After a 2-1 series win at Baylor, Kansas State baseball stands in a tie with Arizona baseball for first place in the Big 12 following a 5-1 start to conference play — tying its best conference start in program history.
Game 3
In the series finale, K-State (15-8, 5-1 Big 12) was looking for the sweep over Baylor but fell short as the Baylor offense exploded for 19 runs, avoiding the sweep and winning 19-4 on Sunday.
The Bears (16-7, 2-4) scored 11 runs in the sixth inning, giving the Bears a double-digit lead and ending the game early in the seventh inning due to run rule.
On the mound for the Wildcats was left-handed pitcher Lincoln Sheffield who went 4 2/3 innings giving up five earned runs while striking out four batters.
“Disappointing day, but a really good road series win,” head coach Pete Hughes said. “I thought we had a good enough start from Lincoln Sheffield to be able to win and our offense did great job driving up their starters’ pitch count and getting him out of the game, but unfortunately, they won the battle of the bullpen.”
K-State tied the game up at two in the fourth inning and were battling against Baylor starter Carson Bailey but that was the closest the game got as Baylor scored five in the fifth and 11 in the sixth.
K-State added two in the sixth to get some offensive momentum going into its next week of baseball, which includes four home games. The loss snapped a six-game win streak.
Game 2
To clinch the series victory, K-State recorded 16 hits on its way to scoring 14 runs in a 14-4 rout of Baylor on Saturday.
The win tied the record for the best start to conference play in program history and set K-State as the last remaining undefeated Big 12 team in conference play, until Sunday.
“It’s always great to win a road series, they don’t come very often,” Hughes said. “They’re hard to get in the Big 12. So that was a critical win for our program.”
On the mound was Michael Quevedo who provided a solid outing. Quevedo went 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs and striking out six batters.
Quevedo gave up a home run to the Baylor leadoff hitter but allowed just one more hit over the next five innings and didn’t surrender another run till the sixth inning.
“Again, we got a really good start from Michael Quevedo,” Hughes said. “He limited the extra-base hits and didn’t beat himself. Pitched very well and pitched out of some jams.”
His dominance on the mound allowed the Wildcats offense to score the next eight runs and blow the game wide open. The Wildcats scored four runs in the second, two in the fourth and one in the fifth and sixth.
In the fifth inning, senior first baseman David Bishop hit a solo home run which was his second homer of the season.
In the sixth inning, the Bears were able to chip away at the lead with two runs but it didn’t last long as K-State answered with three runs in the top of the seventh.
The scoring didn’t stop in the eighth as infielder Dee Kennedy smacked a three-run home run and put the cherry on top for the big Wildcat win. Kennedy had a three-hit afternoon, driving in three runners as well.
Out of the bullpen, Miles Smith pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up just one run while left-handed pitcher Adam Arther pitched two scoreless frames striking out two batters.
Game 1
K-State won its fifth straight game, 8-2, behind 4 1/3 scoreless innings from right-handed reliever James Guyette in Friday’s series opener.
Guyette came in relief of starter Jacob Frost who also went 4 1/3 innings and gave up two runs in the fifth inning.
“[Guyette] was my team MVP tonight,” Hughes said. “He came in and threw up 4 1/3 of a shutout baseball and saved our bullpen. So, our bullpen will be fresh tomorrow and Sunday, but overall, a really good win on the road to set the tone of the series. We really had a very good start by Jacob Frost.”
The Wildcats’ offense started in the second inning as they scored four runs capped off by a massive three-run home run by catcher Bear Madliak — his fourth of the season.
The Wildcats scored two more in the fifth, starting with a triple from freshman AJ Evasco who then scored on a ground ball from grad transfer Keegan O’Connor. Evasco had a good day as he had a triple and a double, scoring both times he reached.
With Guyette pitching well, the big lead was safe. In the ninth inning, infielder Shintaro Inoue homered to add another run to the ‘Cats lead.
The Wildcats return home with a quick break from conference play on Tuesday, hosting Nebraska with a first-pitch start time of 6 p.m. A weekend series at home follows against Texas Tech.
