Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, April 21
Irvine, CA
8 p.m.
Kansas State University
25-15
6
at
3
UC Irvine
22-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Kansas State
0
1
2
0
0
0
1
0
2
6
11
0
UC Irvine
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
3
6
1
Culpepper’s Blast Lifts Cats Past Eaters Friday
Apr 22, 2023 | Baseball
IRVINE, Calif. – Kaelen Culpepper's go-ahead solo shot lifted K-State to a 6-3 victory over UC Irvine on Friday night at Anteater Ballpark.
"That was a really good, clean baseball game for the most part," said head coach Pete Hughes on his team's win over a highly RPI favored program. "We had some timely hits that allowed us to take the lead on the road."
With the game tied at 3-all, Culpepper unloaded on a 2-0 pitch in the seventh to help the Cats (25-15) take the series opener.
Owen Boerema (5-1) picked up the victory on the mound for the Cats with the Minnesota product allowing three earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
"Owen pitched very well and did a fine job damage controlling in the one inning that UCI scored," said Hughes.
Tyson Neighbors continued his stretch of dominating outings as he earned his seventh save of the season to move to first on the Big 12 leaderboard. The sophomore fanned seven of the 11 batters he faced including striking out the side in the final two innings.
"He allows us to take back the lead and build distance. We need to keep the momentum we were able to establish tonight."
Seven Cats earned a hit led by Brendan Jones with a game-high three while Nick Goodwin hit his 31st career homer to drive in two runs for his 13th multi-RBI game of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
K-State jumped on the board in the second frame with Raphael Pelletier's RBI single out to center.
The Cats added two to their lead with Nick Goodwin's 10th homer of the season. Jones singled into left to lead off the inning to bring Goodwin to the plate where the junior launched a 0-1 pitch off the light pole in left field to push the Cats lead out to three.
Momentum shifted in the fifth inning as the Anteaters' Luke Spillane hit a two-run triple before coming across the plate in the next at bat to lock the score at 3-3.
With two outs, Culpepper sent out his seventh homer of the year out to left to give the Cats the go-ahead lead in the seventh. The sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., has sent four homers out of the ballpark in the last three games.
Neighbors struck out the side in the eighth to preserve the Cats one-run lead.
K-State added a pair of insurance runs to the board in the final inning as Cole Johnson hit a chopper to third with bases loaded until a wild pitch plated the sixth run.
INSIDE THE BOX
Game two against the Eaters is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. CT at Anteater Ballpark. The series against UCI will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.
"That was a really good, clean baseball game for the most part," said head coach Pete Hughes on his team's win over a highly RPI favored program. "We had some timely hits that allowed us to take the lead on the road."
With the game tied at 3-all, Culpepper unloaded on a 2-0 pitch in the seventh to help the Cats (25-15) take the series opener.
Owen Boerema (5-1) picked up the victory on the mound for the Cats with the Minnesota product allowing three earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
"Owen pitched very well and did a fine job damage controlling in the one inning that UCI scored," said Hughes.
Tyson Neighbors continued his stretch of dominating outings as he earned his seventh save of the season to move to first on the Big 12 leaderboard. The sophomore fanned seven of the 11 batters he faced including striking out the side in the final two innings.
"He allows us to take back the lead and build distance. We need to keep the momentum we were able to establish tonight."
Seven Cats earned a hit led by Brendan Jones with a game-high three while Nick Goodwin hit his 31st career homer to drive in two runs for his 13th multi-RBI game of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
K-State jumped on the board in the second frame with Raphael Pelletier's RBI single out to center.
The Cats added two to their lead with Nick Goodwin's 10th homer of the season. Jones singled into left to lead off the inning to bring Goodwin to the plate where the junior launched a 0-1 pitch off the light pole in left field to push the Cats lead out to three.
Momentum shifted in the fifth inning as the Anteaters' Luke Spillane hit a two-run triple before coming across the plate in the next at bat to lock the score at 3-3.
With two outs, Culpepper sent out his seventh homer of the year out to left to give the Cats the go-ahead lead in the seventh. The sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., has sent four homers out of the ballpark in the last three games.
Neighbors struck out the side in the eighth to preserve the Cats one-run lead.
K-State added a pair of insurance runs to the board in the final inning as Cole Johnson hit a chopper to third with bases loaded until a wild pitch plated the sixth run.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State scored 11 runs on six hits with no errors and 11 left on base
- Goodwin hit his 10th homer of the season; ties Pena on team leaderboard
- Seven players earned a hit; three had multiple
- Jones went 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored
- Boerema picked up his fifth win of the season striking out five
- Neighbors grabbed his seventh save; now leads the Big 12
- Goodwin led with two RBI; 13th multi-RBI game of the year
- Neighbors struck out seven during his three innings
- UCI scored three runs on six hits with one error and six left on base
- Eaters sent five pitchers to the mound
- Finnegan received his first loss of the season
- Culpepper homered in his third straight game
- Rugely extended his on-base streak to 22 straight games followed by Day (20) and Pelletier (16)
- K-State had its 15th multi-home run game
- Cats lead the all-time series 4-2; 1-0 in Irvine
- K-State is 12-7 when playing in true road games; 12-10 overall on the road
Game two against the Eaters is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. CT at Anteater Ballpark. The series against UCI will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Live streaming audio is available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Boerema, Owen (5-1)
L: Wall, Finnegan (2-1)
S: Neighbors, Tyson (7)
Batting:
HR: Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1
RBI: Goodwin, Nick 2 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1 ; Pelletier, Raphael 1
SH: Day, Brady 1 ; Lodice, Kyan 1 ; Pelletier, Raphael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jones, Brendan 2 ; Goodwin, Nick 2 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 2
SB: Jones, Brendan 2
HBP: Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
PO: Lodice, Kyan 1
Batting:
3B: Spillane, Luke 1
RBI: Kendle, Caden 1 ; Spillane, Luke 2
SH: McCaffrey, Thomas 1 ; Spillane, Luke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gleed, Dub. 1 ; Bermudez, Will 1 ; Spillane, Luke 1
SB: Oyama, Jo 1 ; Call, Chase 1
HBP: Bermudez, Will 2
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
LHP
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OF
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RHP
/ Baseball
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