Kansas State University Athletics
Tuesday, February 20
Phoenix, Ariz.
7:30 p.m.
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Arizona State
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Kansas State
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Arizona State
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No. 24 K-State Unable to Complete Comeback at Arizona State Tuesday
Feb 21, 2024 | Baseball
TEMPE, Ariz. – In its final outing before the home opener, K-State brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth inning but was unable to complete the comeback as Arizona State escaped with a 9-6 victory in Tuesday's contest at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
Trailing by four runs into the night's final frame, a sac fly to left by freshman Nick English inched the No. 24 Wildcats (2-2) within three runs. ASU's closer Matt Tieding, who inherited the bases loaded jam, collected the save after striking out the final batter.
"We didn't play well enough to win tonight," head coach Pete Hughes said. "We had our opportunities, but we left 11 men on base despite drawing 12 walks and stealing six bases. We only managed to score six runs out of that, the big hit avoided us tonight."
ASU (3-1) utilized eight pitchers in the win with left-hander Matt Cornelius (1-0) earning the victory in relief. The junior fanned two of five batters faced without allowing a hit or walk in his 1 1/3 innings of work.
"That would be the storyline. The fact that we allowed the leadoff runner to get on base seven out of the eight innings – four walks, two hit by pitches and a home run – you're not going to beat anyone with that alone. We have a long way to go, but we'll keep working at it," said Hughes.
Offensively, the Wildcats drew 12 walks and had one hit in eight opportunities with runners in scoring position with Brady Day's RBI single in the seventh to tie the score 5-5.
Left-hander Owen Boerema struck out a season-high nine in his second start of the season, as the graduate student scattered four hits over 4 2/3 innings while allowing four earned runs. Reliever Blake Dean (0-1) was credited the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits during his two-inning outing.
THE RUNDOWN
After a scoreless first inning, the Cats grabbed hold of a 3-0 lead with a pair of blasts by Danniel Rivera and Kaelen Culpepper.
Right fielder Kyan Lodice singled to third to bring Rivera, a transfer from Southern New Hampshire, up to the plate with two outs where the senior launched his first home run as a Wildcat deep and over the left field wall.
Culpepper expanded the lead to three with a no-doubter into left in the third, bringing his career total to 17. The junior from Memphis, Tenn., has homered in the Cats' last two outings, and has sent out three out in his last six games dating back to last season.
ASU countered in the bottom of the inning to level the game before a solo blast in the next frame from center fielder Isaiah Jackson gave the Sundevils a 4-3 lead.
In the fifth, the Wildcats drew four walks that included one intentional by Culpepper to level the score at 4-all.
The Sundevils grabbed the reins for the second time of the nightcap with an RBI single into right but a line out to first kept the game within one, stranding runners in scoring position.
K-State continued to control the strike zone at the plate drawing two consecutive walks, until a double play forced the Wildcats into another two-out situation. Day drove in his second RBI of the day with a shot up middle, tying the score 5-5.
With one out, a two-run single through the right side plated a pair of runs for ASU to get the go-ahead lead.
INSIDE THE BOX
K-State opens its 2024 home schedule Friday at 3 p.m. CT with a three-game series against Holy Cross. The three-game series will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ 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.
How to follow the 'Cats: Stay up to date on K-State baseball online at www.kstatesports.com and on the team's social media channels on Facebook, X formally known as Twitter and Instagram.
Trailing by four runs into the night's final frame, a sac fly to left by freshman Nick English inched the No. 24 Wildcats (2-2) within three runs. ASU's closer Matt Tieding, who inherited the bases loaded jam, collected the save after striking out the final batter.
"We didn't play well enough to win tonight," head coach Pete Hughes said. "We had our opportunities, but we left 11 men on base despite drawing 12 walks and stealing six bases. We only managed to score six runs out of that, the big hit avoided us tonight."
ASU (3-1) utilized eight pitchers in the win with left-hander Matt Cornelius (1-0) earning the victory in relief. The junior fanned two of five batters faced without allowing a hit or walk in his 1 1/3 innings of work.
"That would be the storyline. The fact that we allowed the leadoff runner to get on base seven out of the eight innings – four walks, two hit by pitches and a home run – you're not going to beat anyone with that alone. We have a long way to go, but we'll keep working at it," said Hughes.
