Wildcats Even Series with 4-3 Saturday Win

Saturday, April 6

Orlando, Fla.

5 p.m.

Kansas State University

20-9, 7-4

UCF

20-8, 7-7

Kansas State

UCF

Apr 06, 2024 | Baseball

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. – K-State rallied behind a quality start from Owen Boerema to level the Big 12 road series, as the Wildcats outlasted No. 25 UCF, 4-3, Saturday night at John Euliano Park.

"Really good baseball game tonight by both teams and a huge win to get us back into the series," said head coach Pete Hughes following his team's 20^th victory. "It's tough to do on the road and I can't say enough about our guy's resiliency."

"We got our veteran captain out there, Owen Boerema, who set the tone for the entire game and let our offense get settled in. Owen was awesome tonight in a big spot when we needed it most, which is not surprising. He came through, happy for Owen," added Hughes.

Boerema (3-2) held the Knights to just two runs – one earned – in his six-inning start to earn his seventh career quality start at K-State. The graduate from Litchfield, Minn., scattered just three hits in his 10^th start of the season, as he retired 18 of 24 batters he faced with seven strikeouts.

"Just a really good win for our club and it'll motivate us to play good tomorrow. Again, our bullpen was really good but without Owen, you know that doesn't happen."

All-American Tyson Neighbors collected his 13th save, and second of the season, as he retired three straight in the final inning. The Royse City, Texas, product now ties fourth all-time in career saves at K-State alongside Tyler Eckberg (2017-21).

K-State (20-9, 7-4 Big 12) scored a pair of runs in the third and sixth with five different Wildcats generating a hit in the victory, while four drove in a run. Nick English drove in the game-winning run with his sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Dom Stagliano (1-2) received the loss and allowed four runs, all earned, on three hits with two walks and one strikeout.

THE RUNDOWN
Raphael Pelletier put the Cats on the board in the third frame, as the Canadian catcher launched his sixth homer of the season into right field.

Jayden Lobliner drew the walk before advancing to third on a wild pitch and sacrifice bunt by David Bishop, until Chuck Ingram lifted a ball deep into left center to allow the sophomore to score.

The Knights put together a pair of hits in the bottom of the fourth to level the score, 2-2.

After back-and-forth action, K-State used a hit by pitch and sacrifice fly to plate two runs and recover the lead.

Back-to-back knocks from Chuck Ingram and Brendan Jones forced UCF to make the first call to the pen of the game.

Reliever Spencer Bower issued the walk against Brady Day before drilling Kaelen Culpepper with bases loaded to hand K-State to go-ahead lead. English followed with his own sacrifice fly to left to bring Jones across the plate.

After three scoreless innings, a solo shot by Jack Zyska trimmed the Cats' lead to one.

Leading 4-3 in the ninth, Tyson Neighbors relieved Jackson Wentworth and shutdown the Knights in order to capture the win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

K-State scored four runs on five hits, committed one error and seven left on base.
UCF was held to three runs on five hits with no errors and stranded six men on base.
Five different Wildcats produced a hit and four drove in an RBI
Boerema (3-2) earned in the win and held UCF to two runs (one earned) on three hits with seven strikeouts in his six-inning start.
UCF issued seven walks
K-State hit .222 (2-for-9) with men on base, while both teams were left 0-for with runners in scoring position.
The Wildcats were 3-for-12 (.250) with two outs and had one two-out RBI.

NOTES

The win tied the all-time series 1-1.
Boerema turned in his second quality start of the season and seventh at K-State.
Pelletier extended his on-base streak to 32 games, followed by Day at 28.
Saturday's victory moves K-State one-game behind Oklahoma in the Big 12 standings. The Wildcats are tied second with West Virginia.
K-State moves to 8-5 on the road, and 6-4 in true road games.

ON DECK
K-State will go for the series win over UCF Sunday at John Euliano Park, scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. Sunday's rubber match can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, while radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). A free live streaming audio 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.