Kansas State University Athletics
Wednesday, March 12
Omaha, Neb.
5 p.m.
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K-State Falls in Omaha Wednesday Night
Mar 12, 2025 | Baseball
OMAHA, Neb. – Omaha utilized nine pitchers to hold K-State to one run Wednesday night, as the Wildcats fell, 3-1, at Tal Anderson Field.
Omaha (5-10) spotted starter Tanner Duke (0-1) for one run in his four-innings of work, as the redshirt sophomore suffered the loss and scattered three hits with three strikeouts. Duke carried a one-hitter through three innings and retired eight consecutive batters in his first start in a K-State uniform.
"Omaha's pitching staff did a great job tonight," commented head coach Pete Hughes. "They used nine different pitchers and constantly gave us different looks that kept us off balance. Credit to them. They limited us to two hits through eight and only walked us twice. Obviously, that makes for a limited scoring offense."
"We pitched well enough to win and got a quality start for Tanner Duke. Our guys will make the appropriate adjustments and look forward to playing great in our BiG12 opener this weekend," Hughes added.
Nine UNO pitchers were utilized in the win, with Gavin Brummond (1-0) firing two scoreless innings to pick up the win in the Mavericks' third victory over a Power 4 opponent this season. Matt Dreher was awarded the save after punching out the final out of the nightcap.
Dee Kennedy, Keegan O'Connor and AJ Evasco mustered the Cats' four hits, with O'Connor producing his third multi-hit game of the season.
Two of the Mavericks' six hits were for extra-bases, with three different players driving in a run. Sam Beck matched O'Connor with a game-leading two hits and finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After allowing a double in the first, Duke retired eight consecutive batters to bring a one-hitter into the fourth inning, highlighted by a trio of punch outs.
Wildcats picked up their first base runner in the fourth, as Lodice was issued a walk and stole second for the Cats' first runner in scoring position.
Omaha quickly jammed the bases in the bottom of the inning, after successfully reaching base in the first three at bats. A sacrifice fly plated a run but was followed with a 5-4-3 double play to get the Cats' out of the inning with a one-run deficit.
UNO added some traffic in the fifth, but was held to one run with the help of diving play from first baseman David Bishop before reliever James Guyette forced a fly ball to left field that stranded runners on second and third.
Kennedy ended the Mavs' no-hit bid with his two-out double in the sixth inning.
Adam Arther entered the game in the seventh and relieved Guyette, who allowed one earned run in 1 1/3 innings. The sophomore left-hander struck out the first pair of batters he faced before a grounder to third retired the Mavs in order, leaving them scoreless for the first time since the third inning.
After eight scoreless innings, the Wildcats jumped on the board and ended the shutout, as Evasco and O'Connor registered back-to-back two-out doubles. The Cats rally was halted as Dreher fanned the final batter to earn his second save of the season.
INSIDE THE BOX
K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium to open its Big 12 slate on Friday night, as the Cats host Utah (11-5). The series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT. The entire series will broadcast on ESPN+, while a free live streaming audio available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app. Season and single-game tickets are now available. To purchase tickets, fans can visit KStateSports.com, call 1-800-221-CATS (2287), or stop by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.
– 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.
Omaha (5-10) spotted starter Tanner Duke (0-1) for one run in his four-innings of work, as the redshirt sophomore suffered the loss and scattered three hits with three strikeouts. Duke carried a one-hitter through three innings and retired eight consecutive batters in his first start in a K-State uniform.
"Omaha's pitching staff did a great job tonight," commented head coach Pete Hughes. "They used nine different pitchers and constantly gave us different looks that kept us off balance. Credit to them. They limited us to two hits through eight and only walked us twice. Obviously, that makes for a limited scoring offense."
"We pitched well enough to win and got a quality start for Tanner Duke. Our guys will make the appropriate adjustments and look forward to playing great in our BiG12 opener this weekend," Hughes added.
