The No. 11 Kansas State Wildcats continued to make their mark during the Big 12 Tournament after upsetting No. 7 Texas Christian in a straightforward 9-4 game.

As K-State head coach Pete Hughes said after the Wildcats’ first-round win against Utah, “… we got to get some momentum going,” and that is exactly what the team came out and did.

Not only was this game important to move through the tournament, but it was also a way for K-State to find redemption against the Horned Frogs. The last matchup between the teams was in early April, where TCU took the series 2-1 at Tointon Family Stadium. 

Right from the start, the Wildcats were hammering balls, taking a 7-0 lead across the first four innings. K-State scored two runs in the first — one by Ty Smolinski, who doubled to left center and scored Dee Kennedy, along with the second coming from AJ Evasco, who singled to right center, scoring Smolinski.

Continuing to add on, Smolinski and Grant Gallagher plated three more runs during the third inning. Smolinksi hit a deep triple to right field, which sent Kyan Lodice home after standing on first base. On a full count and six pitches later, Gallagher singled to left field, giving himself two RBIs. 

The Wildcats continued to do damage during the fourth inning as well. Finding a way to single to right center, Smolinski recorded his third RBI of the night when he scored Kennedy from first base. Soon after, Evasco ripped one to right-center for a triple and scored Smolinski — scoring the last run of K-State’s seven-run barrage.

Once the Wildcats made their presence dominant, the Horned Frogs tried to respond, but couldn’t get their bats hot enough to cause real damage. Due to a TCU double to right field, along with a K-State fielding error, the Horned Frogs scored two runs, cutting the deficit to 7-2. 

Stepping back up to the plate in the sixth, the Wildcats kept their bats consistent and added two more runs to the scoreboard. Doubling to left center, Bear Madliak tallied an RBI to the stats sheet as Lodice scored. Inevitably, K-State’s last run of the night came off Carlos Vasquez’s bat, who hit a sac fly which allowed Madliak to score and finalize the Wildcats’ runs at nine.

While TCU added on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, K-State shut down the eighth and ninth, finalizing the game, 9-4. 

Tazwell Butlter was the Wildcats’ starting righty, who retired 11 of the first 12 batters along with seven strikeouts and two walks. Butler went 4.2 innings on the mound, only allowing two runs on four hits.

The contest featured two other K-State pitchers on the mound as well — Adam Arther and Cohen Feser. Arther earned the win for the Wildcats across 1.1 innings, where he allowed two runs on one hit and one walk. Attaining his fourth save of the season, Feser tossed three no-hit innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

K-State moves on to face No. 2 West Virginia at 6:30 p.m. CST on Thursday, May 21. ESPNU will televise the quarterfinal game.