On a warm Saturday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium, Kansas State’s effort to snap an eight-game drought ended in heartbreak, 5-3. A late-inning surge by No. 20 Cincinnati handed the Wildcats their ninth consecutive loss — the program’s longest skid since 2018 — dropping K-State to 26-24 overall and 9-17 in Big 12 play.
The Wildcats’ defense opened the contest with authority, retiring the Bearcats in order through the first two frames with no hits or errors. While the defense remained steady, the K-State bats began to stir in the second as AJ Evasco and Grant Gallagher both reached base. The ‘Cats, however, were unable to drive them home.
In the top of the third, K-State’s defense survived an error, left one on base and allowed no runs. The quiet top half allowed Cadyn Karl to put the Wildcats on the board 1-0 with a 379ft solo home run, his seventh of the season.
Cincinnati found some momentum in the top of the fourth, however, as Jack Natili singled up the middle and Ryan Tyranski sprinted home from second, scoring the Bearcats’ first run of the afternoon.
Neither team scored again until K-State’s Bear Madliak doubled in the bottom of the seventh, giving the purple and white momentum. In the next at bat, Ty Smolinski snuck a single through the Bearcats’ infield, allowing Madliak to score from second and giving the Wildcats their second run of the night.
After a wild pitch from Cincinnati’s Chad Brown, Smolinski stole second, and AJ Evasco pushed him to third on a single. A Grant Gallagher sacrifice fly to left field brought in the RBI to secure a 3-1 K-State lead after seven.
The eighth inning was all Cincinnati. Quinton Coats launched a ball 340 feet to deep right field for his 25th homer of the season, which brought in three runs for the Bearcats. The blast saw the end of K-State’s senior starting pitcher Lincoln Sheffield’s night as he threw seven strikeouts before Cohen Feser came in from the bullpen to close the game.
However, Cincinnati’s Enzo Infelise brought in another RBI with a single across the left side, scoring Jack Natili from second base. The knock made the score 5-3 in favor of the red and black, where it would remain until the end of the night.
Following the loss, K-State head coach Pete Hughes pointed to the eighth inning as a recurring struggle for the team this season. The Wildcats have held an eighth-inning lead in 17 of their Big 12 games, yet have struggled to close the door.
“Frustrating loss and another lead that we’ve blown in the eighth inning,” Hughes said.
Despite the pitching change in the eighth, Hughes was quick to praise his starter’s effort.
“Lincoln Sheffield pitched a great game like he usually does for us,” Hughes said. “He deserved to get a win today and deserved to pitch the ninth. I feel terrible for Lincoln”.
Looking to the series finale, Hughes emphasized that despite the result, the locker room remains resilient.
“Our guys are hungry for it,” Hughes said. “They’ve lost every way possible, and I don’t say that disparagingly. I say that because they’re a good team, a great group of guys and they want to win. We gotta play better, find ways to play better, be better fundamentally so our margins for error aren’t so small.”
K-State looks to avoid a sweep tomorrow as the last game of the series has a first pitch at 11 a.m.
