Cougars Take Series Opener Thursday

PROVO, Utah – BYU raced out to a seven-run lead after the third inning on its way to taking the series opener from K-State, 11-6, Thursday night at Miller Park.

The Cougars (22-21, 7-15 Big 12) brought nine hitters to the plate in the first and seven in the third, scoring three and four runs in those frames. Ryder Robinson hit a two-run homer in the first, his first of the night, and Parker Goff launched a three-run shot in the third.

"BYU played better than we did tonight," said head coach Pete Hughes, now is in his seventh year at the helm of the K-State baseball program. "Offensively, they set the tone – we did the opposite."

"They got a better start on the mound than we did, came up with big hits, and we didn't. When we cut the game to two runs, they answered and extended the lead. When the other team is proficient in all those areas, you lose. We'll fight to get back in the series tomorrow."

Senior left-hander Jacob Frost was tagged for the loss after allowing three earned runs in the first on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Freshman AJ Evasco got the Cats (26-20, 12-10 Big 12) on the board in the top of the fourth, as his two-run home run was set up by a single from David Bishop. Shintaro Inoue paced the Wildcat offense with two hits and two RBI, while Dee Kennedy doubled in going 1-for-4.

Evasco, who finished with a team-high three RBI, launched the Wildcats' 78^th homer of the season – third-most in school history.

Four Cougars registered multi-RBI efforts, led by three from Robinson and Tate Gambill as the duo each had three-hit performances.

K-State was just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners.

BYU hit .462 (6-for-13) with runners in scoring position and .421 (8-for-19) with runners on base, leaving 12 on base.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Inoue was issued a walk to lead off the opener before Keegan O'Connor shot the first pitch he faced off the wall in right field. Starter Hayden Coon bounced back, striking out the side to strand the runners on second and third.

BYU spotted Frost for three runs in the first frame, led by a two-run blast by Robinson. Slack took over for Frost and fired one pitch for a lineout to third to get the Cats out of a bases loaded jam.

Coon struck out seven of the first 10 batters he faced, building momentum in the Cougars dugout as BYU extended its lead with a three-run homer in the third.

Trailing 7-0, Bishop punched a two-out single through the left side, bringing Evasco to the plate. The true freshman belted his eighth collegiate no-doubter 410-feet to centerfield to bridge the gap to five.

Robinson immediately answered with a leadoff solo shot to stretch the Cougars' lead.

After a scoreless fifth, the Wildcats broke through with four runs to pull the score within two, 8-6.

Reliever Brett Hansen walked four straight batters to start off the sixth, forcing BYU to make its third pitching change. With bases loaded and no outs, Bear Madliak lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to trim the Cougars lead until Inoue delivered a two-out single up the middle to score a pair of runs and make it a two-run ball game.

BYU came back and tacked a run to the board over the final three frames to secure the win.

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State scored six runs on seven hits, committed no errors and left nine on base.
BYU scored 11 runs on 11 hits with one error and 12 stranded on base.
Six different Wildcats contributed a hit.
Evasco drove in three RBI, while Inoue turned in the only multi-hit effort (2) to pace the Wildcat offense.
Frost was tagged for the loss, allowing three earned runs in his 2/3 inning start.
BYU scored seven of its 11 runs in the first three innings.
Robinson and Gambill finished with three RBI.
Johnson walked two and allowed two hits with a strikeout, earning the win.
Four Cougars registered multi-hit games.
K-State was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and went 4-for-19 (.211) with runners on.
BYU hit .462 (6-for-13) with runners in scoring position and .421 (8-for-19) with runners on base.

TEAM NOTES

K-State leads the all-time series 7-6, while BYU has a 5-0 advantage in games played in Provo.
In 2025, the Cats have sent out 78 home runs – ranks third all-time in program history.
O'Connor recorded a hit in his sixth consecutive game.
With his eighth homer of the year, Evasco is two away from tying the freshman single-season home run record (10 – Dylan Phillips, 2019; Nick Goodwin, 2021).

UP NEXT
Game two between the Wildcats and Cougars is slated for a 7:30 p.m. CT first pitch at Miller Park.

Single-game tickets for the Wildcats final week (May 6-11) at Tointon Family Stadium 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

Shintaro Inoue

Keegan O'Connor

Dee Kennedy

David Bishop

Players Mentioned

David Bishop

AJ Evasco

Jacob Frost

Shintaro Inoue

Dee Kennedy

Bear Madliak

Keegan O'Connor

Players Mentioned

David Bishop

AJ Evasco

Jacob Frost

Shintaro Inoue

Dee Kennedy

Bear Madliak

Keegan O'Connor

Kansas State University Athletics