From K-State Athletics
In a three-run seventh, Dylan Phillips drove in two to tie the game and Thomas Hughes delivered the go-ahead single with two outs to give K-State a 5-4 win over No. 10 Texas Tech in the series finale Sunday at Tointon Family Stadium.
The Wildcats (12-16, 1-5 Big 12) trailed Texas Tech (18-7. 3-3 Big 12) by two runs as the game reached the seventh-inning stretch. Phillips, who drove in three runs on the day, poked an opposite field single with two strikes to score Chris Ceballos and Zach Kokoska. Three batters later, Hughes brought in Phillips to put the Wildcats ahead for good and snap a six-game skid.
“That’s all we’ve been talking about the last few days – you’ve got to play to win and you’ve got to change your mindset,” head coach Pete Hughes said after the game. “Credit our guys, losing two games yesterday and it was a long day and losing wears you out. But they showed up this morning and had a great pregame and put themselves in a position to win a great game at home.
“With two strikes, he battled, he battled, he battled,” Hughes said of Phillips’ at-bat in the seventh inning. “He put a really good swing on it. Then Thomas came up to get the big hit, too.”
Will Brennan, who started the day in the lineup as the designated hitter, threw the final four innings on the mound to record the victory. The junior lefty allowed one run on four hits while striking out four.
“We have to be gritty,” said Brennan. “And we all have to take our opportunity that is given to us and make the most of it. And that’s what we did today.”
TTU stranded a dozen runners in the game and left the bases loaded in the third when Eric Torres escaped the jam with a strikeout to keep the score at 1-0 after three innings.
Andrew Stratman relieved Torres and tossed 1 2/3 innings, yielding one run on two hits before giving way to Brennan.
“Eric did a good job. I’m proud of him, he attacked the strike zone and he made the adjustments,” added Hughes. “But our bullpen did a great job matching up for the first five innings and then handed the ball off to Will.”
The Cats fell behind by two runs after TTU scored single runs in the second and fourth innings. Twice, K-State made it a one-run game after the teams exchanged single runs in the middle innings before a Red Raider run in the top of the seventh put TTU ahead 4-2.
Kasey Ford, who got the start for K-State, along with three relievers combined to limit TTU to 2-for-18 with runners on base. Ford turned in 2 1/3 innings of work with one run against him on two hits and three strikeouts.
In the top of the second, Dylan Neuse walked, stole second and then came home on a double by Cameron Warren to give Texas Tech a 1-0 lead. Ford’s third strikeout through two innings stranded a pair on base in the inning.
TTU scraped across a second run in the fourth, as Warren turned in his second double in the inning and later scored on a groundout by Gabe Holt.
Warren finished the day with three doubles in a 3-for-4 effort, driving in two for Texas Tech.
Red Raiders starter Erickson Lanning retired the first 10 Wildcats he faced until Terrence Spurlin roped a one-out triple in the fourth. Spurlin would come home on an RBI groundout by Cameron Thompson to cut TTU’s lead in half at 2-1.
Spurlin produced K-State’s only multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a double and a triple. The Cats were out-hit in the game, 9-6.
Texas Tech pushed it back to a two-run game with a sacrifice fly by Warren that scored Neuse who singled earlier in the fifth inning.
Phillips’ first RBI, a fielder’s choice in the fifth, scored Ceballos before Neuse’s solo home run off Brennan in the seventh put the score at 4-3 in favor of Tech.
Kurt Wilson (0-1) suffered the loss for TTU, after giving up three runs (two earned) on two hits over 1 1/3 innings.
Caleb Freeman finished the day for TTU, as he struck out four in two innings of one-hit ball.
