Wednesday, May 20
Surprise, Ariz.
10 p.m.
Kansas State University
30-26
9
vs
4
TCU
33-21
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas State | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 3 |
| TCU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
Bats Stay Hot as Wildcats Move on to Quarterfinals
May 21, 2026 | Baseball
SURPRISE, Ariz. – K-State jumped out to a 7-0 lead through four innings and got a stellar start on the mound from Tazwell Butler as the 11th-seeded Wildcats beat seventh-seeded TCU, 9-4, Wednesday night to move on to the quarterfinals of the 2026 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Surprise Stadium.
The Wildcats (30-26) will now face second-seeded West Virginia at 6:30 p.m. CT, Thursday night, in the quarterfinals. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.
After recording 13 hits Tuesday night, the Wildcats pounded out 14 hits Wednesday with Ty Smolinski and AJ Evasco recording three each. Kyan Lodice, Bear Madliak and Cadyn Karl had two hits apiece, while the Wildcats had six extra-base hits in the contest.
Butler retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced, which included six strikeouts over that span, before TCU broke through against the right-hander with two runs in the fifth. He finished the night going 4 2/3 innings, giving up the two runs on four hits, while striking out seven and walking two.
Adam Arther (3-1) picked up the win in relief with 1 1/3 innings of work. Cohen Feser earned his fourth save of the season after tossing three no-hit innings with three walks and three strikeouts.
THE RUNDOWN
The Cats got on the board first as Dee Kennedy led off the game with a sharp single to right before promptly swiping second and moving to third on a wild pitch. Smolinski plated Kennedy with a double to left-center, and Evasco followed suit with a two-out single to right, giving the Cats an early 2-0 lead.
K-State extended its lead to 5-0 in the third as Lodice opened the inning with a single, chasing TCU ace Tommy LaPour (1-3) from the game. Smolinski then tripled to right and following walks to Madliak and Carlos Vasquez, Grant Gallagher singled in two runs to up the margin to five.
Kennedy then led off the fourth with a walk and scored on a single to right center by Smolinksi to make it 6-0 before Evasco drove in the Cats' seventh run with a two-out triple to the right center field gap.
After TCU plated its two runs in the bottom of the fifth, K-State answered back as Lodice and Madliak traded doubles to plate a run, and following an infield single from Evasco, Vasquez made it 9-2 with a sacrifice fly to right.
Two defensive miscues and a hit batter contributed to a two-run seventh for TCU, but Feser limited the damage with two strikeouts and a fly out as the Horned Frogs would leave the bases loaded.
INSIDE THE BOX
The Wildcats (30-26) will now face second-seeded West Virginia at 6:30 p.m. CT, Thursday night, in the quarterfinals. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.
After recording 13 hits Tuesday night, the Wildcats pounded out 14 hits Wednesday with Ty Smolinski and AJ Evasco recording three each. Kyan Lodice, Bear Madliak and Cadyn Karl had two hits apiece, while the Wildcats had six extra-base hits in the contest.
Butler retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced, which included six strikeouts over that span, before TCU broke through against the right-hander with two runs in the fifth. He finished the night going 4 2/3 innings, giving up the two runs on four hits, while striking out seven and walking two.
Adam Arther (3-1) picked up the win in relief with 1 1/3 innings of work. Cohen Feser earned his fourth save of the season after tossing three no-hit innings with three walks and three strikeouts.
THE RUNDOWN
The Cats got on the board first as Dee Kennedy led off the game with a sharp single to right before promptly swiping second and moving to third on a wild pitch. Smolinski plated Kennedy with a double to left-center, and Evasco followed suit with a two-out single to right, giving the Cats an early 2-0 lead.
K-State extended its lead to 5-0 in the third as Lodice opened the inning with a single, chasing TCU ace Tommy LaPour (1-3) from the game. Smolinski then tripled to right and following walks to Madliak and Carlos Vasquez, Grant Gallagher singled in two runs to up the margin to five.
Kennedy then led off the fourth with a walk and scored on a single to right center by Smolinksi to make it 6-0 before Evasco drove in the Cats' seventh run with a two-out triple to the right center field gap.
After TCU plated its two runs in the bottom of the fifth, K-State answered back as Lodice and Madliak traded doubles to plate a run, and following an infield single from Evasco, Vasquez made it 9-2 with a sacrifice fly to right.
Two defensive miscues and a hit batter contributed to a two-run seventh for TCU, but Feser limited the damage with two strikeouts and a fly out as the Horned Frogs would leave the bases loaded.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State has combined for 18 runs and 27 hits in two games in Arizona.
- TCU was held to four runs on just five hits.
- Seven of nine starters registered at least one hit, five of which had multi-hit games.
- TCU used six pitchers in the contest to K-State's three.
- K-State was 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position while TCU was 2-for-9.
- The Cats are 24-29 all-time at the Big 12 Championships, including a 10-11 mark at the tournament under Hughes.
- Away from home this season K-State is 18-13 and includes an 8-1 record in neutral-site contests.
- K-State has won multiple games at the Big 12 Championship for the first time since the 2023 season.
- The Wildcats have reached 30 wins in a season for the fourth straight year and the fifth time in the last six years.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Arther, Adam (3-1)
L: LaPour, Tommy (1-3)
S: Feser, Cohen (4)
Batting:
2B: Karl, Cadyn 1 ; Madliak, Bear 1 ; Lodice, Kyan 1 ; Smolinski, Ty 1
3B: Evasco, AJ 1 ; Smolinski, Ty 1
RBI: Madliak, Bear 1 ; Vasquez, Carlos 1 ; Gallagher, Grant 2 ; Evasco, AJ 2 ; Smolinski, Ty 3
SH: Inoue, Shintaro 1
SF: Vasquez, Carlos 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kennedy, Dee 2 ; Madliak, Bear 2 ; Lodice, Kyan 2 ; Smolinski, Ty 3
SB: Kennedy, Dee 1 ; Smolinski, Ty 1
Batting:
2B: Bell, Jack 1 ; Franco, Noah 1 ; Gamster, Preston 1
RBI: Franco, Noah 1 ; Cramer, Cole 1 ; Franco, Lucas 1 ; Liddington, Rob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Franco, Noah 1 ; Arthur, Jack 1 ; Gamster, Preston 1 ; Liddington, Rob 1
HBP: Griffin, Colton 1 ; Gamster, Preston 1 ; Cramer, Cole 1
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