MANHATTAN — An extra-inning loss to Brigham Young on Saturday didn’t affect Kansas State baseball’s position in the Big 12 standings, but it certainly put a damper on what had shaped up as a pleasant finish to the regular season.

The Wildcats were one strike away from a three-game sweep and a full head of steam heading into this week’s Big 12 Championship when the wheels came off in spectacular fashion. Instead of celebrating on senior night, they saw BYU score seven runs in the ninth and 10th innings for a 12-8 victory at Tointon Family Stadium.

“It’s a frustrating loss,” K-State coach Pete Hughes said. “You have a chance to sweep someone and you’re one strike away and you’re up two runs, it’s about as heartbreaking as you can have.

“My mind is really stuck on that, to be honest with you. I didn’t look at any positives we had during the game, and we did a lot of really good things, but when you’re that close to winning with a two-run lead at home and then a couple of crazy plays.”

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With the loss, the Wildcats finished the regular season at 31-22 overall and 15-15 in the Big 12, while BYU improved to 21-31 and 7-23 while ending a 13-game conference losing streak. As the No. 6 seed, K-State will face No. 7 Kansas at 9 a.m. Tuesday to open the Big 12 Tournament in Arlington, Texas.

K-State took a 7-5 advantage to the ninth inning, only to surrender the lead on a bases-loaded error and a wild pitch. Then, after Brady Day tied it with a towering leadoff homer in the bottom of inning, BYU effectively ended it on Parker Goff’s grand slam to left.

The ending overshadowed a gritty comeback performance by K-State, which took its first lead on Kaelen Culpepper’s two-run, opposite-field home run to right, then made it 7-5 when Kyan Lodice followed with a solo shot to right. Culpepper also had a two-run triple in the third.

“I’m proud of our guys for battling back and tying it in the bottom of the ninth off a closer who had been dominating this year. It kind of sets up for a great comeback and it just didn’t happen.

“I feel bad for our seniors, but a really frustrating loss because it was so close, but that’s the life of major college athletics right there.”

The Wildcats, who wrapped up the regular season at 31-22 overall, 15-15 in the Big 12, had 11 hits in the game, including three home runs. But BYU (21-31, 7-23), which ended a 13-game conference losing streak, answered with 14 hits and drew eight walks.

Still, K-State did take two games to win the series, picking up a pair of one-run victories on Thursday and Friday. They took the opener, 7-6, on Lodice’s walk-off single in the 12th inning, while Jackson Wentworth and Tyson Neighbors combined on a five-hitter in a 2-1 Friday win.

Wentworth’s performance was especially critical after K-State used four pitchers in the series opener, as he responded with career highs of eight innings and 11 strikeouts. With the Wildcats clinging to a one-run lead, he gave up a leadoff triple in the sixth inning, then struck out the next three batters, and with runners at second and third he got another strikeout to end the threat.

“I just tried pushing through to get the team a win,” Wentworth said of whiffing BYU’s Easton Jones to end the eighth. “All I could do to just get that last out for Tyson to come in and close it.”

Neighbors also came up big, getting the Cougars in order with two strikeouts for his eighth save just a day after throwing 50 pitches over eight innings in the opener.

“I thought we played good this weekend,” Hughes said in recapping the series. “We won a series. “It’s all about winning series. We’ll feel terrible about this one for a while, but it’s a 24-hour rule. We’ve got to get back at it and get hot in the Big 12 Tournament and try to win the tournament.”

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 City, Mo. – The Kansas City Royals have taken the last two games off the Oakland Athletics behind great days at-bat. The Royals yesterday did what it seemed they couldn’t do for a while, score consistently through innings. Kansas City will look again to the top half of their pitching rotation as Brady Singer will get the nod for the Royals as they go for the sweep. With the race between the Cleveland Guardians and the Royals as close as ever, it will be extremely important for the Royals to pick up every game possible against weaker opponents.

Brady Singer will look to bounce back in this one after giving up four runs in five innings against the Twins. Before that outing, Singer had pitched three straight games where he only allowed a single run. An outing like that tonight could slingshot the Royals into the last series in their homestand against Detroit with a three-game win streak and all the momentum in the world.

