Wildcats Fall to Huskies, 5-3

BOSTON, Mass. – Cam Maldonado's solo home run in the bottom of the third broke a 3-3 tie and lifted Northeastern to a 5-3 victory over K-State Wednesday at Friedman Diamond.

"I thought we pitched well enough to win today but unfortunately we didn't play well enough to win," head coach Pete Hughes said. "We created opportunities but didn't take advantage of them. We also created opportunities for the other team to score. That was the difference in the game."

Northeastern's (27-9) starter Max Giltin, who improved his record to 5-1, held the Wildcats to three runs in his five innings of work. Carson Welsh and Brett Dunham logged four scoreless innings in relief of Gitlin, with Dunham earning the save.

Five different Wildcats (23-14) recorded a hit, led by catcher Bear Madliak going 2-for-3, while AJ Evasco, Keegan O'Connor, and David Bishop each drove in a run.

Right-hander Tazwell Butler (0-1) was credited with the loss, surrendering four runs (three earned) across his three innings. He scattered three hits with two strikeouts to end his first start at K-State before handing the ball over to JJ Slack, who fired four scoreless innings and matched a career-high five strikeouts.

Slack, a lefty from Liberty, Texas, retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced before allowing a two-out single in the seventh.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After advancing to third on failed pickoff attempt, a sacrifice fly for Northeastern's Harrison Feinberg plated the opening run.

The Cats responded in the top of the second, as O'Connor was hit by a pitch and scored with the help of back-to-back hits from Shintaro Inoue and Bishop.

NU broke the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the inning, laying down a squeeze bunt to take back the lead before a double steal handed the Huskies a two-run edge.

Down 3-1, Evasco delivered a single through the right side to pull the game within one until O'Connor's grounder to the shortstop scored the tying-run.

With the score knotted 3-3, Maldonaldo belted a lead-off solo blast to right center to grab the go-ahead lead.

NU continued to hold off the Cats, capitalizing on a pair of incredible defensive plays in the eighth, that included robbing O'Connor of his 11^th home run in left field.

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State scored three runs on six hits with three errors committed and six runners left on base.
NU scored five runs on five hits, committed no errors and stranded four runners on base.
Five Wildcats recorded a hit, led by Madliak (2-for-3).
Evasco, O'Connor and Bishop each drove in an RBI.
Butler was tagged for the loss in his first start at K-State (0-1). He surrendered four runs (three earned) on three hits with two strikeouts.
Slack logged four scoreless innings in relief of Butler, scattering one hit and matching a career-high five strikeouts.
Gitlin (5-1) earned the victory, allowing three earned runs on six hits in five innings of work with seven strikeouts.
Both squads hit .111 (1-for-9) with two outs.
The Cats outhit the Huskies .417-.222 with runners on base and .286-.200 with men in scoring position.

TEAM NOTES

With the win, NU ties the all-time series 2-2 with a 2-1 edge in games played in Boston.
K-State drops to 4-11 in true road contests.
The Cats move to 15-3 when holding opponents to five or less runs.
K-State has out-hit opponents in 18 of 3games (16-2).

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to Kansas to take on in-state rival KU (28-10, 9-6 Big 12) for the annual Dillons Sunflower Showdown, starting Friday, April 18 in Lawrence.

K-State baseball single-game tickets at Tointon Family Stadium 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

Seth Dardar

AJ Evasco

Shintaro Inoue

Players Mentioned

David Bishop

Tazwell Butler

AJ Evasco

Shintaro Inoue

Bear Madliak

Keegan O'Connor

JJ Slack

Players Mentioned

David Bishop

Tazwell Butler

AJ Evasco

Shintaro Inoue

Bear Madliak

Keegan O'Connor

JJ Slack

Kansas State University Athletics