Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, May 19
Manhattan, KS
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
33-21, 0
1
vs
8
TCU
32-22, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
TCU
2
0
0
0
1
0
5
0
0
8
12
0
Kansas State
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
4
0
Horned Frogs Level Series Friday
May 19, 2023 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – TCU freshman starter Kole Klecker threw a no-hitter over his six innings to even the final series of the regular season with K-State, 8-1, at Tointon Family Stadium.
"It was a frustrating night for sure, just didn't make adjustments off of Klecker," head coach Pete Hughes said. "He was really good and composed as a freshman. He threw good pitches for strikes and never got deep into counts. His ability to keep us off balance was the key to his outing."
Cole Johnson's seventh-inning double marked the first hit of the game for the Wildcats (33-21, 13-10 Big 12) as the Horned Frogs (32-22, 12-11 Big 12) held K-State to just four hits.
"We just played bad enough to give those guys an advantage and they played off the momentum of a really good pitcher having a great outing," Hughes said.
"Our guys are resilient and you have to be in this game. You can't let a game beat you twice by carrying it over into the next day."
Saturday's game marks the fifth rubber match in series history between the two schools with K-State leading 4-0.
The Wildcats moved to fourth in the league standings with Oklahoma State and Texas tied in second just one game behind West Virginia, who clinched a share of its first Big 12 regular season title.
German Fajardo (3-4) was credited the loss allowing three runs (three earned) on five hits with five strikeouts during his 4 2/3 innings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the opening frame, TCU manufactured a pair of runs before the Horned Frogs plated their third on a wild pitch in the fifth.
TCU broke away with an eight-run lead, scoring five runs in the seventh on five hits led off by Cole Fontenelle's solo blast.
Klecker tossed a six-inning no-hitter before being relieved in the seventh with the freshman allowing just three runners to reach scoring position.
Johnson ended the drought when the senior laced a double out to left center off of the Horned Frogs' reliever Cohen Feser. The Southlake, Texas product crossed the plate on a hit into right from Raphael Pelletier to snap the shutout.
The Wildcats strung together a pair of hits in the eighth by Kaelen Culpepper and Brady Day, who extended his on-base streak out to 34, before the duo moved into scoring position on the Cats sixth walk of the night. With bases loaded and two outs, a popup to the Frogs' first baseman ended the Cats momentum.
INSIDE THE BOX
The series finale is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday following the Cats Senior Day ceremony at Tointon Family Stadium. The final home game of 2023 can be seen on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) while a free live stream audio is available at kstatesports.com/watch.
"It was a frustrating night for sure, just didn't make adjustments off of Klecker," head coach Pete Hughes said. "He was really good and composed as a freshman. He threw good pitches for strikes and never got deep into counts. His ability to keep us off balance was the key to his outing."
Cole Johnson's seventh-inning double marked the first hit of the game for the Wildcats (33-21, 13-10 Big 12) as the Horned Frogs (32-22, 12-11 Big 12) held K-State to just four hits.
"We just played bad enough to give those guys an advantage and they played off the momentum of a really good pitcher having a great outing," Hughes said.
"Our guys are resilient and you have to be in this game. You can't let a game beat you twice by carrying it over into the next day."
Saturday's game marks the fifth rubber match in series history between the two schools with K-State leading 4-0.
The Wildcats moved to fourth in the league standings with Oklahoma State and Texas tied in second just one game behind West Virginia, who clinched a share of its first Big 12 regular season title.
German Fajardo (3-4) was credited the loss allowing three runs (three earned) on five hits with five strikeouts during his 4 2/3 innings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the opening frame, TCU manufactured a pair of runs before the Horned Frogs plated their third on a wild pitch in the fifth.
TCU broke away with an eight-run lead, scoring five runs in the seventh on five hits led off by Cole Fontenelle's solo blast.
Klecker tossed a six-inning no-hitter before being relieved in the seventh with the freshman allowing just three runners to reach scoring position.
Johnson ended the drought when the senior laced a double out to left center off of the Horned Frogs' reliever Cohen Feser. The Southlake, Texas product crossed the plate on a hit into right from Raphael Pelletier to snap the shutout.
The Wildcats strung together a pair of hits in the eighth by Kaelen Culpepper and Brady Day, who extended his on-base streak out to 34, before the duo moved into scoring position on the Cats sixth walk of the night. With bases loaded and two outs, a popup to the Frogs' first baseman ended the Cats momentum.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State scored one run on four hits with nine left on base
- Four players registered a hit in the loss
- Pelletier recorded the lone RBI
- Fajardo (3-4) received the loss with five strikeouts
- The bullpen combined for four strikeouts
- Hartis threw two shutout innings in relief
- K-State hit .167 (1-for-6) with runners in scoring position, 0-for-9 with two outs
- TCU scored eight runs on 12 hits with 11 left on base
- Klecker (9-4) tossed a six-inning no hitter to earn the victory
- The Frogs' bullpen combined for four strikeouts
- TCU went 2-for-10 with two outs and .176 (3-for-17) with runners in scoring position
- Cats stand fourth in the Big 12 standings
- Day extended is on-base streak to 34
- TCU leads the all-time series, 27-13
- K-State is 9-8 when playing TCU at home
- Cats moved to 19-7 at home in 2023
The series finale is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday following the Cats Senior Day ceremony at Tointon Family Stadium. The final home game of 2023 can be seen on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) while a free live stream audio is available at kstatesports.com/watch.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Klecker, Kole (9-4)
L: Fajardo, German (3-4)
Batting:
2B: Nunez, Elijah 1 ; Bowen, Karson 1 ; Byrne, Kurtis 1
HR: Fontenelle, Cole 1
RBI: Nunez, Elijah 1 ; Bowen, Karson 2 ; Fontenelle, Cole 1 ; Richardson, Tre 1 ; Davis, Austin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nunez, Elijah 2 ; Taylor, Brayden 1 ; Fontenelle, Cole 1 ; Richardson, Tre 1 ; Silva, Anthony 1 ; Byrne, Kurtis 1 ; Boyers, Luke 1
SB: Taylor, Brayden 1 ; Richardson, Tre 1 ; Silva, Anthony 1
HBP: Nunez, Elijah 1
Batting:
2B: Johnson, Cole 1
RBI: Pelletier, Raphael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Johnson, Cole 1
SB: Jones, Brendan 2 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1
HBP: Culpepper, Kaelen 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballC
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