Friday, April 24
Manhattan, Kan.
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
26-16, 9-10
6
vs
18
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Kansas
31-11, 15-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 17 | 3 |
| Kansas State | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 4 |
#16 Jayhawks Take Series Opener Friday Night
Apr 25, 2026 | Baseball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State was unable to overcome an early five-run deficit, as No. 16 Kansas claimed an 18-6 victory Friday night at Tointon Family Stadium.
With the Jayhawks' seven-inning victory, KU improves to 31-11 overall with a 15-4 mark in Big 12 to remain atop the league standings, while K-State (26-16, 9-10) moved into a four-way tie for seventh.
"Credit Kansas for coming out and swinging the bat," said eighth-year head coach Pete Hughes. "We played a brand of baseball that is very unlike the K-State way. You can't give a good offensive team four and five outs an inning."
"KU was productive with runners in scoring position, specifically with two outs. We had our chances with men on base, and we had our chances to play clean defense, unfortunately we didn't tonight – good thing it's not a winner take all. Our guys will be back tomorrow and motivated to get back in the series," Hughes added.
Shintaro Inoue and Grant Gallagher led K-State, each going 3-for-4 at the plate. Inoue drove in a team-high three RBI and recorded his sixth home run of the season. Kansas was paced by Daniel Osoria (4-for-6), who led all players with six RBI, while three other Jayhawks had multiple RBI.
THE RUNDOWN
The Jayhawks jumped out early as Cade Baldridge launched a two-run homer in the first, part of a five-run frame fueled by five hits and a K-State error.
Kansas continued to build its advantage in the second, capitalizing on defensive miscues to stretch the lead to 9-0 in the second.
K-State answered in the bottom of the inning, as Cadyn Karl led off with a single to center and advance to third on a double from Grant Gallagher. Shintaro Inoue singled up the middle to put the Cats on the board, before a throwing error and RBI single from Bear Madliak trimmed the deficit to six.
After Kansas pushed across two more runs in the third, shortstop Dee Kennedy – a Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Semifinalist – delivered an RBI double in the third.
Trailing 13-4, K-State pulled the game within seven with Inoue's two-run homer in the fifth, but KU scored five unanswered runs in the final two frames to secure the run-rule victory.
INSIDE THE BOX
TEAM NOTES
PLAYER NOTES
ON DECK
Game two between the Wildcats and Jayhawks is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT at Tointon Family Stadium on Saturday. The entire showdown will broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
– k-statesports.com –
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Baseball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
With the Jayhawks' seven-inning victory, KU improves to 31-11 overall with a 15-4 mark in Big 12 to remain atop the league standings, while K-State (26-16, 9-10) moved into a four-way tie for seventh.
"Credit Kansas for coming out and swinging the bat," said eighth-year head coach Pete Hughes. "We played a brand of baseball that is very unlike the K-State way. You can't give a good offensive team four and five outs an inning."
"KU was productive with runners in scoring position, specifically with two outs. We had our chances with men on base, and we had our chances to play clean defense, unfortunately we didn't tonight – good thing it's not a winner take all. Our guys will be back tomorrow and motivated to get back in the series," Hughes added.
Shintaro Inoue and Grant Gallagher led K-State, each going 3-for-4 at the plate. Inoue drove in a team-high three RBI and recorded his sixth home run of the season. Kansas was paced by Daniel Osoria (4-for-6), who led all players with six RBI, while three other Jayhawks had multiple RBI.
THE RUNDOWN
The Jayhawks jumped out early as Cade Baldridge launched a two-run homer in the first, part of a five-run frame fueled by five hits and a K-State error.
Kansas continued to build its advantage in the second, capitalizing on defensive miscues to stretch the lead to 9-0 in the second.
K-State answered in the bottom of the inning, as Cadyn Karl led off with a single to center and advance to third on a double from Grant Gallagher. Shintaro Inoue singled up the middle to put the Cats on the board, before a throwing error and RBI single from Bear Madliak trimmed the deficit to six.
After Kansas pushed across two more runs in the third, shortstop Dee Kennedy – a Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Semifinalist – delivered an RBI double in the third.
Trailing 13-4, K-State pulled the game within seven with Inoue's two-run homer in the fifth, but KU scored five unanswered runs in the final two frames to secure the run-rule victory.
INSIDE THE BOX
- KU scored 18 runs on 17 hits, committed three errors and stranded six runners on base.
- K-State scored six runs on 12 hits, committed a season-high four errors and left 12 runners on base.
- Seven Jayhawks recorded a hit led by four from Osoria.
- Inoue and Gallagher each had three-hit efforts (3-for-4), while Madliak had two hits.
- Inoue lead the team with three RBI.
- K-State's pitching staff combined to strikeout 13 batters, led by six from reliever Adan Longoria.
- James Guyette (5-2) suffered the loss, allowing nine runs (five earned) on eight hits in his two inning start. He struck out five and walked two in the outing.
- Mason Cook (3-1) was awarded the victory in relief. Cook allowed three runs (two earned) on eight walks in 4 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts.
- KU was 9-for-17 (.529) with runners in scoring position and hit .429 with two outs. K-State hit .364 (4-for-11) with men in scoring position and .364 (4-for-11) with two outs.
TEAM NOTES
- KU leads the all-time series 203-196-1, while the Cats are 110-90-1 in games played in Manhattan.
- With the loss, the Wildcats move into a four-way tie for seventh in the league standings.
- Friday's contest marks game one of a seven-game stretch against current Top 25 programs.
- As a team, the Wildcats have 68 total home runs in 2026, homering in eight of their last 10 games.
- K-State's 68 home runs rank seventh all-time in school history.
PLAYER NOTES
- Inoue recorded his sixth home run of the season.
- Kennedy drove in his 61st RBI of the season, becoming the 11th player in school history to register 61+ RBI in a single season.
- Longoria struck out a season-high six over a season-long four innings.
ON DECK
Game two between the Wildcats and Jayhawks is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT at Tointon Family Stadium on Saturday. The entire showdown will broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
– k-statesports.com –
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Baseball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cook, Mason (3-1)
L: Guyette, James (5-2)
.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Batting:
2B: Ballinger, Brady 1 ; Osoria, Dariel 2 ; Schlotterback, Dylan 1 ; Baldridge, Cade 1 ; Dykhoff, Josh 1
HR: Osoria, Dariel 1 ; Baldridge, Cade 1 ; Dykhoff, Josh 1
RBI: Ballinger, Brady 3 ; Osoria, Dariel 6 ; Owens, Tyson 1 ; Schlotterback, Dylan 1 ; Baldridge, Cade 2 ; Dykhoff, Josh 3 ; Bach, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ballinger, Brady 2 ; Osoria, Dariel 4 ; LeBlanc, Tyson 1 ; Owens, Tyson 3 ; Schlotterback, Dylan 1 ; Baldridge, Cade 3 ; Dykhoff, Josh 1 ; Mungarrieta, Augusto 1 ; Bach, Jordan 2
HBP: Schlotterback, Dylan 1
Batting:
2B: Kennedy, Dee 1 ; Inoue, Shintaro 1 ; Gallagher, Grant 2
HR: Inoue, Shintaro 1
RBI: Kennedy, Dee 1 ; Madliak, Bear 1 ; Inoue, Shintaro 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Karl, Cadyn 1 ; Inoue, Shintaro 2 ; Gallagher, Grant 3
HBP: Evasco, AJ 1 ; English, Nick 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
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