WACO, Texas (K-State Athletics) – Off to its best Big 12 start in school history, K-State claimed its fifth straight win Friday night behind 4 1/3 shutout innings from reliever James Guyette to go with a go-ahead three-run homer from Bear Madliak in an 8-2 series opening win over Baylor at Baylor Ballpark.
Guyette (2-1) picked up his second straight victory in relief, as the sophomore right-hander held the Bears to four hits in his longest collegiate outing. The Newbury Park, California product retired the nine of the first 10 batters he faced while matching a career-high four strikeouts.
“It was a great opening night in Big 12 play,” head coach Pete Hughes said on his team’s fourth consecutive conference victory, marking the best Big 12 start in school history and first 4-0 conference start since the 1990 season in the Big Eight. “We set the tone of the series, which we had to do and is really tough to do on the road.”
“[Guyette] was my team MVP tonight. He came in and threw up 4 1/3 of a shutout baseball and saved our bullpen. So, our bullpen will be fresh tomorrow and Sunday, but overall, a really good win on the road to set the tone of the series,” Hughes mentioned.
Madliak handed the Cats (14-7, 4-0 Big 12) a 4-0 lead in the second, after he launched his fourth homer of the season over the fence in left field.
As a team, the Wildcat offense produced seven hits with multi-hit efforts from AJ Evasco and Keegan O’Connor. Evasco went 2-for-3 with a double and triple, while O’Connor (2-for-3) drove in two RBI.
“We got some big hits from AJ Evasco, and Keegan O’Connor, and the big three-run homer by Bear that kind of set the tone for the whole game. And we really had a very good start by Jacob Frost.”
A product of St. Louis, Mo., Frost logged four scoreless innings in his fifth consecutive start before spotting a pair of runs in the fifth. He carried a two-hitter into the fifth inning and capped his night scattering four hits with five strikeouts and two walks in his 4 1/3 innings.
Ethan Calder (3-3) suffered the loss for Baylor (15-6, 1-3 Big 12) after being tagged for six earned runs over his five innings.
Evasco extended his career-best hitting streak to 12 while O’Connor stretched his to 11 – the first and second longest streaks for K-State players this season.
Shintaro Inoue belted his fourth homer of the season in the ninth, marking the team’s 12th game of the year with two or more home runs.
K-State is 11-1 in multi-homer games this season, while totaling 24 in the last 13 games.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless opening frame, Evasco doubled down the left field line to lead off the second followed by an infield base knock from O’Connor to put the Cats on first and third. A fielder’s choice plated the first run of the game until a throwing error put two runners in scoring position.
With no outs, catcher Bear Madliak launched a towering shot out to left field to hand the Cats a 4-0 lead.
Frost surrendered his first hit in the bottom of the inning, but quickly forced a fly out to right field, leaving runners on first and second.
Evasco tripled off the wall in right center and scored on a grounder to second by O’Connor, expanding the Cats’ lead to five.
The Wildcats plated a pair of runs in the fifth, as Dee Kennedy was issued a walk to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a double by Maximus Martin. The duo each crossed the plate with the help of a sacrifice fly from Evasco and two-out RBI-single by O’Connor – his 12th two-out RBI of the year.
Baylor ended the shutout in the home half of the inning, utilizing a two-run double to urge K-State to make its first call to the bullpen. Guyette relieved Frost in the fifth, inheriting a runner on second. The sophomore forced a fly out and used five pitches to punch out the final batter, preserving a 7-2 lead.
The Bears added some pressure in the eighth with back-to-back singles through the right side, but the runners were left stranded on second and third with two consecutive strikeouts for Guyette.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State scored eight runs on seven hits, committed no errors, and stranded just three runners on base.
- Baylor was held to two runs on eight hits, while committing two errors and leaving 11 runners on base.
- K-State had five extra-base hits on the night.
- Evasco and O’Connor each went 2-for-3, combining for three RBI and three runs scored.
- Madliak delivered the game-winning hit with a three-run homer in the second.
- Inoue belted a homer in the ninth.
- Guyette (2-1) was awarded the win in relief, firing 4 1/3 shutout innings with four strikeouts.
- Frost logged 4 1/3 innings in his fifth consecutive start, striking out a team-high five.
- Three players recorded multi-hit efforts for Baylor.
- Calder (3-3) suffered the loss, surrendering seven runs (one earned) on six hits.
- Reliever Bunch allowed one earned run in his four innings of work.
- K-State was 4-for-12 (.333) with runners on and hit .500 (4-for-6) with men in scoring position, while BU was 5-for-19 (.263) with runners on and 1-for-8 (.125) in scoring position.
TEAM NOTES
- The Wildcats are off to their best Big 12 start in school history, while it marks first 4-0 conference start since the 1990 season in the Big Eight.
- Baylor leads the all-time series 55-34, with a 51-28 advantage in Big 12 games.
- In games played in Waco, K-State is 12-33.
- Evasco recorded K-State’s first triple of the season.
- K-State has registered a home run in 12 of its last 13 games, totaling 24 in the stretch.
- Cats are 11-1 when hitting multiple home runs in a game.
- The Wildcats move to 4-1 in Friday night games, 4-2 overall on Friday.
- In the second, K-State produced its 15th inning with four or more runs.
- Cats are 13-1 when generating 4+ runs in an inning during a game.
- Over the last four games, the bullpen has surrendered four earned runs in 15 2/3 innings with 14 strikeouts.
PLAYER NOTES
- Evasco recorded his first collegiate triple and expanded his hitting streak to 12 – the longest streak by a Wildcat this season.
- Guyette made his eighth relief appearance of the season, logging his longest career outing.
- O’Connor stretched his on-base streak to 13, dating back to March 1 (vs. Sam Houston), that includes an 11-game hitting streak.
- O’Connor drove in his team-leading 12th two-out RBI of the year.
- Madliak and Inoue each launched their fourth homers.
UP NEXT
Game two between the Wildcats and Bears is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Baylor Ballpark. The entire series will broadcast on ESPN+, while radio coverage is available on KMAN online with Matt Walters calling all the action. A free live streaming audio available for all games at 1350kman.com/listen.
K-State baseball season and single-game tickets are now available, and can be purchased by visiting KStateSports.com, call 1-800-221-CATS (2287), or stopping by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage
