After hitting a midseason rut in conference play, Kansas State baseball jumped at the opportunity to host 15th-ranked Oklahoma State. With the series finale still to play on Sunday, the Wildcats won the series with 6-5 and 7-2 wins on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“We needed one, right?” head coach Pete Hughes said on the conference series win. “It was time to go. I keep talking about making up for lost ground.
“An opportunity to win a series on a Saturday is like gold,” Hughes continued. “So you attack opportunities. You don’t sit back and wait and see if it’s gonna happen and our guys did that today.”
K-State (24-14) moved to 9-8 in conference play while the Cowboys dropped to 25-14 (10-7). First pitch on Sunday for the series finale is 3 p.m.
Saturday
A night removed from being one of K-State’s heroes, redshirt junior catcher Raphael Pelletier stayed hot by opening scoring with a solo home run in the second, followed by another in the fourth inning.
The native of Mascouche, Quebec, Canada was en feu at the plate, finishing with a line of 3-for-4 with two long balls, a double and two RBI. He said the magic behind his hot streak is keeping it simple.
“Not thinking too much, just see the ball hit the ball, that’s the approach I’m going to,” Pelletier said. “…Those moments (big hits) definitely keep you in a good frame of mind.”
Redshirt sophomore Jackson Wentworth shoved in his first start of the year. The righty struck out the side twice in the first three innings amid a perfect 12-up-12-down start to the game.
“I had some nerves because of how last year went with my (Tommy John) year,” Wentworth said. “But I just stuck with my routine of things and just continued to work hard because I put in the work all year and just kept that foundation. And after the first inning, my nerves just went away.”
Wentworth, who struggled as a starter returning from injury last year, pitched a career-high eight strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings of three-hit baseball as he earned a standing ovation from the sellout crowd at Tointon Family Stadium.
“You’ve heard me say it before, everything is predicated on good starting pitching,” Hughes said. “We got about as dominating as a performance as you’ll get in the Big 12 on the weekend from Jackson Wentworth.”
In the sixth, two transfers in junior David Bishop and graduate Jaden Parsons tagged on insurance runs. Bishop singled in Pelletier before Parsons launched his first home run as a Wildcat.
K-State’s offense nabbed the Cowboys for two more runs in the seventh, giving reliever JJ Slack a 7-1 lead to work with. Slack, another graduate transfer, struck out the first three batters he faced. The southpaw finished with a line of 2 2/3 innings with five strikeouts and three hits.
Friday
K-State entered its series with the Cowboys as losers of seven of their last eight conference games. The Wildcats needed a league win, and after 12 innings of gusty baseball, they were able to lay the final blow.
Down two runs in the bottom of the 12th, Pelletier tied the affair with a bases-clearing double. Then, with one out, Bishop sent the Tointon faithful home abuzz with a walk-off single down the third base line.
“A gutty comeback,” Hughes said in a written statement. “To go down in extra innings…Our team showed tremendous character by keeping their heads up and keep playing to get the next hitter. This allowed us to have a great comeback win in extra innings at home. It was an awesome college baseball game.”
Graduate lefty Owen Boerema started on the mound, pitching 5 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and three earned runs. Out of the pen, Blake Dean, Cole Wisenbaker, and All-American Tyson Neighbors shut down the Cowboys with 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
“It was a good Friday night win,” Hughes said. “I thought our pitching staff fought through some adversity in how they managed to prevent an inning from spiraling out of control, which was one of our goals tonight because Oklahoma State is a big inning team. It allowed us a chance to push the game into extra innings.”
When the Wildcats erased their extra-inning deficit, it was the fourth time coming from behind in the contest.
Center fielder Brendan Jones and designated hitter Cayden Phillips each picked up RBI singles in the third and fourth, with both erasing a one-run deficit.
The Cowboys led 3-2 after the sixth inning, but true freshman Nick English stepped up. The right fielder launched a solo shot beyond the left field fence, tying the game for the third time.
Sophomore Andrew Evans (4-2) was nabbed for two runs in the 12th inning but ultimately got the win after Pelletier and Bishop’s heroics.
