After a rough weekend sweep in Stillwater, Kansas State baseball responded in the best way with a midweek 12-2 win against Missouri State, exploding for five home runs.
“Just what the doctor ordered in a bounce-back game for our team – a high character win with a resilient group after a disappointing weekend,” head coach Pete Hughes said. “We played a tough and scrappy team and performed well in every phase of the game. More importantly, we played with energy and played fundamental baseball.”
Pitcher Tanner Duke began on the mound for K-State and was shaken up early in the top of the first. Duke was hit by the ball and committed a throwing error right off the rip. After taking a minute to recover from the hit, Duke went right back to work, earning a strikeout.
“I tried to flush it,” Duke said. “I started to throw every pitch with conviction and let my defense do its work.”
The first inning was quiet for both teams, but in the bottom of the second, Bear Madliak got the fans in Tointon to get on their feet. The designated hitter from Georgia cleared the left center fence to give K-State its first of many runs.
The fun for K-State didn’t stop there, as first baseman Sam Flores followed it up with a home run of his own. This was Flores’ first home run of his career as a Wildcat.
“[Flores] one of my favorite players because he was in our opening day lineup and didn’t play much after that,” Hughes said. “Rather than thinking about himself, he always thinks about K-State baseball and winning games.”
Catcher Cayden Phillips and second baseman Shintaro Inoue hauled in runs to finish up the big second inning for K-State, as the Wildcats led 4-0.
Missouri State responded with back-to-back home runs in the top of the third as center fielder Caden Bogenpohl and second baseman Nick Rodriguez plated the Bears’ only two runs. K-State responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the third.
Then, in the bottom of the fourth, third baseman Dee Kennedy hit the third home run of the game for K-State, coupled with shortstop Max Martin bringing in a run. The score was now 8-2 and would remain this way for the next two innings.
In the bottom of the seventh, Madliak hit his second homerun, and the cherry on top came when Phillips hit the Wildcats’ fifth and final home run for a run-rule walk-off.
The Wildcats now set their sights on UCF for the weekend, with the first game of the series at 6 p.m. on Friday.
