Kansas State baseball raced to an early lead in its NCAA Fayetteville Regional debut Friday night but could not finish the job when a second weather delay finally forced the game to be suspended just before midnight.

The game started an hour late at 8 p.m. because of lightning in the Fayetteville, Arkansas area, and was delayed again just after 10. A rain deluge eventually forced officials to call it a night with the Wildcats leading Louisiana Tech, 9-4, after five innings at Baum-Walker Stadium. It will resume at 11 a.m. Saturday.

K-State led 7-0 and still was up 9-1 before Louisiana Tech scored three times in the bottom the fifth inning.

The winner will face host and top seed Arkansas at 8 p.m. Saturday, with the loser taking on Southeast Missouri State at around 2 p.m. Arkansas beat SEMO, 17-9, on Friday afternoon.

Here are three takeaways from the first five innings of K-State’s first NCAA Tournament game in 11 years.

Kansas State baseball pitcher Owen Boerema doesn’t shy away from the NCAA spotlight

Kansas State baseball excited and relieved to finally receive NCAA Tournament bid

Wildcats come out swinging after first delay

A one-hour weather delay that pushed the start time from 7 to 8 p.m. did not faze Kansas State’s batters, who teed off on Louisiana Tech starter Luke Nichols, scoring twice in the first inning on a Brady Day RBI single and Nick English sacrifice fly and then adding five in the second, all with two outs.

Chuck Ingram started the second-inning rally with a first-pitch home run to left. After Brendan Jones followed with his second walk and stole second, Jaden Parsons drove him home with a single to left center.

Kaelen Culpepper’s RBI triple and a long two-run homer by Day made it 7-0.

Have a night, Chuck Ingram

Kansas State outfielder Chuck Ingram was mired in a deep slump, but he busted out in a big way against Louisiana Tech, going 2-for-2 with a home run, sacrifice fly and two RBI.

Ingram, the Wichita State transfer had one hit in 14 at bats over the previous five games, but he pulled a home run to left in his first trip to the plate, triggering a five-run second inning, then singled his second time up and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

K-State starters Owen Boerema battles control issues

Kansas State ace Owen Boerema, the Wildcats’ No. 1 starter for most of the year, looked sharp in the first inning against Louisiana Tech, needing just nine pitches to get through the first inning before faltering.

Boerema did not make it out of the fifth inning after walking a season-high six batters — three in a one-run second and three more in Louisiana Tech’s three-run fifth. He allowed only two hits and struck out six before giving way to Cole Wisenbaker after 4 2/3 innings.

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

Kansas State baseball’s NCAA Tournament opener against Louisiana Tech, which already was delayed an hour at the start because of weather, stalled a second time after five innings and finally was suspended Fjust before midnight Friday in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It will resume at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The second delay came a little after 10 p.m. after Louisiana Tech scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut K-State’s lead to 9-4 at Baum-Walker Stadium. A rain deluge made it impossible for the teams to continue the game Friday night.

Kansas State took advantage of the first delay by scoring seven runs over the first two innings, getting two runs in the first and adding five, all with two out, in the second.

Lightning was followed by a heavy rainfall that flooded the Louisiana Tech dugout.

The winner between No. 3 seed K-State and No. 2 Louisiana Tech is scheduled to play No. 1 seed Arkansas at 8 p.m. Saturday, while the loser takes on Southeast Missouri State at 2 p.m., or roughly 45 minutes after the completion of Friday night’s contest. Arkansas held off SEMO, 17-9, in the early Friday game.

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

We’re getting close enough to the start of the college football season that teams and leagues are beginning to unveil details around their first games. For the Kansas Jayhawks, we now know the times and broadcasts for the first three games of the year. 

The first quarter of the schedule looks like this:

Game One: Thursday, August 29 | 7 p.m. vs Lindenwood – ESPN+

Game Two: Saturday, September 7 | 6 p.m. at Illinois – FS1

Game Three: Friday, September 13 | 6 p.m. vs UNLV –  ESPN

This announcement has come with a bit of mixed reaction online, and it’s understandable. Let’s look at both sides. 

Outside of the Lindenwood game against a team new to D-I football, Kansas is starting to get some respect from the national broadcasts for the non-conference slate. The game at Illinois is in a prime time and channel to draw some eyeballs on the Jayhawks early. And anytime you can get on the mothership of ESPN, you take it. 

This will be good for awareness of the program (especially if KU can win decisively) both now and moving forward. Recruits still want to know that they’re going to be seen – both by college football lovers at large and their families if they’re not from the area – and being able to sell a program that is playing on ESPN and FS1 for its non-conference isn’t nothing.  

For those actually hoping to attend the games live, these aren’t the best in terms of convenience. Season-ticket holders or just fans hoping to take their families to early games are going to have to make bigger arrangements to travel up to Kansas City in time for a 6 p.m. kick on a Friday and then justify the school night for the opener on Thursday the 29th. Fans are already making some sacrifices to watch with KU not playing in Lawrence this year. This just adds to it.

Now, I’m not standing up talking about the horror of the scheduling. It’s not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination. First-world problems, if you will. But this is an important season in many ways, both on the field and in the stands. 

It’s been talked about at length how Kansas’ embracing of football from the fans has to continue along with the financial and business moves of the university. Whether it’s for Lance Leipold or revenue for the university or the ongoing back and forth of conference realignment rumors, this is a big year to show that Kansas football is back. 

What an environment it will look like if Jayhawks pack Children’s Mercy Park and Arrowhead, taking over KC with a team on the rise. It could be a great look. It could also be an embarrassing one playing in front of a half-empty stadium. And it just seems like the timing of these initial games do much to help ensure it’s the former and not the latter. 

You take TV visibility whenever you can get it. Now Kansas just needs to make sure it gets students and fans to work around their schedules and make it as easy as possible to pack Children’s Mercy Park.