The Wildcat battle began in Arizona’s favor. Third baseman Nate Novitske had the only run of the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead over the visiting Wildcats. Kansas State went scoreless in the top of the second as well, but things seemed better in the bottom half as the Wildcats’ starter Robert Fortenberry managed to get two outs fairly quickly.
Arizona was not bothered, though, as center fielder TJ Adams hit a home run to deep center field. It was the only run of the inning, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead in the first two frames.
The early deficit lit a fire within the purple and white lineup. In the top of the third, left fielder Nick English highlighted K-State’s four-run inning with a home run — his fourth in his last six games.
The inning also saw Chandler Murray, Grant Gallagher and Cadyn Karl reel in runs, extending the Wildcats’ lead, 4-2. To top it off, Fortenberry locked in for the bottom of the third, allowing zero runs from Arizona in the third.
The momentum K-State built didn’t carry into the top of the fourth, though, as the Wildcats left second baseman Shintaro Inoue on base to end the inning with zero runs. Arizona, on the other hand, hit its second home run of the game, putting the home Wildcats within one, 4-3, at the end of the fourth inning.
After another scoreless inning in the top of the fifth from K-State and an early single from Arizona, the purple and white made a pitching change. Tazwell Butler came in to replace Fortenberry, but the Wildcats would tack on two more runs in the inning, taking the lead from K-State 5-4.
Arizona took advantage of another quiet inning from K-State in the bottom of the sixth. Second baseman Jackson Forbes brought in a run, extending the lead to 6-4. The bottom of the seventh was even more eventful for Arizona, as the Wildcats put up a three-run inning. Forbes and Mihalakis each scored their second run of the game in the inning.
After four straight innings without a run, K-State put up three runs in the top of the eighth. Catcher Bear Madliak hit a three-run homer to narrow the deficit to 9-7, giving the visiting Wildcats a real shot to win in the ninth inning.
However, Arizona responded with two runs in the bottom frame, as left fielder Andrew Cain tripled, allowing first baseman Tony Lira to score a run. Cain eventually scored before the end of the inning, giving Arizona an 11-7 lead. Down by four runs, K-State attempted to make a ninth-inning comeback, but it was shut down quickly by Arizona. The Wildcat battle ended in Arizona’s favor, with an 11-7 victory.
English finished with two runs, one of them being a homer, and Madliak had three RBI’s along with a run. Kennedy, Karl and Murray each scored runs as well.
K-State’s next contest will be against Grand Canyon in a midweek matchup at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
