K-State Outduels UCF in 3-1 Victory

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State's Michael Quevedo and James Guyette combined for eight scoreless innings Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats out-dueled UCF in a 3-1 victory to force a rubber match at Tointon Family Stadium.

"That's a really good offense, so that should tell you what a good job Michael Quevedo did keeping them off balance," commented head coach Pete Hughe's on his team's 12^th victory at home. "They just were not comfortable versus [Guyette]."

Guyette (4-1), a right-hander from Newbury Park, Calif., was awarded the victory in relief of Quevedo, who allowed one run and scattered six hits over his 4 2/3-inning start.

"[Guyette] went 4 1/3 and allowed no hits. You could tell they just weren't comfortable. James' stuff is electric, especially when he starts throwing his off-speed stuff for strikes, which he did all day. That makes his fastball that much better," Hughes added.

Guyette held the Knights (19-15, 4-10 Big 12) without a hit and retired nine of the 14 batters he faced. The sophomore ended his 13^th relief outing striking out four without issuing a walk.

After falling behind 1-0, K-State (22-12, 9-5 Big 12) rallied for three runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by freshman AJ Evasco's two-run double to plate the game-winning run.

UCF's starter Russell Sandefer fired five scoreless innings and surrendered five hits with four strikeouts before handing the ball over to Kris Sosnowski, who was tagged for the loss after allowing all three runs (2-2).

"I do want to talk about the crowds we've been getting. When I first got hired, it was uncommon for that to happen, and for these guys, our community to show up and support our kids like that. It's a home field advantage and it's very unique."

This season, K-State has tallied five capacity crowds at Tointon and averages crowds of nearly 2,000 fans.

Eight different Wildcats contributed a hit in the victory, led by two-hit days from Bear Madliak and Sam Flores. Evasco led with two RBI, followed by Dee Kennedy with one.

HOW IT HAPPENED
UCF pieced together two consecutive hits to open with a 1-0 lead in the second.

After five scoreless innings, K-State utilized three consecutive hits to jumped on the board and take a 3-1 lead – its first lead of the series.

With one out and a runner on first, Keegan O'Connor drove a 2-1 pitch through the right side to position the Cats on first and third. Evasco followed in the next at bat, barreling the fourth pitch he faced from Sosnowski to left center to take the one-run lead.

The freshman immediately came around the bases on a base knock up the middle from Dee Kennedy, stretching the Cats lead to two, 3-1.

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State scored three runs on 10 hits, committed no errors and left eight runners on base.
UCF scored one run on six hits with no errors committed and seven left on base.
Evasco delivered a two-run double in the third to score the game-winning run.
Guyette (4-1) was awarded the victory in relief, firing 4 1/3 scoreless innings without allowing a hit or walk. He ended the day striking out four of the 14 batters he faced.
Quevedo logged 4 2/3 innings in his start, scattering six hits and allowing one earned run with three strikeouts and one walk.
Sosnowski (2-2) was tagged for the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits in his 1 1/3 innings in relief.
K-State had a runner successfully reach base in six of eight innings.
Eight different Wildcats contributed a hit.
Madliak and Flores each had two-hits while Evasco led with two RBI, followed by Kennedy with one.

TEAM NOTES

UCF leads the all-time series 3-2, while the teams are knotted 1-1 in games played in Manhattan.
The Cats move to 12-1 at home.
In day games, the Cats are 13-8 with a perfect 7-0 record at home.
Flores extended his hitting streak to a season-high six, while registering his third multi-hit performance.
K-State has recorded its 16^th game with 10+ hits.

UP NEXT
The rubber match is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday and can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, while radio coverage is available on KMAN. A free live audio can be found for all K-State baseball games at kstatesports.com/watch.

K-State baseball single-game tickets are available, and can be purchased by visiting KStateSports.com, call 1-800-221-CATS (2287), or stopping 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.

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Team Stats

Bear Madliak

Sam Flores

Maximus Martin

Keegan O'Connor

Players Mentioned

AJ Evasco

Sam Flores

James Guyette

Dee Kennedy

Bear Madliak

Keegan O'Connor

Michael Quevedo

Players Mentioned

AJ Evasco

Sam Flores

James Guyette

Dee Kennedy

Bear Madliak

Keegan O'Connor

Michael Quevedo

Kansas State University Athletics