Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, May 13
Stillwater, OK
1 p.m.
Kansas State University
32-19, 0
5
at
19
Oklahoma State
34-15, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Kansas State
1
0
0
3
0
1
0
0
0
5
11
2
Oklahoma State
5
2
0
1
6
3
2
0
X
19
18
0
No. 13 Cowboys Level Series Saturday
May 13, 2023 | Baseball
STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 13 Oklahoma State recorded 18 hits Saturday in the Cowboys' 17-5 victory over No. 15 K-State to level the conference series at O'Brate Stadium.
With the loss, K-State fell to 32-19 overall while OSU improved to 34-15 with the two schools tied second in the league standings at 12-8.
"OSU did a really good job of playing with the lead and taking advantage of some opportunities we created," said Pete Hughes. "Avoiding the big inning is rule number one when playing against that type of offense. We didn't do that today, but we've been in this situation before. We'll be ready for tomorrow."
The Cowboys sent seven batters to the plate in their five-run second to go with 11 batters scoring six in the fifth inning. Bayden Root (7-1) earned the victory allowing just one hit during his two innings of relief.
K-State's Kaelen Culpepper drove in two of the Wildcats' five runs as the sophomore reached base in four straight plate appearances with a team-high two hits, including a double and home run.
Culpepper, Brady Day, and Nick Goodwin made school history as the trio went back-to-back-to-back with three solo homers. The Cats' three home runs brought the season total to 73 which ranks fourth all-time.
German Fajardo (3-3), who made his 14th start of the season, suffered the loss after surrendering five runs on two hits in the opening frame.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Brendan Jones led off the game with a shot off the centerfield wall for the standup double before the sophomore advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Cash Rugely. With one out, Culpepper roped the second pitch from right-handed starter Ben Abram into center to score Jones.
The Cowboys took advantage of four walks in the bottom of the opening frame that led to a three-run double from David Mendham for the 5-1 lead. OSU added two to the board in the second to extend their lead to six.
Trailing 7-1, the Cats rallied for three runs in the fourth as the heart of the lineup squared up three consecutive home runs to bridge the gap to three. Culpepper led off the home run derby with his ninth blast of the season until Day and Goodwin both launched no-doubters to mark the first back-to-back-to-back in school history.
Jayden Lobliner drove in the Cats final run in the top of the sixth as the freshman brought home Pena, who doubled to right center.
OSU scored in four consecutive innings to stretch the lead out to 14. Freshman Andrew Evans allowed just one hit in his inning of relief.
INSIDE THE BOX
The Cats and Cowboys face off in the rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m. inside O'Brate Stadium. The series final can be seen on the Big 12 Now 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 the K-State Sports app.
With the loss, K-State fell to 32-19 overall while OSU improved to 34-15 with the two schools tied second in the league standings at 12-8.
"OSU did a really good job of playing with the lead and taking advantage of some opportunities we created," said Pete Hughes. "Avoiding the big inning is rule number one when playing against that type of offense. We didn't do that today, but we've been in this situation before. We'll be ready for tomorrow."
The Cowboys sent seven batters to the plate in their five-run second to go with 11 batters scoring six in the fifth inning. Bayden Root (7-1) earned the victory allowing just one hit during his two innings of relief.
K-State's Kaelen Culpepper drove in two of the Wildcats' five runs as the sophomore reached base in four straight plate appearances with a team-high two hits, including a double and home run.
Culpepper, Brady Day, and Nick Goodwin made school history as the trio went back-to-back-to-back with three solo homers. The Cats' three home runs brought the season total to 73 which ranks fourth all-time.
German Fajardo (3-3), who made his 14th start of the season, suffered the loss after surrendering five runs on two hits in the opening frame.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Brendan Jones led off the game with a shot off the centerfield wall for the standup double before the sophomore advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Cash Rugely. With one out, Culpepper roped the second pitch from right-handed starter Ben Abram into center to score Jones.
The Cowboys took advantage of four walks in the bottom of the opening frame that led to a three-run double from David Mendham for the 5-1 lead. OSU added two to the board in the second to extend their lead to six.
Trailing 7-1, the Cats rallied for three runs in the fourth as the heart of the lineup squared up three consecutive home runs to bridge the gap to three. Culpepper led off the home run derby with his ninth blast of the season until Day and Goodwin both launched no-doubters to mark the first back-to-back-to-back in school history.
Jayden Lobliner drove in the Cats final run in the top of the sixth as the freshman brought home Pena, who doubled to right center.
OSU scored in four consecutive innings to stretch the lead out to 14. Freshman Andrew Evans allowed just one hit in his inning of relief.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State scored five runs on 11 hits with two errors and seven stranded on base
- K-State hit back-to-back home runs for the first time in program history with Culpepper, Day and Goodwin
- Ten players registered a hit while Culpepper had two
- Culpepper went 2-for-3 with two RBI
- Fajardo (3-3) was credited the loss allowing five earned runs in the first
- The bullpen combined for 14 runs (13 earned), three walks and six strikeouts
- K-State was 2-8 (.250) with runners in scoring position and hit .250 (3-for-12) with two outs
- OSU plated 19 runs on 18 hits without committing an error with nine left on base
- Root (7-1) tossed two perfect innings to collect the win
- The Cowboys pen combined for one earned run with seven strikeouts
- OSU hit .333 (7-for-21) with runners in scoring position and went 6-for-14 (.429) with two outs
- Goodwin hit his 33rd career home run; ranks fourth overall in program history
- Rugely reached base for the 33rd consecutive game followed by Day at 31
- The Cats three home runs brings the season total to 73, ranking fourth all-time
- The two schools will compete in the first rubber match since 2017
- OSU leads the all-time series 177-60; 102-18 in Stillwater
- The Cats moved to 14-10 in true road games
The Cats and Cowboys face off in the rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m. inside O'Brate Stadium. The series final can be seen on the Big 12 Now 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 the K-State Sports app.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Root, Bayden (7-1)
L: Fajardo, German (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Jones, Brendan 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Pena, Roberto 1
HR: Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Day, Brady 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1
RBI: Culpepper, Kaelen 2 ; Day, Brady 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Lobliner, Jayden 1
SH: Rugely, Cash 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jones, Brendan 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Day, Brady 1 ; Goodwin, Nick 1 ; Pena, Roberto 1
SB: Culpepper, Kaelen 1
HBP: Culpepper, Kaelen 1
Batting:
2B: Riggio, Roc 1 ; Benge, Carson 2 ; Daugherty, Ian 1 ; Wulfert, Tyler 1 ; Mendham, David 1 ; Brown, Marcus 1
3B: Adkison, Chase 1 ; Wulfert, Tyler 1
HR: Riggio, Roc 1 ; Adkison, Chase 1 ; Brown, Marcus 1
RBI: Riggio, Roc 3 ; Benge, Carson 1 ; Adkison, Chase 4 ; Schubart, Nolan 2 ; Wulfert, Tyler 2 ; Brueggemann, Colin 1 ; Mendham, David 3 ; Brown, Marcus 2
SF: Riggio, Roc 1 ; Schubart, Nolan 1 ; Brueggemann, Colin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ehrhard, Zach 3 ; Riggio, Roc 3 ; Benge, Carson 2 ; Adkison, Chase 3 ; Wulfert, Tyler 3 ; Brueggemann, Colin 2 ; Mendham, David 1 ; Brown, Marcus 2
HBP: Ehrhard, Zach 1 ; Mendham, David 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
cf/lf
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
ph/lf
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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INF
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/ BaseballINF/OF
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