cats on top with his eighth homer of the season. The Overland Park product launched a two-run homer over the centerfield wall to give K-State its first lead of the game.
The Jayhawks sat down the Cats in order in the fifth frame before stringing together a trio of hits to score two and make it 4-4.
Kaelen Culpepper took a pitch off the helmet to lead off the eighth until the sophomore advanced to third on a hit to right by Day. With runners on first and third, Pena put the Cats back on top as the senior pushed a bunt past the Jayhawks' reliever to drive in the game-winning run.
INSIDE THE BOX
Game two of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark. The series can be seen on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with radio coverage available on KMAN (93.3FM/1350AM) and a free live audio available at kstatesports.com/watch.
With the game tied 4-4 in the eighth, Roberto Pena pushed a safety squeeze out of range of the Jayhawks (17-16, 5-5) to score the game-winning run and move the Wildcats to 22-14 overall and 7-6 in league action.
"That was a great start to the series," said head coach Pete Hughes. "Loved how our guys refused to be down. They answered KU's runs and then some."
"The guys never backed down and built energy off Nick Goodwin's home run. It was a loud statement."
Goodwin blasted his 29th career home run in the victory to move up in the program's all-time leaderboard, tying sixth overall.
"Owen [Boerema] pitched well enough on the mound for us to stay in the game but it was Ruhl and Neighbors that allowed the opportunity to win that game. They were awesome today."
Ty Ruhl (2-3) didn't allow a single hit during his 2 2/3 shutout innings in relief to pick up the victory. Tyson Neighbors earned his sixth save of the season which ranks second in the Big 12.
Six different Wildcats registered a hit in the series opener led by Brady Day who went 3-for-4 while Goodwin had a team-high two RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
KU jumped on the board in the opening frame with a pair of runs to take the early lead.
The Wildcats ended the drought in the third as Cole Johnson walked to lead off the inning before coming around on a triple from Brendan Jones. Cash Rugely hit into left for Jones to come across the plate to level the score, 2-2.
With one swing, Nick Goodwin put the Cats on top with his eighth homer of the season. The Overland Park product launched a two-run homer over the centerfield wall to give K-State its first lead of the game.
The Jayhawks sat down the Cats in order in the fifth frame before stringing together a trio of hits to score two and make it 4-4.
Kaelen Culpepper took a pitch off the helmet to lead off the eighth until the sophomore advanced to third on a hit to right by Day. With runners on first and third, Pena put the Cats back on top as the senior pushed a bunt past the Jayhawks' reliever to drive in the game-winning run.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Pena drove in the game-winning run with an RBI safety squeeze
- The Cats gave the Jayhawks their first home loss of the season
- K-State scored five runs on eight hits with six left on base and no errors committed
- Ruhl (2-3) picked up the victory without allowing a hit or run over 2 1/3 innings
- Neighbors earned his sixth save of the season; ranks second in the Big 12
- The Cats sent eight batters to the plate in the third
- Six different Cats had a hit
- Day went 3-for-4 at the plate
- Goodwin hit his 29th career homer; ties sixth in all-time leaderboard
- Goodwin led with two RBI
- KU scored four runs on seven hits with an error and stranded seven runners
- The bullpen combined for three strikeouts and a walk
- Starter Owen Boerema struck out seven batters
- Cats lead the all-time series 184-177-1 and are 72-92 in Lawrence
- The Wildcats move to 9-7 on the road
- K-State is the only team to have three Big 12 victories on the road
- Cats rank fourth in the league standings at 7-6
Game two of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark. The series can be seen on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with radio coverage available on KMAN (93.3FM/1350AM) and a free live audio available at kstatesports.com/watch.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ruhl, Ty (2-3)
L: Trumper, Thaniel (2-3)
S: Neighbors, Tyson (6)
Batting:
2B: Pelletier, Raphael 1
3B: Jones, Brendan 1
HR: Goodwin, Nick 1
RBI: Rugely, Cash 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 2 ; Pena, Roberto 1 ; Jones, Brendan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rugely, Cash 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1 ; Jones, Brendan 1
SB: Rugely, Cash 1 ; Jones, Brendan 1
CS: Day, Brady 1
HBP: Culpepper, Kaelen 1
PO: Hughes, Dom 1
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Batting:
2B: Shojinaga, Kodey 1 ; Reeder, Janson 1
RBI: Elvis, Cole 2 ; Reeder, Janson 1 ; English, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jans, Chase 1 ; Shojinaga, Kodey 2 ; Elvis, Cole 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF/OF
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