Kansas State baseball secured its win early on in the game by scoring six runs in three innings. Although it entered an offensive drought for the duration of the game, defense played a crucial role in beating the Mavericks. 

“Every game is so valuable, even on Tuesdays,” head coach Pete Hughes said.  

The Wildcats responded well to the Mavericks’ two runs in the first inning. Center fielder Brendan Jones not only advanced to first base on a walk, he also stole second and third. 

Jones scored the first Wildcat run after second baseman Brady Day hit a fly ball to right field. Third baseman Jaden Parsons scored the next run unearned, tying the game 2-2.

In the second inning, the Wildcats had the potential for a grand slam. Unfortunately, shortstop Kaelen Culpepper struckout before the Wildcats scored. 

K-State had a phenomenal third inning, scoring four runs. Right fielder Nick English highlighted the inning with a double to right center, permitting Day to advance to third base. The Wildcats finished the inning with its last run of the game to improve the score to 6-3. 

“Disappointed a little bit in our offense, not scoring there in the last five frames, but like I said, it’s a great win, it’s an important win, and they’re all really really important now as far as building our resume for post season play,” Hughes said. 

The Wildcats started the fifth inning strong with an efficient defensive play. A ball grounded to Culpepper was quickly thrown to Day for an out, and in the blink of an eye, Day fired the ball to first baseman Jayden Lobliner who outed another Mavericks player. 

In the bottom of the fifth, catcher Cayden Phillips doubled to far left field. Phillips had a close encounter with the Mavericks’ second baseman, but after further review the play stood with the Wildcat safe. 

The Wildcats had another good defensive play in the top of the sixth. They earned two quick outs because of Culpepper’s quick reaction time as he tagged a runner on second base before launching the ball to first base to get another out.

Both teams failed to score any runs in the last three innings of the game. The Wildcats walked away victorious, winning its sixteenth home game of the season. 

“We play good at home, that’s for sure,” Hughes said. “We have a great community that we play in front of, and our kids are comfortable here, so we have to take advantage of playing at home.”

This win places the Wildcats at a 25-15 overall record and 9-9 conference record. K-State will travel to Fort Worth, Texas to face TCU in a weekend series starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday.