Arizona State Outlasts K-State Friday, 5-4

Friday, March 20

Manhattan, Kan.

6 p.m.

Kansas State University

16-6

Arizona State

16-5

Arizona St.

Kansas State

Mar 20, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Eight strikeouts from Cole Carlon and a solo homer by Landon Hairston helped Arizona State overcome a late one-run deficit to take a 5-4 series-opening victory Friday night at Tointon Family Stadium.

Trailing 4-3 entering the eighth, ASU (16-5, 3-1 Big 12), which is ranked 24^th by Baseball America, pushed a run across the plate on a double play to even the score before Hairston belted his ninth home run of the season for the go-ahead run.

"You'll have a couple of moments during a Friday night game in this conference where you have to capitalize, and we were unable to do that," said head coach Pete Hughes. "We did a very good job against [Cole Carlon], creating some offense. When you're at home, you want to have the lead late, were able to do that with big hits by Dee [Kennedy] and Carlos [Vasquez] but didn't play clean enough to sustain the lead and finish. Looking to play better in front of these great crowds and get back in this series tomorrow."

K-State, (16-6, 2-2 Big 12) had seven different players produce a hit, including home runs by Dee Kennedy and Cadyn Karl. With his 10^th home run of the season, Kennedy became the fastest player to reach 10 homers in a single-season in the Hughes era.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After two scoreless frames, the Wildcats opened scoring as Karl launched his second homer of the season.

ASU responded with three runs over a two-inning span, highlighted by PJ Moutzouridis' solo blast to left.

Adam Arther relieved James Guyette in the fifth and immediately picked up two quick outs to get out of the bases loaded jam and shift momentum to the Wildcats' dugout.

Designated hitter Micah Kendrick led off the bottom of the sixth with a single past the diving efforts of the Sun Devils' second baseman and was followed by Kennedy's 10^th homer of the year, marking his second straight season with double-digit homers.

The Wildcats took the lead in the seventh, as Vasquez singled down the right field line, scoring Kennedy from second.

In the top of the eighth, the Sun Devils erased the one-run deficit and took back the lead with a groundout to second and solo shot to right, making it 5-4.

INSIDE THE BOX

ASU scored five runs on nine hits, with no errors and stranding 12 on base, while K-State scored four runs on seven hits, committed two errors and left 10 on base.
Seven different Wildcats recorded a hit Friday.
Kennedy and Karl each homered.
Six players hit for ASU, led by three from Brody Briggs while Dominic Smaldino added two.
Tazwell Buter (0-2) was tagged for the loss, surrendering the final two runs on two hits in his 1 1/3 relief outing.
Sean Fitzpatrick (2-0) was awarded the victory in relief, surrendering one run on one hit in 2/3 innings, while Derek Schaefer earned his third save.
Carlon struck out eight over his five-inning start and allowed three runs (earned) on four hits with five walks.

TEAM NOTES

ASU leads the all-time series 6-2, while Friday's contest marks the second ever meeting between the two squads in Manhattan. The series is now tied 1-1 in games played in Manhattan.
In 22 games, K-State has been held to five or fewer runs in seven.
Friday's game marked the first loss when hitting two or more home runs, moving to 8-1.

PLAYER NOTES

In eight games, Kennedy has stolen six bases. He leads the Big 12 with 14 stolen bases on the season.
Kennedy becomes the fastest player in the Hughes era to reach 10 home runs.
Karl has homered in two straight games, totaling two in his collegiate career.

ON DECK
Game two between the Wildcats and Sun Devils is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT at Tointon Family Stadium Saturday and can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

– k-statesports.com –

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