1:59 p.m. – A routine single for the A’s turns into a double and a run as Garrett Hampson completely mislpays the ball allowing Brent Rooker to come all the way home from first. Tyler Soderstrom picks up the RBI. 2-1 Royals

1:50 p.m. – Salvador Perez and Nelson Velazquez fail to bring Witt Jr home after his triple, keeping the Royals lead at two. 2-0 Royals

1:47 p.m. – Bobby Witt Jr is on fire and showing why he can be and is a true MVP cantidate. He adds a triple to his statline after blasting a double off the wall earlier in the game. Salvador Perez now has a chance to extend the Royals lead. 2-0 Royals

1:39 p.m. – Brady Singer has faced ten batters to this point so far. Every single first pitch in an at-bat thrown, resulted in either a strike or an out. The early success of Singer has led to early outs and a well controlled pitch count through three innings. 2-0 Royals

1:29 p.m. – Brady Singer might have somewhere to be after this game because he is flying through batters right now. Singer has put down six batters in just 19 total pitches. 2-0 Royals

1:25 p.m. – A double play, hit into by Hunter Renfroe, helps J.P Sears hold the damage to two runs in the inning. Singer has some early run support here and will be looking to keep the lead as is. 2-0 Royals

1:19 p.m. – The Royals have scored in the first inning in back-to-back games as both Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr smoke doubles to left field to put the Royals up a score with no outs. The Royals didn’t stop there either, as a Salvador Perez single drove Witt Jr home with a single up the middle to extend the lead. 2-0 Royals

1:12 p.m. – We are underway here at Kauffman Stadium as Brady Singer strikes out Abraham Toro and induces a JJ Bleday groundout in back-to-back pitches. 0-0

Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO.

When: First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT. 

TV:  You can watch the game on Bally Sports KC or MLB.TV (blackouts may apply depending on location).

Starting Pitchers

KC – Brady Singer (3-2, 2.84 ERA)

OAK – J.P. Sears (3-2, 3.96 ERA)

Batting Order/Lineup

KC: 1. Maikel Garcia (3B) 2. Bobby Witt Jr. (SS) 3. Salvador Perez (1B) 4. Nelson Velazquez (C) 5. Freddy Fermin (C) 6. Hunter Renfroe (RF) 7. Dairon Blanco (LF) 8. Michael Massey (2B) 9. Garrett Hampson (CF)

OAK: 1. Abraham Toro (3B) 2. JJ Bleday (CF) 3. Brent Rooker (LF) 4. Shea Langeliers (DH) 5. Tyler Soderstrom (1B) 6. Zack Gelof (2B) 7. Seth Brown (RF) 8. Max Schuemann (SS) 9. Kyle McCann (C)

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By AJ DOME Kansas Reflector

MANHATTAN — The number of tornadoes in Kansas to date has surpassed last year’s amount.

So far, 40 tornadoes have touched down in the state. For 2023, a total of 39 tornadoes were reported across Kansas.

Kansas State University assistant state climatologist Matt Sittel wrote in his April climate summary that 37 tornadoes were reported that month across the state. In his May 1-7 summary, Sittel said three more tornadoes were reported in the first week of this month.

A tornado was reported in Kearny County in southwest Kansas on May 3. Two more tornadoes were noted on May 6, one in Riley County and one in Chautauqua County. No injuries were reported with those three twisters.

Sittel said April was an “active month” for severe weather, with a total of 37 tornado reports, 14 of those on April 27.

The strongest tornado to strike Kansas so far this year was April 30 in Westmoreland. The Pottawatomie County community was hit by an EF-3 tornado, with winds estimated at 140 mph. Ann Miller, 58, died when her home was destroyed by the storm. She was a lifelong Pottawatomie County resident and long-time employee of the county health department.

The Westmoreland twister destroyed 22 homes and damaged several other structures, including the Pottawatomie County noxious weed building and two of the county public works department’s three-sided sheds. Recycling in Pottawatomie County was suspended because of storm damage, and most of the county’s chemical sprayers were mangled. The chemicals themselves were spared. Additionally, the extension office building lost some windows and part of its roof, and at least 30 county vehicles were damaged.

Westmoreland city officials said they were working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Small Business Association and insurance companies to determine a loss total from the April 30 storm. City council president Wade Purvis said during a May 9 meeting that the cleanup stage is “essentially over” and the recovery phase is underway.

Sittel said other modes of severe weather were observed in April, including a report of a three-inch hailstone April 25 in Sherman County. In total, 104 hail reports were tallied for the month, including 32 on April 25.

Two days later saw the highest number of high wind reports at 24. The fastest wind gust happened on April 18, when an anemometer recorded an 87 mph gust in Saint Marys.

For the first week of May, 74 reports of hail greater than one inch were tallied. Three-inch-sized hailstones fell on both May 1 and May 6. The largest stone measured 4.5 inches and fell in Gove County on May 1. The highest wind gust was also measured on May 1. A Kansas Mesonet instrument tower five miles north of Plainville in Rooks County recorded an 83 mph gust. No damage was reported with the peak gust.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service office in Dodge City are forecasting the potential for scattered thunderstorms across the southwestern portion of the state through the end of the week. Temperatures may also rise to 90 degrees across parts of Kansas on Monday because of increased moisture in the region.

NWS Dodge City scientists wrote in their forecast discussion Tuesday that next week is the “stormiest time of year climatologically” for central and southwest Kansas. The last 10 days of May are traditionally the peak of the severe weather season, which can extend into June.