Kansas State baseball showed a lot of heart Tuesday, nearly pulling off a massive upset of No. 6 North Carolina in a back-and-forth 12-9 loss, nearly salvaging a sour 1-4 start to the season.

“That was a really good fight by our guys,” seventh-year head coach Pete Hughes said to K-State Athletics. “We were really close. We are by no means satisfied, but tonight showed me that I have players who thrive in the heat of battle. That’s something to build on.”

The Wildcats out-hit the Tar Heels, 11-9, led by a four-hit night from Kennedy. A sophomore transfer from Texas, Kennedy went 4-for-5 with two runs batted in and two runs scored, while drawing a pair of walks.

As a team, K-State hit .400 (8-for-20) with runners on base and was 6-for-11 (.545) with runners in scoring position. The Wildcats held a 3-1 advantage in extra-base hits over their first Top 25 opponent of the season.

“We could have been more efficient in controlling the aspects of the game within our control,” Hughes said. “However, there were an exceptional number of uncontrollable factors that were far too prevalent and impacted the game. For perspective, it was the first time in my 28 years as a head coach that I have put a game under protest.”

K-State protested the game in the bottom of the first inning, citing indecisive pitch clock decisions made by the umpires.

On the mound for the Wildcats was freshman Donte Lewis, the Wildcats’ prized two-way prospect. For the Tar Heels, Folger Boaz made the start.

The Wildcats got up early, scratching across two runs in the first inning. However, North Carolina answered back quickly as they were able to score four unearned runs off of two errors. After one, it was 4-2 UNC.

After a few scoreless innings, K-State shortstop Maximus Martin crushed a home run to get the deficit back down to just one in the fourth.

The Wildcats pitching staff of Blake Dean and Ty Ruhl, in relief of Lewis, did a great job of keeping the UNC offense quiet early. Because of that, in the top of the sixth inning, the Wildcats scratched across two runs and grabbed the lead of 5-4. 

The Tar Heels tied it in the bottom of the sixth, but K-State answered and took the lead back in the seventh. Dee Kennedy hit a lead-off double and came around and eventually scored the go-ahead run. Kennedy went 4-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. 

However, again the lead didn’t last as North Carolina got hits off Wildcat pitcher James Guyette, and it put up five to lead 10-6. 

K-State answered with three in the top of the eighth to make it once again a one-run game, but North Carolina scored two more in the bottom of the inning to make it 12-9, providing insurance for the Tar Heels.

The ‘Cats head to Arlington to compete in a tough three-day tournament against No. 5 Arkansas (4-0), Michigan (4-0) and No. 22 TCU (4-0). K-State will begin with Arkansas at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Battle At The Beach

Game 4

In the finale of a four-game tournament, Battle at the Beach, the Wildcats took on host school Coastal Carolina on Monday and were defeated 9-2.

The Wildcats only mustered six hits on the day against a solid Coastal pitching staff. K-State started Lincoln Sheffield, making his season debut with the Wildcats. 

The first four innings were a pitching duel, with Coastal scratching across two runs in the second, making it a 2-0 game. In the fifth, the Wildcats had two runners on, but a failed double steal, followed by a ground out, allowed the Chanticleers to get out of the inning. 

Coastal plated a run in the bottom of the fifth, but Sheffield struck out the side for the Wildcats, which ended his afternoon. The five innings by Sheffield was the longest outing of the season by a Wildcat pitcher so far.

“I thought Lincoln Sheffield pitched well and competed,” Hughes said. “He didn’t beat himself, and that’s all we ask of our guys. Anytime you don’t walk anyone, you give yourself a chance.”

K-State got its first run of the game in the sixth inning to make it a 3-1 game. K-State redshirt freshman Micah Dean earned his first collegiate base hit in the frame. 

Coastal quickly answered big with six runs over the next two innings to make it a 9-1 game. K-State got a run back in the eighth, but that was all.

Game 3

The Wildcats’ lone win on the road trip was on Sunday as they took down Saint Joseph’s 12-7 with an offensive explosion.

After a scoreless first, the Wildcats scored four runs in the top of the second inning highlighted by a two-run homer by first baseman David Bishop. K-State added another run in the third to make it 5-0.

Shutting down the Hawks was K-State pitcher Michael Quevedo, as he went 4 1/3 innings and allowed just one run. 

“It begins with a great start, and we had that with Michael Quevedo tonight,” Hughes said. “He put us in a spot to help us build a lead along.” 

After K-State scored two more in the fourth, the Hawks finally got on the board and made it a 7-1 game. However, K-State wasn’t done, as outfielder Nick English hit a two-run homer in the sixth and stretched the lead out even further to make it 9-1.

St. Joseph’s refused to go away and answered with four in the bottom of the sixth and made it a little closer. In the seventh, it scored another and trailed now by just three, 9-6. Both teams scored a run in the eighth making it 10-7, but K-State in the ninth added two runs for insurance to get the 12-7 win. 

James Guyette was credited with the save as he worked a dominant two innings, striking out four of the six batters he faced. Seth Dardar for the Wildcats had a big day at the plate as well as he went 4-6 and had three doubles in the game.

“We had big hits from David Bishop, Nick English and Seth Dardar,” Hughes said. “We had a lot of people contribute to tonight’s win, which speaks to the depth of our program and our bench.” 

Game 2

The Wildcats faced Coastal Carolina for the first time on this road trip as they fell 8-3. 

K-State pitcher JJ Slack carded his first career start as a Wildcat. K-State pitchers hit eight batters and the defense made four errors giving a good team like Coastal Carolina extra chances with runners on base.

“It’s quite obvious we are playing bad baseball,” Hughes said. “We’re giving away runs and failing to hit with men on base. You’re just not going to beat good teams when you give them extra outs and extra opportunities.”

The Wildcats got off to a good start as they scored two runs in the top of the first inning, but the Chanticleers answered with three runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-2 lead. 

Coastal went on to score another run in the second inning and three more in the fourth to blow the game open at 7-2. The Wildcats had a chance to get back into the game with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, but back-to-back strikeouts by the Coastal relief pitcher ended the threat. 

Both teams added a run in the late innings of the game but that was all as the Chanticleers took the win 8-3.

Game 1

K-State’s first game of the season came against Washington in a 9-2 defeat to the Huskies.

Ruhl was named the opening-day starter for the Wildcats as he looked to bounce back from last season, where he was bothered by injuries. However, The Huskies opened with two runs in the first and one run in the second to grab a quick 3-0 lead. 

“The game started poorly for us,” Hughes said. “We immediately set a bad tone for that game. We won’t beat anyone if we give away 13 free bases.”

The Huskies tacked on a run in the fourth. The Wildcats struggled offensively as they were shut down and didn’t climb back into the game. Wildcat relief pitchers pitched well enough to give them a chance but the offense didn’t follow suit. In the last three innings, Washington added five more runs to make it a 9-0 game.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Wildcats started to get a rally going as they scored two runs on RBIs from Keegan O’Connor and AJ Evasco. However, it was not nearly enough as the Wildcats lost 9-2.