Tuesday, April 10
Manhattan, Kan.
6:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
15-18
9
vs
11
Nebraska
15-16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Nebraska
0
2
3
0
2
0
0
4
0
11
8
3
Kansas State
2
1
1
1
0
1
3
0
0
9
12
2
K-State Drops Seesaw Affair with Cornhuskers
Apr 10, 2018 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Despite Cameron Thompson's four-RBI night, K-State was unable to overcome a go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth inning by Nebraska's Jesse Wilkening in an 11-9 loss Tuesday night at Tointon Family Stadium.
Wilkening's homer, his fourth of the year, capped a four-run eighth for the Cornhuskers (15-16) that came on the heels of a three-run seventh that handed K-State (15-18) a 9-7 edge. Thompson drove in two of his four runs in the seventh inning as the game saw a total of three lead changes and two tied scores.
"We've got to keep grinding," head coach Brad Hill said after his team's sixth straight loss. "That's the hard part about it, you go in and face a top-10 team this weekend and you've got to keep grinding and try to figure out ways to correct some of these mistakes. Right now, it's one thing or the other. In Big 12 games we haven't scored a lot of runs and if we do, we don't pitch it well enough. We've got to get those things going together."
Thompson ended the night with a game-high three hits, going 3-for-5 with a run scored and matching his career high with four RBI. The sophomore shortstop has hit safely in each of the last four games with three multi-hit games, including two three-hit games.
"He's swinging the bat well," said Hill of Thompson. "He's had a nice two-week stretch for us and we need him to keep going."
Rainer Ausmus, Will Brennan, Brett Owen and Dylan Watts each had two hits in the game, pushing the Wildcats to their highest hit total (12) in the last seven games. Owen had two doubles while Brennan scored three times.
Brennan also pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief with three strikeouts and did not allow a base hit. It was the sophomore's second appearance on the mound this season.
"He looked really good tonight," Hill said of Brennan's performance on the mound. "We haven't pitched him a lot lately, but now that we've found that out, we might utilize him on the weekends."
Three straight singles from Brennan, Watts and Thompson, followed by an RBI groundout by Drew Mount, handed starting pitcher Quinton Potter a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
Nebraska tied the game with a pair of unearned runs off Potter in the top half of the next inning and took a 5-3 lead with a three-run third. The Huskers' three-run frame was sparked by Mojo Hagge's leadoff homer, as the first four Cornhuskers reached base in the inning. Wilkening delivered an RBI double and came home on Luke Roskam's single.
Wilkening drove in four runs, going 2-for-3 with a double and three runs scored.
K-State plated single runs in the second, third and fourth innings to level the game, 5-5. Thompson's RBI single, his second of the game, tied the game in the fourth.
Roskam broke the tie with a two-run homer off Wildcats reliever Hudson Treu in the top of the fifth inning. Treu came on in relief of Potter in the third inning, who finished with two innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits.
Treu lasted a team-best 2 1/3 innings, yielding one hit, two walks and two earned runs.
Trent McMaster brought the Cats within a run at 7-6 with a two-out RBI single that scored Thompson, who led off the inning with a single and later stole second base. McMaster, a senior first baseman, has a run driven in in five of his last seven games.
K-State held its third lead after three in the seventh. Thompson lifted a deep fly ball to left that scored both Owen and Brennan on a sacrifice fly, giving the Cats a one-run lead. Ausmus' ground-rule double tacked on a final run and put the score at 9-7.
Wildcat reliever Alex Belch lifted Jaxon Passino with two outs and a runner on in the eighth. Belch hit a batter before surrendering the game-winning homer to Wilkening. The freshman right-hander went on the finish the game, picking up three strikeouts in taking his first loss of the season (0-1).
Huskers closer Jake Hohensee completed a six-out save, retiring all six Wildcat hitters he faced with one strikeout for his seventh save of the year.
K-State left 14 runners on base and went 5-for-18 (.278) with runners in scoring position. Nebraska left six baserunners stranded and hit .364 (.4-for-11) with runners in scoring position.
K-State begins an eight-game road swing at No. 4 Texas Tech (26-8, 5-4 Big 12) Friday. The Cats and Red Raiders begin a three-game set at 6:30 p.m. from Rip Griffin Park. The weekend series can be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and streaming live on kstatesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Wilkening's homer, his fourth of the year, capped a four-run eighth for the Cornhuskers (15-16) that came on the heels of a three-run seventh that handed K-State (15-18) a 9-7 edge. Thompson drove in two of his four runs in the seventh inning as the game saw a total of three lead changes and two tied scores.
"We've got to keep grinding," head coach Brad Hill said after his team's sixth straight loss. "That's the hard part about it, you go in and face a top-10 team this weekend and you've got to keep grinding and try to figure out ways to correct some of these mistakes. Right now, it's one thing or the other. In Big 12 games we haven't scored a lot of runs and if we do, we don't pitch it well enough. We've got to get those things going together."
Thompson ended the night with a game-high three hits, going 3-for-5 with a run scored and matching his career high with four RBI. The sophomore shortstop has hit safely in each of the last four games with three multi-hit games, including two three-hit games.
"He's swinging the bat well," said Hill of Thompson. "He's had a nice two-week stretch for us and we need him to keep going."
