Kansas State baseball clinched its series against Texas Tech on Saturday, going up 2-0 with a 6-3 win at Tointon Family Stadium.
For the first time in the program’s 125-year history, the Wildcats are off to a 7-1 start in league action. Overall, K-State is 18-8 with four series wins on the season.
The Wildcats scored four runs in the third inning to give them the edge, paired with reliever James Guyette (2-1) tossing 4 2/3 innings of one-hit ball, wrapping up his 10th relief outing of the season with four strikeouts and one walk.
“No question, the turning point was [a triple play] and bringing in Guyette,” head coach Pete Hughes said. “He was a lot for them to handle, and he executed a lot of pitches against a really good offense.”
Pitcher Michael Quevedo was on the mound to start the day for K-State. In the top of the first, Texas Tech managed to get two on base, but after the Red Raiders stole second and third, Quevedo locked in and struck out the next up to bat.
The lefty from Texas didn’t allow any hits or runs in the top of the second as well. Quevedo finished his night with six total strikeouts, facing 20 batters on the day.
Third baseman Dee Kennedy got things started on offense for the Wildcats, slamming a leadoff homerun to left field, bringing all the fans in the ball park to life.
K-State also had a scoreless second inning, but one highlight was designated hitter Kyan Lodice stealing third while Texas Tech wasn’t paying attention. It was one of many avoidable mistakes the Red Raiders made, as a couple of throwing errors also plagued Texas Tech.
“You can get caught up in winning, and sometimes it’s a false sense of security,” Hughes said on his team limiting mistakes. “We want to be an Omaha team, and right now, there is a little gap for us. The only way to close it is through fundamental play.”
The third inning was the most action-packed for K-State. The hits kept coming to the Wildcats, as four players reached home, giving K-State a 5-0 edge by the end of the third inning.
Right fielder AJ Evasco was one of the four Wildcats to reel in a run, but he had an even bigger play in the bottom fifth inning. Evasco hit K-State’s second and last home run of the ball game.
The top of the fifth saw K-State’s remarkable triple play, managing to get three outs on one play. The stadium exploded and gave the Wildcats all the momentum. After this, Texas Tech finished the last three innings scoreless.
“We got that play and it completely shifted momentum in the game,” Hughes said.
Kennedy had one homerun, two hits, and one RBI. Evasco hit a home run and totaled two RBI. Left fielder Keegan O’Connor finished his night with two hits and two RBI.
Thirteen hits, including homers by Seth Dardar, Maximus Martin, and Keegan O’Connor, powered K-State to a 10-5 victory over Texas Tech in the series opener on Friday night. The two wins moved K-State to 9-0 at home.
K-State looks to sweep the series Sunday at 1 p.m. as the Wildcats hope to continue to stay at the top of the Big 12 Conference.