Offensively, the Wildcats drew 12 walks and had one hit in eight opportunities with runners in scoring position with Brady Day's RBI single in the seventh to tie the score 5-5.
Left-hander Owen Boerema struck out a season-high nine in his second start of the season, as the graduate student scattered four hits over 4 2/3 innings while allowing four earned runs. Reliever Blake Dean (0-1) was credited the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits during his two-inning outing.
THE RUNDOWN
After a scoreless first inning, the Cats grabbed hold of a 3-0 lead with a pair of blasts by Danniel Rivera and Kaelen Culpepper.
Right fielder Kyan Lodice singled to third to bring Rivera, a transfer from Southern New Hampshire, up to the plate with two outs where the senior launched his first home run as a Wildcat deep and over the left field wall.
Culpepper expanded the lead to three with a no-doubter into left in the third, bringing his career total to 17. The junior from Memphis, Tenn., has homered in the Cats' last two outings, and has sent out three out in his last six games dating back to last season.
ASU countered in the bottom of the inning to level the game before a solo blast in the next frame from center fielder Isaiah Jackson gave the Sundevils a 4-3 lead.
In the fifth, the Wildcats drew four walks that included one intentional by Culpepper to level the score at 4-all.
The Sundevils grabbed the reins for the second time of the nightcap with an RBI single into right but a line out to first kept the game within one, stranding runners in scoring position.
K-State continued to control the strike zone at the plate drawing two consecutive walks, until a double play forced the Wildcats into another two-out situation. Day drove in his second RBI of the day with a shot up middle, tying the score 5-5.
With one out, a two-run single through the right side plated a pair of runs for ASU to get the go-ahead lead.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State scored six runs on seven hits with no errors committed and 11 stranded on base
- ASU scored nine runs on 10 hits with nine left on base and committed one error
- Rivera belted his first home run as a Wildcat in the second
- Culpepper hit his 17th career home run; second this season
- Boerema fanned a season-high eight batters in his 4 2/3 inning start
- Day and Culpepper each had a two-hit day
- ASU issued a season-high 12 walks
- K-State went 3-for-12 (.250) with runners on base, 1-for-8 (.125) in scoring position
- Five of six runs came were two-out RBI
- Pitching staff combined for season-high 14 strikeouts
- ASU hit .250 (8-for-26) with runners and .313 (5-for-16) with men in scoring position
- K-State stole a season-high six bases led by Bishop with three
- Culpepper was intentionally walked in the top of the fifth
- Arizona State leads the all-time series, 5-2, with a two-game win streak
- Culpepper stretched his on-bast streak to 11 and hit streak to seven, both dating back to last season.
- Cats posted their second consecutive multi-home run game; second of the season
- Six starters have reached base in all four games.
K-State opens its 2024 home schedule Friday at 3 p.m. CT with a three-game series against Holy Cross. The three-game series will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ 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.
How to follow the 'Cats: Stay up to date on K-State baseball online at www.kstatesports.com and on the team's social media channels on Facebook, X formally known as Twitter and Instagram.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cornelius, Matt (1-0)
L: Dean, Blake (0-1)
S: Tieding, Matt (1)
Batting:
HR: Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Rivera, Danniel 1
RBI: Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Day, Brady 2 ; English, Nick 1 ; Rivera, Danniel 2
SF: English, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ingram, Chuck 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Lodice, Kyan 1 ; Rivera, Danniel 1 ; Bishop, David 2
SB: Jones, Brendan 1 ; Culpepper, Kaelen 1 ; Day, Brady 1 ; Bishop, David 3
PO: Jones, Brendan 1
Batting:
2B: Contrades, Nu'u 1
HR: Jackson, Isaiah 1
RBI: Williams, Harris 1 ; Contrades, Nu'u 1 ; Campos, Ryan 2 ; Tobias, Jacob 1 ; Karstetter, Kevin 1 ; Jackson, Isaiah 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Williams, Harris 1 ; Contrades, Nu'u 1 ; Campos, Ryan 2 ; Karstetter, Kevin 1 ; Jackson, Isaiah 1 ; Newman, Trey 1 ; Compton, Brandon 1 ; Ondina, Steven 1
SB: Williams, Harris 2 ; Campos, Ryan 1 ; Karstetter, Kevin 1
HBP: Williams, Harris 1 ; Campos, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C/OF
/ BaseballINF/OF
/ BaseballINF
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