Freshman Nick English struck a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning, breaking out of a 2-2 deadlock against rival Kansas and leading Kansas State to its third straight Sunflower Showdown series win.
‘Cats take a 4-2 lead in the seventh courtesy of Nick English.
The freshman continues to be clutch, even with his brother behind the dish.
pic.twitter.com/i33WSizeLP— Toby Hammes (@toby_hammes) May 5, 2024
The Wildcats move to 28-19 and 12-12 in Big 12 play after winning the series finale 4-2. The Jayhawks, amid a fight to join K-State in postseason projections, drop to 27-17 and 13-11 in conference.
“Three really good ball games, I think it’s great for college baseball in this region of the country and great for college baseball in the state of Kansas,” head coach Pete Hughes said to K-State Athletics. “Just the amount of people that showed up in a very emotionally invested weekend, it speaks volumes to where our programs are at. That’s my biggest takeaway.”
English, competing against his older brother Jake, connected for the game-winner in the series opener and finished the weekend 4-for-12 with three RBI.
“The second game-winner for a freshman with some emotional ties in this rivalry with his brother on the other side,” Hughes said. “So it makes for a really good story. We have a confident kid that can slow the game down in those situations and be able to execute and put good swings on, so it’s pretty awesome.”
English wasn’t the only Wildcat contributing heroics in the series.
All-American junior closer Tyson Neighbors finagled his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the series opener on Friday, then collected his second save of the series by retiring Kansas in the finale’s ninth inning.
Blake Dean notched the win out of the bullpen. Another true freshman, Dean retired 11-of-13 batters while allowing one hit with three strikeouts over his 3 2/3 scoreless innings.
“It is certainly great to play well against a rival in game three, the deciding game,” Hughes said. “We were able to do that by just being patient, not being down, and just letting our offense come out there at the end. We pulled away late and, you know, when you have a closer like [Tyson Neighbors] and also a really good setup guy like Blake Dean, it’s crucial to grab that late lead.”
Neighbors collected a save in each of his last four appearances on the mound, notching six total on the injury-interrupted year.
Only six games remain for K-State in its regular season campaign, starting with a weekend series at 5:30 p.m. Friday at West Virginia (28-18, 15-9 Big 12).
