Kansas State’s attempt to win its first conference series of the season, and just its third-ever road series against Oklahoma State, proved unsuccessful Sunday as K-State dropped a 6-3 decision to the Cowboys at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
According to a release from kstatesports.com, K-State (16-14, 1-7 Big 12) cut the deficit to a single run on two separate occasions, only to see Oklahoma State (19-11, 3-6) extend its lead each time and complete a wire-to-wire victory in the series’ rubber match.
In the 106-year history of the series, K-State has won just two road series at OSU (1971, 2009) and are now 17-95 all-time in Stillwater. The Wildcats are 1-8 in conference play for the second straight year and sit on 1,799 wins in the program’s history.
OSU opened the game with three runs in the first off Wildcat starter Hudson Treu, who was making his first career start in a K-State uniform. The Cowboys’ first four hitters reached base safely as they got three runs on three hits to give their starter, Brady Basso, an early lead.
Treu threw a scheduled three innings of work and yielded just two hits after the first inning. The junior-college transfer allowed three earned and struck out four in his first loss of the season.
Quintin Crandall made it a 3-2 game in the top of the third with his sixth homer of the year, a two-run, opposite-field shot with two outs. The six home runs for Crandall puts him in a tie for the team and Big 12 lead with teammate Jake Scudder.
The Wildcats again cut their hole to just one run when Steve Serratore added a two-out RBI single in the sixth after Oklahoma State made a two-run game with a Garrett Benge RBI double in the fifth. It was Serratore’s third two-out RBI of the series and team-leading 15th of the season. Fifteen of the senior’s 28 runs driven in this season have been with two outs.
In the seventh, Cowboy left fielder Trevor Boone started the inning with a solo blast over the left-field fence for a 5-3 lead. OSU tacked on one more run in the eighth for the 6-3 victory.
Freshman Will Brennan extended his hitting streak to eight games and Cameron Thompson and Kyle Barfield each had multi-hit days for the Cats. Brennan now leads K-State with his .356 average.
The Wildcats return home to Tointon Family Stadium for a Tuesday night game with Nebraska. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
