Kansas State baseball belted back-to-back home runs for the third game in a row and fourth time this season on its way to a 9-6 victory over Nebraska, finishing 2-1 at the Frisco Classic on Sunday. The Wildcats (6-5) are above .500 for the first time this season.
Hitting the two home runs were freshman A.J. Evasco and graduate transfer Keegan O’Connor. Evasco’s home run was his first in his collegiate career, while O’Connor has now homered in back-to-back games.
The home runs came in the top of the fourth and extended a 2-1 K-State lead to a 5-1 lead and gave the Wildcats some breathing room in the middle innings with the Big 12’s Co-Newcomer of the Week Lincoln Sheffield on the mound. Sheffield went 6 1/3 innings, striking out seven batters and just allowing two runs. Sheffield received the win, moving his record to 2-1 on the season.
“Again, it begins and ends with quality starting pitching, and I thought Lincoln was awesome again for the second straight outing and keeping a pretty offensive team at bay in a super offensive setting,” head coach Pete Hughes said to K-State Athletics.
K-State got off to a quick start, scoring a run in both of the first two innings. Maximus Martin hit lead off for the Wildcats and did his part by reaching base in the first. Then, Seth Dardar doubled down the line to score Martin and give the ‘Cats the early lead.
In the second inning, it was Martin’s turn to drive someone home as he singled with two outs, driving in a run and extend the lead up to 2-0 for the Wildcats. Both Martin and Dardar had great days offensively, tallying three hits and two RBIs. Their production at the top of the order is big for the Wildcats offensive potential.
Nebraska got one back in the bottom of the second but Sheffield limited the damage to keep K-State in the lead. Keeping that lead was important because in the fourth, the ‘Cats jacked back-to-back home runs and extended their lead to 5-1.
The fifth and sixth inning the ‘Cats extended their lead furher with great situational hitting to score three more runs and blow the game open to an 8-1 advantage.
“I thought we got some timely hitting. We spread it throughout the lineup and had good balance,” Hughes said. “Overall, it was a really good day for our offense.”
In the bottom of the seventh, Nebraska got one back on a solo home run but red hot Martin answered with his own solo shot in the top of the 8th to answer. In the eighth inning, the ‘Huskers started to rally with two runs to cut the lead to 9-4.
For the ninth, K-State brought on sophomore Blake Dean. While he gave up two runs on an inside the park home run, he limited Nebraska’s offense elsewhere and shut the door for the ‘Cats.
The Wildcats now come back for their home opener on Wednesday as they welcome the Creighton Blue Jays to Tointon Family Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Vs. Sam Houston State
K-State used an offensive explosion of 14 runs to cruise to the easy victory over Sam Houston State.
The Wildcats, after their heartbreaking defeat to LSU, wanted to put the game behind them as quickly as possible so they could stay on the right track.
“It was good to come to the park today with a little energy, especially after yesterday’s heartbreaking defeat,” Hughes said. “It was a good team win, and we got to use a lot of players, which is crucial at this time of year so you can build depth to your program. Our kids came to the park ready to win.”
After a scoreless first inning, the Bat ‘Cats came ready to hit and jumped on Sam Houston State in the second by scoring four runs. The Wildcats used aggressive, but smart base running and timely hitting to spot the big inning.
The four runs was all K-State starter Michael Quevedo needed to be aggressive on the mound and get ahead of hitters. Quevedo struck out 10 batters on the afternoon and gave up two runs in his five innings of work.
“He was 0-2, 1-2 most of the day and that’s a huge advantage,” Hughes said. “Obviously, for a pitcher when you’re up 0-2, 1-2 on a count you can really expand the zone, and that’s where the strikeout numbers came from. He’s a bulldog.”
After the Bearkats scored two in the third, the Wildcats answered with one back in the fourth on a failed pick off move. The error by the Bearkats gave K-State a 5-2 advantage. In for relief of Quevedo in the sixth was freshman Donte Lewis as he lit up the radar gun in his two innings of work while holding the Bearkats to just one run.
Holding Sam Houston State’s offense relatively quiet gave the Wildcats a chance to blow the game open, which they did in the seventh inning with five runs to take a 10-3 lead.
Junior Maximus Martin had the first big hit in the inning as he knocked in two with a single. However, the biggest hit came from Keegan O’Connor as he blasted a no-doubt home run to cap off the big inning for the ‘Cats.
The eighth and ninth innings senior Ty Ruhl’s on the mound and he was dominant with two innings allowing no runs or hits to close the door on the game. The Wildcats added on to their lead in both the eighth and the ninth by scoring two in each inning.
In the ninth inning, K-State hit back-to-back home runs for the second day in a row. This time it was juniors Kyan Lodice and Shintaro Inoue going deep.
“I thought we did a really good job situationally hitting and extending that lead, so good team win,” Hughes said. “We look forward to building on that tomorrow and try to win a series, which is our mentality right now.”
