Kansas State baseball opened its home series against UCF looking to protect its perfect home record but ultimately saw the end of an 11-game win streak at Tointon Family Stadium, struggling all-around in a 15-3 loss on Friday night.
For K-State (21-12, 8-5 Big 12), it was the best start to its home schedule since 2014, but UCF (19-14, 4-9 Big 12) used 20 hits and seven consecutive shutout innings to beat the Wildcats.
“Credit UCF for coming out and swinging the bats,” head coach Pete Hughes said. “The key thing you want to do when you’re on the road and you’re playing in a field where there’s a home-field advantage, you have to try to take the crowd out of the game immediately, and they did that.”
K-State entered the contest 5-3 in Friday opening-weekend contests. In those Friday games, the Wildcats hit .253 while pitchers boasted a 3.27 ERA, limiting opponents to a .218 average with 9.2 strikeouts per game.
UCF tried to buck the Wildcats’ trend of Friday success on the mound, plating five runs off of starter Jacob Frost in the first. The 6-foot-4 lefty record just one out while allowing all five on four hits and two walks, moving to 0-2 on the season.
“We got a poor start from Jacob Frost, a kid who’s been unbelievably consistent for us and has been a rock on our pitching staff,” Hughes said. “So I’ll never be down on Jacob.”
Senior Ty Ruhl stepped in and faced the next 19 batters for the Wildcats across 4 2/3 innings. The right-handed reliever was tagged for three runs scattered across five hits with three strikeouts.
Ruhl providing a steady presence on the mound allowed the Wildcats’ offense to chip away at the Knights’ early lead, scoring three runs across the first two innings.
First baseman Seth Dardar returned from a hamstring injury that prevent him from playing in last weekend’s Stillwater series. The grad transfer made an immediate impact back in the lineup, launching a two-run home run.
Shortstop Max Martin followed with an RBI double in the second, plating designated hitter Sam Flores before being thrown out going for a triple. Martin likely would’ve scored with two singles that followed, but the Wildcats left the inning down 7-3.
Starting then, K-State’s offensive momentum hit a halt against UCF reliever Angelo Smith — a righty who record four scoreless innings with just three hits allowed to earn the win. Two double-plays induced during his time were key to keeping the Wildcats stagnant.
“We had 11 hits tonight, it’s usually a good offensive night if we can get into double digits,” Hughes said. “And that second inning could have been a big inning. And we got thrown out of the bases. That had the makings of a five run inning.”
While the Wildcats hung with the Knights in the hit column through the first half of the ballgame, they recorded just two in the fifth through ninth innings. The drought allowed UCF to pull ahead 20-11 in the hit column, and 15-3 on the scoreboard.
“At some point on a Friday night in the three game series, you have to cut your losses, and you have to make decisions to win a series,” Hughes said. “…Our kids are really resilient. They’re tough kids. I’ve seen them come back and get in series after games like this.”
K-State will look to bounce back with the two remaining games this weekend, starting with a first pitch on Saturday at 4 p.m.
