Trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, No. 22 Kansas State baseball rallied for seven runs, taking control and leading the way to a 13-10 win at Wichita State on Wednesday night.
In the fourth inning, K-State sent 12 batters to the plate and scored all of its runs with two outs. The big hit in the fourth came off the bat of third baseman Dee Kennedy when he launched a three-run home run.
“Big night offensively, you always like to get your bats going heading into conference play,” Kansas State head coach Pete Hughes said to K-State Athletics.
Right-handed pitcher Tanner Duke started on the mound for the Wildcats, making his second midweek start of the season. Duke went four innings and allowed one run in the bottom of the second.
After the big ‘Cats fourth inning, Duke shut down the Shocker offense quickly and back up came K-State and shortstop Maximus Martin. In the fifth, the shortstop crushed a pitch to left field and out of the park for his team-leading 12th home run of the season, extending the K-State lead to 8-1.
In the seventh, K-State tacked on four more runs thanks to a Wichita State error followed by a moonshot from Kennedy for his second home run of the night. Kennedy finished the game with five RBIs.
However, things got a little closer in the bottom of the seventh and eighth as Wichita State scored eight runs and closed the gap to just a three-run game. In the eighth, Wichita State had the tying run at the plate, but the Wildcats escaped the jam.
In the top of the ninth, K-State added another run for insurance to make it 13-9. Wichita State tried to keep its rally going into the bottom of the ninth, but the Shockers were only scratched one run across and lost to the ‘Cats 13-10.
Getting the win was left-handed pitcher Adam Arther, as he pitched two innings in relief of Tanner Duke and held the Shocker offense quiet in those two innings.
With his single in the second, left fielder Keegan O’Connor extended his on-base streak to 20 games. Following right behind him is right fielder AJ Evasco, who extended his on-base streak to 19 games as well.
K-State will now continue south to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State for a three-game weekend series. The first pitch on Friday night will be at 6 p.m., with left-handed pitcher Jacob Frost on the mound for the nationally ranked Wildcats.
