From K-State Athletics
Nebraska got an inside-the-park grand slam in the first inning from Jaxon Hallmark to go with seven shutout innings from starting pitcher Kyle Perry to defeat K-State 7-0 Tuesday night at Tointon Family Stadium.
After K-State starter Joey Martin walked the bases loaded, Hallmark roped a line drive to the wall in right-center field to put the Cornhuskers (14-9) ahead by four runs before the Wildcats (12-17) came to the plate. Perry scattered just three hits over his seven innings of work, striking out three while issuing one walk.
Martin (2-1) left the game after recording two outs and giving up four earned runs on four walks. Five Wildcat pitchers combined to issue eight walks and strike out 11.
“You’re not going to beat anybody when you have more walks than base hits in a game,” head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. “We give up that big four-spot in the first and couldn’t recover. But eight walks, that’s the story of the game right there.”
Eric Torres, who lifted Martin in the first, held Nebraska hitless over the next 2 1/3 innings while picking up a career-best four strikeouts.
Nebraska extended its lead to seven runs with a three-run fourth. In the inning, Aaron Palensky doubled to center field and Gunner Hellstrom singled to bring in the first two Husker runs. Keegan Watson added a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring off reliever Luke Hauswirth.
Hauswirth turned in a career-long outing, going three innings and allowing three earned runs on four hits with two punchouts.
Luke Bay tossed two hitless innings and tallied three strikeouts.
Shut out for just the second time this season, K-State got hits from Blake Burrows, Caleb Littlejim, Dylan Phillips and Cameron Thompson. Phillips delivered a two-out double while Burrows collected his first career hit, a pinch-hit single in the ninth.
Palensky produced the Cornhuskers’ only multi-hit game, as he went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
The Wildcats went 1-for-7 with runners on base and 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
