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 11th 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 15th 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.

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