Cats Wins Series Behind Five-Run Second, Sheffield’s Quality Start

Saturday, February 28

Manhattan, Kan.

1 p.m.

Kansas State University

8-4

Columbia

1-5

Columbia

Kansas State

BSB Lincoln Sheffield, Ty Smolinski COL 2026

Cats Wins Series Behind Five-Run Second, Sheffield’s Quality Start

Feb 28, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Led by a quality start by Lincoln Sheffield and three-run home run from Ty Smolinski, K-State rallied to defeat Columbia, 5-2, Saturday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.

"Good weekend," said eighth-year head coach Pete Hughes. "It's all about winning the series, and I thought we won a series against a really good Columbia team that's going to win a lot of games this year, which was no surprise to me."

Down 2-0 headed into the bottom of the second, Smolinski belted a three-run homer to score the deciding run and lift K-State to its first series win of the season. With Saturday's win, K-State improved to 8-4, marking the second-best record through the first 12 games of the season in the Hughes era.

"It was a grinding series win, and I'm proud of our guys. We were under manned on the mound, and that's what good teams do – you pick each other up. We had a lot of kids stand out in doing that for us. We needed a great start today since we were light in the bullpen, and we got that from Lincoln Sheffield. That's what you expect to get out of your senior strike-thrower and ultimate competitor," Hughes added.

Sheffield (3-0) surrendered just two runs over 6 2/3 innings for his first quality start of the season. After allowing both runs in the opening frame, the left-hander retired 19 of the next 23 batters he faced and allowed two runners to reach scoring position. The Flowood, Mississippi product finished his third start of the year holding Columbia (1-5) to six hits with a season-high eight strikeouts.

"We got a big hit from Ty Smolinski. He works as hard as anybody, and he's a talented kid. You put him in situations enough times to have success, he's going to do stuff like that. I'm proud of him. He's just scratching the surface of what his talent will allow him to be here at Kansas State."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Columbia started off game three with a pair of runs in the opening frame, as catcher Owen Estabrook belted a two-RBI double to right center.

Trailing 2-0, K-State sent 10 batters to the plate and erupted for five runs on four hits. AJ Evasco and Grant Gallagher were each issued a walk to lead off the bottom of the second before Smolinski came to the plate. The sophomore from Gretna, Nebraska, drilled the first pitch he faced from right-hander Thomas Santana and sent it 357-feet over the wall in right field for the go-ahead run.

Hits by Bear Madliak, Nick English and Shintaro Inoue stretched the lead before Santana walked in a run, forcing the Lions to make their first call to the pen.

Butler relieved Sheffield in the seventh and inherited a runner on first. The senior right-hander blew past the first batter he faced, registering his first strikeout of the game. He issued a pair of walks in the eighth but immediately punched out the next two to leave runners stranded in scoring position.

Reliever Cohen Feser finished off the game to secure his second save of the season.

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State scored five runs on seven hits, committed no errors and stranded eight runners on base while Columbia plated two runs with eight hits, no errors and leaving nine men on base.
Six different Wildcats recorded a hit, led by two from Inoue.
Smolinski launched a three-run home run in the second to score the deciding run.
Sheffield (3-0) was awarded the victory, allowing two runs (earned) on six hits with a season-high eight strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.
Feser earned his second save, throwing a scoreless inning in relief of Butler, who logged 1 1/3 shutout innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
Santana (0-2) took the loss after surrendering all five runs (earned) on five hits with four walks in his one-inning start.
Seven different players registered a hit for Columbia.
The Wildcats were issued seven walks, that included two to English.
Columbia's bullpen allowed just two hits over seven shutout innings, while striking out six with three walks.
All seven runs were scored between the first and second innings
K-State went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position while Columbia was 1-for-10.

TEAM NOTES

With the series victory, K-State leads the all-time series, 2-1.
K-State has won seven consecutive games when Sheffield starts on the mound.
The Wildcats 8-4 record marks the second-best start under Hughes through 12 games – started 9-3 in 2021.

PLAYER NOTES

Sheffield recorded his sixth quality start at K-State, finishing with a season-high eight strikeouts – one short of matching his career-high with the Cats.
English earned his first start of the year in left field.
Inoue produced his third multi-hit game.
Smolinski launched his second collegiate home run, while it marked his first game with three RBI.
English successfully reached base in all four plate appearances, going 1-for-1 with two walks and a hit by pitch.

UP NEXT
K-State will be back in Tointon Family Stadium Friday, March 6, to open a three-game set with SIUE (4-6, 0-0 Ohio Valley) with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.

– k-statesports.com –

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