With dominant pitching, No. 18 West Virginia made quick work of Kansas State with a 7-0 shutout victory on Friday night at Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
A game that started at 11 a.m. and wrapped up just past 7:30 p.m. resulted in a Kansas victory as they swept Kansas State to remain in first place in the Big 12 conference.
After a dissatisfying first matchup against in-state rivals Kansas, the Kansas State Wildcats came into game two with a wiped-clean mindset. But it wouldn’t be enough to overtake the No. 16 Kansas Jayhawks, who took the victory with a late comeback, 10-8.
Shortstop Dee Kennedy crushed his 17th home run of the season to break the junior single-season record and help lead Kansas State to a weekday victory over Grand Canyon in the desert.
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.
Left-handed starter Lincoln Sheffield pitched a complete game, striking out 10 batters and allowing just one run as he anchored Kansas State to an 11-1 victory in eight innings.
The battle between the Wildcats was fierce, going inning for inning until both teams scored late into the game.
The first five and a half innings were silenced between starting pitchers, Owen Kramkowski for Arizona and James Guyette for K-State.
Tanner Duke got the evening started for Kansas State on the mound, but that didn’t faze Omaha. The Mavericks built momentum early, as they started the top of the first with two runs and a home run to deep center field from designated hitter Nick Riggs. The Wildcats stayed quiet during the bottom of the first, responding with zero runs.
In game three of K-State’s series against Oklahoma State, it was the Wildcats’ pitching staff that delivered a historic performance on the mound, tallying 23 strikeouts on April 12. Despite the milestone, the Cowboys pushed through in extra innings, securing the win in the drawn-out 13th inning.
![[left to right] Casey Daugherty, President's Residence manager, Richard Linton, president of K-State, Willie the Wildcat, Sally Linton, first lady of K-State and Brett Engleman, events director to the president and first lady stand and smile together for a photo at Lunch with the Lintons on Sept. 4.](https://kstatecollegian.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/IMG_9768-e1788836318537-1200x958.jpg)
