Kansas State baseball had a fiery start to their 14-6 win over Texas Thursday night. The Wildcats went on a scoring rampage in the second inning, gaining eight runs. K-State also had a strong game from the mound, preventing any Longhorn runs for six straight innings from the third to eighth inning after allowing three runs in the first two innings. The Longhorns attempted to make a recovery in the last inning, but were unsuccessful. 

The Wildcats had a forceful second inning. After allowing two Longhorn runs on the defensive end, K-State scored eight runs with only five hits. 

Designated hitter Nick English created a highlight-worthy play as the bases were loaded with one out to spare. He doubled to right center, permitting second baseman Brady Day, center fielder Brendan Jones and first baseman David Bishop to score. The Wildcats went into the third inning ahead by five runs 8-3.

On the mound, pitchers Josh Wintroub and Adam Arther held the Longhorns to a scoring drought for the next six innings. Wintroub grabbed his second win of the season after pitching 5 1/3 innings and striking out five.

Offensively, the Wildcats saw three home runs for the rest of the game, with Bishop, shortstop Kaelen Culpepper and right fielder Kyan Lodice all sending one over the fence.

After the second inning, the offense continued on. Left fielder Chuck Ingram singled to the middle, allowing Bishop to score in the third inning. Culpepper and Lodice’s home runs both came in the sixth inning, improving the Wildcats’ score to 13-3. 

The Wildcats scored its last run of the game in the seventh inning. Day scored off a single to right field from Culpepper, bringing the score to 14-3.

Texas attempted to make a comeback in the ninth inning. With pitcher Mason Buss on the mound, the Longhorns scored a homerun on the first play, closing the scoring gap to 14-4. With one out to give and the first two bases covered, Longhorn shortstop Jalin Flores secured two RBI by doubling to center field. His play raised the score to 14-6 Wildcats. Fortunately for K-State, Buss struck out the next batter, finalizing the game.

This series-opening win places the Wildcats at an overall record of 18-6 and a conference record of 6-1. K-State baseball continues the series at 6 p.m. Friday.