Rainer Ausmus, Will Brennan, Brett Owen and Dylan Watts each had two hits in the game, pushing the Wildcats to their highest hit total (12) in the last seven games. Owen had two doubles while Brennan scored three times.
Brennan also pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief with three strikeouts and did not allow a base hit. It was the sophomore's second appearance on the mound this season.
"He looked really good tonight," Hill said of Brennan's performance on the mound. "We haven't pitched him a lot lately, but now that we've found that out, we might utilize him on the weekends."
Three straight singles from Brennan, Watts and Thompson, followed by an RBI groundout by Drew Mount, handed starting pitcher Quinton Potter a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
Nebraska tied the game with a pair of unearned runs off Potter in the top half of the next inning and took a 5-3 lead with a three-run third. The Huskers' three-run frame was sparked by Mojo Hagge's leadoff homer, as the first four Cornhuskers reached base in the inning. Wilkening delivered an RBI double and came home on Luke Roskam's single.
Wilkening drove in four runs, going 2-for-3 with a double and three runs scored.
K-State plated single runs in the second, third and fourth innings to level the game, 5-5. Thompson's RBI single, his second of the game, tied the game in the fourth.
Roskam broke the tie with a two-run homer off Wildcats reliever Hudson Treu in the top of the fifth inning. Treu came on in relief of Potter in the third inning, who finished with two innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits.
Treu lasted a team-best 2 1/3 innings, yielding one hit, two walks and two earned runs.
Trent McMaster brought the Cats within a run at 7-6 with a two-out RBI single that scored Thompson, who led off the inning with a single and later stole second base. McMaster, a senior first baseman, has a run driven in in five of his last seven games.
K-State held its third lead after three in the seventh. Thompson lifted a deep fly ball to left that scored both Owen and Brennan on a sacrifice fly, giving the Cats a one-run lead. Ausmus' ground-rule double tacked on a final run and put the score at 9-7.
Wildcat reliever Alex Belch lifted Jaxon Passino with two outs and a runner on in the eighth. Belch hit a batter before surrendering the game-winning homer to Wilkening. The freshman right-hander went on the finish the game, picking up three strikeouts in taking his first loss of the season (0-1).
Huskers closer Jake Hohensee completed a six-out save, retiring all six Wildcat hitters he faced with one strikeout for his seventh save of the year.
K-State left 14 runners on base and went 5-for-18 (.278) with runners in scoring position. Nebraska left six baserunners stranded and hit .364 (.4-for-11) with runners in scoring position.
K-State begins an eight-game road swing at No. 4 Texas Tech (26-8, 5-4 Big 12) Friday. The Cats and Red Raiders begin a three-game set at 6:30 p.m. from Rip Griffin Park. The weekend series can be heard live on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and streaming live on kstatesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State scored nine runs on 12 hits with two errors and left 14 runners on base. Nebraska scored 11 runs on eight hits and committed three errors and stranded six baserunners.
- Thompson had a team-high three hits and four RBI. He has three multi-hit games in his last four games.
- The top three hitters in the K-State lineup (Brennan, Watts, Thompson) combined to go 7-for-13 with six RBI and six runs scored. Each had at least two hits.
- Five Wildcats had multi-hit games and six recorded a hit.
- K-State allowed three home runs to Nebraska hitters, including a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth.
- Brennan and Belch each struck out three to lead the Cats.
- Each team hit three batters.
- K-State went 5-for-18 (.278) with runners in scoring position while the Huskers hit .364 (4-for-11).
- Nebraska got its leadoff man on in five innings while K-State did so four times.
- Nebraska now leads the all-time series, 172-113, and has won the last four overall in the series.
- K-State is now 71-78 at home vs. the Cornhuskers and Hill is 17-26 in his career.
- K-State's six-game losing streak is its longest of the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Frazier, Ethan (1-0)
L: Belch, Alex (0-1)
S: Hohensee, Jake (7)
Batting:
2B: Wilkening, Jesse 1
HR: Hagge, Mojo 1 ; Wilkening, Jesse 1 ; Roskam, Luke 1
RBI: Hagge, Mojo 1 ; Wilkening, Jesse 4 ; Roskam, Luke 3 ; Sorenson, Kennet 1 ; Cross, Carter 1
SF: Cross, Carter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hagge, Mojo 1 ; Schreiber, Scott 2 ; Wilkening, Jesse 3 ; Roskam, Luke 1 ; Repinski, Zac 1 ; Hallmark, Jaxon 1 ; Hakel, Nolan 1 ; Cross, Carter 1
SB: Schreiber, Scott 1 ; Roskam, Luke 1 ; Hallmark, Jaxon 2 ; Hakel, Nolan 1
HBP: Schreiber, Scott 1 ; Wilkening, Jesse 1 ; Cross, Carter 1
Batting:
2B: Ausmus, Rainer 2 ; Owen, Brett 2
RBI: Watts, Dylan 1 ; Thompson, Cameron 4 ; Mount, Drew 1 ; Ausmus, Rainer 1 ; McMaster, Trent 1 ; Barfield, Kyle 1
SF: Thompson, Cameron 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brennan, Will 3 ; Watts, Dylan 2 ; Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Mount, Drew 1 ; Owen, Brett 2
SB: Thompson, Cameron 1 ; Mount, Drew 1
HBP: Brennan, Will 1 ; Barfield, Kyle 1 ; McWhertor, TK 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
4
dh/p
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
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