Nine UNO pitchers were utilized in the win, with Gavin Brummond (1-0) firing two scoreless innings to pick up the win in the Mavericks' third victory over a Power 4 opponent this season. Matt Dreher was awarded the save after punching out the final out of the nightcap.
Dee Kennedy, Keegan O'Connor and AJ Evasco mustered the Cats' four hits, with O'Connor producing his third multi-hit game of the season.
Two of the Mavericks' six hits were for extra-bases, with three different players driving in a run. Sam Beck matched O'Connor with a game-leading two hits and finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After allowing a double in the first, Duke retired eight consecutive batters to bring a one-hitter into the fourth inning, highlighted by a trio of punch outs.
Wildcats picked up their first base runner in the fourth, as Lodice was issued a walk and stole second for the Cats' first runner in scoring position.
Omaha quickly jammed the bases in the bottom of the inning, after successfully reaching base in the first three at bats. A sacrifice fly plated a run but was followed with a 5-4-3 double play to get the Cats' out of the inning with a one-run deficit.
UNO added some traffic in the fifth, but was held to one run with the help of diving play from first baseman David Bishop before reliever James Guyette forced a fly ball to left field that stranded runners on second and third.
Kennedy ended the Mavs' no-hit bid with his two-out double in the sixth inning.
Adam Arther entered the game in the seventh and relieved Guyette, who allowed one earned run in 1 1/3 innings. The sophomore left-hander struck out the first pair of batters he faced before a grounder to third retired the Mavs in order, leaving them scoreless for the first time since the third inning.
After eight scoreless innings, the Wildcats jumped on the board and ended the shutout, as Evasco and O'Connor registered back-to-back two-out doubles. The Cats rally was halted as Dreher fanned the final batter to earn his second save of the season.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State was held to four hits, committed no errors and stranded five on base.
- UNO scored three runs on six hits with no errors committed and leaving eight on base.
- Nine pitchers made an appearance for UNO with Brummond earning the victory in relief.
- K-State went down in order in four innings.
- Kennedy broke up the no-hit bid with a double in the sixth.
- Three different Cats recorded a hit – Kennedy, O'Connor, Evasco.
- O'Connor matched a game-high two hits.
- Duke (0-1) was tagged for the loss, allowing one earned run on four hits with a game-high three strikeouts.
- Four of K-State's six pitchers combined for eight strikeouts.
- K-State leads the all-time series 17-4, that includes a 1-2 record in Omaha.
- Under Hughes, the Cats are 5-2.
- The Wildcats have turned 10 double plays this season.
- O'Connor produced his third multi-hit game of the season.
- Lodice stretched his on-base streak to six with his walk in the fourth.
- Wednesday marked Duke's first start in a K-State uniform, and fifth collegiate start.
- O'Connor extended his hitting streak to six followed by Kennedy with four.
K-State returns to Tointon Family Stadium to open its Big 12 slate on Friday night, as the Cats host Utah (11-5). The series opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT. The entire series will broadcast on ESPN+, while a free live streaming audio available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app. Season and single-game tickets are now available. To purchase tickets, fans can visit KStateSports.com, call 1-800-221-CATS (2287), or stop by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.
– 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: C. Mick (2-0)
L: Duke, Tanner (0-1)
S: M. Dreher (2)
Batting:
2B: Kennedy, Dee 1 ; Evasco, AJ 1 ; O'Connor, Keegan 1
RBI: O'Connor, Keegan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Evasco, AJ 1
SB: Lodice, Kyan 1 ; Dean, Micah 1
Batting:
2B: H. Zipay 1 ; S. Beck 1
RBI: B. Stenger 1 ; C. Dick 1 ; D. Borner 1
SH: E. Hoerner 1 ; B. Stenger 1
SF: B. Stenger 1
Base Running:
RUNS: H. Zipay 1 ; T. Bishop 1 ; S. Beck 1
HBP: H. Zipay 1 ; S. Beck 1 ; D. Borner 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
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AB
1
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
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RHP
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