MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – Thirteen hits, including homers by Seth Dardar, Maximus Martin, and Keegan O’Connor, powered K-State to a 10-5 victory over Texas Tech in the series opener at Tointon Family Stadium on Friday night.

K-State (17-8, 6-1 Big 12) produced six extra-base hits in the series-opening win with four players turning in multi-hit performances, leading the Wildcats to their eighth consecutive win at home.

“Another great start for a Friday night,” head coach Pete Hughes said on his team’s fourth consecutive series-opening win. “I love how our guys have approached the early innings of our conference games. You set momentum, and sometimes you can keep it for the whole weekend.”

With the win, K-State stands alone at the top of the Big 12 standings, while it marks the Cats’ seventh consecutive three-game series-opening win dating back to last season.

“Hopefully we can keep it going for tomorrow and win a series, but great effort by our bullpen, specifically Miles Smith. He came in and really snuffed out momentum on a very offensive night against a very offensive team,” Hughes added.

Smith struck out three of the six batters he faced, ending his fifth outing with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

“[Martin] comes through again with three hits and a three-run homer and we get a big homer by [Dardar] there. I thought our offense did a really good job all night, but the bullpen won us the game tonight.”

Seven Wildcats produced a hit in the victory, led by three-hit performances from Dee Kennedy and Martin, who was a triple short of completing the cycle and finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Dardar, Martin and O’Connor each turned in three RBI while AJ Evasco drove in one.

The Wildcats knocked Texas Tech (8-14, 4-3 Big 12) starter Jonny Lowe out of the game after 1 1/3 innings. The right-hander gave up seven earned runs on four hits to go with four walks and two strikeouts.

Sophomore Adam Arther (1-0) picked up his first collegiate victory in relief of starter Jacob Frost, who was spotted for four runs (two earned) on five hits in his four innings. Arther scattered one hit in his 1 1/3 innings of work, while Blake Dean surrendered one run over the final two innings with no walks and three strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED
K-State surrendered a run in the opening frame but immediately answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning.

With bases loaded, O’Connor grounded to third to score the tying-run before Dardar shelled the first pitch he faced from Lowe into left center and hand K-State the 4-1 lead.

The Wildcats stretched their lead to six, 7-1, as Martin launched a three-run homer to left field – his 11^th home run of the season – forcing TTU to make its first call to the bullpen.

Frost held the Red Raiders to three hits before Damian Bravo, who ended the day with a game-leading four RBI, belted a three-run blast to pull the game within three. Arther relieved Frost and inherited a runner on first with no outs and faced the heart of TTU’s lineup. He retired three of the four batters he faced to preserve the lead.

Leading 7-4, Smith entered the game with a runner on first in relief of Arther in the sixth. The Flintville, Tennessee product allowed a single before he punched out two batters to strand a pair of runners in scoring position.

After three scoreless innings, K-State broke through with three runs led by back-to-back doubles from Martin and Evasco before O’Connor lasered his seventh homer of the season the over the left-field wall at an exit-velocity of 112-mph.

INSIDE THE BOX

• K-State scored 10 runs on 13 hits with three errors and eight left on base.
• Texas Tech scored five runs on eight hits with no errors and 10 left on base.
• Martin, Dardar and O’Connor all homered for K-State.
• K-State had six extra-base hits on the night.
• Arther (1-0) was awarded the victory in relief of Frost, allowing one hit over 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
• Frost logged four innings in his sixth starter and surrendered four runs (two earned) on five hits.
• Smith and Dean combined for six strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings.
• Kennedy, Inoue, Martin and Dardar had multi-hit performances for K-State.
• K-State went 4-for-11 (.364) with two outs, 7-for-17 (.412) with runners on and 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
• TTU was held to one two-out hit (1-for-10) and went 4-for-20 (.200) with runners on and 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
• Bravo went 2-for-5 with two home runs and a game-high four RBI.

TEAM NOTES

• TTU leads the all-time series 51-35-1, with a 43-31-1 lead in Big 12 play.
• K-State is 22-18 when playing at home against TTU.
• Under Hughes, K-State is 8-9 vs. TTU.
• K-State registered its 15^th multi-homer game (14-1) – sixth with three or more home runs.
• The Wildcats are 5-2 in games played on Friday and 4-0 in series openers.
• K-State has reached double figure runs in 10 games (10-0), with four of those coming in the last eight games.

PLAYER NOTES

• Martin became the second Big 12 player to hit 11 home runs this season.
• O’Connor extended his on-base streak to 17, followed by Evasco (16).
• Dardar has two homers in his last three games.
• Arther earned his first collegiate victory, while Smith matched a season-high three strikeouts.

UP NEXT
The middle game between Wildcats and Red Raiders is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium. K-State baseball single-game tickets are 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 Coliseum.

Click here for more K-State sports.

The post Wildcats Hammer Texas Tech Friday Night, 10-5 appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – Seth Dardar drove in a game-high four RBI, while Maximus Martin and Bear Madliak each homered to help K-State secure a 12-8 victory over Nebraska on Tuesday night at Tointon Family Stadium.

In front of the first sold out crowd at Tointon Family Stadium during the 2025 season, K-State (16-8) scored 11 of its 12 runs over the first three innings of the game on its way to earning its seventh straight home victory.

