MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – The K-State pitching staff combined for a program record 21 strikeouts while Kyan Lodice delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th to hand the Wildcats a 7-6 victory over BYU Thursday night at Tointon Family Stadium.
After a solo home run tied the game at 6-6 and sent the game into extra innings, Lodice’s single into center field with two outs off BYU reliever Stone Cushing scored Danniel Rivera from third and handed the Wildcats (30-21, 14-14 Big 12) their third walk-off win of the season.
“Sometimes it doesn’t always go as planned,” said head coach Pete Hughes following his team’s 30th win. “I just love the way our guys never put their heads down. They’re just trying to figure out their next move when the game plan doesn’t go how they want it to.”
The staff of Owen Boerema, Blake Dean, Tyson Neighbors and JJ Slack combined for 21 strikeouts to surpass the previous team record of 19 set back on March 18, 1976, against Wayne State. K-State’s 494 total strikeouts this season ranks fourth all-time in school history.
“We have people picking each other up, we get an error, [Neighbors] picks up Kaelen Culpepper, and [Dean] picks up his teammates making some big pitches. That’s what it’s all about,” mentioned Hughes.
“Lodice comes in after sitting on the bench most of the game and has his head in the right frame of mind. He puts himself in a situation to put a good swing on the ball and win a game for us.”
Slack picked up his second victory in relief, as the lefty from Liberty, Texas, retired six of the seven batters he faced with two strikeouts and one walk over two scoreless innings (2-0).
Boerema logged 5 1/3 innings in his 16th start of the season and punched out six batters, including striking out the side in the fourth. Dean and Neighbors combined for 13 strikeouts during their 4 2/3 innings in relief.
With his six strikeouts against the Cougars, Boerema joined the Wildcats’ Top 10 career strikeouts leaderboard, moving to eighth all-time with 184.
BYU (20-30, 6-22 Big 12) crawled out of an early 6-0 hole and battled to tie the game at six, led three hits from Cooper Vest, who drove in a game-leading four runs.
“It takes a lot to motivate a team when you’re down and you don’t have a postseason to play, plus you’re down six runs on the road. To scrap back in there it says a lot about Coach Pratt and his program.”
Offensively, the Wildcats had seven hits in the win led by two-hit days from Brady Day and Jaden Parsons. David Bishop drove in a team-high two runs with his second homer of the season.
With the win, K-State improved to 4-1 in extra innings this season that includes a perfect 3-0 record in 12-inning games. The Cats also moved to 10-3 in series openers and finished undefeated in openers at Tointon (8-0).
THE RUNDOWN
After Boerema retired six consecutive batters, the Wildcats tagged the first run to the board after taking advantage of a throwing error from the catcher. Jaden Parsons was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a base knock into left by Chuck Ingram.
Ingram drew the throw down to second on the steal where the ball got away and trickled into centerfield, allowing Parsons to score. K-State stretched its lead to 4-0 in the second, highlighted by RBI singles from Day and Parsons.
Boerema struck out the side in the fourth, allowing K-State to continue to build its lead as the Cats scored for the third consecutive inning. Pelletier was issued a walk to lead off the inning and forced the Cougars to make a pitching change.
Carter Foss inherited the runner on first and faced Bishop, who welcomed the right-hander with a 409-foot shot over the left center wall.
The Cougars rallied for five runs in a three-inning span to bring the score within one, 6-5, led by a two-run homer from Vest in the fifth.
Dean relieved Boerema in the sixth and inherited runners on first and second with one out. The true freshman struck out the final batters to get out of the bases loaded jam.
BYU tied it in the ninth, 6-6, with a solo homer by Collin Rueter.
With two outs in the 12th, Rivera reached on a throwing error from the third baseman and advanced to third on a single by Day. Culpepper was intentionally walked to bring Lodice to the plate. The Omaha, Neb., product lined a 1-2 pitch into centerfield to drive in the deciding run.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State scored seven runs on seven hits, committed three errors, and stranded eight runners on base.
- BYU scored six runs on nine hits with three errors committed and left 11 runners on base.
- Five Wildcats contributed hits, led by two-hit days from Day and Parsons.
- Bishop drove in a game-high two RBI, going 1-for-4 at the plate.
- Lodice drove in the game-winning run with an RBI single in the 12th.
- Slack (2-0) closed the game and earned the win in relief, throwing two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
- Boerema, Neighbors and Dean combined for 19 strikeouts.
- Cushing (1-3) surrendered the final run (unearned), to earn the loss.
- Bishop hit his second home run with K-State in the fourth.
- Jones was issued three of the Cats seven walks.
- K-State was 6-for-13 (.462) with men on base and hit 3-for-9 (.333) with runners in scoring position, while BYU hit .150 (3-for-20) with runners on base and went 1-for-13 (.077) with runners in scoring position.
- The Cats hit .250 (4-for-16) with two outs and drove in two two-out RBI.
NOTES
- The pitching staff combined for 21 strikeouts, surpassing the previous school record of 19 (
- K-State holds a 6-4 advantage in the all-time series, that includes a perfect 5-0 record in Manhattan.
- The Cats improved to 19-6 at home, including a 8-5 record in Big 12 action.
- K-State turned in the program’s 19th 30-win season, and third in the Hughes era.
- Jones recorded his eighth game with three walks.
- The Wildcats are 4-1 in extra-inning games – 3-0 in 12-inning games.
- With his 36th stolen base of the year, Jones is one away from tying second all-time in the single-season records.
- The 21 strikeouts bring the season total to 494 which is fourth all-time in K-State history.
- The Cats also moved to 10-3 in series openers and finished undefeated in openers at Tointon (8-0).
- With his six strikeouts against the Cougars, Boerema joined the Wildcats’ Top 10 career strikeouts leaderboard, moving to eighth all-time with 184.
ON DECK
Game two against the Cougars is slated for a 6 p.m. start Friday at Tointon Family Stadium. The final regular-season series can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, while radio coverage is available on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). A free, live streaming audio available for all games at KStateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.
Fans can purchase tickets to the BYU series at K-StateSports.com/Tickets, call 1-800-221-CATS (2287), or stop by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum.
How to follow the ‘Cats: Stay up to date on K-State baseball online at www.kstatesports.com and on the team’s social media channels on Facebook, X formally known as Twitter and Instagram.
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