Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, February 28
Frisco, Texas
2 p.m.
Kansas State University
4-5
5
vs
8
LSU
9-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
R
H
E
LSU
0
0
2
0
0
0
3
0
0
3
8
11
0
KANSAS STATE
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
5
10
3
Wildcats Fall to No. 2 LSU, 8-5
Feb 28, 2025 | Baseball
FRISCO, Texas – LSU's three unanswered runs in the 10th inning led the No. 2 Tigers to an 8-5 victory Friday afternoon in the Frisco Classic opener at Riders Field, home of the Frisco Roughriders.
Tied 5-5 in the 10th, LSU (9-1) plated the go-ahead run on an RBI single to center until the Tigers took advantage of an error to stretch their lead to three. The Wildcats managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning, but reliever Casan Evans fanned two consecutive batters to secure the win and snap the Cats' three-game winning streak.
"You can talk a lot about how cruel the game can be," seventh-year head coach Pete Hughes reflected. "A lot of stuff didn't go our way, but we also were not productive in situational baseball, which cost us three or four runs that we left out there just by not being able to situationally hit and fundamentally get our bunts down. We didn't even play catch to our standard."
K-State (4-5) erased a two-run deficit in the sixth inning with back-to-back homers by Dee Kennedy and Seth Dardar before the Wildcats came back to even the score at 5-all with a three-run seventh.
The Wildcats best chance of capturing the win came in the ninth when Kennedy singled to lead off the bottom of inning and nearly crossed the plate on a double from Dardar, but a perfectly executed relay from left field and diving play by the Tigers' second baseman sent the game into extras.
"Throw it all out the window if we played fundamental baseball, then bad luck doesn't come into play. Unfortunately, we didn't. But I'm proud of our guys. We had a good fight today, and our guys love a good fight," Hughes added.
"As a coach you just you only want to see your kids thrive in pressure situations and really embrace pressure situations and that's the group I have."
Kennedy and Dardar were one of four players to produce multi-hit efforts for K-State, joined by Nick English and Bear Madliak. The Wildcats battled and scored five runs on a pitching staff that entered the game with the second-best ERA in the nation (1.52), while the Cats 10 hits is the most allowed by the Tigers this season.
Blake Dean (1-1), who relieved Tazwell Butler in the eighth, was credited with the loss as the right-hander surrendered two runs (one earned) on three hits in his two innings of work.
Both squads utilized five pitchers, while LSU's starter Kade Anderson fired a game-high 5 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts. Evans picked up the win, allowing three hits and tossing a scoreless eighth and ninth.
Friday's contest marked K-State's fifth game against a team featured in at least one national poll across a 10-day stretch, moving a 3-2 on the year against ranked opponents.
HOW IT HAPPENED
K-State held LSU in the first with the help of diving an effort by left fielder Kyan Lodice and five-pitch strikeout from Jacob Frost.
K-State's best look at early scoring came in the bottom of the second as English was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a single through the left side by Madliak to move the games' first runners into scoring position. The duo was left stranded as LSU's starter recorded consecutive punch outs to end the threat.
An RBI-triple from Derek Curiel opened scoring for the Tigers in the third before coming across the plate on a sacrifice bunt.
K-State right-hander Tazwell Butler relieved Frost in the fifth, inheriting a bases loaded jam and forced a pop out to keep the game within two.
Down 2-0, K-State tied the score with back-to-back blasts from Kennedy and Dardar. With one out, Kennedy belted his second homer of the season 420-feet to left center to put the Cats on the board before Dardar's no-doubter leveled the score.
LSU's Daniel Dickinson immediately answered in the seventh with a three-run homer.
Maximus Martin and David Bishop each singled to lead off the home half of the inning before Micah Dean was issued a walk to force the Tigers to make their second call to the bullpen. The Tigers' reliever hit two consecutive batters to bring in a pair of runs before English dropped a single into right field to tie the game.
With the score tied 5-5, Kennedy delivered a one-out single through the left side but was thrown out at home on a double into left center from Dardar to preserve the tie and force the game into extras.
LSU took back the lead, 8-5, with the help of an error in the infield, and held on to avoid the upset.
INSIDE THE BOX
The Wildcats will take on Sam Houston Saturday at noon at Riders Field. The entire Frisco Classic is broadcast exclusively on D1Baseball.com, while radio coverage will be carried on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with Wade Gerstner calling all the action. A free live streaming audio available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.
– k-statesports.com –
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Baseball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
Tied 5-5 in the 10th, LSU (9-1) plated the go-ahead run on an RBI single to center until the Tigers took advantage of an error to stretch their lead to three. The Wildcats managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning, but reliever Casan Evans fanned two consecutive batters to secure the win and snap the Cats' three-game winning streak.
"You can talk a lot about how cruel the game can be," seventh-year head coach Pete Hughes reflected. "A lot of stuff didn't go our way, but we also were not productive in situational baseball, which cost us three or four runs that we left out there just by not being able to situationally hit and fundamentally get our bunts down. We didn't even play catch to our standard."
K-State (4-5) erased a two-run deficit in the sixth inning with back-to-back homers by Dee Kennedy and Seth Dardar before the Wildcats came back to even the score at 5-all with a three-run seventh.
The Wildcats best chance of capturing the win came in the ninth when Kennedy singled to lead off the bottom of inning and nearly crossed the plate on a double from Dardar, but a perfectly executed relay from left field and diving play by the Tigers' second baseman sent the game into extras.
"Throw it all out the window if we played fundamental baseball, then bad luck doesn't come into play. Unfortunately, we didn't. But I'm proud of our guys. We had a good fight today, and our guys love a good fight," Hughes added.
"As a coach you just you only want to see your kids thrive in pressure situations and really embrace pressure situations and that's the group I have."
Kennedy and Dardar were one of four players to produce multi-hit efforts for K-State, joined by Nick English and Bear Madliak. The Wildcats battled and scored five runs on a pitching staff that entered the game with the second-best ERA in the nation (1.52), while the Cats 10 hits is the most allowed by the Tigers this season.
Blake Dean (1-1), who relieved Tazwell Butler in the eighth, was credited with the loss as the right-hander surrendered two runs (one earned) on three hits in his two innings of work.
Both squads utilized five pitchers, while LSU's starter Kade Anderson fired a game-high 5 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts. Evans picked up the win, allowing three hits and tossing a scoreless eighth and ninth.
Friday's contest marked K-State's fifth game against a team featured in at least one national poll across a 10-day stretch, moving a 3-2 on the year against ranked opponents.
HOW IT HAPPENED
K-State held LSU in the first with the help of diving an effort by left fielder Kyan Lodice and five-pitch strikeout from Jacob Frost.
K-State's best look at early scoring came in the bottom of the second as English was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a single through the left side by Madliak to move the games' first runners into scoring position. The duo was left stranded as LSU's starter recorded consecutive punch outs to end the threat.
An RBI-triple from Derek Curiel opened scoring for the Tigers in the third before coming across the plate on a sacrifice bunt.
K-State right-hander Tazwell Butler relieved Frost in the fifth, inheriting a bases loaded jam and forced a pop out to keep the game within two.
Down 2-0, K-State tied the score with back-to-back blasts from Kennedy and Dardar. With one out, Kennedy belted his second homer of the season 420-feet to left center to put the Cats on the board before Dardar's no-doubter leveled the score.
LSU's Daniel Dickinson immediately answered in the seventh with a three-run homer.
Maximus Martin and David Bishop each singled to lead off the home half of the inning before Micah Dean was issued a walk to force the Tigers to make their second call to the bullpen. The Tigers' reliever hit two consecutive batters to bring in a pair of runs before English dropped a single into right field to tie the game.
With the score tied 5-5, Kennedy delivered a one-out single through the left side but was thrown out at home on a double into left center from Dardar to preserve the tie and force the game into extras.
LSU took back the lead, 8-5, with the help of an error in the infield, and held on to avoid the upset.
INSIDE THE BOX
- LSU scored eight runs on 11 hits, committed no errors, and stranded 10 on base.
- K-State scored five runs on 10 hits with three errors and left 11 on base.
- Four players produced multi-hit efforts for K-State led by two from Kennedy and Dardar, who each hit a solo shot in the sixth.
- Evans (1-0) picked up the win in relief, tossing a scoreless eighth and ninth and allowing three hits.
- Dean (1-1) received the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits.
- Anderson struck out 10 in his 5 1/3 inning start for LSU.
- K-State hit .200 (4-for-20) with runners on base and .091 (1-for-11) with men in scoring position while LSU was 7-for-21 (.333) with runners on and 4-for-14 (.286) in scoring position.
- LSU had two two-out RBI.
- The Wildcats' five runs and 10 hits are the most allowed by LSU's pitching staff this season.
- K-State finished February play 4-5.
- LSU leads the all-time series 13-8-1, all games coming on the road.
- K-State is 3-2 against teams ranked in at least one national poll, while Friday marks the teams third game against a top-10 opponent.
- Kennedy and Dardar teamed up for back-to-back homers for the second time over three games.
- Inoue is the first player to earn three walks in a single game – first since Brendan Jones in 2024 (May 22 vs. West Virginia)
The Wildcats will take on Sam Houston Saturday at noon at Riders Field. The entire Frisco Classic is broadcast exclusively on D1Baseball.com, while radio coverage will be carried on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with Wade Gerstner calling all the action. A free live streaming audio available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.
– k-statesports.com –
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Baseball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Casan Evans (1-0)
L: Dean, Blake (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Jared Jones 1
3B: Derek Curiel 1
HR: Daniel Dickinson 1
RBI: Derek Curiel 1 ; Daniel Dickinson 6 ; Josh Pearson 1
SH: Daniel Dickinson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Derek Curiel 1 ; Jared Jones 1 ; Daniel Dickinson 1 ; Steven Milam 1 ; Jake Brown 1 ; Josh Pearson 1 ; Chris Stanfield 2
SB: Chris Stanfield 1
CS: Derek Curiel 1
HBP: Daniel Dickinson 1
Batting:
2B: Dardar, Seth 1
HR: Kennedy, Dee 1 ; Dardar, Seth 1
RBI: O'Connor, Keegan 1 ; Kennedy, Dee 2 ; Dardar, Seth 1 ; English, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dean, Micah 1 ; Kennedy, Dee 1 ; Dardar, Seth 1 ; Martin, Maximus 1 ; Bishop, David 1
SB: English, Nick 1
CS: Dean, Micah 1
HBP: O'Connor, Keegan 1 ; Kennedy, Dee 1 ; English, Nick 1
PO: Dean, Micah 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
UTL
/ BaseballC/OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF/OF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF
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