“Obviously great start for our team tonight,” said head coach Pete Hughes, who boasts a .758 winning percentage at home over the last five seasons. “Things went our way early on; it was our night. We were fortunate to extend a pretty good lead. Nebraska kept battling, and that was not unexpected, but we fortunate enough to score enough runs to hold on to that lead.

“Good team effort and really good job out of bullpen with [Blake Dean] and [James Guyette]. So, another good series win,” added Hughes.

With the win, K-State improved to 2-0 on the year against Nebraska (10-14) to capture the season series, while the two squads are scheduled to meet for game three on April 29.

Four different Wildcats produced a hit, led by catcher Bear Madliak. The redshirt junior from Carrollton, Ga., produced his first three-hit game and ended the night 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while Martin and Dardar were 2-for-4.

Martin belted his 10^th homer of the season, becoming the first Wildcat and second Big 12 player this year to reach double figures.

Ty Ruhl (2-1) was awarded the victory in relief of starter Donte Lewis, who surrendered four runs (three earned) on six hits with five strikeouts in his four innings of work. Ruhl allowed one earned run on one hit to finish his seventh outing of the season.

K-State utilized five pitchers in the victory, with the pitching staff matching a season-high 13 strikeouts. Dean held the Cornhuskers to two earned runs on four hits in his 2 2/3 innings with four strikeouts, before handing the ball over to Guyette, who fired a hitless ninth with three strikeouts.

The Wildcats hit .500 (4-for-8) with runners in scoring position, while holding a Cornhuskers to two hits (2-for-16) with players in scoring position.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After scattering a pair of singles to start off the game, Lewis and the defense locked in and retired three straight to get out of the jam.

The Wildcats caused havoc in the bottom of the inning with an early 5-0 lead, after capitalizing on a trio of Cornhusker errors, highlighted by a two-run double from Dardar.

Nebraska plated a pair of runs in the second but was quickly answered with four runs in the home half of the inning, led by Kennedy’s double down the left field line. Kyan Lodice was hit by a pitch before Martin loaded the bases with a single into left, forcing Nebraska to make its first pitching change of the night.

Colin Nowaczyk relieved starter Carson Jasas (2-2), who was tagged for the loss, and inherited the bases loaded situation. Two runs crossed the plate before Nowaczyk surrendered a two-RBI single to Dardar, stretching the Cats’ lead to seven, 9-2.

Martin launched his 10^th homer of the year, a 390-feet at 105 mph off the bat over the left-center wall, to push K-State into double figures for the ninth time of the season.

Nebraska closed the gap to five, 11-6, scoring four runs over a three-inning span with the help of homers from Case Sanderson and Cael Frost.

K-State recovered one of the runs with a solo shot by Madliak – his fourth in the last eight games.

Leading 12-8, Guyette slammed the door shut and struck out the side in the ninth to hold off a Cornhusker rally.

INSIDE THE BOX

• K-State scored 12 runs on eight hits and committed one error with four runners left on base.
• UNL scored eight runs on 11 hits, committed three errors and stranded 11 on base.
• Ruhl (2-1) picked up the win in relief, surrendering one earned run on one hit with two walks and a strikeout in his one inning.
• Martin and Madliak each homered.
• Four different players contributed a hit led by Madliak (3-for-4).
• Five different Wildcats had an RBI, with Dardar (2-for-4) driving in a game-high four.
• Kennedy and Martin scored a game-high three runs, with Kennedy earning a pair of walks.
• Arther, Dean, Guyette combined for three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in three innings of work.
• Jasa (2-2) suffered the loss, allowing eight runs (three earned) in his one inning start.
• K-State hit .333 (5-for-15) with runners on base and .500 (4-for-8) in scoring position, while Nebraska was 6-for-27 (.222) with runners and 2-for-16 (.125) with men in scoring position.
• Cornhuskers scored four two-out RBI.

TEAM NOTES

• With the win, the Cats secured the season-series against Nebraska (2-0).
• K-State moved to 118-176 in the all-time series, including a 73-80 record in games played in Manhattan.
• K-State is 4-4 against UNL in the Hughes era.
• The Wildcats have recorded double figure runs in nine games, including four in the last seven.
• K-State has homered in eight consecutive games, including multiple in six.
• The Wildcats have belted a home run in 19 of 24 games.
• K-State has 17 innings scoring four or more runs.
• At home, K-State is 109-42 (.722) under Hughes, including a 91-29 (.758) record since 2021.

PLAYER NOTES

• Martin recorded his 10^th homer of the season, becoming the second Big 12 player to reach double digit homers in 2025.
• In the last eight games, Madliak has homered in four.
• O’Connor has safely reached base in 16 straight games, followed by Evasco (15), while the duos hitting streaks came to an end – Evasco (14), O’Connor (13).
• Lewis matched a season-long outing (4.0 IP) with a season-high four strikeouts.

UP NEXT
K-State continues its homestand this weekend, hosting Texas Tech (8-13, 4-2 Big 12) for a three-game Big 12 series. The series opener is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. at Tointon Family Stadium. 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 Coliseum.

The post Team Effort Lifts Cats to Seventh Straight Win at Home appeared first on News Radio KMAN.