Kansas State notched a 10-6 victory over Wichita State on the road, marking the Wildcats sixth consecutive win in the in-state rivalry. The six-game winning streak against the Shockers ties the Wildcats second-longest run of success in the series.
“Though it was a good all-around baseball game we played on the road,” K-State head coach Pete Hughes said. “I thought it was a good start from Tanner Duke.”
Duke, a junior, earned the win to improve to 3-1 in his seventh start. He allowed five runs on 10 hits through five innings and struck out seven.
“Tanner has improved from his last couple of outings, which is great,” Hughes said. “It’s what we wanted to see and what we needed. The bullpen was solid [when] pitching with the lead.”
Offensively, both state rivals were quiet in the first inning, as the scoreboard remained empty throughout the whole inning. The game started to show some action when K-State broke through in the second inning on a Cadyn Karl two-RBI single, giving the Wildcats an early 2-0 lead.
The lead expanded in the third inning, as Kyan Lodice, Dee Kennedy and Bear Madliak drew walks to open the frame. All three eventually scored on a wild pitch, a single by Carlos Vasquez and a fielder’s choice hit by Shintaro Inoue, giving the Wildcats a 5-0 edge.
The Shockers responded in the third inning to cut the deficit to 5-3, but the Wildcats answered again in the fifth. In the Wildcats’ half of the frame, Shea McGahan singled and Grant Gallagher hit a sacrifice fly to extend the lead, 7-3.
Left-hander Robert Fortenberry relieved Duke but allowed a run in the eighth, causing the Wildcats to call on Tazwell Butler to close the game on the mound. K-State added one run in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to build a 10-5 lead.
The Shockers showed life in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring a run on a K-State error. Wichita State also had two on base with one out when this occurred, but fortunately for the Wildcats, Butler closed out the game, notching his third save of the season, and sealing K-State’s victory, 10-6. The save Butler recorded prior to this game also came against the Shockers on March 10.
K-State collected 10 runs on 13 hits with just one error, leaving 13 runners on base. Wichita State also tallied 13 hits but stranded nine runners with no errors. Eight Wildcats earned at least one hit, with five players posting one or more hits, and Inoue and Karl finished the night with two RBIs each.
The Wildcats improve to 16-5 in non-conference games this season and are 3-2 in true road non-conference contests. This victory also marked K-State’s ninth win over the Shockers under the Hughes era.
“[There] are all positives to build on again when beating an in-state rival on the road and playing clean baseball,” Hughes said. “I thought our kids did a good job tonight.”
K-State returns home this weekend to host Oklahoma State at Tointon Family Stadium. The series begins at 6 p.m. on Friday.
