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 10th 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 10th 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 10th 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.

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