By Chris Kutz, K-State Athletics Communications
The K-State baseball team saw its four-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday as the Wildcats surrendered four runs in the sixth inning that proved too much in a 6-3 loss to Creighton at Tointon Family Stadium.
The Wildcats (8-8) led 2-1 entering the sixth, but the Bluejays (6-6) struck for all four of its runs with two outs off K-State pitchers Jackson Douglas and Levi MaVorhis. Douglas, who took the losing decision, got a pair of groundouts to start the frame, but the freshman left-hander surrendered three straight singles, with the last one driving in a run and tying the game at 2-2. MaVorhis spelled Douglas after the third single, but the right-hander subsequently allowed an infield single that deflected off of his glove to drive in another run followed by a triple into right-center that plated the final two runs.
“To get two outs, you have to finish off the inning,” said K-State head coach Brad Hill. “We just could not get a pitch to stop that inning – that just cannot happen right there. There cannot be four runs scored with two outs. For them to get that many hits in a row means that we were not making very good pitches.”
The loss was the first for K-State at home this season and just its second in its last 26 nonconference home games.
The Wildcats were out-hit by the Bluejays, but the K-State offense still mustered double-digit hits for the fourth straight game with 10. Max Brown, Shane Conlon, Clayton Dalrymple and Tyler Wolfe each tied for the team lead with two safeties. The multi-hit effort for Conlon was his third in as many games as he also extended his on-base streak to a team-best 15 games.
While K-State collected its 10 hits, it stranded a runner at third base in four different innings, with three of the frames being when the Wildcats had already plated one run. After leaving men on second and third in a scoreless first, K-State scored a run in the second with a one-out RBI single by Wolfe but left two in scoring position after back-to-back groundouts ended the inning.
In the fifth, Dalrymple, with a bunt single, and Conlon, with a double, eventually worked themselves into scoring position with one out. Steve Serratore drove in Dalrymple with a groundout to second base and gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead, but a Tyler Moore strikeout halted the scoring opportunity with Conlon left on third.
In the sixth, K-State responded to Creighton’s four runs by putting a pair of runners on base with one out after Brown’s infield single and Keith Browning’s walk off of Ethan DeCaster. Creighton summoned David Gerber from the bullpen, who allowed a sac bunt by Wolfe and an RBI infield single by Jake Wodtke to bring the Wildcats within two, 5-3. The Bluejay right-hander, however, induced a lineout double play by Carter Yagi at first base to end the sixth and went on to complete a four-inning save by allowing just one more hit and striking out three.
“We really could not get a crooked number up there and press them a little bit,” said Hill. “(Gerber) did a tremendous job of just sinking it to get a lot of ground balls. He did a really good job.”
Creighton reestablished its three-run advantage in the seventh when Daniel Woodrow hit a one-out triple off MaVorhis and scored when the next batter, Nicky Lopez, hit a sacrifice fly off Lucas Benenati.
The Wildcats used a season-high six pitchers in the game, with starter Mark Biesma throwing a team-high three innings. The right-hander allowed one unearned run on two hits and a walk in the no-decision.
K-State continues its homestand with a three-game series this weekend against Missouri State. First pitch of game one in the set is at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13 at Tointon Family Stadium.
Below is the recap of K-State’s victory over Creighton on Tuesday
For the third straight game, the K-State baseball team scored double-digit runs as the Wildcats beat Creighton, 10-5, in game one of a two-game series at Tointon Family Stadium on Tuesday.
After scoring three runs in the bottom of the second to take an early 3-0 lead, K-State (8-7), which is on a four-game winning streak, answered the call in every inning that Creighton (5-6) scored as the Wildcats plated runs in all but their first and last at-bats. Leadoff hitter Carter Yagi had a game-high three RBIs while Steve Serratore and Tyler Wolfe also had multi-RBI efforts with two apiece.
“I thought we did another good job tonight,” said K-State head coach Brad Hill. “It was different guys tonight, too. Tyler Wolfe got a double, driving in some runs for us. Jake Wodtke came back and got a couple hits after being sick (on Sunday). Overall, it was a good offensive night.”
The double-digit output in runs gives the Wildcats 41 runs in the first four games of their current eight-game homestand. K-State had 50 in its first 11 games of the year.
K-State also had double-digit hits, totaling 13 to Creighton’s 10. Every Wildcat starter had at least one hit, led by two each from Shane Conlon (2-for-3), Danny Krause (2-for-4), Wodtke (2-for-5) and Yagi (2-for-3). Krause’s two hits helped extend his hitting streak to a season-best 12 games while Conlon’s two safeties were among the four times he reached base safely as he also had two walks. Over the last two games, Conlon has reached safely eight times in 10 plate appearances.
Although Conlon was stranded on third in the first after hitting a double and advancing on a wild pitch, the Wildcats scored their first three runs of the game with the help of putting their first four runners on base in the second. Wolfe struck first for the K-State offense with a two-run double that drove in Krause and Tyler Moore. Yagi followed up two batters later with a sacrifice fly that scored Dom Thornton.
Creighton quickly responded in the third with a leadoff single by Kevin Connolly, who later came around to score on a two-out single by Nicky Lopez. The response was one-upped by K-State, though, over the third and fourth innings as a leadoff single by Conlon in the bottom half of the third was cashed in by Thornton’s RBI infield single with the bases loaded, and Yagi, who reached with a walk to start the fourth, was plated on a groundout by Conlon.
The Bluejays would come as close as two runs after they scored a pair in the top of the fifth to make it 5-3, but once again, the Wildcats answered with a pair of runs of their own, both on a two-out single by Yagi through the left side and past diving Creighton third baseman, Harrison Crawford.
K-State sandwiched a Creighton run in the top of the seventh by scoring a run in the sixth and two in the seventh. For the fourth time in the game, the Wildcats put the leadoff runner on base as Conlon drew the first of his two walks to start the sixth. After Conlon stole second, his team-leading seventh steal of the season, Serratore drove him home with a single into center field. In the seventh, Serratore drew the first of back-to-back bases loaded walks, with the other by Krause, to make the score 10-4.
Starter Kyle Halbohn gave the Wildcats three innings of two-hit baseball, allowing one run and one walk while striking out two. The right-hander earned his first career win in the scheduled short start.
“We probably could have rolled (Halbohn) back out there for a fourth (inning), but we had a game plan from the beginning,” added Hill. “It was his first start, and we are going to have to find some guys to start in the midweek.”
A quartet of K-State relievers preserved the lead over six innings, led by 2 1/3 innings by Brandon Courville and two from Bryce Ward. Courville’s lone run against was unearned in the top of the ninth while Ward was responsible for one run in his longest outing since his second appearance of the season on February 21 vs. Washington.
