Kansas State baseball scored 11 runs in the first three innings against Nebraska on Tuesday, as the Wildcats won their seventh consecutive home game 12-8 at Tointon Family Stadium.
“Obviously great start for our team tonight,” head coach Pete Hughes said to K-State Athletics. “Things went our way early on; it was our night. We were fortunate to extend a pretty good lead.”
On the mound for the ‘Cats was freshman Donte Lewis, who, in the first inning, allowed the first two Nebraska runners to reach on a single followed by a double. However, Lewis retired the next three batters without a run coming across, thanks to some good infield defense.
In the bottom of the first, K-State had its chance to score and they capitalized on three Nebraska errors. The Wildcats scored five runs in the inning on just two hits — one of which was a two-RBI double by Seth Dardar.
The ‘Huskers answered with two runs in the top of the second but K-State saw Nebraska starter Carson Jasa well and pounced on him again in the bottom of the second for four more runs to give K-State a 9-2 lead.
Lewis, in his third inning of work, shut down Nebraska quickly and gave the Wildcats offense another chance to add more runs to the scoreboard, starting with a two-run home run by junior shortstop Maximus Martin as he blasted his 10th homer of the season. K-State led 11-2.
Over the next three innings of action, Nebraska attempted its best at a comeback as the Cornhuskers scored four runs in three innings.
It appeared as if the momentum was swinging in their favor, but with the score at 11-6, catcher Bear Madliak crushed a solo home run in the seventh to stop the momentum and extend the Wildcats’ lead with his fourth home run in the last eight games.
To finish, the combination of sophomores Blake Dean and James Guyette out of the bullpen shut down the Cornhuskers’ offense and allowed K-State to escape with the 12-8 victory.
“Good team effort and really good job out of the bullpen with [Blake Dean] and [James Guyette]. So, another good series win,” Hughes said.
The winning pitcher for the Wildcats was Ty Ruhl, while the losing pitcher for Nebraska was Carson Jasa.
The Wildcats return to Big 12 action this weekend as they stay at home to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders for a three game series starting Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
