Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, April 8
Austin, TX
2:30 p.m.
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Texas
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Cats Even Series with One-Run Thriller
Apr 08, 2023 | Baseball
AUSTIN, Texas – Four answered runs and Tyson Neighbors' dominating performance on the mound led K-State to a 6-5 triumph over No. 21 Texas on Saturday afternoon to even the series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
After falling behind, 5-2, the Wildcats (20-13, 6-5) strung together two runs before Roberto Pena's RBI single plated the game-winning run to seal the upset victory against the Longhorns (22-10, 5-3).
"I'm really proud of our players and how resilient they were today," stated head coach Pete Hughes on his team's comeback victory. "We were all devastated by the loss and how we lost on Friday night, but high character people and programs bounce back from adversity."
"We came out with energy. Took an early lead, played from behind and finished," said Hughes.
Kyler Heyne (2-0) was awarded the victory in relief after stepping to the mound in the fourth inning, allowing just one run (one earned) on one hit with two strikeouts during his 2 2/3 innings.
Neighbors, a right-hander from Royse City, Texas, was credited with his fifth save of the season after striking out eight of the final 11 batters, allowing just one hit during his three innings.
"Neighbors was the difference maker in today's game. He was dominant."
Each member of the Wildcats' lineup contributed to the victory with all players recording a hit while three hit multiple. Pena, Cash Rugely and Raphael Pelletier each registered a pair of hits while Pena and fellow senior Cole Johnson each drove in two RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After three scoreless innings, the Wildcats strung together two consecutive hits from Brady Day and Cole Johnson to end the drought. Day recorded his second hit of the series before coming around on a double down the left field line by Johnson to take the one-run lead until Pena laced a 1-2 pitch into center to bring Johnson across the plate.
Texas rallied behind Dylan Campbell's leadoff single to answer with four runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth, grabbing the 4-2 lead.
A solo shot for the Longhorns extended the lead out to three until Brendan Jones launched his fifth homer out of the ballpark and the Cats first of the series to bridge the gap.
Down 5-3 in the seventh, Dom Hughes walked on seven pitches before Kaelen Culpepper blasted a double off the center field wall to position two in scoring position and bring Nick Goodwin to the plate. The senior shortstop lifted a deep fly ball into left for Hughes to easily score to make it a one-run ball game.
Day walked to put Cats on first and third until Johnson's sac fly to left plated the tying run to make it 5-5. Pelletier singled before a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position. Pena beat the shift when the senior roped a 2-1 pitch into right field to drive in the game-winning RBI.
Neighbors relieved right-hander Heyne in the seventh striking out seven of nine batters until Jared Thomas recorded the Longhorns' first hit since the fifth. It would take just three pitches for Neighbors to punch out the final batter to lead the Cats to their second victory over a Top 25 team this season.
INSIDE THE BOX
The rubber match is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field and will be streamed on the Longhorn Network and the ESPN app. Radio coverage is available on KMAN (93.3FM/1350AM) and a free live audio available at kstatesports.com/watch.
After falling behind, 5-2, the Wildcats (20-13, 6-5) strung together two runs before Roberto Pena's RBI single plated the game-winning run to seal the upset victory against the Longhorns (22-10, 5-3).
"I'm really proud of our players and how resilient they were today," stated head coach Pete Hughes on his team's comeback victory. "We were all devastated by the loss and how we lost on Friday night, but high character people and programs bounce back from adversity."
"We came out with energy. Took an early lead, played from behind and finished," said Hughes.
Kyler Heyne (2-0) was awarded the victory in relief after stepping to the mound in the fourth inning, allowing just one run (one earned) on one hit with two strikeouts during his 2 2/3 innings.
Neighbors, a right-hander from Royse City, Texas, was credited with his fifth save of the season after striking out eight of the final 11 batters, allowing just one hit during his three innings.
"Neighbors was the difference maker in today's game. He was dominant."
Each member of the Wildcats' lineup contributed to the victory with all players recording a hit while three hit multiple. Pena, Cash Rugely and Raphael Pelletier each registered a pair of hits while Pena and fellow senior Cole Johnson each drove in two RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After three scoreless innings, the Wildcats strung together two consecutive hits from Brady Day and Cole Johnson to end the drought. Day recorded his second hit of the series before coming around on a double down the left field line by Johnson to take the one-run lead until Pena laced a 1-2 pitch into center to bring Johnson across the plate.
Texas rallied behind Dylan Campbell's leadoff single to answer with four runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth, grabbing the 4-2 lead.
A solo shot for the Longhorns extended the lead out to three until Brendan Jones launched his fifth homer out of the ballpark and the Cats first of the series to bridge the gap.
Down 5-3 in the seventh, Dom Hughes walked on seven pitches before Kaelen Culpepper blasted a double off the center field wall to position two in scoring position and bring Nick Goodwin to the plate. The senior shortstop lifted a deep fly ball into left for Hughes to easily score to make it a one-run ball game.
Day walked to put Cats on first and third until Johnson's sac fly to left plated the tying run to make it 5-5. Pelletier singled before a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position. Pena beat the shift when the senior roped a 2-1 pitch into right field to drive in the game-winning RBI.
Neighbors relieved right-hander Heyne in the seventh striking out seven of nine batters until Jared Thomas recorded the Longhorns' first hit since the fifth. It would take just three pitches for Neighbors to punch out the final batter to lead the Cats to their second victory over a Top 25 team this season.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State scored six runs on 12 hits with eight left on base
- Pelletier threw out his 12th runner of the season; continues to lead the league
- Pena recorded his second game-winning RBI of the season
- Cats walked six times to bring their season total to 225
- Heyne was awarded his second victory of the season
- All nine players recorded a hit, three had multiple
- Pena and Pelletier each went 2-for-4 at the plate
- Johnson and Pena led the Cats with two RBI each
- K-State hit .333 (3-for-9) with runners in scoring position and 5-for-13 (.385) with two outs
- Texas scored five runs on seven hits with five left on base
- UT was 2-for-3 with runners on scoring position and 1-for-10 with two outs
- Cats captured their second Big 12 road victory of the season
- K-State moves to 6-5 in Big 12 play, tying fourth with TCU in the league standings
- Texas leads the all-time series 62-23-1
- Wildcats earn their first road victory over the Longhorns since April 14, 2019 (2-0)
- Jones reached base for the 23rd straight game
- Pete Hughes is 5-6 against Texas during his time at K-State
The rubber match is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field and will be streamed on the Longhorn Network and the ESPN app. Radio coverage is available on KMAN (93.3FM/1350AM) and a free live audio available at kstatesports.com/watch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Heyne, Kyler (2-0)
L: Johnson, Lebarron (3-2)
S: Neighbors, Tyson (5)
Batting:
2B: Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
HR: Jones, Brendan 1
RBI: Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Cole 2 ; Pena, Roberto 2 ; Jones, Brendan 1
SF: Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Johnson, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hughes, Dom 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Day, Brady 2 ; Johnson, Cole 1 ; Jones, Brendan 1
SB: Pena, Roberto 1
HBP: Culpepper, Kaelen 1
Batting:
2B: Powell, Peyton 1
HR: Powell, Peyton 1
RBI: Powell, Peyton 1 ; Guillemette, Garret 2 ; O'Dowd, Jack 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Campbell, Dylan 1 ; Powell, Peyton 2 ; Guillemette, Garret 1 ; Galvan, Rylan 1
CS: Brown, Porter 1
Game Leaders
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4
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H
2
RBI
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AB
4
R
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H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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