Late Inning Rally Lifts K-State to Doubleheader Split

Friday, February 27

Manhattan, Kan.

2 p.m.

Kansas State University

6-4

Columbia

1-3

Columbia

Kansas State

Feb 28, 2026 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State overcame a one-run deficit with Grant Gallagher's two-run double in the eighth to earn a doubleheader split with Columbia at Tointon Family Stadium Friday.

The Wildcats (7-4) bounced back and defeated the Lions (1-4) in the second game, 2-1, after dropping the day's first game, 9-8.

FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Pete Hughes
On the doubleheader…
"It's difficult to beat somebody twice in one day. We found that out firsthand, but we need to play," head coach Pete Hughes said. "I thought it was a productive day, and look, I'm frustrated. You want to win every single game, we had our opportunities to win in that first game, but Columbia threw two really good arms at us."

On Columbia's pitching staff…
"They are not that run of the mill guarantee game you bring in here. They go to the national tournament. A lot of those kids went into the Hattiesburg Regional last year and thumped the number one seed Southern Mississippi pretty handily. So, they can play on a big stage. They win and they're well coached so credit Columbia for having two pitchers that threw great against us and really stifled us. They got an outstanding performance in Game 2 from Tomas Lopez. He was awesome. He threw a ton of strikes that we didn't see in his first outing, and for him to go seven giving up three hits, I'm surprised he didn't strike out more than three, because his stuff was pretty electric, and his command was outstanding."

On the takeaways from the doubleheader…
"But the positives for our program. I love resiliency, and I love bouncing back after a loss. We play great at home. We want to win every game at home. We want to win our home opener and we didn't. We bounced back 45 minutes later. There's no other sport like it where you have to bounce back 45 minutes later and play another game. Our kids did a great job with that, and they hung in there and when they had a chance to win a game, they did. They executed. We got our bunts down and we got a big hit from Grant Gallagher."

On K-State's bullpen…
"But the storyline of the day for me, our program got better because our bullpen got better. We've just become a very deep bullpen by default. We were undermanned on our pitching staff heading into today. I said before the game, I need Carson Liggett to go six innings, and he got injured in the first inning. Then you go to plan B, really quickly, and everybody else has to step up. Kids that hadn't pitched all year long, Aaron Arnold, Miles Smith, Billy Eich, that was just a phenomenal job, from those bullpen guys to throw in their first high leverage situations in our program, and pick up a teammate and our team in really a must win game. So we even up the series and try to win a series tomorrow. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going and play well tomorrow against a really good Columbia team."

GAME 1: COLUMBIA 9, K-STATE 8
AJ Evasco put the Wildcats on the board in the bottom of the fourth with his first home run of the season – a two-run, 420-foot shot to right field.

The Wildcats doubled their lead in the fifth with a two-run triple from Dee Kennedy, before Evasco later roped a double the left field line to stretch the lead to five.

Columbia ended the shutout in the sixth with a two-run blast by catcher Owen Estabrook, but K-State immediately responded with Kennedy's single in the bottom half of the inning.

The Lions chipped away and grabbed a 7-6 edge in the seventh. K-State regained the lead, 8-7, but a two-run double in the ninth shifted momentum back to Columbia and sealed the series-opening win.

INSIDE THE BOX (GAME 1)

Columbia scored nine runs on 12 hits, committed one error and stranded eight on base.
K-State plated eight runs on 12 hits with one error committed and leaving 10 runners on base.
Kleinhans (1-0) was awarded the victory in relief, allowing two runs (earned) on three hits with one strikeout in two innings.
Wisenbaker (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing two runs (earned) on three hits over one complete inning.
Kennedy and Gallagher each produced three-hit games, while Kennedy and Evasco each drove in three RBI.
James Guyette logged five shutout innings in his third Friday start of the season, matching a career-high eight strikeouts.
Evasco was 2-for-4 with a home run in the fourth – his first of the year.

GAME 2: K-STATE 2, COLUMBIA 1
After three scoreless frames, Columbia broke through in the fourth with an RBI single from Jimmy Chadwell. Columbia's starter Tomas Lopez continued to fire four shutout innings to hold the Lions' lead.

Trailing 1-0, the Wildcats were issued back-to-back walks to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Shintaro Inoue laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position and bring Gallagher to the plate.

The senior third baseman launched the first pitch he faced from reliever Baylor Hicks off the wall in left field to deliver the game-winning hit and even the series.

INSIDE THE BOX (GAME 2)

K-State scored two runs on four hits, committed no errors and stranded five runners on base, while Columbia plated one run on six hits with one error and stranding 10 on base.
Gallagher, Kendrick, and Evasco each produced a hit in Game 2.
Evasco was one of two players in the game two generate a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3.
Gallagher drove in a game-high two RBI and drove in the deciding runs with a
K-State's bullpen combined for one earned run on five hits, over eight innings in relief of start Carson Liggett, who scattered one hit in the opening frame.
Reliever Billy Eich was credited his first win at K-State, logging three shutout innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
Dan Mills suffered the loss in relief of Lopez, allowing two runs (earned) with a pair of walks.
Lopez fired seven shutout innings in the start, holding K-State to three hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

TEAM NOTES

Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader marked the first-ever meeting between the two squads.
With the Game 1 loss, K-State lost three consecutive games by one run.
K-State is 121-46 (.725) when playing at Tointon in the Pete Hughes era.

PLAYER NOTES

Gallagher stretched his hitting streak to four with his double in Game 2, while registering his fourth game with multiple RBI.
Evasco recorded his 12^th career home run at K-State and sixth multi-hit and -RBI game of the season.
Kennedy produced his third game with three of more RBI.
Centerfielder Robby Bolin has reached base in 10 consecutive games.

UP NEXT
The rubber match between the Wildcats and Lions is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT Saturday at Tointon Family Stadium. Saturday's game can be heard on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). A free live streaming audio is available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

– k-statesports.com –

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